TNT Jackson (1974)

Director:  Cirio H. Santiago

Writers:  Dick Miller, Ken Metcalfe

Composer:  Tito Sotto

Starring:  Jeannie Bell, Stan Shaw, Pat Anderson, Ken Metcalfe, Max Alvarado, Chiquito, Percy Gordon, Imelda Ilanan, Chris Cruz, Leo Martinez, Joonee Gamboa

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Spine Shattering. Bone Blasting. She's a One Mama Massacre Squad!

Plot:  A young karate expert searches for her brother's killer in Hong Kong.

My rating:   6.5/10

Will I watch it again?   Maybe.

This Blaxploitation flick, co-written by Dick Miller (!), has some clumsy but fun fights, bad acting, nudity and a short enough run time (72 minutes) that it's a no-brainer when looking for a cheesy double feature to watch with your friends.  This movie isn't made by slouches.  The crew behind the camera are professionals and, at the very least, the director and cinematographer had dozens of credits under their belt before taking this assignment.  Even with this being a mid-level B movie, there are moments where it looks better than it should.  The standout scene for me is when Diana (Bell) is watching an exotic dancer at the club and the camera slowly moves closer to her, cutting in between what her eyes are fixed upon.  It was so nice of a shot that it took me out of the picture for a moment, which was not a bad thing.

The color of the room plus the slow pull-in was a really nice touch.  

 

Stan Shaw (as Charlie), who I recognized from HARLEM NIGHTS (1989), was the only actor I knew until I saw this guy 

who played one of the main villains from the Filipino classic, FOR Y'UR HEIGHT ONLY (1980).  It's no surprise that you're not going to get anyone earning an MVP for acting in this picture.  It's largely below average but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Most of the lead actors' acting is just bad enough that you can enjoy it.  It also helps that the pacing in this movie is pretty fast.  There's barely a dull moment.

The fighting is clumsy and you can tell the actors are fighting with little-to-no knowledge of martial arts or they're being too careful and slow to look like they do.  The camera only sometimes finds proper angles to hide that fact and it does most cleverly in the final showdown between Diana and Charlie.  There's a batshit funny scene where the bad guys show up to put the beat down on Ms. TNT.   She says something like

"You can't see black!"

and then she turns out the light, throws her robe off

and proceeds to kick everybody's ass in the room nearly naked!  

Except the bad guys get the idea to turn the light on...

until she turns it off again (rinse and repeat).

One thing I really liked is the technique of the slight speeding up of  certain bits of the fights as well as removing a frame here and there to give the hits more impact.  Most people probably think those things are dumb and clumsy but I love 'em when they're used well.  I'm pretty sure that Jeannie Bell had a stunt double for most of her more difficult work.  She goes from amateur kung fu to some kick ass flips and flying kicks and the difference in skill is stark.  But that's just one more thing that adds to the fun.  It's an odd combination of competence and amateurishness that works well together to form a fun movie for a Saturday night with friends and liquor.

 

Nine Deaths of the Ninja (1985)

Director:  Emmett Alston

Writer:  Emmett Alston

Composer:  Cecile Colayco

Starring:  Sho Kosugi, Brent Huff, Emilia Crow, Blackie Dammett, Regina Richardson, Vijay Aritraj, Lisa Friedman, Kan Kosugi, Shane Kosugi, Bruce Fanger

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  The Ninja Master... is now The Ninja Avenger

Plot:  Two anti-terrorist agents are assigned to free a busload of American schoolchildren in the Philippines who are taken hostage by terrorists.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It starts with a pre-credit sequence followed by a cheesy pop song during the opening credits trying to be like Bond.

It also stars Vijay Aritraj who was in OCTOPUSSY (1983) just two years earlier (this is his second film role).  After than it goes into standard B-picture action movie mode.  Sho Kosugi provides the best action.  At least the camera lingers long enough on him and his opponent for a while so you can see the choreography.  It's not always a good idea to do that because it can show the slow beats each fighter hits to make it work.  There is no nudity.  Booooo.  But you do get this...

Is she doing it for you?  How about these little fellas?

That scene's not nearly as entertaining as it should've been. And that's one of the issues I have.  Scenes like this little guys fighting the one dude should have been longer and more fun.  This flick needed more creativity.  It's got some decent moments but there's an underlying vibe of just making a movie and not making "the best movie we can".  Had the filmmakers gone that extra mile, this could be a cult classic.  But they'd also have to ditch the guy who plays the main villain who acts like he things he can copy Peter Sellers from DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) because he can't.  He's so fucking annoying that he brings down the picture.  This would've been the kind of movie I would've watched with friends in high school on a Friday night and had a blast with.

