Subgenre Sampler

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Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019): Dir. Wilson Yip
Feat. Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Danny Kwok-Kwan Chan; Grand finale to ground breaking and beloved martial arts series, with Donnie Yen reprising his role as the legendary Wing Chun master, who travels to…
Blade of the Immortal (2017): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Takuya Kimura, Sugisaki Hana, Fukushi Sota…; Japanese uber–director Miike Takashi’s 100th feature, based on a popular manga series about a vengeful swordsman with an uncanny ability to…
Headshot (2016): Dir. Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto
Feat. Iko Uwais, Chelsea Islan; Iko Uwais (star of THE RAID) returns in this impossibly violent Indonesian martial arts feast. An overused plot device of an elite fighter who wakes…
Assassin, The (2015): Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Feat. Shu Qi, Chen Chang, Satoshi Tsumabuki; Acclaimed director Hou Hsiao–Hsien returns with a breathtaking martial–arts epic in which an assassin accepts a dangerous mission to kill…
Ip Man 3 (2015): Dir. Wilson Yip
Feat. Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Mike Tyson; Bone–crunching continuation of the blockbuster martial art series has Donnie Yen fighting to save the city from evil property developer Mike…
Raid 2, The (2014): Dir. Gareth Evans
Feat. Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Julie Estelle…; Picking up from where it last left off, this epic sequel to the best martial arts movie in recent memory combines gangland melodrama (reminiscent of…
Berlin File, The (2013): Dir. Ryoo Seung-Wan
Feat. Jung-woo Ha, Gianna Jun; After an illegal arms deal in Berlin is disrupted by unknown assailants, a South Korean intelligence agent finds himself embroiled in a vast…
Grandmaster, The (Yi dai zong shi) (2013): Dir. Wong Kar-Wai
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Zhang Ziyi; Wong Kar–Wai's typically sumptous version of the life of martial–arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.
Ip Man: The Final Fight (2013): Dir. Herman Yau
Feat. Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Anita Yuen…; The most authentic Ip Man film yet recounts the legendary grandmaster's exploits as a revered teacher of Wing Chun in Hong Kong during the 50s and…
Protector 2, The (Tom yum goong 2) (2013): Dir. Prachya Pinkaew
Feat. Tony Jaa, Marrese Crump, RZA; ONG–BAK superstar Tony Jaa punches below his weight in this undercooked sequel to the 2005 Sydney–set action romp about a country boy who…
Rurouni Kenshin (2012): Dir. Keishi Otomo
Feat. Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Teruyuki Kagawa…; A gracefully violent adaptation of the popular manga series, about a brilliant shogun who retreats from society during an era of decline for samurai,…
Wu Dang (2012): Dir. Patrick Leung
Feat. Vincent Zhao; A rambunctious, action–packed throwback to '80s martial arts flicks and strapping Indiana Jones–style adventure, centred on a famed…
Bunohan (Return to Murder) (2011): Dir. Dain Said
Feat. Zahiril Adzim, Faizal Hussein, Wan Hanafisu…; Somber martial–arts flick with three estranged brothers returning to their hometown to care for their ailing father. Interesting hybrid of…
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Jet Li, Xun Zhou; Tsui Hark is in late–career form, directing this sequel–of–sorts to the oft–filmed 'Dragon Gate Inn' legend with gusto and…
Lost Bladesman, The (2011): Dir. Felix Chong, Alan Mak
Feat. Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang; Yet another big screen reinvention of the 'Three Kingdoms' legend, this time from the perspective of talismanic figure Guan Yu, whose exploits on the…
My Kingdom (2011): Dir. Xiaosong Gao
Feat. Chun Wu, Geng Han; A commercial, action–inflected rendering of Peking Opera (a la Tsui Hark's PEKING OPERA BLUES), centred on the rivalry between two…
Raid, The (The Raid: Redemption) (2011): Dir. Gareth Evans
Feat. Iko Uwais; The finest Asian action export since ONG–BAK, pitting an out–of–their–depth SWAT team against a tenement of drug dealers,…
Shaolin (2011): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Jackie Chan…; Feuding warlords threaten to tear China apart and only a group of Shaolin monks stand in the way of annihilation.
This Girl is Badass!! (2011): Dir. Mum Jokmok
Feat. JeeJa Yanin; Jija Yanin (CHOCOLATE) stars in this martial arts comedy about a girl whose family life is turned upside–down when she gets mixed up with…
Wu Xia (Swordsmen) (2011): Dir. Peter Chan
Feat. Donnie Yen, Wei Tang, Takeshi Kaneshiro…; Oddball homage to ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN, set on the cusp of China's transition to a republic, with a Yen as a gentle papermaker who's killing of two…
13 Assassins (2010): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Koji Yakusho, Yamada Takayuki, Yusuke Iseya…; Takashi Miike turns in perhaps his most entertaining and accomplished film yet with this rollicking SEVEN SAMURAI–inspired adventure, centred…
14 Blades (2010): Dir. Daniel Lee
Feat. Donnie Yen, Chun Wu, Sammo Hung…; A secret agent of the emperor’s court is betrayed by his colleagues in this spectacular Ming Dynasty–set thriller. Something of a return to…
Bangkok Knockout (BKO) (2010): Dir. Panna Rittikrai
Feat. Chatchapol Kulsiriwoottichai, Sarawoot Kumsorn, Sorapong Chatree; Ordinary production values and mediocre performances are beside the point in this off–the–wall Thai martial arts, centred on a motley…
Blades of Blood (2010): Dir. Jun-ik Lee
Feat. Seong-hyeon Baek, Seung-Won Cha; The dir. of THE KING AND THE CLOWN returns to the Chosun era with an energetic tale of working class uprising in the shadow of Japanese invasion. A…
Blood Fight: Bang Rajan 2 (2010): Dir. Tanit Jitnukul; Though not quite on the scale of the battle–heavy original, this fiery sequel nonetheless charges forth with another succession of brutal,…
Bruce Lee My Brother (2010): Dir. Manfred Wong, Yip Wai-Man
Feat. Tony Leung (Kar-fai), Aarif Rahman, Christy Chung; A rambunctious, rose–tinted chronicle of Bruce Lee’s child and teenhood before departing for the USA to cement his screen legend. Doubling…
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Andy Lau, Tony Leung (Kar-fai), Carina Lau…; Historical–whodunit, breathlessly paced, with Andy Lau as the dissident detective racing to hunt down a team of mysterious assassins attempting…
Gallants (2010): Dir. Chi-kin Kwok, Clement Sze-Kit Cheng
Feat. Siu-Lung Leung, Kuan Tai Chen; An exuberant homage to the Shaw Brothers films of yesteryear, this kung–fu comedy delights as an old–school actioner, replete with…
Ip Man 2 (2010): Dir. Wilson Yip
Feat. Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Simon Yam…; The kick–ass legend of Ip Man continues with the wushu grandmaster immigrating to Hong Kong to school other Kung Fu practitioners in the art of…
Ip Man: The Legend is Born (2010): Dir. Herman Yau
Feat. To Yue Hong, Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen…; Worthy prequel to the popular IP MAN series centres on our hero's early life as he studies the martial art Wing Chun. Unpretentious film–making…
Legend of the Fist - The Return of Chen Zhen (2010): Dir. Andrew Lau
Feat. Donnie Yen, Shu Qi, Anthony Wong…; Belated sequel to Bruce Lee's FIST OF FURY (remade with Jet Li as FIST OF LEGEND) picks up well after the Dojo–busting triumphs of those films,…
Reign of Assassins (2010): Dir. Chao-Bin Su
Feat. Michelle Yeoh, Woo-sung Jung, Kelly Lin…; Classy John Woo–produced swordplay, with Kelly Lin as a feared wuxia assassin who, seeking a new life, surgically alters her appearance (to…
Besouro (The Assailant) (2009): Dir. Joao Daniel Tikhomiroff
Feat. Ailton Carmo, Flavio Rocha, Jessica Barbosa; Set against the backdrop of the Brazilian civil rights struggle Invigorating tale told at breakneck pace of a young man's rise to folk hero status…
Bodyguards and Assassins (2009): Dir. Teddy Chen
Feat. Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Tony Leung (Kar-fai)…; A hefty, star–studded take on turn of the century events in Hong Kong, in which the assassination of famous revolutionary figure Sun Yat Sen…
Kamui (2009): Dir. Yoichi Sai
Feat. Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Koyuki; High adventure and spectacular fight sequences energize this otherwise inadequate period piece about fugitive ninjas in Japan.
