Actors & Directors
- Jackie Chan
- Maggie Cheung
- Bill Tung
- Jackie Chan
- Kwok-Hung Lam
- Brigitte Lin
Release date: 2006-12-19 Run time: 90 min. Creator: Edward Tang Price: £5.83
Review Police Story [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Fortune Star:Jackie Chan has become a genre unto himself, and watching Police Story, you'll understand why. The plot is minimal: Chan is a hero cop involved in a raid that goes wrong. He's assigned to guard a witness, the kingpin's attractive female secretary (Brigitte Lin). For the rest of the film, Chan's protecting himself from the secretary, from the gangsters out to silence her and from his own jealous girlfriend (Maggie Cheung). But watching Chan for plot is like watching porno for existential themes. While most modern action films steal cues from Westerns, Chan condenses those open mesas into the dense throngs of modern Hong Kong-and tosses in Buster Keaton slapstick. For example, when the opening raid goes haywire, there's an unbelievable car chase through the steep huddle of a hillside shantytown. That's through. No roads, just shacks. Flimsy shacks. [+]
As the film progresses, Chan scales a speeding bus using an umbrella, uses cow dung as an excuse to break into some Shaolin moonwalking and transforms an urban shopping mall into a demented gymnasium (think clothes racks, escalators, and lots of plate glass displays). Chan is amazingly versatile both physically and emotionally-and he's a secure enough star-director to let his co-stars shine, too. -Grant Balfour That Jackie Chan's Hollywood output should have walked the thin line between engagingly awful and just awful should be no surprise having viewed Police Story, his breakthrough Hong Kong film. Not only starring but also directed by Chan, the film is a combination of risible plot, knockabout humour and stunning stunts-a kind of Carry On Kung Fu. The plot of the film finds itself lost in the high-octane stunts and matters so little that Chan's character is not even given another name to the actor's own. However, if you can put your critical facilities on hold, Police Story is enormous fun. The lines between good guys and bad guys are clearly drawn and most of the acting seems to be confined to running around and pointing and it's all worth it just to see the final fight sequence-a true spectacular set in a shopping mall, showing plainly why the film was dubbed "Glass Story" by the stunt teams. Perhaps this is why the film wins out so convincingly over its Hollywood counterparts. We know that it was Chan himself performing these breathtaking stunts and that he really did suffer for his art, the closing credits show him and others being carried off set to hospital on numerous occasions. Now that's what I call method acting. On The DVD: The film's basic production values are something that even DVD cannot enhance (the opening titles visibly wobble) but that only adds to the film's charm. The audio options of Cantonese, subtitled or dubbed are extremely useful, with the latter-clearly voiced by a group of out of work actors in an LA sound studio, which only serves to enhance the movie's surreal quality. Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan's commentary is superb-giving an insight into Chan, his movies, the Asian film industry and its lasting influence on more mainstream cinema-and is delivered with such enthusiasm (particularly during the fight sequences) that it is hard not to get swept along by it all. -Phil Udell.
Release date: 2005-08-30 Run time: 900 min. Price: £13.70
Review Super Kung Fu Box Set (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Fortune 5:
Actors & Directors
- Brigitte Lin
- Bill Tung
- Jackie Chan
- Maggie Cheung
- Kwok-Hung Lam
- Jackie Chan
Release date: 2006-12-19 Run time: 90 min. Creator: Edward Tang Price: £5.83
Review Police Story [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Fortune Star:Jackie Chan has become a genre unto himself, and watching Police Story, you'll understand why. The plot is minimal: Chan is a hero cop involved in a raid that goes wrong. He's assigned to guard a witness, the kingpin's attractive female secretary (Brigitte Lin). For the rest of the film, Chan's protecting himself from the secretary, from the gangsters out to silence her and from his own jealous girlfriend (Maggie Cheung). But watching Chan for plot is like watching porno for existential themes. While most modern action films steal cues from Westerns, Chan condenses those open mesas into the dense throngs of modern Hong Kong-and tosses in Buster Keaton slapstick. For example, when the opening raid goes haywire, there's an unbelievable car chase through the steep huddle of a hillside shantytown. That's through. No roads, just shacks. Flimsy shacks. [+]