Dreadnaught (1981)

Original title: Yong Zhe Wu Ju

Director: Woo-Ping Yuen

Writer: Jing Wong

Starring: Biao Yuen, Ka-Yan Leung, Shun-Yee Yuen, Tak-Hing Kwant, Chung-Hsing Chao, Yun-Kin Chow, Lee Chun-Wa, Mei Sheng Fan

More info: IMDb

Plot: A short-tempered, violent criminal named "White Tiger" is on the run from the police and joins a theater troupe for disguise, killing anyone who angers him or who suspects his identity. One person he unsuccessfully tries to kill several times is a cowardly laundry man named "Mousy" who manages to escape mostly by running and hiding. When a very close friend of Mousy's is killed by the White Tiger, Mousy overcomes his cowardliness enough to seek revenge.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not but I'll definitely re-watch the dragon/lion dance scenes again.

I don't know about anyone else but I watch these 70s & 80s Kung Fu flicks for the fights.  The humor rarely hits with me as it's usually coming from way over the top characters who can't possibly exist in real life.  The story just needs to serve as a thread on which the Kung Fu action hangs.  Those are my criteria.  This one is a prime example.  The fights are creative and fun and those dragon/lion dance sequences are just marvelous.  The print I watched looked great in anamorphic widescreen.  It was dubbed in English which wasn't bad but I got the feeling I would have preferred to watch it in the original Cantonese with English subs.  Maybe the overbearing comic relief would've been toned down.  This picture is one of the good ones from a genre and time when there were a lot of bad to just OK films.  It's definitely worth checking out.

The Buddhist Fist (1980)

Original title: Fo Zhang Luo Han Quan

Director: Woo-Ping Yuen

Writers: Chi-Ming Lam, Siu Ming Tsui, Ching Wong

Composer: Fang Chi Chen

Starring: Shun-Yee Yuen, Siu Ming Tsui, Lung Chan, Hsi Chang, Shao-Peng Chen, Mei Sheng Fan

More info: IMDb

Plot: Aspiring barber and experienced kung-fu fighter Shang learns that his childhood friend, Siu Ming, has been framed for murder by an unknown villain. When Shang begins looking into the crime, he soon finds himself the target of an assassination attempt. Who is behind all these crimes, and can Shang stop them?

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I don't know why there's such an abundance of over the top, silly characters in 70s Kung Fu flicks but I can't stand them.  It's the kind of thing that appeals to very small children.  The Italians did it, too.  But you don't watch these things for the slapstick comedy.  You watch them for the Kung Fu action and this one's got some great fighting.  There's a scene early on when the bad buy gets bamboo poles through each pant leg and one through his shirt sleeves.  It's very well done AND it's funny without the goofy buck-toothed characters.  The chess match between the two masters is a work of art, too.  There's a big surprise at the end that I rather liked.  There are a few little things in here that inspired Tarantino to include them in KILL BILL (2003) or they were common in a lot of these pictures back in the day.  It's better than average for its time and it's definitely worth watching for fans of the genre.

Alley Cat (1984)

Directors: Victor M. Ordonez, Ed Palmos, Al Valletta

Writer: Robert E. Waters

Composer: Quito Colayco

Starring: Karin Mani, Robert Torti, Britt Helfer, Michael Wayne, Jon Greene, Jay Fisher, Claudia Decea, Tim Cutt, Jay Walker, Moriah Shannon, Marla STone, Kevin Velligan, Tony Oliver

More info: IMDb

Tagline: This lady owns the night.

Plot: A beautiful young martial arts expert stops a vicious street gang from robbing her grandparents' house. The gang marks her for murder, but her grandparents are killed instead. The girl sets out to take her revenge on the gang.

My rating:  7/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes!

Holy crap was this a fun piece of low budget goodness that I didn't see coming!  How is it possible that star Karin Mani only starred in one movie (this one), kicking ass so nicely and doing a good job acting (more so for someone with so few credits) and not getting signed on for more kick ass pictures?  I'm stupified.  She's fantastic.  No only is her fighting swift and powerful but she's smokin' hot to boot!  The pacing is nice and brisk and there's some great lines, fights and a lot more great nudity (including her) than you'd think there'd be.  I'm going to have to call a special council meeting and get the fellas over to the house to watch this.  It's too much fun to keep to myself.  And so are these...