Kung Fu Chefs (Gong fu chu shen) (2009): Dir. Wing Kin Yip
Feat. Sammo Hung, Vanness Wu, Cherrie Ying; This gastronomic spin on the martial arts movie lacks the invention or absurdist comedy of GOD OF COOKERY, however still delivers plenty of chopsocky…
Merantau (2009): Dir. Gareth Evans
Feat. Iko Uwais; Indonesia's riposte to ONG–BAK stars newcomer Iko Uwais as a young man from a Jakarta tribe whose rite of passage via the big city exposes him…
Mulan (2009): Dir. Jingle Ma, Wei Dong
Feat. Zhao Wei, Jaycee Chan; The legend of Mulan (previously tackled by Disney) is given the big screen treatment in this sweeping historical costume epic, a current specialty of…
Ong-Bak 3 (2009): Dir. Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai
Feat. Tony Jaa; Cliffhanger ending to the ONG–BAK legend sees Thai martial arts phenom Tony Jaa return to battle his arch nemesis (from Part II’s prequel…
Raging Phoenix (2009): Dir. Rashane Limtrakul
Feat. JeeJa Yanin; The female star of CHOCOLATE returns with break dancing moves to complement her sick martial arts skills, in this over–the–top kickboxing…
Storm Warriors, The (Storm Riders II) (2009): Dir. Oxide Pang, Danny Pang
Feat. Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Simon Yam; The Pang brothers helm this flamboyant, effects–heavy sequel to the OTT Hong Kong hit, delivering a mixture of wushu and wizardry with…
Tracing Shadow (Zhui ying) (2009): Dir. Marco Mak, Francis Ng
Feat. Jaycee Chan, Hao Dang, Francis Ng; This batty Ming Dynasty comedy is a worthy throwback to Hong Kong’s campy martial arts movies of the early 90s, with an extravagant blend of…
Treasure Hunter, The (2009): Dir. Yen-ping Chu
Feat. Jay Chou, Chiling Lin, Eric Tsang…; Madcap fusion of Indiana Jones and martial arts mayhem, with Mandarin popstar Jay Chou leading the charge as a protector of relics on the hunt for a…
An Empress and the Warriors (Kong saan mei yan) (2008): Dir. Ching Siu Tung
Feat. Donnie Yen, Xiaodong Guo, Zhenghai Kou…; Jazzed up historical drama with a young woman thrust into the role of Empress upon her father's death, and fight for her kingdom. Conventional…
Butterfly Lovers (2008): Dir. Jingle Ma
Feat. Charlene Choi, Chun Wu, Ge Hu…; Martial arts 'M Butterfly' charts the afflictions that befall two lovers destined to always be parted. Gaudy, gender–bending romance from Hong…
Chanbara Beauty (2008): Dir. Yôhei Fukuda
Feat. Eri Otoguro, Chise Nakamura; Fan–servicing bikini swashbuckler, with two scantily clad babes slashing their way through zombie hoards. A crummy, if entertaining hodgepodge…
Chocolate (2008): Dir. Prachya Pinkaew
Feat. JeeJa Yanin, Hiroshi Abe, Pongpat Wachirabunjong; Impressive newcomer Jeeja Yanin plays a butt kicking autistic girl (!) in this exhilarating revenge movie, a standout amongst Thailand’s recent…
Ichi (2008): Dir. Fumisiko Sori
Feat. Haruka Ayase, Shido Nakamura, Yôsuke Kubozuka; ZATOICHI spin–off turns tradition on its head by casting a woman in the role of a blind singer who also happens to be handy with a samurai…
Ip Man (2008): Dir. Wilson Yip
Feat. Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan…; Kung fu stalwart Donnie Yen assumes the legend of Ip Man, celebrated master of the rare and deadly form of martial arts, Wing Chun (later adopted by…
Ong-Bak 2 (Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning) (2008): Dir. Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai
Feat. Tony Jaa, Sorapong Chatree, Sarunyu Wongkrachang; Heavy–handed follow–up to the decade’s best martial arts movie, co–directed by and starring ONG–BAK’s Tony Jaa as a…
Red Cliff (The Battle of Red Cliff) (2008): Dir. John Woo
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Takeshi Kaneshiro, Fengyi Zhang…; A gargantuan Han Dynasty epic from Hong Kong's action movie grandmaster, John Woo, in which two kingdoms must form an unlikely alliance to stave off…
Three Kingdoms (Resurrection of the Dragon) (2008): Dir. Daniel Lee
Feat. Andy Lau, Sammo Hung, Maggie Q…; Rousing take on a Chinese literary classic rehashes the legendary Han Dynasty power struggle between three warring kingdoms (recently given the royal…
Wushu - The Young Generation (2008): Dir. Antony Szeto
Feat. Sammo Hung, Fengchao Liu, Wenjie Wang; Under the auspices of genre legends Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan (in producing role), this standard–issue kung fu flick introduces a bevy a…
Black Belt (Kuro-obi) (2007): Dir. Shunichi Nagasaki
Feat. Akihito Yagi, Tatsuya Naka; Defence meets attack in this measured martial arts drama set in 1930s Japan, in which two karate experts (played by real–life karate pros) take…
Drummer, The (Zhan. gu) (2007): Dir. Kenneth Bi
Feat. Tony Leung (Kar-fai), Kenneth Tsang, Jaycee Chan; Visually enticing martial arts drama of a self–indulgent son sent into the Taiwanese mountains to escape gangland city retribution, who ends up…
Fighting Beat (2007): Dir. Piti Jaturaphat; Agile martial arts action flick based in a Thai street fighting bar renowned for its local competitors, who find themselves in a deadly fight for…
Invisible Target (Naam yi boon sik) (2007): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue…; Unyielding martial arts thriller rumbles with a group of detectives commissioned to take out a local Hong Kong mercenary gang. The expected ass…
Kung Fu Dunk (Gong fu guan lan) (2007): Dir. Yen-ping Chu
Feat. Charlene Choi, Jay Chou, Eric Tsang…; Inane sporting comedy about a skilled martial artist recruited to play basketball at the local university in return for help in finding his birth…
Muay Thai Chaiya Boxers (Chaiya) (2007): Dir. Kongkiat Khomsiri
Feat. Akara Amarttayakul, Sonthaya Chitmanee, Don Ferguson…; Rough–and–tumble ONG–BAK impersonator centred on three country boys, trained in the unique ‘Chaiya’ Muay Thai discipline, who…
Siyama: Village of Warriors (2007): Dir. Preecha Songsakul; Three teenagers travel back to the 18th century in their Toyota to lend a helping hand to villagers engaged in an epic battle with a callous Burmese…
Sword Of Alexander (Taitei no ken) (2007): Dir. Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Feat. Hiroshi Abe, Riki Takeuchi; Camp sword and sorcery pastiche mines the Japanese tradition for bizarre humour, genre–mincing, and spectacular overacting, with…
City of Violence, The (2006): Dir. Ryoo Seung-Wan
