Hard to Kill (1990)

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Hard to Kill (1990)

Another Seagal ‘cop-bent-on-revenge’ film that delivers quality in a completely different sense of the word: stocky dialogue, cardboard characters and action scenes that go way over-the-top. This is a B-movie without remorse and brilliant entertainment. As cool policeman Mason Storm, Seagal is the ultimate indestructible superhero whose undercover antics into corrupt coppers puts his family in immediate danger. With his loved ones slaughtered, Mason enters a seven year coma, only to eventually recuperate, fall for his nurse (LeBrock), build up his martial arts strength and exact his revenge in the only bloodletting way he knows how. The car chases and shoot-outs …

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Out for Justice (1991)

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Out for Justice (1991)

Fast moving if forgettable cop drama with tough guy Seagal on the hunt for psychotic renegade Forsythe. He murders Seagal’s best friend in cold blood, causing our vigilante hero to enforce the law in his own inimitable style. This involves car chases through Brooklyn, gun fights with Italian mafioso and violent fight scenes in barbershops and pool clubs. It’s routine cop fare with Seagal on top bone-breaking form. However, the necessity to display a sensitive side (divorced, poor upbringing, kindness to animals) borders on farcical.

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Ah Kam (1996)

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Ah Kam (1996)

An action oddity in which art imitates life for the film’s star Michelle Yeoh. She plays a sort of autobiographical version of herself – a Mainland Chinese immigrant down and out in Hong Kong, grubbing along as a flat sharing, chain smoking but emotionally delicate stunt woman for Sammo Hung‘s stunt team. She marries a big shot, moves back to China and retires from action movies, much like she did in real life after her marriage to producer Dickson Poon. Tension is added with an underworld subplot in which Hong Kong production companies appear to be run like triad agencies …

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Interview: Ric Meyers

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Interview: Ric Meyers

Author, filmmaker and kung fu movie expert Ric Meyers talks exclusively about life as one of the genre’s greatest supporters.

Ric Meyers – whose kung fu fandom spans the entire rise and fall and rise again of the martial arts movie genre – has been a reliable and consistent voice on cult film for well over three decades. Not just within his capacity as a regular scribe for Inside Kung Fu, or his expanding list of DVD audio commentaries, or his annual Comic Con Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza, but any obsessive worth their salt should undoubtedly possess a copy of his …

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The Shinjuku Incident (2009)

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The Shinjuku Incident (2009)

The ever likable Jackie Chan might have typecast himself into crass comedy oblivion in the United States, but his dramatic scope in China continues unabated. No more so than with this controversial effort.

Controversial, mainly, on two counts. For a film with no martial arts action to speak of, this is played almost self consciously straight by a stellar cast and is possibly the closest political statement the normally apathetic Chan has made since 1993’s Crime Story (which bombed, incidentally). And equally controversial given Derek Yee’s insistence to not tone down the film’s violence despite pressure from the Chinese censors, resulting …

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The Shaolin Temple (1982)

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The Shaolin Temple (1982)

A rare Hong Kong production filmed in Mainland China and using the original Shaolin temple site – a luxury unafforded to Shaw Brothers and their Shaolin stories. This lavish production may be unashamedly patriotic but it’s also very convincing entertainment, and the balletic wushu choreography is just superb. The acclaim is mostly down to the talents of exciting 18 year old star Jet Li, who somehow performs like a seasoned veteran despite this being his debut film.

Based on one of the many wall paintings which adorn the temple walls, Li plays a new Shaolin recruit who learns the martial arts …

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Hard Target (1993)

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Hard Target (1993)

John Woo’s American debut is a barnstorming Van Damme vehicle. Henriksen fronts a lucrative sideline offering rich sadists the chance to hunt human victims through the deprived streets of New Orleans. It’s a strong sociopolitical indictment on the exploitation of the poor at the hands of the rich. It’s also a great excuse for Van Damme to unleash the big guns and run riot. He’s investigating the disappearance of Butler’s father before her story becomes irrelevant and Henriksen’s hunter becomes the hunted. Woo’s motifs are all here – extended use of Peckinpah-style slow motion, doves, infinite stockpiles of artillery – …

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The Expendables 2 (2012)

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The Expendables 2 (2012)

More geriaction from Stallone’s verbally challenged ensemble of 80s knuckleheads. This time he hands directorial duties over to Simon Con Air West, presumably so he can concentrate more on the script writing. An insane opening sequence sees the mercenaries spring a captive Schwarzenegger from Nepal using firepower, trucks, planes, helicopters, cruise missiles, boats, muscle and might, killing hundreds of people and all before the opening titles. Bruce Willis then appears to explain the story. In a bid to repay his debts, Sly must resurrect his motley crew to retrieve the contents of a safe from a blown out plane somewhere …

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Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

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Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

Demented sequel which excels at being simultaneously awful and awesome in equal measure. If you weren’t on board with the Power Rangers-esque PG-13 modifications to Midway’s incredibly violent computer game in the first film, then this follow up certainly won’t win you over. Ironically, the sequel ups the ante in terms of fan-boy game references, with more special moves and characters than before. This has a hyperactive effect on the acting, costumes, narrative, fight scenes and CGI, which are particularly putrid. The end of the world has never looked so cheap, and the less said about the ‘animality’ ending the better. …

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Profile: Jet Li Lian-jie

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Profile: Jet Li Lian-jie

Date of birth: April 26, 1963 (Hebei, China)

Other names: Jet Li, Li Lian-jie, Li Lin-kit, Jet Lee, Lee Yeung-chung, Li Lien-chieh

Occupation: Actor, producer, director, wushu performer

Style: Wushu

Biography: Born in the Hebei province of North China, Jet Li began training in the performance art of wushu from the age of eight. He won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team three year later and was selected to represent China at state functions around the world. In 1974, at the age of 11, Jet Li performed a martial arts demonstration at the White House for President Richard Nixon to mark …

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