As the film progresses, Chan scales a speeding bus using an umbrella, uses cow dung as an excuse to break into some Shaolin moonwalking and transforms an urban shopping mall into a demented gymnasium (think clothes racks, escalators, and lots of plate glass displays). Chan is amazingly versatile both physically and emotionally-and he's a secure enough star-director to let his co-stars shine, too. -Grant Balfour That Jackie Chan's Hollywood output should have walked the thin line between engagingly awful and just awful should be no surprise having viewed Police Story, his breakthrough Hong Kong film. Not only starring but also directed by Chan, the film is a combination of risible plot, knockabout humour and stunning stunts-a kind of Carry On Kung Fu. The plot of the film finds itself lost in the high-octane stunts and matters so little that Chan's character is not even given another name to the actor's own. However, if you can put your critical facilities on hold, Police Story is enormous fun. The lines between good guys and bad guys are clearly drawn and most of the acting seems to be confined to running around and pointing and it's all worth it just to see the final fight sequence-a true spectacular set in a shopping mall, showing plainly why the film was dubbed "Glass Story" by the stunt teams. Perhaps this is why the film wins out so convincingly over its Hollywood counterparts. We know that it was Chan himself performing these breathtaking stunts and that he really did suffer for his art, the closing credits show him and others being carried off set to hospital on numerous occasions. Now that's what I call method acting. On The DVD: The film's basic production values are something that even DVD cannot enhance (the opening titles visibly wobble) but that only adds to the film's charm. The audio options of Cantonese, subtitled or dubbed are extremely useful, with the latter-clearly voiced by a group of out of work actors in an LA sound studio, which only serves to enhance the movie's surreal quality. Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan's commentary is superb-giving an insight into Chan, his movies, the Asian film industry and its lasting influence on more mainstream cinema-and is delivered with such enthusiasm (particularly during the fight sequences) that it is hard not to get swept along by it all. -Phil Udell.
Actors & Directors
- Steve Tartalia
- Rosamund Kwan
- Jet Li
- Jacky Cheung
- Biao Yuen
- Hark Tsui
Release date: 1998-11-17 Run time: 134 min. Creator: Pik-yin Tang Price: £0.97
Review Once Upon a Time in China [1991] (NTSC) / Image Entertainment:The first of a popular series (six in all) starring the charismatic and athletically adept Jet Li. Li plays legendary folk hero Wong Fei Hong, a late 19th-century southern Chinese healer and kung fu master. The story begins with Western powers (American, British and French) encroaching on the city of Canton. Wong is asked by the Black Flag army to safeguard the town by creating his own militia of kung fu experts. His assistants include the butcher "Porky" (Kent Cheng), a Chinese-American named Bucktooth So (Jacky Cheung) and his westernised "Auntie" Yee (Rosamund Kwan), a non-blood-related childhood friend for whom he holds a special affection. But the Westerners aren't the only problem in Canton. The ShaHo gang terrorises local businesses and has begun dealing with the Americans in exporting Chinese for slave labour and prostitution. A down-on-his-luck kung fu master named Iron Vest Yim (Yan Yee Kwan) has decided he needs to defeat Wong to open a school and Leung Fu (Jackie Chan contemporary Yuen Biao), a travelling opera troupe groupie, just keeps getting in the way. This epic martial-arts film showcases Li's amazing fighting and acrobatic skills and established Tsui Hark as a top-notch action film director. The final fight scene between Wong and Yim entails a dizzying orchestration of kicks and punches while teeter-tottering on ladders. [+]
The DVD features star bios, filmographies, trailers and clips from early Wong Fei Hong films that starred veteran actor Kwan Tak Hing. -Shannon Gee.
Actors & Directors
- Jimmy Wang Yu
- Jimmy Wang Yu
- Tang Shin
Release date: 1995-04-03 Run time: 88 min. RRP: £12.99 Price: £12.98
Review The One Armed Boxer [1974] / Mia Video Entertainment Ltd:
Actors & Directors
- Osamu Takizawa
- Shintarô Katsu
- Toshirô Mifune
- Kihachi Okamoto
- Ayako Wakao
- Masakane Yonekura
Release date: 2001-06-18 Run time: 115 min. Creator: Tetsuro Yoshida RRP: £19.99 Price: £8.99
Review Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo [1965] / Warrior:
Release date: 2007-06-04 Run time: 90 min. RRP: £5.99 Price: £9.94
Review Fist From Shaolin / Soulblade:
Actors & Directors
- Lee Shao Hwa
- Liu Chia-Liang
- Liu Chia-Yung
- Gordon Liu
- Fu Sheng
- Liu Chia-Liang
- Wang Fu Quen
Release date: 2007-06-12 Run time: 91 min. Price: £8.40