Feat. Doo-hong Jung, Kil-Kang Ahn; A dazzling, action–fantastic revenger by way of Korea, this draws its considerable bloodletting from the aftermath of a funeral, where two…
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006): Dir. Zhang Yimou
Feat. Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou; Another sumptuous Tang Dynasty epic in martial arts from the dir. of HERO, cast in the mould of a Shakespearian power struggle between an Emperor, an…
Dragon Tiger Gate (2006): Dir. Wilson Yip
Feat. Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue, Donnie Yen…; Flamboyant, off–the–hook actioner in which two estranged kung–fu masters must put aside their differences to overcome a marauding…
Dynamite Warrior (2006): Dir. Chalem Wongpim
Feat. Dan Chupong, Leo Putt; As if to accommodate an escalating reputation for martial arts outrageousness, Thailand’s stunt extraordinaires risk life and limb in their most…
Love and Honor (Bushi no ichibun) (2006): Dir. Yoji Yamada
Feat. Takuya Kimura, Nenji Kobayashi, Ken Ogata; Third chapter in dir. Yamada's revisionist samurai trilogy looks at a recently blinded samurai and the lengths his wife will go to protect his…
Rebel, The (2006): Dir. Truc "Charlie" Nguyen
Feat. Dustin Nguyen; This vigorous martial arts actioner set in 1920s Vietnam is unusually committed to the finer details of political turmoil and period recreation,…
Robin-B-Hood (Bo bui gai wak) (2006): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Louis Koo, Michael Hui…; Chan hams it up in this big–budget action caper as a compulsive gambler who inadvertently ends up with a kidnapped baby as a means to pay off…
Azumi 2 (2005): Dir. Shusuke Kaneko
Feat. Aya Ueto, Shun Oguri, Ai Maeda…; Samurai girl–power sweeps feudal Japan once more in this competent, but lesser installment (minus the original director) in the Azumi…
Death Trance (2005): Dir. Yuji Shimomura
Feat. Tak Sakaguchi; Another insane, neo–samurai fantasy from the VERSUS camp involving the battle over a mysterious coffin that, if opened, could destroy the…
Duelist (Hyeongsa) (2005): Dir. Lee Myung-Se
Feat. Ji-won Ha, Sung-kee Ahn, Dong-won Kang; A restless, meta–revisionist sword epic from the dir. of NOWHERE TO HIDE places two undercover police officers in pursuit of an elusive…
House of Fury (2005): Dir. Stephen Fung
Feat. Anthony Wong, Stephen Fung, Gillian Chung…; Teenage kung fu experts find that their father's far–fetched tales have a grain of truth to them in this madcap adventure featuring fight…
Myth, The (San Wa) (2005): Dir. Stanley Tong
Feat. Jackie Chan; Alternating between past and present, Jackie Chan plays a warrior general during the Qing Dynasty and a modern day archaeologist respectively in this…
Promise, The (Wu ji) (2005): Dir. Chen Kaige
Feat. Hiroyuki Sanada, Dong-Kun Jang, Cecilia Cheung…; Visually exquisite, if utterly frivolous Golden Globe–nominated romantic epic from the director of FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE relays the story of…
Protector, The (Tom yum goong, Warrior King) (2005): Dir. Prachya Pinkaew
Feat. Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao; Muay Thai phenomenon Tony Jaa continues his reinvigoration of the martial arts genre with this hotly anticipated follow–up to ONG–BAK: a…
Seven Swords (2005): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung; Legendary Hong Kong dir. Tsui Hark returns with an action epic set among the brutal 17th Century Ching dynasty, as seven warriors come together to…
Shadowless Sword (Muyeong geom) (2005): Dir. Young-Jun Kim
Feat. Seo-Jin Lee, Yoon So-yi; Spiffy Korean wuxia extravaganza grafting comedy, romance and action aplenty onto the skin of an ambitious historical epic. Scaling the efforts of…
Shinobi (2005): Dir. Ten Shimoyama
Feat. Joe Odagiri, Yukie Nakama; Set in an ancient Japan complete with magical trappings, this action epic posits a forbidden love story between members (Odagiri and Nakama) of two…
SPL (Sha Po Lang) (2005): Dir. Wilson Yip
Feat. Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Simon Yam…; Intense cops–and–hoods thriller which clearly raises the bar for Hong Kong martial–arts by infusing its tale of an idealistic cop…
Tiger Blade, The (Seua khaap daap) (2005): Dir. Theeratorn Siriphunvaraporn
Feat. Atsadawut Luengsuntorn; Spiffy addition to the Thai martial arts boom, with action centered around the recovery of a magical ‘tiger blade’, by cops and robbers…
Arahan (2004): Dir. Ryoo Seung-Wan
Feat. Ryoo Seung-beom, Yoon So-yi, Ahn Sung-Ki; Urban martial arts injected with supernatural pep, this effects–laden action comedy has an ultimately limited box of tricks, but provides more…
Born to Fight (Kerd ma lui) (2004): Dir. Panna Rittikrai
Feat. Chattapong Pantanaunkul; Created by the makers of the stupendous ONG BAK, this lesser action vehicle is contrived around a showdown in the Thai countryside between a…
Hidden Blade (Kakushi-ken: oni no tsume) (2004): Dir. Yoji Yamada
Feat. Masatoshi Nagase; The fading glory of the Japanese feudal period in the Meiji Resoration is once again beautifully explored by the dir. of TWILIGHT SAMURAI through a…
House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu) (2004): Dir. Zhang Yimou
Feat. Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau; The dir. of HERO follows up with an equally watchable oriental spectacle, inserting the same cartwheeling martial arts action, complete with torrents…
Kung Fu Hustle (2004): Dir. Stephen Chow (Chiao)
Feat. Stephen Chow (Chiao), Wah Yuen; Hong Kong superstar Stephen Chow trumps all previous efforts (and that's saying something) with this dynamic, bust–a–gut funny…
New Police Story (2004): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Daniel Wu; A groundbreaking fourth (or possibly fifth) entry in Jackie Chan's martial arts series about the life of a reckless Hong Kong policeman, here…
Aragami (2003): Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Feat. Takao Osawa, Masaya Kato, Tak Sakaguchi; Another confidently executed, blood–soaked samurai fantasy from dir. Kitamura (VERSUS), set in a remote medieval temple into which a wounded…
Azumi (2003): Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Feat. Aya Ueto, Shun Oguri, Kenji Kohashi; The dir. of VERSUS advances to a studio–scale budget for this historical action yarn, set around a skilled swords–woman in ancient feudal…