The Magic Serpent (1966)

Original title: Kairyu Daikessen

Director: Tetsuya Yamanouchi

Writers: Masaru Igami, Mokuami Kawatake

Composer: Toshiaki Tsushima

Starring: Kiroki Matsukata, Tomoko Ogawa, Ryutaro Otomo, Bin Amatsu, Nobuo Kaneko, Sen Hara, Kensaku Hara, Masataka Iwao, Seizo Fukumoto, Akira Shioji

More info: IMDb

Plot:  In ancient Japan, a good lord is killed and his throne is taken by the trecherous Yuki Daijo and his wizard friend Oroki-maru. The young prince Ikazuki-maru is rescued from the jaws of death by a magic bird sent by a wizard. Ten years later, Ikazuki-maru embarks on an adventure to avenge his parents and the wizard's death with his magic powers he learned from the wizard. He kills Yuki Daijo but then must battle Oroki-maru in a battle to the death.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

What sets this apart from the kaiju flicks of the day is the setting feudal Japan.  There's very little man-in-suit monster action and nearly all of it is saved for the last 15 minutes when two giant monsters fight to the death until a giant fucking spider shows up to finish the job!  There are some batshit crazy things going on in between the monster stuff that bookends the film.  There was a point where the weirdness started to get old.  It's worth a look but I can't see watching it again.  It's an interesting side not to the giant monster pictures of that era.

Undefeatable (1993)

Original title: Cui Hua Kuang Mo

Director: Godfrey Ho

Writers: Robert Vassar, Steve Harper, Tai Yim

Composer: Todd M. Hahn

Starring: Cynthia Rothrock, Don Niam, John Miller, Donna Jason, Sunny David, Emille Davazac, Hang Yip Yim, Richard Yuen, Gerald Klein, William Buckley, Mike Sutton, Michael Sinclair Walter

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Out of the ring, into the fire... in a fight to the finish

Plot: Kristi Jones (Rothrock) avenges her sister's death at the hands of a crazed martial arts serial killer called Stingray (Niam).

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

So...this is my first Rothrock picture I've seen and judging by it, it might be the last.  Her fighting is pretty good.  There's lots of slo-mo and you can tell she's making contact with her blows.  Her acting, though, isn't making contact.  Maybe I should cut her some slack.  It's only her 28th film.  It doesn't matter because it's not like anyone else does much better in this thing.  For a while it was pretty entertaining on some level, some of it being so bad it's good.  But there was a point where I thought this was about to wrap up so I checked the time left and I was only 50 minutes into it with 40 more to go!  That's not good.  From there on out it was a chore to get to the finish line.  Something should've been done about that.  90 minutes should not be a magic number films need to achieve, and that's especially for direct to video.  At least the fighting was good but it sure would be nice if movies like this would give you a fight in real time where and where you don't see actors pull their punches or wait to get hit.  Wouldn't it be nice if a fight lasted seconds but it was fought with real precision and speed?  If there's a better Rothrock flick out there please let me know.  I don't want to give up on this broad but I don't want to waste my time, either.  I've got stacks of shitty movies begging for me.

The Odd Couple (1979)

Original title: Bo Ming Chan Dao Duo Ming Qiang

Director: Chia Yung Liu

Writers: Raymond Bak-Ming Wong, Raymond C. Lai

Composer: Frankie Chan

Starring: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Ka-Yan Leung, Chia Yung Liu, Lung Chan, Fat Chung, Ha Huang, Ching-Ying Lam

More info: IMDb

Plot: The titular 'Odd Couple' are Sammo (King of Sabres) and Lau Kar Wing (King of Spears). They compete regularly against each other but every encounter results in a draw! Both decide to recruit young pupils and train them up. The late entry of the real villain, the smoldering Laughing Bandit who sports a big scar, has an even bigger grudge against the Kings of Sabres and Spear.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again?  Oh, hell no.

That recent trailer above makes this look like art compared to the actual film.  What it fails to show is the utter Saturday morning cartoon characters and slapstick nature of just about the whole movie.  The extensive comedy is aimed at very small children.  It's just awful.  The Three Stooges had more class than this.  The English dub makes it worse.  The voices are whiny, nasally, and mostly high pitched.  And it's obvious that this dub track was made in the 90s as there's a fucking Spice Girls reference of all things.  But it's not the voice actors that make this so bad...

