The Deed of Death (2019)

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The Deed of Death (2019)

Along with Adrian Teh’s Wira, this film rounds off an impressive year for Malaysian martial arts cinema. A confident if obviously low-budget directorial debut from cinematographer, Areel Abu Bakar, this film – like Wira, which was picked up by Netflix – has also enjoyed international recognition, winning an award at the 2020 New York Asian Film Festival and a distribution deal with Well Go USA. Unlike Wira‘s more familiar crime-busting themes, this film is rooted in themes of identity, spiritualism and morality. It tells the story of a farming family of Malay Silat fighters whose martial arts practice is as much an …

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KFMG Podcast S06 Episode 71: Philip Ng

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KFMG Podcast S06 Episode 71: Philip Ng

“I’m a fanboy, basically, that got to make kung fu movies with my idols. It’s pretty cool.”

When Philip Ng burst onto the scene in his 2014 leading-man debut, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai – co-starring Sammo Hung and with fight choreography by Yuen Woo-ping – followed by his turn as Bruce Lee in the 2016 Hollywood biopic, Birth of the Dragon, the kung fu movie world was introduced to a wonderful new talent. In reality, of course, Philip’s story of overnight success could not have been further from the truth. Since the early 2000s – when Philip decided to leave …

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Profile: Philip Ng Wan-lung

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Profile: Philip Ng Wan-lung

Date of birth: 16 September 1977 (Hong Kong)

Other names: Philip Ng, Philip Wan Lung Ng, Philip Wan-Lung Ng

Occupation: Actor, martial artist, action director, second unit director, stunt coordinator

Style: Wing Chun, Choy Li Fut, Hung Gar, Western Boxing, jujitsu, taekwondo, Eskrima.

Biography: Kung fu star Philip Ng was born in Hong Kong in 1977 into a martial arts family. His father, Sam Ng, is a master in the Choy Li Fut style, and his uncle, Alan Ang, is a master of Wing Chun. The Ng family – Philip, his mother Frances, father Sam, and his sister Laura – emigrated to Chicago, USA, …

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Undercover Punch and Gun (2019)

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Undercover Punch and Gun (2019)

In some small way, it’s quite reassuring to find that – in 2019 – Hong Kong hasn’t lost its touch for producing disjointed, goofy action comedies. This chaotic film jumps from scenes of Van Ness Wu pretending to cook meth on a fake TV cookery show, to a stark sequence in which a sniper shoots dead a bunch of young, kidnapped girls. The tone is aiming for the type of mayhem-fuelled action films that Jackie Chan and John Woo made in the 1980s and 90s – and, similarly, it has much of the cast performing their own stunts, with a …

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Special Forces (2003)

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Special Forces (2003)

A prime slice of jingoistic gung-ho American violence from Isaac Florentine, who turns a rather pedestrian tub-thumping military yarn into something quite special thanks to a highly energetic performance from a young British martial artist called Scott Adkins. It would prove to be the start of a very fruitful working relationship (see the Ninja and Undisputed franchises), and it’s clear to see why. Adkins essentially carries the film’s final act with a barnstorming display of gravity-defying fight work, especially during his extended duel with Vladislavas Jacukevicius playing a kung fu rival. It quickly becomes obvious that Adkins is a star in the …

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Kung Fu Fever (1979)

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Kung Fu Fever (1979)

A butchered South Korean Bruceploitation flick which exists in a few different versions. The British dubbed cut has some great stock footage at the start featuring the real Bruce Lee talking at a press conference to promote Fist of Unicorn in June 1972, for which he had a spent a day of its production helping out his childhood buddy – and the film’s star – Unicorn Chan. The footage is doctored to make it look like Bruce is talking about his favourite student, Ricky Chen (Dragon Lee), who he endorses as a master of his ‘secret deadly finger technique’. This …

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Profile: Brahim Chab

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Profile: Brahim Chab

Date of birth: 17 May, 1984 (Beaumont, France)

Full name: Brahim Achabbakhe

Other names: Brahime Achabbakhe; Brahim Achabbakhe; Brahime Achabbkhe; Achabakkhe Brahim; Brahim

Occupation: Stunt performer, actor, stunt coordinator, fight choreographer.

Style: Aikido, karate, Muay Thai kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Biography: Brahim Chab was born in Beaumont, France, to Moroccan parents. Inspired by the film First Strike, he started studying martial arts at the age of 14, learning aikido and later karate. He also developed skills in ‘tricking’ with the French stunt group, Cascade. In 2012, the group made it to the semi-finals of Series 6 of Britain’s Got Talent. Brahim has also studied Muay Thai kickboxing …

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KFMG Podcast S06 Episode 70: Brahim Chab

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KFMG Podcast S06 Episode 70: Brahim Chab

“On every movie I’m doing, I’m trying to give the characters their own identity through the punches and the kicks. I don’t create fights – I create a story.”

Over the last 15 years, French stunt performer and martial artist Brahim Chab has jumped, kicked and punched his way into the upper echelons of the fight film business. In 2021, he wrapped on Monkey Man – the directorial debut of actor, Dev Patel, which has been picked up by Netflix. The film, described as ‘John Wick in Mumbai’, sees Brahim provide fight choreography as well as acting in a supporting role. In …

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Way of the Black Dragon (1979)

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Way of the Black Dragon (1979)

Before the omnipotence of kung fu comedies and in the wake of relentless Bruceploitation pictures, Hong Kong was still churning out recycled crime bashers like this one. Writer-director Chan Chue (an actor probably most famous for being the factory manager in The Big Boss) takes a cavalier attitude to story-telling – and directing for that matter – preferring to, presumably, just riff it on the day. This film is saved (just about) by kung fu star Carter Wong and American martial artist Ron Van Clief, both of whom leave it quite late in the film before they unleash their magic. …

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The Black Dragon (1974)

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The Black Dragon (1974)

An early leading role for Jason Pai Piao, filmed in the Philippines and with a story borrowed from The Big Boss. Jason plays an illiterate, naive country-boy with great kung fu skills who follows his successful brother to the bright lights of the big city in search of fortune. He lands a job on the docks where he discovers that his gweilo bosses are smuggling opium into the cargo. He teams up with Ron Van Clief – making his Hong Kong action film debut – and his crew of righteous karate fighters to take out the boss before inevitably having …

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