KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 103: Jude Poyer – Live in Oxford, ‘The Heroic Trio’ special

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 103: Jude Poyer – Live in Oxford, ‘The Heroic Trio’ special

“If one of my stunt people or the director of photography has an idea that they think I should listen to, I will listen to it. Then if we follow it or we don’t, it’s not about me, and it’s not about them, it’s about the sequence.”

For the second of our four live podcasts – co-hosted by the Life of Action author, Mike Fury – we welcome back the British stunt coordinator and former Hong Kong stuntman Jude Poyer. Jude’s first appearance was on Episode 48 back in 2019 – now, in 2025, he is the action director behind Xavier Gens’ violent …

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 102: Katrina Durden – Live in Lewes, ‘Dragon Inn’ special

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 102: Katrina Durden – Live in Lewes, ‘Dragon Inn’ special

“I’ve always been a bit of a tom-boy, I grew up that way… I never wanted to be a damsel in distress. I wanted to be Xena: Warrior Princess.”

For our first live episode – recorded at the wonderful Depot Cinema in Lewes, UK – we welcome back the actor and martial artist Katrina Durden, who first appeared on Episode 12 of the podcast back in 2017. From her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Doctor Strange (2016) and Joey Ansah‘s fantastic Street Fighter web series, to roles in TV’s Strike Back, Heads of State starring Idris Elba and John Cena, and the upcoming Red Sonja reboot, …

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 101: End of Year Show 2024 with Mike Fury

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 101: End of Year Show 2024 with Mike Fury

It’s that time of year again – the annual Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast End of Year Show returns for its eighth year!

Featuring the author of Life of Action Vol. 1 and 2, Mike Fury, we unpack our martial arts movie highlights of the year, discuss the news that has been hitting the headlines, and – because it’s the festive season – we also unwrap some martial arts-themed Christmas presents.

2024 has been a particularly strong year for fight-centric action films. We saw the return of many fan favourites – Po the panda returned in Kung Fu Panda 4, Hugh Jackman’s …

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Profile: King Hu

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Profile: King Hu

Date of birth: 29 April, 1932 (Beijing, China)

Date of death: 14 January, 1997 (aged 64), Taipei, Taiwan

Mandarin name: Hu Jinquan

Other names: Hu King-chuan, Wu Kam-Chuen, Frankie Gam Chuen, Hu King-Chuan, King Chuan, Hu Jing-Chuan, Chin Chuan

Occupation: Director, writer, editor, actor, set designer.

Biography: King Hu is one of China’s most respected and influential filmmakers, famous for historical martial arts films. Despite not being particularly interested in martial arts, he popularised the ‘new school’ wuxia (‘martial chivalry’) genre in the 1960s and helped to cultivate the role of the female knight-errant. King Hu was a scholar of Chinese history and a master …

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18 Fingers of Death! (2006)

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18 Fingers of Death! (2006)

Life imitates art in James Lew’s directorial debut, Hollywood’s go-to Asian heavy and stunt performer from countless American martial arts films. The film employs a ‘mockumentary’ style to tell the story of Buford Lee (James Lew), stunt double to the stars who is desperate to launch his own starring-role project and leap out from the shadows. When Buford is told he’s not a big enough name to attract the finance needed to produce his own film – which he calls 18 Fingers of Death! – he sells his prized possessions collected from years in the movie business to make the movie …

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Machete Kills (2013)

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Machete Kills (2013)

“Fuck world peace,” says Amber Heard, playing Machete’s government fixer who supplies the Latino legend with a new triple-bladed machete and sends him off to Mexico by orders of the US president (played by Charlie Sheen) to stop a madman from blowing up America with a nuke. This is less focused than before and gets bogged down with too many characters and plot-lines, while the set-up sees Rodriguez go over familiar territory riffing on the James Bond spy formula with gags that feel dated, its cheekiness and deranged villains resembling something closer to Austin Powers than anything too subversive. The …

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Machete (2010)

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Machete (2010)

A sublime slice of trashy, punky, post-modern exploitation cinema which shows director Robert Rodriguez in his element – exalting the dubious virtues of his favourite schlocky B-movies while simultaneously making a wry, almost satirical point about the rise of neo-fascism, political corruption, and the plight of minorities in America. He creates an everyday hero for the underclass living in the border towns between Mexico and the USA, and that hero goes by the name ‘Machete’ (Danny Trejo, in his first lead role) – the sort of hero who can beat a guy up while eating a taco. He’s a former …

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Sakra (2023)

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Sakra (2023)

How reassuring to know that, even at the age of 60, Donnie Yen is still churning out blood-spurting bonkers Chinese beat-em-ups like this movie, particularly at a time when he can glide easily between leading contemporary Hong Kong action projects (Enter the Fat Dragon, Raging Fire) and scene-stealing turns in huge Hollywood franchises (Rogue One, John Wick Chapter 4). Sakra sees Yen return to the director’s chair for the first time since 2004’s Black Rose Academy. A lot has changed in the last 20 years, and it shows. Yen’s confidence as a leading man is now just as apparent behind the camera, …

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King of Killers (2023)

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King of Killers (2023)

Underworld actor Kevin Grevioux brings his own comic book to life in this strange revenge/slasher/martial arts hybrid – sort of The Raid meets Battle Royale, if both films were made on a shoestring budget and were bad. Putting the creaky script, acting and visual effects to one side – this is low-budget filmmaking at its most apparent – writer-director Grevioux also fails to capture the urgency required of the genre, and as a result, much of the film feels leaden. However, most of the action holds promise, with an athletic cast put through their paces. Frank Grillo is no stranger …

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

Another Ninja Turtles origin story, Hollywood’s third attempt at reinventing the heroes in a half-shell story following the 1980s Golden Harvest co-productions and Michael Bay’s brash, testosterone-fuelled reboots in the 2010s (which seemingly reimagined the turtles on steroids). This version, from Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures (purveyors of usually smutty, stoner comedies like Sausage Party and the Bad Neighbours films), is the best yet at capturing the turtles’ hormonal teenage dilemmas and brotherly bond, pitched more as a coming-of-age story only with added nunchakus and giant neon mutants. Their sensei Splinter (excellently voiced by Jackie Chan) is …

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