See what I mean?  It's extremely rare that I turn a movie off and never finish.  I wanted to on this so badly it was a mental exercise to keep it going.  I at least watched this while working on other things but it was in front of me the whole time.  I do have something good to say and that's the fight choreography is very good.  The final battle with the baddie is fantastic and gravely serious.  Skip to the last twenty minutes if you don't want the goofy, cartoony face bullshit. 

Vampire Hunters (2003)

Original title: Jian Shi da Shi Dai

AKA: The Era of Vampires

Director: Wellson Chin

Writer: Hark Tsui

Composer: J.M. Logan

Starring: Ken Chang, Michael Man-Kin Chow, Suet Lam, Kwok-Kwan Chan, Anya, Rongguang Yu, Horace Lee Wai Shing, Chun Hua Ji, Kuan Tai Chen, Lik-Chi Lee, Wang Zhen Lin, Zou Na, Yat-Fei Wong, Mei-Yee Sze, Kin-Yan Lee, Steve Blum, Richard Cansino

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Five heroes. A coven of vampires. A lot of bad blood.

Plot: In 19th century China, an evil monk awakens a nest of vampires hell-bent on devouring human life. Now, a quartet of heroes trained in the Taoist Mao Shan school of magic and their master must use their unique powers to destroy the Vampire King and its lethal coven before it is too late.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This was surprisingly fun...at times.  The four actors that comprise the group (named Rain, Wind, Thunder and Lightning (I think)) have good chemistry together.  What's more is that they're fun and obviously fond of each other.  The pacing is pretty good.  I was rarely bored but the film felt long despite the 90 minute cut I saw (IMDb lists a longer cut by an additional 22 minutes).  The fighting was nicely choreographed and the editing doesn't cut away as bad as some pictures.  The scenes aren't quickly chopped up which is a good thing.  If you're looking for some vampire kung fu action then I'd say check this one out.  It's at least worth a look.  The Columbia DVD sports a nice anamorphic widescreen image with audio in Cantonese (with English subtitles), English and French (with English subtitles).  The only extras are trailers for COWBOY BEBOP, NATIONAL SECURITY and TIME AND TIDE.

Kung Fu Brothers in the Wild West (1973)

Original title: ...Altrimenti vi Ammucchiamo

Director: Ban-Yee Yeo

Writers: Nagi Hon, Tu Lung Li, Carlo Mancori

Composer: Franco Bracardi

Starring: William Berger, Jason Pai Piao, Donald O'Brien, Po Chih Leo, Sally Leg, THompson Kao Kang, Joe Chan, Winnie Tang

More info: IMDb

Plot:  Chen comes to America in order to complete a duel with his younger brother, Chou, to decide who will succeed their grandfather as master of kung fu.  He arrives in the town where Chou and their younger sister have started a Chinese restaurant just as Steve’s gang arrives in town, raping and pillaging. Steve works for Angelo and Dragon and after a few failed attempts to kill the king fu brothers, they send for their bosses. When they arrive, there is a final gunfight/kung fu duel.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

OK, so yeah, this isn't that good but it's not THAT bad, either.  There was a little genre mixing in the Spaghetti Western genre but not much.  This isn't the only Western/Kung Fu hybrid but there can't be more than five I think.  Anyway, the wild west is the backdrop to this story that's heavily laden with kung fu action.   Don't get too excited because the fu action, while not bad, has way too many clunky moves like reacting to taking a hit too late.  The music isn't good but there's a neat thing done in the big fight at the end.  The fight starts in the town's street before it moves to a river nearby.  For that first part of the fight, the music is accentuated with vocal noises, howls and screams.  That was cool.  Spoiler alert...William Berger's character, Angelo, gets kicked down and then the fight focuses on Chen and the Chinese bad guy until the end of the film.  What the hell happened to Angelo?  In movies like these his character would certainly be killed to pay for his deeds.  I'm not going to lose any sleep over that one.  I'm already thinking about what I'm going to watch next and it's got something to do with a hooker who is happy.

Kung Fury (2015)

Director: David Sandberg

Writer: David Sandberg

Composers: Johan Bengtsson, Lost Years, Patrik Oberg

Starring: David Sandberg, Jorma Taccone, Steven Chew, Leopold Nilsson, Andreas Cahling, Per-Henrik Arvidius, Erik Hornqvist, Frank Sanderson, Eleni Young, Helene Ahlson, Yasmina Suhonen, Magnus Betner, Bjorn Gustafsson, Eos Karlsson, David Hasselhoff

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It takes a cop from the future to fight an enemy from the past.