Beautiful Boxer (2003): Dir. Ekachai Uekrongtham
Feat. Asanee Suwan; Fact–based actioner which follows a gifted 'Muay Thai' martial artist rising from his poor, rural background into the champions' league of…
Fearless (Jet Li's Fearless; Huo Yuan Jia) (2003): Dir. Ronnie Yu
Feat. Jet Li; Lively martial–arts epic which is reportedly Jet Li's final offering of screen 'wushu' (traditional Chinese fighting) , retells the story of…
Ong-Bak (Muay Thai Warrior) (2003): Dir. Prachya Pinkaew
Feat. Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao; A martial arts juggernaut from Thailand, in which a benign village kickboxer travels to big bad Bangkok in search of a sacred statue stolen from his…
Warrior, The (2003): Dir. Asif Kapadia
Feat. Irfan Khan, Puru Chibber; Award–winning debut for British born dir. Kapadia follows the quest of a lone swordsman to escape his brutal paymaster in ancient feudal…
Warriors of Heaven and Earth (Tian di ying xiong) (2003): Dir. He Ping
Feat. Wen Jiang, Xueqi Wang, Vicki Zhao; A lavish post–CROUCHING TIGER epic derived from a Chinese folktale about an Imperial assassin who is sent forth to the Gobi desert to eliminate…
Zatoichi (2003): Dir. Takeshi Kitano
Feat. Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano; Actor–director–cult hero Takeshi Kitano stylishly revives a hero of well–known Japanese mythology and scores his most broadly…
Alive (2002): Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Feat. Hideo Sakaki, Koyuki, Tak Sakaguchi; A convicted murderer is sentenced to death, only to escape execution and become the subject of bizarre prison experiments in this inventive marriage…
Hero (2002): Dir. Zhang Yimou
Feat. Jet Li, Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Maggie Cheung…; Though no doubt diminished on the small screen, this ancient Martial Arts spectacle from the dir. of RAISE THE RED…
Sea is Watching, The (Umi wa miteita) (2002): Dir. Kei Kumai; Set in the red–light district of 19th century, Edo–period Tokyo, this sensitively mounted drama concerns the lives of prostitutes…
So Close (Chik yeung tin sai) (2002): Dir. Corey Yuen
Feat. Shu Qi, Karen Mok, Vicki Zhao; Presenting... a heroic trio of femmes for a new generation – a kind of high–octane "Asian Charlie's Angels". This super–flash…
Twilight Samurai, The (Tasogare Seibei) (2002): Dir. Yoji Yamada
Feat. Hiroyuki Sanada, Ren Osugi, Rie Miyazawa…; Boldly subverting the masculine cliches of the genre, this refreshing and highly rewarding Samurai drama follows a dishevelled, low–status…
Vampire Hunters (2002): Dir. Wellson Chin
Feat. Ken Chang; Typically enjoyable and overblown Hong Kong mayhem, where five powerful warriors battle the Vampire King and his followers. Written and produced…
Musa - The Warrior (2001): Dir. Kim Sung-Su
Feat. Woo-sung Jung, Ahn Sung-Ki, Zhang Ziyi; Genuinely spectacular 14th century restaging of "The Seven Samurai" that was the (then) most expensive film made in its native…
Princess Blade (Shurayuki-Hime) (2001): Dir. Shinsuke Sato; Post–apocalyptic Japanese samurai action adapted from a graphic novel, employs a stark visual style to convey its tale of a disturbed young…
Versus (2001): Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Feat. Tak Sakaguchi, Kenji Matsuda; The zombie genre is resurrected yet again, here spliced with Asian combat routines and punk–gangster gunplay, and set in the local woods on an…
Bang Rajan (2000): Dir. Tanit Jitnukul; Truly ferocious action spectacular based on the true tale of how a small Siamese village tried to withstand the efforts of 100 000 invading Burmese…
Bichunmoo (2000): Dir. Young-Jun Kim; Boasting the biggest budget of any Korean film, this period epic, a kind–of "Once Upon a Time in Korea", blends the usual ingredients with…
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000): Dir. Ang Lee
Feat. Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi…; A fantasy–fuelled, Chinese feudal melodrama laced with jaw–dropping combat sequences (arguably the best ever staged), this represents a…
Time and Tide (2000): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Nicholas Tse, Wu Bai; Healthy measures of hard–boiled alienation and gyroscopic fire–fights ignite this Hong Kong kick–butt–fest that somersaults…
Gohatto (Taboo) (1999): Dir. Nagisa Oshima
Feat. Takeshi Kitano; Visually stunning evocation of the tensions in a samurai–training school in 1860s Japan, with Kitano playing a captain who agonises over his…
Hero (A Man Called Hero) (1999): Dir. Wai Keung Lau
Feat. Ekin Cheng, Shu Qi, Kristy Yang; A typically offbeat HK amalgam of historical saga, martial arts action and CGI special effects. Set in the first half of the 20th century, this…
Storm Riders, The (1998): Dir. Wai Keung Lau
Feat. Sonny Chiba, Aaron Kwok; The big Hong Kong hit of '98 – a super–extravagant 'flying swordsman' fantasy that ambitiously distils a popular Manga comic book series…
Black Mask (1997): Dir. Daniel Lee
Feat. Jet Li, Lau Ching-wan; Mild–mannered librarian by day – pain–resistant, cool–garbed crime–fighter by night – Jet Li's engaging…
Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997): Dir. Sammo Hung
Feat. Jet Li; Jet Li reprises his signature role in the popular saga, this time reinvented as a Kung Fu Western – the perfect setting for…
Blade, The (1996): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Xin Xin Xiong, Moses Chan, Man Cheuk Chiu; Honour and retribution are the key themes in this densely–plotted, straight–faced actioner set in a mythic–historical setting.…
Lady Ninja: Reflections of Darkness (1996): Dir. Masaru Tsushima
Feat. Yuka Ohnishi, Tetsuo Kurata, Rina Kitahara; Snappy example of the Martial Sex–Arts sub–genre, with a gang of 'Lady Ninjas' hired by a lascivious Emperor to wipe–out his royal…
Sex and Zen Pt. 2 (1996): Dir. Chin Man-Kei
Feat. Loletta Lee, Tat-Wah Lok; A creepy polygamist meets his match in the 'mirage woman' in this twice–as–smutty, half–as–funny sequel to the outlandish…
Ashes of Time (1994): Dir. Wong Kar-Wai
Feat. Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung; From revered mo–hup novelist Jing Yong's East, South, West, North, Wong Kar–Wai trailblazes the Hong Kong art movie with a cyclical tale…
Bodyguard from Beijing (1994): Dir. Yuen Kwai
