DVD/Blu-ray Reviews
DVD Reviews
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- By Loron Hays
Lady of Steel features one of my favorite fight sequences as its co-headlining stars - Cheng Pei-Pei and Yueh Hua - “fight” each other to determine just where their allegiances lie. The set design of this village is cool. From balancing on the top of a bridge to running on water and flying to rooftops ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 2: Lady of Steel (1970)
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- By Loron Hays
Snake pits! Swordplay! Cheng Pei-pei having great fun with a secret clan of deadly women! Also featuring a lively song and dance number from Pei-pei herself, one would think The Golden Sword would constantly be one of the most energetic Shaw Brothers productions out there. It’s not. In fact ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Golden Sword (1969)
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- By Loron Hays
The Flying Dagger, written and directed by Chang Cheh, takes its homage to filmmaker Akira Kurosawa quite seriously and opens with a monochrome romp in the reed fields as two lovers take some time to enjoy each other. It’s tastefully done, but - because this is a wuxia film - is interrupted ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Flying Dagger (1969)
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- By Loron Hays
Jumping right into the 20-year drama of this family saga, Dragon Swamp opens with an attack from a group of angry monks who want the Jade Dragon Sword returned to their monastery. To say they are annoyed by the thieving ways of The White-Faced General, Tang Dachuan (Huang Chung-Hsin) ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: Dragon Swamp (1969) - Blu-ray Review
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- By Loron Hays
In which, a watermelon becomes a dangerous weapon! Or at least its seeds do! All joking aside, The Invincible Fist is a wonderfully realized wuxia flick that deserves to be recognized. If not for the incredible use of leafy, green reed fields, then for the fight choreography which has Lo Lieh battling it out ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Invincible Fist (1969)
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- By Loron Hays
A female-led wuxia film is nothing new. I know a lot of people want to give that credit to Ang Lee, but history suggests otherwise. Just because popular American cinema failed to notice what Asian cinema was doing (for a long time!!!) doesn’t mean that it wasn’t happening. Just look at 1966’s Come ...
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- By Loron Hays
Opening with a gloriously brutal raid on a village, Killer Dart sets the stage for this multi-layered revenge story with gusto. It is bold with its drama, dynamic with its action sequences, and strong with its characters. And it is no wonder why, especially when you consider just who is behind the camera ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: Killer Dart (1968)
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- By Loron Hays
And, just like that, the coin-targeting trickshot is introduced! Now, a lot of people have complained and bellyached about what you have to sit through in order to get to the brutal killing in The Sword of Swords, but - come on, now - the bloodletting begins early on and it never stops, splashing gallons ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Sword of Swords (1968)
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- By Loron Hays
The blood spatter! The fearless faces of the warriors! The sparks as the swords slam together! The brilliant choreography! Fighting on top of trees! The Jade Raksha, directed by Ho Meng-Hua (Killer Darts) has it all! And, quite honestly, it makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Jade Raksha (1968)
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- By Loron Hays
Chang Wei Fu (Chang Yi) never should have given Yang Kang (Ku Feng), Ying Tien (Tien Sheng), and Chief Tao Ching Lung (Lam Kau) the directions they needed. Fu is a simple woodcutter. He lives by nature’s rules with his family in an isolated location, outside of the nearest ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Bells of Death (1968)
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- By Loron Hays
Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei) is just not having it when a mysterious agent from her past returns and starts framing her for some serious heinous activity! She’s ready to take matters into her own hands in 1968’s Golden Swallow (aka The Girl With The Thunderbolt Kick) ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: Golden Swallow (1968)
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- By Loron Hays
Meet the meanest and most lethal karate master ever to rule the streets. He's Sonny Chiba, one of the greatest martial arts actors to ignite the screen. In The Street Fighter, Chiba stars as Terry Tsurugi, a mercenary who has been hired by both the yakuza and the mafia to kidnap a wealthy ...
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- By Loron Hays
She’s a one woman army! There are a lot of differing opinions on The Thundering Sword. Released by The Shaw Brothers in 1967, this martial arts classic (as its Cheng Pei Pei’s first starring role!) flips the script on the whole sword-killing machismo that was dominant in the martial arts ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Thundering Sword (1967)
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- By Loron Hays
This is the story of a working-class hero. Seriously. Sure, he may have a top-knot hair style and a shiny blade at his side, but Jimmy Wang Yu is nobody’s sucker. The Assassin is a blood-soaked suicide letter and, thanks to the talent behind the camera, it comes across as almost effortless in its ...
Read more: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1: The Assassin (1967)
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- By Emily Strong
Being a hitman isn’t as exciting as some movies might make it out to be. Of course, I’m not speaking from experience, but rather referring to the lonely perspective of Cleveland hitman Frank Bono (played by Allen Baron, who also serves as the writer and director), the protagonist of the bare-bones ...
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- Le Corbeau (1943) - Blu-ray Review
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