Plot: In 1985, Kung Fury, the toughest martial artist cop in Miami, goes back in time to kill the worst criminal of all time - kung fuhrer Hitler.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Fucking hilarious, creative and fun as hell!  Director/writer/star Sadnberg nails the 80s vibe while throwing in funny all over the place and filling it with entertaining action and comedy.  The character names are brilliant and practically write the jokes themselves.  For example: Kung Fury (Sandberg), Kung Fuhrer and Triceracop.  This shit is a blast and it's simply an insanely fun genre mix of action and laughs.  Oh, and the special effects are great and cheesy bad in all the right ways at all the appropriate times.  Those of us who were around for the awesome 1980s should really dig this newer blast from the past.  I'm not so sure those who were around for Hitler's 1930s and 40s would appreciate it nearly as much.  It's only a half hour long which feels like a big teaser for something more to come.  There has been a sequel announced for 2018 and I really hope that happens.  In the meantime enjoy the bonkers music video below.  Not only is the song a great representation of the kinds of songs we got for action movies in the 80s but it's also a damn great tune that easily stands alongside the best of them.  I love this song and the video to boot.

The Yakuza (1974)

Director: Sydney Pollack

Writers: Paul Schrader, Robert Towne, Leonard Schrader

Composer: Dave Grusin

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Brian Keith, Herb Edelman, Richard Jordan, Keiko Kishi, Eiji Okada, James Shigeta, Kyosuke Machida, Christina Kokubo, Eiji Go

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A man never forgets. A man pays his debts.

Plot: Harry Kilmer returns to Japan after several years in order to rescue his friend George's kidnapped daughter - and ends up on the wrong side of the Yakuza, the notorious Japanese mafia.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

When you think of Americans getting involved with anything in any foreign country, you can bet that it's the American that comes out on top and the foreigners couldn't have done it without them.  Well, this picture is an exception.  Not only is the American (Harry Kilmer nicely played by Mitchum) a contributor to the problem (but it's not his fault as he was duped by another American that really fucks things up).  Yeah, he helps but he does so out of a sense of honor and obligation.  The ending is really great.  For an American production, they handled the Japanese culture with respect and dignity.  I was really surprised at how much detail was paid to it.  I read that the original script was more about the action and revenge but that was toned down a lot in the rewrite from Robert Towne.  I don't know at what point the careful attention was paid to everything Japanese but it works very, very well.  Again, what Kilmer does in the final minutes is harsh and brilliant.  Kilmer might as well be Japanese.  There's a fair amount of action and it's good.  The acting is very good as well.  I was pleasantly surprised by the seriousness of it all.  Dave Grusin's score works well and I really dig his opening credits track.  It's got a nice groove to it.  The Warner Bros. DVD (not the Archive Collection which is how it's sold now...I'm assuming that version doesn't have extras as is usual with that line) has a great looking anamorphic widescreen print with extras in a commentary track from Pollack and a vintage twenty minute behind the scenes featurette (fullscreen).  It's a great look at the film's production and on dealing with the Japanese culture and Yakuza films.

Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996)

Original title: Ging Chaat Goo si 4: Ji Gaan Daan Yam Mo

Director: Stanley Tong

Writers: Greg Mellott, Elliot Tong, Stnaley Tong, Nick Tramontane

Composers: J. Peter Robinson (US version), Nathan Wang

Starring:  Jackie Chan, Jackson Liu, Annie Wu, Bill Tung, Yuriy Petrov, Nonna Grishaeva, John Eaves, Terry Woo, Krostopher Kazmarek

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Jackie Chan fights for America in his biggest action film ever.

Plot: Jackie, a cop, participates in a sting operation on an international spy-ring. But when one of them (Tsui) gets away, Jackie is ordered to apprehend him. This leads Jackie all over the globe starting with Tsui's sister in Australia. The story follows him as he tries to stay alive and capture the villain.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Nah.

How could you say 'no' to that face on the poster?  You can't.  Well, at least I can't.  I love this guy and no matter how goofy one of his movies might be, I cut him some slack because his movies are generally lots of fun.  The showpiece in this one is the ladder fight.  I'm always amazed at how creative Jackie is.  With a physical talent like that the story doesn't matter that much.  This flick, like a lot of his bigger budget action spectaculars has him all over the place from a big snowboard chase, to jumping around the edge of a high-rise building to an underwater fight that ultimately gets a shark involved to jumping a car onto a moving boat.  And how about those end credits bloopers?  I love that shit.  The only extra on the New Line snapcase DVD  is the theatrical trailer.  That and the print are anamorphic widescreen.