Feat. Jet Li; Jet Li is "The Bodyguard" in this delightful parody of the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston smash. A gourmet chop suey of action, humour and simmering…
Burning Paradise (1994): Dir. Ringo Lam
Feat. John Ching, Willi Chi; Dir. Ringo Lam hits prime form in this Kung Fu excursion into the distant Chinese past. Previous hero Fong Sai Yuk and friends must quickstep…
City Hunter (1994): Dir. Wong Jing
Feat. Jackie Chan, Chingmy Yau, Joey Wong; Jackie Chan is the popular Japanese comic book character Ryu Saeba: part detective, part mercenary, all womanizer – is contracted to return the…
Drunken Master II (Legend of Drunken Master) (1994): Dir. Lau Kar Leung
Feat. Jackie Chan; Jackie Chan gets comic mileage with the dubious idea that he can only tap into his martial art prowess while pissed as a newt. Jackie continues to…
Fist of Legend (1994): Dir. Gordon Chan Kar-Seung
Feat. Jet Li; Jet Li stars in an infinitely superior remake of Bruce Lee's FIST OF FURY. A showcase of the highest calibre martial arts choreography, but firmly…
Heroic Trio 2 - Executioners (1994): Dir. Johnnie To, Ching Siu Tung
Feat. Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung…; Downbeat sequel returns the trio of feisty femmes to combat the evil mega–corporation that taken a stranglehold on the world's…
Wing Chun (1994): Dir. Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen; Martial–arts star Michelle Yeoh lends some charisma to a cotton–sugar tale of remote villagers plagued by robbers. In the title role Yeoh…
Barefoot Kid, The (1993): Dir. Johnnie To
Feat. Aaron Kwok; Rites–of–passage, chop–socky style with lithe HK supernova Aaron Kwok as the eponymous hero whose inititation into manhood is…
Bride With White Hair 2, The (Bai fa mo nu zhuan II) (1993): Dir. Ronnie Yu, David Wu
Feat. Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, Christy Chung; Above–average sequel to the martial arts blockbuster continuing on directly from its cliffhanger ending, with the viciously insane Lin, now…
Butterfly and Sword (1993): Dir. Michael Mak
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Michelle Yeoh, Joey Wong…; Raucous, fast–paced martial arts fantasy boasts a top–flight cast and some of the most ludicrous action sequences of the 90s. Michelle…
Heroic Trio (1993): Dir. Johnnie To
Feat. Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh; An invisible criminal is stealing babies for a sewer–dwelling villain and it's up to three dazzling super–chicks. Hugely entertaining…
Iron Monkey (Siunin Wong Fei-hung tsi titmalau) (1993): Dir. Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Donnie Yen; Enjoyably charged with wacky humour, this fairly traditional Hong Kong slambam concerns a doctor and his daughter who must track down a notorious…
Kung Fu Cult Master (1993): Dir. Wong Jing
Feat. Jet Li, Sammo Hung, Chingmy Yau; Extraordinarily over–the–top martial arts epic in which Jet Li procures invincible powers while negotiating the restless hordes from…
Legend 2, The (1993): Dir. Corey Yuen
Feat. Jet Li, Michelle Reis; Jet Li returns as the hero 'Fong Sai Yuk', battling the oppressive ruling Chinese government in the ranks of the subversive Red Flower Society. With…
Legend of Fong Sai Yuk, The (1993): Dir. Yuen Kwai
Feat. Jet Li; Hilarious and oddly satisfying mixture of character, comedy, drama, incredible action, and high camp tragedy! Jet Li stars in one of the best HK…
Moon Warriors (1993): Dir. Sammo Hung
Feat. Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui; Flashy feudal martial arts adventure features the high kicks of Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui, in a battle of noble siblings to regain the…
Once Upon a Time in China 3 (1993): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan; Jet Li must quash a Russian plot to murder the ruling eunuch, fight a band of gangsters, and find a way to propose to Rosamund Kwan. Predictable yet…
Sex and Zen (1993): Dir. Michael Mak
Feat. Lawrence Ng, Kent Cheng, Xu Jin-Jang; Part comic fantasy, part porno movie, and though an imaginative example of both genres, the balancing act is a hard one to pull off (fnarr, fnarr).…
Tai Chi Master, The (1993): Dir. Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh; Jet Li ascends to be the founder of the Chinese art of self–defence and healing known as Tai Chi Chuan, but not before crossing blades with,…
Temptation of a Monk (1993): Dir. Clara Law
Feat. Joan Chen, Zhang Fenyi; Graphic chronicle of blood–letting by a fierce warrior general in 7th century China, that hews to the visual traditions of the classic Japanese…
Bride with White Hair (1992): Dir. Ronnie Yu
Feat. Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin; In a remote China of superstition and legend, vicious clan skirmishes result in an eye–popping frenzy of acrobatic martial arts. Resplendent…
Dragon Inn (New Dragon Gate Inn) (1992): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung (Kar-fai)…; Gory Ming Dynasty–set epic in which forces of good and evil clash swords over the fate of feudal China. An extravagant climax, featuring…
Naked Killer (1992): Dir. Clarence Fok-Yiu
Feat. Chingmy Yau, Simon Yam, Carrie Ng; Sex and violence potently combust in a tale of nubile assassins and a love–struck, traumatised cop. The plot may typically wander but it…
Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Jet Li, Donnie Yen; Comic emphasis is given to the continuing adventures of a traditional martial artiste in late 1900s. Escapist elements are graced with fine…
Police Story 3 (Supercop) (1992): Dir. Stanley Tong
Feat. Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh; Jackie Chan returns as death–defying maverick cop Ka Kui, while Michelle Yeoh offers some savvy sidekick. From the director of Jackie's first…
Saviour of the Soul (1992): Dir. David Lai
Feat. Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok; Breathtaking camerawork and special effects combine with hallucinatory plotting as two city–dwelling mercenaries do battle with the silver fox,…
Black Cat (1991): Dir. Dickson Poon
Feat. Jade Leung; The Hong Kong industry could not resist a crack at French action fave Nikita, the foxy misfit trained as an assassin for the secret service. A…
Erotic Ghost Story 2 (1991): Dir. Lam Ngai Kai
Feat. Charine Chan, King-Man Chik, Yiu-Wah Kwok; Sequel mixes up similar ingredients, but story is unrelated to the first.
