They Call Me Bruce? (1982)

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They Call Me Bruce? (1982)

Feature film comedy vehicle for Johnny Carson regular Johnny Yune, a popular American-Korean stand-up, singer and TV personality. The humour is mostly based on broad stereotypes and features some honking one-liners, many of which are actually pretty good. “I got my black belt in the Orient. It was easy; only a written test,” that sort of thing. Yune plays a naive pan-Asian chef (the film is constantly jumbling up its Asian references and geographies) who inadvertently becomes a drugs mule for the Italian mafia when he is sent to New York with bags of flour which have been substituted for …

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Sword Master (2016)

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Sword Master (2016)

Derek Yee takes a swipe at remaking his starring-role debut – Shaw Brothers’ 1977 wuxia flick Death Duel – with the help of Tsui Hark’s zany brand of blockbuster magic. 3D gimmickry and sweeping CGI vistas work alongside tangible, sumptuous sets and costumes, and the sort of fleshed-out, fully rounded characters you would expect to find in a contemporary remake. It takes a while for the film to settle into its romance narrative, and at times it feels like the film is in danger of becoming completely overwhelmed by its own imagination. But it soon hits its stride once the …

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Profile: Tim Man

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Profile: Tim Man

Date of birth: 22 November, 1979 (Malmö, Sweden)

Style: Taekwondo, Vovinam, Judo, wushu, boxing, Muay Thai, MMA.

Occupation: Actor, action director, stuntman.

Biography: Tim Man was born in the Swedish city of Malmö to a Swedish mother and a father from Hong Kong. He started martial arts at the age of six where he trained in judo and jui-jitsu. At the age of eight, he studied the Vietnamese discipline of Vovinam from his teacher, Tha Truing Duong, who also taught him taekwondo. Tim now holds a 2nd dan black belt in taekwondo.

At the age of 15, Tim Man was already a three-time taekwondo …

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KFMG Podcast S02 Episode 19: Tim Man

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KFMG Podcast S02 Episode 19: Tim Man

“I think I was a bit brainwashed as a kid. I thought I was living in a movie. I wanted to be like Jean-Claude Van Damme, kicking the tree.”

Fresh from his award-winning fight choreography duties on a string of Scott Adkins hits – including Boyka: Undisputed, Eliminators, Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, and the upcoming Accident Man and Triple Threat – it was a great pleasure to spend time with the Swedish martial arts maestro, Tim Man. A former taekwondo champion, Tim Man learned the hard way by getting knocked around as a stuntman in Thailand. His credits include working …

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Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

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Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

The fourth film in the Undisputed franchise expands on the Boyka legend, and in doing so, highlights just how far these films have distanced themselves from Walter Hill’s original vision in 2002. Under Isaac Florentine‘s guidance – himself a keen martial artist – not only has he created the first series of films to actively promote the sport of mixed martial arts (replacing the original boxing concept), but he has also provided British actor Scott Adkins with the most defining role of his career. His work as the conflicted Russian convict, Yuri Boyka – the “world’s most complete fighter” – …

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Savage Dog (2017)

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Savage Dog (2017)

Stuntman-turned-director Jesse V. Johnson uses the relatively untapped cinematic backdrop of the fallout from the first Indochina war for this efficient Scott Adkins vehicle. Set in 1959, North Vietnam has become a post-war political hotbed and final outpost for a disparate group of European extremists, brought over to defend the French colony against the Viet Minh forces and the rising tide of communism. Ex-Nazis and war criminals command over a jungle refuge, clinging onto their increasingly fractious authority. Adkins does a good turn as a boxing, bomb-making Irish republican who winds up in a colonial jail and used as the …

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Kung Fu Trailers of Fury (2016)

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Kung Fu Trailers of Fury (2016)

A succession of great and weird kung fu movie trailers from Hong Kong’s golden age. The trailers were discovered under the stage of a UK cinema, and many are presented here for the first time since their initial release. Absolute classics like The Way of the Dragon and Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow sit alongside more esoteric choices, like Bruce’s Fingers, Kung Fu vs. Yoga, and Chinese Kung Fu Against Godfather. There are also a few rare asides filmed only for promotional purposes, like Simon Yuen in full Beggar So costume introducing The Story of Drunken Master and its star, …

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Wolf Warrior II (2017)

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Wolf Warrior II (2017)

The first Wolf Warrior was a passionate, jingoistic film which resembled a recruitment tool for the Chinese military. It also showed first-time director Jacky Wu Jing to be perfectly capable of dealing with large budgets, even if his film was completely lacking in character and plot. This sequel is a similarly patriotic act of machismo which takes the fight to a fictitious part of Africa, where it quickly lapses into total confusion and chaos. It paints the picture of a nation ravished by civil war, poverty and disease, and constantly makes reference to Africa as a country not a continent, …

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KFMG Podcast S02 Episode 18: Scott Adkins

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KFMG Podcast S02 Episode 18: Scott Adkins

“I’m a good collaborator. I work very hard. I really put my heart into it, and I think directors respond to that. They know I’m going to give it my all.”

Scott Adkins is one of the world’s biggest martial arts movie stars. From humble beginnings as a Van Damme and Bruce Lee obsessed taekwondo practitioner growing up in Birmingham, UK, to starring in some of the best fight movies of the last decade, Scott Adkins has consistently brought a unique charm, athleticism and authenticity to his own special brand of high-kicking action films. His latest film, Boyka: Undisputed, sees Scott …

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Operation Mekong (2016)

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Operation Mekong (2016)

A multi award-winning box office smash hit in China, this tells the true story of a 2011 incident on the Mekong river in which 13 Chinese sailors were killed by a Myanmar drug trafficking ring. Following a joint operation involving the Chinese, Thai, Myanmar and Laos governments, the film recounts the steps taken to eventually capturing those responsible: a drug-fuelled group of Burmese pirates using child soldiers in collusion with Thai troops. The action flicks from tense, Jason Bourne-style surveillance situations in urban settings before culminating in full-on guerrilla warfare and scenes which borrow from The Deer Hunter. Veteran Hong …

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