Robin-B-Hood (2006)

Original title: Bo Bui Gai Wak

Director: Benny Chan

Writers: Jackie Chan, Benny Chan, Alan Yuen

Composer: Fai Young Chan

Starring: Jackie Chan, Michael Hui, Louis Koo, Charlene Choi, Biao Yuen, Yuanyuan Gao, Teresa Carpio, Terence Yin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: This September! Crawl Baby crawl!

Plot: Thongs and Octopus accept a job from their landlord: Kidnap a baby. Soon, the baby awakens strong paternal feelings in the two crooks, leading to complications when it comes to handing him over to his possibly crazy gang boss grandfather.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

It's a Jackie Chan movie so that means silly-to-clever humor and jaw-dropping stunts and fights.  I don't care if a stunt or fight doesn't fit perfectly into the narrative (which they almost always, if not always do, with his pictures).  This man knows how to make entertaining as shit movies.  Period.  I could do with less of the super silly moments but Jackie is so adorable and fun that I easily forgive the over-the-topness of some of the baser jokes.  The stunts and fights are so much fun.  The bit that had Jackie descending an apartment building exterior by leaping from one air conditioner down to another had my heart racing.  He allows the camera to capture the artistry of it all in long, single shots.  Made in Hollywood, it would be quick edits without actually seeing the actor (or stunt double) do the stunt.  It's much more effective Jackie's way but then he's also a unique actor and one of the greatest performers since the beginning of cinema.  So why not a higher score?  It's two hours and six minutes long and it feels longer.  It goes and goes and goes.  Some scenes could've been deleted scenes (cool and fun deleted scenes) but you do get an awful lot of movie for your buck.  There's a moment where Jackie tries to bring someone back to life in the most ridiculous way of connecting himself to a car battery and transferring the electricity through his hands.  It sounds retarded as shit but damn if I didn't tear up a lot.  He sold a silly idea so well that I didn't care and let the tears fly.  That's talent.  The ending is a mindfuck that turns on its own end for a very satisfying conclusion.  The Weinstein Company Dragon Dynasty 2-disc DVD has a great looking anamorphic widescreen print with a slew of extras.  Don't be turned off by the 'baby' aspect.  It's a lot of fun and a well made film that will make you laugh, cheer and cry and all of it is well-earned.

Fists of Fury (1971)

Original title: Tang Shan da Xiong

AKA: The Big Boss

Director: Wei Lo

Writer: Wei Lo

Composers: Fu-Ling Wang, Peter Thomas

Starring: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien, Marilyn Bautista, Ying-Chieh Han, Tony Liu, Kun Li, Nora Miao, Shan Chin, Chih Chen, Chia-Cheng Tu, Tso Chen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: KARATE KUNG-FU! The new screen excitement that gives you the biggest kick of your life!

Plot: A young man sworn to an oath of non-violence works with his cousins in an ice factory where they mysteriously begin to disappear.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This is Bruce Lee's first film and there wouldn't be much reason to watch it if it weren't for him.  The story is average as are the production values.  It's a typical chop socky flick from the 70s.  There is a little bit of nudity which was highly unusual for the genre at that time.  Bruce has two major fights.  They're very good but they're also less than a half hour from the end so you've got to sit through an hour of mediocre to get to them.  He's amazing to watch, though, in the fights and it's worth watching just for him alone.  The 20th Century Fox DVD is pretty piss poor.  There are no extras, the English dub is cheesy, the non-anamorphic widescreen print is dirty and there are no other language options.  It's been decades since I saw this and I'm pretty sure that there's no reason to revisit this one again.  Lee did three more pictures before he died and they're all better than this one.

Azumi (2003)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Writers: Yu Koyama, Mataichiro Yamamoto, Isao Kiriyama

Composer: Taro Iwashiro

Starring: Aya Ueto, Kenji Kohashi, Hiroki Narimiya, Takatoshi Kaneko, Yuma Ishigaki, Yasuomi Sano, Shinji Suzuki, Eita, Shogo Yamaguchi, Shun Oguri, Jo Odagiri

More info: IMDb

Tagline: From the ravages of war rises the ultimate assassin.