Once Upon a Time in China (1991): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Jet Li, Biao Yuen, Rosamund Kwan; Extravagent epic about legendary Chinese martial artiste and conqueror, Wong Fei Hung. Beautifully filmed spectacle, punctuated with exciting combat…
Erotic Ghost Story (1990): Dir. Lam Ngai Kai
Feat. Amy Yip; Buxom starlet Amy Yip lets it all hang out with other 'foxes' in this Eastern spin on the WITCHES OF EASTWICK. Generous nudity and dry ice steam up…
Kid from Tibet, A (1990): Dir. Yuen Biao
Feat. Biao Yuen, Michelle Reis, Wah Yuen; Amiable, energetic actioner stars the director as a young monk who must avenge a friend's death using Tibetan magic, pyrotechnics and a host of…
Ronin-gai (Roningai: Street of the Samurai) (1990): Dir. Kazuo Kuroki
Feat. Yoshio Harada, Renji Ishibashi, Kanako Higuchi; Samurai drama set in the 19th century near the end of the Japanese civil war, following several disgraced and listless ronin who attempt to regain…
She Shoots Straight (Huang jia nu jiang) (1990): Dir. Corey Yuen
Feat. Joyce Godenzi, Sammo Hung; Taut and melodramatic, this HK policier concerns a decorated and ultra–competent female police officer (Godenzi) who arouses jealousy in her…
Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon (Shou hu fei long) (1990): Dir. Liu Chia Liang
Feat. Sammo Hung, Liu Chia Liang, Carrie Ng; Amusing action spoof starring the incomparable Samo Hung as one of a pair of bumbling cops who go on the hunt for drug traffickers in Hong Kong, but…
Swordsman (1990): Dir. Ching Siu Tung
Feat. Jacky Cheung, Man Cheung, Sam Hui; A good–natured swordsman from Ming Dynasty China, gets involved in a scramble for a priceless book. Excellent special effects but confusing…
Canton Godfather, The (Miracles; Mr. Canton and Lady Rose) (1989): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Anita Mui; Though light on martial arts, this lavish period production is generally considered Jackie Chan's most accomplished movie. At once inspired by THE…
Iceman Cometh, The (Time Warriors) (1989): Dir. Fok Yiu Leung
Feat. Biao Yuen, Maggie Cheung; A pair of Ming Dynasty adversaries find themselves defrosted 300 years later in contemporary Hong Kong. Film festival fave combines outrageous farce…
In The Line of Duty (In The Line of Duty 4: The Witness) (1989): Dir. Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Donnie Yen, Cynthia Khan , Michael Wong…; Although the fourth in a film series about a flashy martial–arts cop, this is generally considered the best, with Yen taking his police job in…
Tiger On the Beat (1989): Dir. Liu Chia Liang
Feat. Chow Yun-Fat, Conan Lee; Chow Yun Fat buddies up with martial artiste Conan Lee as a pair of mismatched cops in hot pursuit of an international drug syndicate, climaxing in a…
Zatoichi 26 (Darkness Is His Ally) (1989): Dir. Shintaro Katsu
Feat. Shintaro Katsu; An enjoyable, autumnal revival of the 1960s–70s samurai movie franchise, with a much older Katsu reprising his role of the blind swordsman and…
Dragons Forever (1988): Dir. Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen
Feat. Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen; Final martial–arts rumble for the 'three brothers' team of Chan, Hung and Biao (see PROJECT–A), here playing three spokes in a nefarious…
Police Story 2 (1988): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung; Jackie Chan directs this follow–up to his landmark hit, playing a demoted detective who must use his wiles to track down bomb–scare…
Armour of God (1986): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan; Jackie Chan blows a bigger budget than usual for this crazy quest for some relics of a Crusader's armour in Eastern Europe. Drab stretches are…
Eastern Condors (Dung fong tuk ying) (1986): Dir. Sammo Hung
Feat. Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen; A Hong Kong riff on THE DIRTY DOZEN, in which 12 Chinese convicts accept a mission into Vietnam to destroy an abandoned American weapons…
Peking Opera Blues (1986): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Brigitte Lin, Cherie Chung, Sally Yeh; One of prolific Hong Kong director/producer Tsui Hark's most celebrated films is a genre–blending romp set around the Peking Opera in 1913. A…
Heart of the Dragon (Long de xin) (1985): Dir. Sammo Hung, Fruit Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Emily Chu; Uncharacteristically serious Chan–Hung drama follows police detective Chan's difficulties in caring for his mentally disabled, child–like…
Mr. Vampire (1985): Dir. Ricky Lau
Feat. Ching-Ying Lam, Siu-hou Chin, Ricky Hui…; Influential kung–fu ghostbusting flick is a distinctively Eastern slant on the 'vampire' genre – less like caped Counts, more like…
Police Assassins (Yes Madam) (1985): Dir. Corey Yuen
Feat. Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock, Tsui Hark; Cheesy but fun outing has two hard–as–nails policewomen Michelle Yeoh (in her first lead role) and Cynthia Rothrock turning in their…
Police Story (1985): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung; The incomparable Jackie Chan – a mix of Bruce Lee and Buster Keaton – is in prime form here, weaving his brand of sly Asian humour into a series…
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, The (1984): Dir. Kar-leung Lau
Feat. Gordon Liu, Alexander Fu, Kara Hui…; Hong Kong martial arts epic set circa the 10th century, with a Mongol army attempting to overthrow the influential Yang family, defenders of the Song…
Wheels on Meals (1984): Dir. Sammo Hung
Feat. Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen; The kung–fu trio of Chan, Hung and Biao travel, to Spain for this rambunctious minor classic, in a tale about food–vendors helping out a…
Lady is the Boss, The (Chang men jen) (1983): Dir. Liu Chia Liang
Feat. Liu Chia Liang, Chia Hui Liu; Amiable flick concerns a curmudgeonly martial arts teacher who begrudgingly hires a young marketing woman to help keep his martial arts school open,…
Zu Warriors (Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain) (1983): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Biao Yuen, Moon Lee, Brigitte Lin…; A renowned fantasy film, in which four medieval warriors search the universe for twin swords with which to defeat a powerful demon, which threatens…
Dragon Lord (Long xiao ye) (1982): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Wai-Man Chan; Chiefly of interest to Chan–completists, this wraps a threadbare plot about stolen Chinese artifacts around some admittedly spectacular…
Duel to the Death (Xian si jue) (1982): Dir. Ching Siu Tung
Feat. Norman Chu, Damian Lau; Groundbreaking martial–arts actioner from dir. Ching Siu–Tung (CHINESE GHOST STORY) about a Ming–era duel between a Chinese (Lau)…
Human Lanterns (Ren pi deng long) (1982): Dir. Chung Sun
Feat. Leih Lo; The Shaw Brothers' first international star, Lo Leih, excels in this horror–suspenser as a mad lampshade maker in olden–day China who…
Legend of a Fighter (Huo Yuan-Jia) (1982): Dir. Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Kar-yan Leung; A 'wireless' kung–fu masterclass from one of Hong Kong's most feted martial arts exponent, dir. Ping (choreographer for THE MATRIX), here…
Legendary Weapons of China (1982): Dir. Liu Chia Liang
Feat. Liu Chia Liang; Forthright Shaw Brothers classic with the invincible Gordon Liu as a dogged kung fu master pursued relentlessly by hired assassins. And intriguing…
Ninja Wars (Iga ninpûchô) (1982): Dir. Mitsumasa Saito
Feat. Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba; Period fantasy action involving magicians, love potions and endangered royalty in ancient Japan, a story resolved with a fair amount of…
Shaolin Prince (1982): Dir. Chia Tang
Feat. Ti Lung; Respected fight choreographer Tang Chia helms one of his few films as director: two princes are separated at birth; one is raised by Shaolin monks…
They Call Her...Cleopatra Wong (1981): Dir. Bobby A. Suarez