Review 18 Weapons of Kung Fu [1982] / 303 Recordings:
Release date: 2003-05-20 Run time: 95 min. Price: £8.92
Review Kung Fu Hero (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Ground Zero:
Release date: 2006-06-19 Run time: 87 min. RRP: £5.99 Price: £1.67
Review Dragon Lee Vs The Five Brothers / Showbox Home Entertainment:
Release date: 2006-01-01 RRP: £29.99 Price: £26.95
Review Wado Ryu Karate Wado's Otsuka (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Rising Sun Video Productions Inc.:
Actors & Directors
- Kei Sato
- Kimiyoshi Yasuda
- Shintarô Katsu
- Eiji Okada
- Yukiyo Toake
- Yoshio Tsuchiya
Release date: 2003-02-02 Run time: 88 min. Creator: Yoshi Hattori RRP: £19.99 Price: £6.69
Review Zatoichi At The Blood Fest [1973] / Warrior:
Release date: 2006-01-01 RRP: £29.99 Price: £25.95
Review Japanese Wadokai Karate-Do Kihon and Basic Kata (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Rising Sun Video Productions Inc.:
Actors & Directors
- Lee Shao Hwa
- Liu Chia-Yung
- Liu Chia-Liang
- Wang Fu Quen
- Gordon Liu
- Fu Sheng
- Liu Chia-Liang
Release date: 2007-06-12 Run time: 91 min. Price: £8.40
Review 18 Weapons of Kung Fu [1982] / 303 Recordings:
Actors & Directors
- Shintarô Katsu
- Yoshio Tsuchiya
- Yukiyo Toake
- Eiji Okada
- Kimiyoshi Yasuda
- Kei Sato
Release date: 2004-08-10 Run time: 88 min. Creator: Yoshi Hattori Price: £7.46
Review Zatoichi's Conspiracy [1974] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Animeigo:
Release date: 2006-05-08 RRP: £19.99 Price: £19.99
Review Lady Vengeance - Limited Edition Theatrical Image Slipcase (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) / Tartan:It's rare that a movie combines extreme violence, visual panache, and gut-wrenching emotion, but Lady Vengeance is just such a movie. Geum-ja Lee (the lovely Yeong-ae Lee, Joint Security Area) is sent to prison at the age of 19 for kidnapping and murdering a 5-year-old boy. She becomes a model prisoner, apparently converting to Christianity and helping care for ill prisoners-but in fact, she's slowly making connections that will allow her to wreak revenge on the man responsible for her imprisonment. The first half of Lady Vengeance, in which Geum-ja Lee's plans are laid and her victim captured, spins to and fro in time with dizzying speed, moving fluidly among multiple narrative tracks. But once the man is in her clutches, the movie takes a turn that proves more harrowing and more emotionally complex than the previous films in writer/director Chan-wook Park's "vengeance trilogy," Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance or Oldboy-and if you've seen either of those films, you'll understand what a feat that is. These movies have much in common with the revenge tragedies written by contemporaries of Shakespeare; ornate plots full of extreme violence and perverse sex that delve into the darkest-yet often most vulnerable-sides of humanity. For all its sensational aspects, Lady Vengeance observes the toll of vengeance on the revenger; there's nothing cheap or easy about it. This movie, even more than Oldboy, demonstrates that Chan-wook Park is one of the most vital filmmakers of our time. -Bret Fetzer.
Actors & Directors
- Bert Remsen
- Andrew Davis
- Chuck Norris
- Mike Genovese
- Nathan Davis
- Henry Silva
Release date: 2000-11-21 Run time: 101 min. Creator: Dennis Shryack Price: £3.68
Review Code of Silence [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / MGM:
Release date: 2003-02-02 RRP: £19.99 Price: £5.40
Review Zatoichi at the Fire Festival:
Release date: 2005-01-01 Run time: 60 min. RRP: £24.99 Price: £10.99
Review Ground Fighting: Chokes and Strangles [2005] / Summersdale Productions:
Release date: 2005-02-08 Run time: 270 min. Price: £10.95
Review Big Box of Kung Fu, Vol. 3 (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Crash Cinema:
| Models & Brands: Police Story [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Super Kung Fu Box Set (REGION 1) (NTSC), Police Story [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Once Upon a Time in China [1991] (NTSC), The One Armed Boxer [1974], Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo [1965], Fist From Shaolin, 18 Weapons of Kung Fu [1982], Kung Fu Hero (REGION 1) (NTSC), Dragon Lee Vs The Five Brothers, Wado Ryu Karate Wado's Otsuka (REGION 1) (NTSC), Zatoichi At The Blood Fest [1973], Japanese Wadokai Karate-Do Kihon and Basic Kata (REGION 1) (NTSC), 18 Weapons of Kung Fu [1982], Zatoichi's Conspiracy [1974] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Lady Vengeance - Limited Edition Theatrical Image Slipcase (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk), Code of Silence [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Zatoichi at the Fire Festival, Ground Fighting: Chokes and Strangles [2005], Big Box of Kung Fu, Vol. 3 (REGION 1) (NTSC) |