Plot: Raised to deal in cold blooded death, the teenage assassin girl Azumi must defeat three evil warlords while also battling her own heart.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

If you should start watching this and find it too slow, do not give up on it until after the kids leave their mountain home and begin their journey.  Their Master makes them do something that will splendidly fuck you up and it's awesome.  There's lots of gore throughout the picture and a lot of people die, especially at the end.  The evil assassin in white, Bijomura Mogami (the Japanese equivalent to Billy Drago), is a lot of fun and he's a refreshingly fun character.  The cast does a fine job and all and I liked the picture.  It ends up being a better film than it started out as.  If there's one issue I've got it's the odd shots that you'd expect from a much lesser film.   Hell, even Peter Jackson had a handful of shots in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy that felt like something a low budget film maker (with some talent, mind you) would use but they stood out in a proper, polished film.  I knew by the DVD text that this director is the same guy behind VERSUS (2000) which I dug.  The action was great.  But I was surprised to see that he also made THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008).  I like his work and I'll have to check out more of it.  Good stuff.

Slaughter in San Francisco (1974)

Original title: Huang Mian Lao Hu

Director: Wei Lo

Writer: Wei Lo

Composer: Joseph Koo

Starring: Chuck Norris, Don Wong, Chuck Boyd, Sylvia Chang, Yuet Sang Chin, James Econmonides, Robert J. Hercuth, Dan Ivan, Robert Jones, Ching-Ying Lam, Bob Talbert

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Chuck Norris Explodes Across the Screen!

Plot: A Chinese-American cop, skilled in martial arts, battles the most powerful criminal gang in San Francisco that is responsible for the death of his partner.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This is my second foray into the world of Chuck Norris and, again, this probably isn't one to start on.  What really sucks is watching most chop socky flicks like this in fullscreen and in VHS quality.  The fights are hard to appreciate because your viewing area is so small and you're not seeing the bigger picture (literally and figuratively).  This film, according to IMDb was shot in a ratio of 2.35:1.  That's a long way off from what I watched at 1.33:1.  I've searched and searched and couldn't find a widescreen print of this.  It's probably sitting in someone's private collection and they're asshole enough not to lend it out for a transfer.  It's really a shame considering this is one of Norris' earliest roles.  It's cool that he's the bad guy.  What's better is that everyone, including Norris, is dubbed and the dubbing is just as bad as most of the 70s chop socky pictures.  That's a good thing.  What's not so good?  It's slow and that makes the 86 minutes too much.  There's not much in the way of filler but the story could be cut back some.  Hell, seeing a nice widescreen print of this would help but it's really hard to say without having it.  It's cheesy and sometimes fun and it's neat to see Norris so hairy and young...and dare I say sexy?  No, I can't.

I'm finding his fighting slow.  Is that the case with most or all of his fights?  I know he was young into his career at this point but by then he was still a highly regarded martial artist.  His fight in this film has lots of staged and slow bits.  It often looks like he's working the routine through in his head instead of letting the actions flow organically.  I hope he got better.

Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000)

Director: John Little

Writers: Bey Logan, John Logan

Composer: Wayne Hawkins

Starring: Bruce Lee, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Doug Copsey, (the rest are from archive footage) James Coburn, James Franciscus, George Lazenby, Mako, Chuck Norris, John Saxon, Carroll O'Connor

More info: IMDb

Plot: Legendary martial artist Bruce Lee is the subject of this thoughtful documentary by Lee aficionado John Little. Using interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and action sequences from Lee's last (unfinished) film, Game of Death, Little paints a textured, complex portrait of the world's most famous action hero.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

I've seen this twice now.  It's that good.  If you're only just a casual fan, this documentary has a lot to offer.  I know what you're sayin'..."But, hey!  What if I'm a huge fan already?".  You're in luck because there is an extensive amount of vintage photographs, audio and video of the man, many of which are of his training, teaching and fighting, the later is amazing.  The best part about it is getting the lowdown on his last, unfinished picture, THE GAME OF DEATH and being walked through the process and how the existing footage fits into the story.  But it's the footage itself that's worth the price of admission.  Lee was a remarkable talent and it's a shame that his world wide fame had only just begun when he died.  Had he lived he would have owned the 1970s.  He was off to a great start.  There was so much more to Lee than the chop socky flicks of the early 70s and this film goes to great lengths to point that out and they did a fine job with it.