Feat. Marrie Lee; Singapore's top policewoman, the deadly Miss Cleopatra Wong, teams up with her Filipino counterpart to bust a counterfeit operation in this…
Encounters of the Spooky Kind (Gui da gui) (1980): Dir. Sammo Hung
Feat. Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen; A groundbreaking Hong Kong blend of martial arts action, horror, and slapstick humour, set around Hung's attempts to battle the voodoo and hopping…
Young Master, The (Shi di chu ma) (1980): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Biao Yuen; A fine early action–comedy from the phenomenal Jackie Chan, here trying to lure a wayward fellow student back to the 'right' side of martial…
Heroes Of The East (Zhong hua zhang fu) (1979): Feat. Chia Hui Liu, Yuka Mizuno; Graceful martial arts film focused around a Chinese man who must prove the superiority of Chinese kung fu over Japanese to his disillusioned Japanese…
Magnificent Butcher (Lin shi rong) (1979): Dir. Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen; Peak Samo Hung martial artistry, collaborating here with with action legend Yuen Woo Ping for a tale based on the true–life exploits of Lam Sai…
Shaolin Temple (1979): Dir. Cheung Hsin Yen
Feat. Jet Li; Martial Arts superstar Jet Li’s debut film, as a Shaolin–trained fighter who exacts revenge upon an evil warlord, already displaying the…
5 Deadly Venoms, The (Five Deadly Venoms) (1978): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. Sheng Chiang, Philip Kwok, Feng Lu…; A martial arts master commands a student to track down some of his other students and get them to stop those that have used their skills for…
Drunken Master (1978): Dir. Yuen Woo Ping
Feat. Jackie Chan; The martial arts comedy that put Jackie Chan on the map tells the tale of a disobedient son learning the art of Drunken Fist Kung Fu in order to stop…
Clans of Intrigue (Chu liu xiang) (1977): Dir. Che Yuan
Feat. Ti Lung; Another collaboration between dir. Yuan and the charismatic Ti Lung, in a historical detective story set around a legendary swordsman who tries to…
Death Duel (San shao ye de jian) (1977): Dir. Che Yuan
Feat. Derek Yee, Chen Ping, Yu An-an; A Shaw Bros. extravaganza that benefits from its pared–down take on the swordplay–and–intrigue formula and impressive visuals,…
Mighty Peking Man, The (Hsing Hsing wang) (1977): Dir. Meng-Hwa Ho
Feat. Danny Lee; A hilarious Shaw Brothers riff on KING KONG, with an earthquake disturbing the slumbers of a giant ape in the Himalayas who then heads into India to…
18 Bronzemen (Return of the 18 Bronzemen) (1976): Dir. Joseph Kuo
Feat. Tien Peng, Carter Hwang, Polly Shang-Kuan; Two friends must fight their way out of a Shaolin temple – and 18 formidable bronze warriors – in this celebrated kung fu classic.…
Challenge of the Masters (Huang Fei-hong yu liu a cai) (1976): Dir. Liu Chia Liang
Feat. Gordon Lau, Chan Koon Tai, Lai Lai Lee; One of the great exponents of shaolin kung fu cinema, dir. Chia Liang, here casts his attention on the Chinese legend of Fei–hung. Played by…
Hand Of Death (Shao Lin men) (1976): Dir. John Woo
Feat. Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen; Fairly standard HK action fare with a young Shaolin martial–artist given the difficult task of avenging the death of a member of his order.…
Magic Blade, The (Tien ya, ming yueh tao) (1976): Dir. Che Yuan
Feat. Ti Lung, Ching Li, Lo Lieh; Excellent action tale from the prime era of "Wu Xia" cinema, this has three rival swordsman in medieval China compete for possession of a secret…
Shaolin Wooden Men (1976): Feat. Jackie Chan; Jackie Chan cut his teeth on these cheap fist–and–feet–fests. More intentionally serious than his later star–turns, but…
Web of Death, The ( Wu du tian luo) (1976): Dir. Yuen Chor
Feat. Yang Chiang, Ching Li, Norman Chu…; Shaw Brothers 'wu xia' at its ripest and most expressive, injecting a tale of ancient clan rivalry with great action, creative polish and bizarre…
Man from Hong Kong, The (1975): Dir. Brian Trenchard-Smith
Feat. George Lazenby, Bill Hunter, Rebecca Gilling…; Cracking martial arts adventure tracking an inspector sent to Australia to expel a drug courier. Photogenically set against the backdrops of Ayers…
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1975): Dir. Yu Wang
Feat. Yu Wang; Legendary martial arts anomaly cited by Quentin Tarantino as his favourite kung fu film, this stars (and is directed by) Jimmy Yu Wang as a…
Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (Shura-yuki-hime: Urami Renga) (1974): Dir. Toshiya Fujita
Feat. Meiko Kaji, Yoshio Harada, Kazuko Yoshiyuki…; Excellent, though not widely celebrated sequel, has Kaji put her sword skills to work in Meiji Japan playing off the ruthless government against an…
Lone Wolf & Cub 6: White Heaven in Hell (1974): Dir. Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Junko Hitomi…; The continuing adventures of disgraced Shogun assassin Ogami Itto and his infant son Daigoro. Lone wolf and Cub return for their final battle…
Street Fighter, The (1974): Dir. Shigehiro Ozawa
Feat. Sonny Chiba; Career–making martial arts outing for Japanese icon Sonny Chiba, mugging his heart out as a brutal enforcer who turns the tables on his…
Female Yakuza Tale (Yasagure anego den: sôkatsu rinchi) (1973): Dir. Teruo Ishii
Feat. Reiko Ike; A scorned Reiko Ike returns in this remarkably trashier sequel to SEX AND FURY, ready to unleash another roaring rampage of revenge on sadistic…
Illicit Desire (Feng liu yun shi) (1973): Dir. Han Hsiang Li
Feat. Hong-Yip Cheng, Chen Ping; Shaw Brothers sexploitation from the early 1970s, this was actually a huge hit at the Hong Kong box–office with three steamy scantily costumed…
Lady Snowblood 1 (Shurayukihime) (1973): Dir. Toshiya Fujita
Feat. Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon…; A classic samurai B–movie made in the heyday of 'Wu Xia' influence, with Kaji playing a bereaved young woman who seeks revenge on the gangsters…
Lone Wolf & Cub 5: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (1973): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Michiyo Ookusu…; The continuing adventures of disgraced Shogun assassin Ogami Itto and his infant son Daigoro. In this 5th instalment, Itto must battle 5 samurai to…
Sex and Fury (Furyô anego den: Inoshika Ochô) (1973): Dir. Norifumi Suzuki
Feat. Reiko Ike; Japanese exploitation cinema proves itself unrivaled with this slice of 70s celluloid anarchy, trailing a mostly nude Reiko Ike as she slashes and…
Zatoichi's Conspiracy (Zatoichi 25) (1973): Dir. Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Feat. Shintaro Katsu; Blind masseur and swordsman Zatoichi returns to his home town after decades of wandering and trouble, only to find inevitable conflict with a…
All Men are Brothers (Sui woo juen) (1972): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. David Chiang, Ti Lung, Danny Lee; Slathered with great fight scenes, this Shaw Brothers sequel to THE WATER MARGIN ups the ante considerably, with the band of Outlaw warriors…
Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972): Dir. Shunya Ito
Feat. Meiko Kaji, Fumio Watanabe, Kayuko Shiraishi; A classic of Japanese 70s exploitation cinema, this charts the grim road to freedom for a gaggle of women escaped–convicts with a feverish…
Hanzo The Razor Trilogy (The Razor: Sword of Justice; Razor 2: The Snare; Razor 3: Who's Got the Gold?) (1972-1974): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Shintaro Katsu; Mind–boggling samurai film series combines a 1970s taste for heroic bloodshed with a strongly Japanese sexploitation angle. Featuring the…
Hapkido (Lady Kung Fu) (1972): Dir. Feng Huang
Feat. Angela Mao, Carter Wong; Old–school chop socky flick centring round rival martial arts schools features none of that tiresome rapid fire editing, but plenty of rapid…
Lone Wolf & Cub - Complete Boxset (1972-1981): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Fumio Watanabe…; Boxset of all six 'Lone Wolf & Club' installments plus the re–cut/re–dubbed feature film, SHOGUN ASSASSIN.
