Angel’s Mission (1990)

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Angel’s Mission (1990)

Apparently, this 80s pot-boiler is about a brothel enlisting the help of Yukari Oshima to recover kidnapped Japanese hookers who are suspected of having AIDS. A suited drug baron is investigated by the guerrilla fighter from Eastern Condors (Ha Chi-jan), who shoves cocaine into watermelons and enlists the help of Dick Wei to help protect the cartel. Phillip Ko sports safari shirts to play Chen Kuan-tai’s underling who goes power crazy and recruits some Sicilian mafia types to take over the operation. Following the discovery of his dead sister in his boss’ bathroom, Dick Wei turns on everyone and starts …

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Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

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Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

This enjoyable third outing for the irrepressible Po and his anthropomorphic buddies is a DreamWorks co-production with China. It is also the first in the series to dive headfirst into the supernatural, featuring a bull from the spirit world who is collecting the qi of kung fu masters past and present. Kai (voiced by J.K. Simmons) crosses into the mortal realm with his jade army in preparation to steal the soul of Po, the ‘Dragon Warrior’ (Jack Black), who must face his adversary against a backdrop of other narrative threads. Red panda Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) wants Po to take charge …

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Executioners from Shaolin (1977)

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Executioners from Shaolin (1977)

As an expert in the Shaolin discipline of Hung Gar, this was Lau Kar-leung‘s first attempt at contextualising the style’s historical and dynastic roots. It is also the first film to delve into the Chinese internal systems via the brilliant character of evil eunuch Pai Mei (meaning ‘white brow’) who first appeared in the original Fong Sai-yuk films and had a small outing in Shaw Brothers’ Shaolin Avengers, but takes centre stage here. The film follows events directly after the burning of the Shaolin temple at the hands of Ching dynasty despot Pai Mei (Lo Lieh). Famed rebel Hung Hei-kwan …

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The Karate Kid (1984)

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The Karate Kid (1984)

This popular film inspired a whole new generation of Americans to take up the martial arts in a similar pursuit of the same ideals personified by the film’s young and ostracized central character, Daniel (Ralph Macchio). Many of the film’s most important scenes have now become iconic: wise Japanese sage Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita, from TV’s Happy Days) catching a fly with his chopsticks, the “wax on, wax off” scene, and that famous jumping crane kick at the end, all of which now seem to exist extraneously and embedded on the public conscious. Director Avildsen designed the film to be enjoyed …

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Ninja (2009)

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Ninja (2009)

Isaac Florentine‘s third film with Scott Adkins is an impressive, action-packed martial arts caper which bumps the British star into top billing for the first time in his career. The clean-cut Adkins is brilliantly understated, dressed unassumingly in brown leather jacket and jeans before he storms the villain’s clandestine compound and acrobatically smashes up the place, stylishly sending waves of brutish baddies to the ground with his flying fists and feet. Another great, visceral sequence is set on board a New York subway train which shows Florentine (himself a martial arts expert) opting for an intimately handheld approach to the …

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Profile: Don Niam

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Profile: Don Niam

Date of birth: August 25, 1954 (Akron, Ohio, United States)

Occupation: Actor, kung fu instructor, personal trainer, bodyguard, web designer.

Style: Kung fu

Biography: Don Niam is an actor, kung fu expert and personal trainer most famous for his role as the villain Stingray in the 1993 Godfrey Ho film Undefeatable, which has become a cult classic. Don was born in Akron, Ohio, the youngest of three sons to parents who owned a restaurant business. His father was also a recruiter for the Notre Dame football team. At school, Don was on the wrestling team and graduated with an Associate Degree in Marketing …

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)

Belated sequel to Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning transnational phenomenon Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (released in 2000), although it’s safe to say this follow-up won’t be troubling any award shows any time soon. It’s a cross-cultural wuxia film designed by a committee of investors, funded by American companies Netflix and The Weinstein Company in collaboration with the Chinese state-run China Film Group, filmed in New Zealand and with a cast talking in English. The language choice may be a cause of concern for some, but let’s not forget how both Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-fat had to recite their Mandarin dialogue phonetically for …

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Enemies Closer (2013)

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Enemies Closer (2013)

Enjoyable Van Damme flick which sees him reunite with Timecop and Sudden Death director Peter Hyams, who adds a distinctly glossy Hollywood sheen to a rather simple production set in the sticks of the US-Canadian border. Van Damme is flamboyant as the orange-haired villain Xander, an eco-warrior vegan drug dealer spilling psychobabble dialogue in slight shades of Heath Ledger’s The Joker from The Dark Knight. That might be overstating it a tad, because he is never once convincingly menacing and instead much closer to a pantomime villain. But it is still refreshing to see Van Damme play against type and …

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New Dragon Gate Inn (1992)

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New Dragon Gate Inn (1992)

Superb remake of King Hu‘s 1967 classic which pays homage to Hu’s revisionist wuxia approach and stands as a high-water mark in the early 90s rebirth of the wuxia film, spearheaded by visionary ‘new wave’ filmmakers like Tsui Hark, Raymond Lee and Ching Siu-tung, who each take directing credits on this film. This whirlwind of a production provides expert choreography and top performances throughout. Taking a more modernist approach to the story, this version shifts the focus away from Shih Chun’s scholar and instead focuses on the plight of the resistance fighters Zhou Huaian (Tony Leung) and partner Qiu Moyan (Brigitte Lin, …

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Blind Fury (1989)

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Blind Fury (1989)

Hauer is Nick Parker, a Vietnam vet blinded during the war and taken in by a tribe of swordsmen who teach him their blade skills despite his disability. Twenty years later, Nick tries to hook up with an old army friend in Miami only to walk into a ready-made showdown. His buddy owes money to mob leaders and his son Billy (Call) has been headhunted as compensation. Those blind Samurai skills come in handy against a barrage of adversaries, including a brief cameo from Sho Kosugi as a tacked-on Japanese assassin. To be fair, the action isn’t at all bad. …

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