KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 108: Tribute to King Hu

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 108: Tribute to King Hu

“No one has really captured the pinnacle of the artform of wuxia filmmaking like King Hu did… That’s why we’re still talking about King Hu, because he did it better than anybody else.” Michael Berry

King Hu is one of China’s most influential filmmakers, famous for his historical martial arts films which helped to popularise the wuxia (‘martial chivalry’) genre in the 1960s and 70s with classic films like Come Drink with Me (1966), Dragon Inn (1967), and A Touch of Zen (1971), for which he would receive the ‘Technical Grand Prize’ at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. His work has inspired …

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Raining in the Mountain (1979)

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Raining in the Mountain (1979)

Undercover agents, double-crossing monks and corrupt officials duck, dive and duke it out within the hallowed halls of a Buddhist monastery in King Hu‘s last significant film. Made in South Korea simultaneously with Legend of the Mountain, this is a martial arts movie only in the loosest sense (the first fight scene occurs nearly an hour into the film), with action scenes filmed in the wuxia tradition, choreographed by Beijing Opera-trained Ng Ming-tsui, who was part of the Seven Little Fortunes with Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. Always keen to dabble in genre, Hu’s film is more of a caper …

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Painted Skin (1993)

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Painted Skin (1993)

King Hu‘s swan-song sees him finally shoot in mainland China (Hu was born and educated in Beijing) after years of working in exile, for a film based on Pu Songling’s hugely popular 18th century ghost story, The Painted Skin. It’s a story he had originally wanted to adapt in the 1960s, before making the superb Dragon Inn. This isn’t a scratch on his other work. Stylistically, its closest companion is probably 1979’s zany supernatural caper, Legend of the Mountain. A Chinese Ghost Story star Joey Wang is somewhat inevitably cast as a possessed concubine who wears a mask of human …

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 107: Christina Newland – Live in Woking, ‘Hard Target’ special

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 107: Christina Newland – Live in Woking, ‘Hard Target’ special

“He has a certain quality about him that makes him more appealing to a wider audience than just men wanting to watch an action hero shoot things, [and] he was more approachable to female audience members.” Christina Newland

In the pantheon of great Van Damme action flicks from the 1980s and 90s, Hard Target (1993) undoubtedly stands out as one of his best. As hunky Cajun ex-Marine, Chance Boudreaux, the mullet-wearing ‘Muscles from Brussels’ is able to strut his more sensitive side while also exhibiting the sort of superhero antics that would put Schwarzenegger to shame, like firing a pistol while standing on …

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 106: Sébastien Foucan – Live in Canterbury, ‘Drunken Master’ special

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 106: Sébastien Foucan – Live in Canterbury, ‘Drunken Master’ special

“I don’t think about stopping. It’s part of me… I will stop when I die.”

Parkour pioneer Sébastien Foucan can be credited for bringing Parkour to the masses. His seminal UK documentary, Jump London (2003) – and its follow up, Jump Britain (2005) – sparked a cultural phenomenon which would see youngsters take to the streets in wild, acrobatic, hair-raising abandon; running, climbing and leaping across their urban environment in scenes we still see on our streets today. For Sébastien, a movie career followed, with stand-out roles in action films including Casino Royale (2006) and The Tournament (2009).

Those perceptive enough to see …

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Force of Execution (2013)

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Force of Execution (2013)

Reductive, brain-rotting actioner in which Steven Seagal plays an aging criminal in a turf war with a Mexican drug cartel, and Ving Rhames plays a fresh-out-of-the-clink badass called ‘Iceman’, but you can call him ‘Ice’. So far, so familiar. But the far more interesting subplot involves Seagal’s lackey, played by Bren Foster, a martial arts wunderkind who messes up a hit and ends up out of the gang and onto the streets, battered and boozed and with broken fingers. He is nursed back to health by Danny Trejo, a chef who also dabbles in black magic who sticks a poisonous scorpion …

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Maximum Conviction (2012)

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Maximum Conviction (2012)

For this perfunctory DTV thriller, Steven Seagal is joined by ex-wrestler Steve Austin, aka ‘Stone Cold’, which is a good way to describe the film’s calibre of acting. Both Steves seem to be communicating on a similar monotone frequency, as if they’re sharing the same air supply, leaving it to the supporting acts to spark life into this inert macho fest. They play security guards – former Marines, of course – in charge of a black site prison monitoring some rotten criminals, who bring in two new female inmates whose backgrounds are left deliberately ambiguous. A crack team of mercenaries …

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 105: Bren Foster

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KFMG Podcast S08 Episode 105: Bren Foster

“The clock’s ticking, and right now, I really want to focus on action movies.”

Bren Foster is a man on a mission. Fresh from the positive reactions to his blistering 2024 martial arts revenge drama, Life After Fighting – which also marked his directorial debut – Bren is now keen to show the world a new kind of action hero. The former soap star, who made his name on shows like Days of Our Lives and Home and Away, is now capitalising on his incredible martial arts abilities to star in more fight films. His next will be an MMA actioner …

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Profile: Bren Foster

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Profile: Bren Foster

Date of birth: 2 November, 1976 (London, UK)

Occupation: Actor, martial arts instructor, producer, writer, director.

Style: Taekwondo, Hapkido, Hwa Rang Do, Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Biography: Bren Foster is an Australian actor and martial artist. His mother is of Cypriot heritage and his father of English-Irish heritage. He was born in London, but moved to Australia when he was three years old. At the age of six, he started training in karate, and then moved onto Hapkido and taekwondo. At 14, he started training in Muay Thai, and at 21, he learned Brazilian jiu jitsu. He has also trained in Filipino martial arts with …

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Life After Fighting (2024)

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Life After Fighting (2024)

Impressive Australian indie from Bren Foster, a former soap star and martial artist who writes, directs, produces, choreographs the fight scenes and stars in this effective, efficient revenge drama. What it lacks in budget it makes up for in an absorbing cinéma-vérité style which lends the drama a quite convincing sense of reality – despite the extreme nature of the story – supported by strong acting performances (especially the film’s central warring couple, played by Luke Ford and Cassie Howarth), and great action which shows Foster at his blistering best. Foster plays a hunky, retired, wholesome MMA fighter called Alex …

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