Lone Wolf & Cub 1: Sword of Vengeance (1972): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Fumio Watanabe…; The LONE WOLF AND CUB series chronicles the adventures of disgraced Shogun assassin Ogami Itto and his infant son Daigoro, who sell their services to…
Lone Wolf & Cub 2: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Kayo Matsuo; The continuing adventures of disgraced Shogun assassin Ogami Itto and his infant son Daigoro. In this second episode, Ogami battles a group of…
Lone Wolf & Cub 3: Baby Cart to Hades (1972): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Go Kato…; The continuing adventures of disgraced Shogun assassin Ogami Itto and his infant son Daigoro. Ogami volunteers to be tortured by the Yakuza gang…
Lone Wolf & Cub 4: Baby Cart In Peril (1972): Dir. Buichi Sato
Feat. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Michie Azuma…; The continuing adventures of disgraced Shogun assassin Ogami Itto and his infant son Daigoro. In the fourth installment of the series, Itto is…
Water Margin (Seven Blows Of The Dragon) (1972): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. David Chiang, Ti Lung; Perhaps the most spectacular of the 1970s Hong Kong swordplay productions by the Shaw Bros, this epic is set in 12th century Sung Dynasty China,…
Zatoichi At Large (Zatoichi 23) (1972): Dir. Kazuo Mori
Feat. Shintaro Katsu, Rentaro Mikuni, Hisaya Morishige; Late–period inclusion to the Zatoichi series has the eponymous blind swordsman helping to deliver a baby, then finding himself honour bound to…
Zatoichi In Desperation (Zatoichi 24) (1972): Dir. Shintaro Katsu
Feat. Shintaro Katsu, Kiwako Taichi, Kyôko Koizumi; A particularly bleak inclusion in the iconic ZATOICHI series, with the eponymous blind swordsman (Shintaro Katsu, also directing) seeking to atone…
Duel of Fists (Kuen gik) (1971): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. David Chiang, Ti Lung, Ching Li; Chiang plays a Chinese boxer who travels to Bangkok, Thailand to find his long–lost brother. Although he is successful, events precipitate a…
Zatoichi Meets The One Armed Swordsman (Zatoichi 22) (1971): Dir. Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Feat. Shintaro Katsu, Yu Wang; An above–average entry in the continuing series, this has the titular blind swordsman assist the Chinese One–Armed Swordsman, who has…
Heroic Ones, The (1970): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. David Chiang, Chin Han, Ti Lung…; Martial arts film set in 1880s imperial China, where a Mogul king secretly assembles his loyal generals on a mission to take on his greatest rivals.…
Twelve Gold Medallions, The (Shi er jin pai) (1970): Dir. Cheng Kang
Feat. Yue Hua; A Shaw Brothers "wuxia" film starring Yueh Hua as an emperor loyalist trying to prevent a message enscribed on twelve gold medallions delivered by…
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (Zatoichi 20) (1970): Dir. Kihachi Okamoto
Feat. Shintaro Katsu, Toshiro Mifune; An enjoyable spin on the Japanese samurai genre, depicts a comedic rivalry between Katsu and Mifune in a secluded mountain village. Although lacking…
Zatoichi: Festival of Fire (Zatoichi 21) (1970): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Shintaro Katsu, Tatsuya Nakadai; One of the strongest of the later films in the 25–strong Zatoichi cycle (this is 21), with the blind masseur with the cane sword getting into…
Red Lion (Akage) (1969): Dir. Kihachi Okamoto
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Shiwa Iwashita; A fine samurai comedy from dir. Okamoto (KILL!), has a luckless soldier (Toshiro Mifune) don a brilliant red hairpiece (thus impersonating a…
Touch of Zen, A (Hsia Nu) (1969): Dir. King Hu
Feat. Hsu Feng; A dazzling blend of medieval potboiler, religious fable and martial arts spectacular, set in an ancient China wracked by civil war. Centred on the…
Kill! (Kiru) (1968): Dir. Kihachi Okamoto
Feat. Tatsuya Nakadai; A sharp and blackly comic tale set in 1830s Japan around two bedraggled swordsman – one a former samurai (Nakadai), the other a farmer aspiring…
Assassin, The (Da ci ke) (1967): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. Yu Wang; More understated than later Shaw Brothers efforts, this costume actioner stars 'Jimmy' Wang Yu as a patriotic swordsman of ancient Han–era…
One Armed Swordsman (Dubei dao) (1967): Dir. Chang Cheh
Feat. Yu Wang; Jimmy Wu Yang predates his one–armed boxer classic MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE as a disabled swordsman training in the art of…
Zatoichi: The Outlaw (Zatoichi 16) (1967): Dir. Satsuo Yamamoto
Feat. Shintaro Katsu; A middle–installment in the longrunning Zatoichi series, sees the wandering masseur become embroiled in a violent plot involving two rival…
Daimajin: Wrath of Daimajin (1966): Dir. Kazuo Mori
Feat. Masahide Iizuka, Hideki Ninomiya, Shinji Hori; One in a series of Japanese films about the great demon god Daimajin, who repeatedly comes to the aid of villagers when tyrannical warlords threaten…
Sword of Doom (Dai-bosatsu tôge) (1966): Dir. Kihachi Okamoto
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai; Based on a long–running Japanese newspaper serial, this stars Tatsuya Nakadai as an evil wandering samurai in feudal Japan who sees himself as…
Samurai Assassin (1965): Dir. Kihachi Okamoto
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratana…; Sharply delivered samurai epic based on the infamous Sakurada Gate Incident of 1860 in which a high–ranking shogunite official was assassinated…
Samurai Spy (1965): Dir. Masahiro Shinoda
Feat. Koji Takahashi, Tetsuro Tamba, Kei Sato; This atypical samurai saga ventures from the norm through overenthusiastic plotting, a Latin–infused score, and arresting…
47 Ronin, The (Genroku chushingura) (1962): Dir. Hiroshi Inagaki
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, Setsuko Hara; A grand and spectacular take on a famous Japanese legend, with 47 ronin (masterless samurai) in feudal Japan seeking revenge on those responsible for…
Fencing Master, The (1962): Dir. Harumi Mizuho
Feat. Raizo Ichikawa, Ganjiro Nakamura, Kinuyo Tanaka; Thoughtful, if minor exploration of samurai traditions concerns an aging swordsman struggling to keep his feudal art form alive in early 20th century…
Sanjuro (1962): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai; The sequel to YOJIMBO unravels the story of nine would–be Samurai unveiling a government corruption ring. Kurosawa adopts a satirical…
Tale of Zatoichi Continues, The (1962): Dir. Kazuo Mori
Feat. Shintaro Katsu; The first of many sequels to the iconic TALE OF ZATOICHI, in which a blind, affable masseur (Katsu) who happens to be a lethally skillful swordsman…
Tale of Zatoichi, The (1962): Dir. Kenji Misumi
Feat. Shintaro Katsu; The inaugural movie in the iconic 'Zatoichi' series – which followed the intriguing adventures in mythical Japan of a blind masseur, who has…
Yojimbo (1961): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa; Mercenary Sanjuro walks into town and sells his services to both factions of rival gangs – to stand back and watch them destroy each other.…
Samurai Trilogy, The (Musashi Miyamoto, Duel at Ichijoji Temple, Duel at Ganryu Island) (1954-1956): Dir. Hiroshi Inagaki
Feat. Toshiro Mifune; Sweeping saga of a legendary 17th century samurai Musashi Miyamoto, that made an icon of actor Toshiro Mifune. Played out against the turmoil of a…
Seven Samurai, The (1954): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune; Kurosawa's classic 'Eastern Western' about a village who hire an elite band of warriors to fend off marauders. Compassionate storytelling with combat…
Sanshiro Sugata 2 (1945): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita; Sequel to dir. Kurosawa’s debut picture about a studious judo disciple in training continues the director’s own development as a future master of…
Sanshiro Sugata (1943): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita; Notable chiefly as the debut directorial effort for Akira Kurosawa, this adaptation of Tsuneo Tomita's novel finds an immature Judo exponent (Fujita)…

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