The 101 Action Movies brings me a chance to revisit the beautiful and action-filled epic from Ang Lee, which one the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that year, as well as Art Direction, Cinematography and Score. This is a gorgeous film, with fantastic martial arts, sword and wire work all overseen by…
Tag: martial arts
Toronto After Dark: Evil Feed (2013) – Kimani Ray Smith
Gory Night continued last night with the second extreme feature, following the coming-of-age, serial-killer is my brother film, Found, with Evil Feed. The film centers on a Chinese restaurant that kidnaps martial artists, forces them to fight in a cage match, and the loser, properly tenderized by the beating, is served up as dinner to…
Fist of Legend (1994) – Gordon Chan
The 101 Action Movies brings us another classic, as Jet Li takes center stage in this martial arts stunner. A remake of the Bruce Lee classic, The Chinese Connection, Li is absolutely stunning in the title role of Chen Zhen, a Chinese student studying in Japan during the Japanese occupation of China. Receiving word…
Iron Monkey (1993) – Woo-Ping Yuen
A Robin Hood style adventure launches the kung fu in this highly enjoyable addition to the 101 Action Movies list. Yu Rong-Guang stars as Dr. Yang, who along with his assistant Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) tends to the poor and the refugees in a small village. The village’s governor (James Wong) however is only…
Bloodsport (1988) – Newt Arnold
Jean-Claude Van Damme makes an appearance on the 101 Action Movies list with this martial arts classic. The film, based LOOSELY on a true story follows Frank Dux (JCVD), a military officer, who trained with Senzo Tanaka (Roy Chiao) after his own son died to pass on his martial arts style and philosophy. Going on…
The Five Deadly Venoms (1978) – Cheh Chang
The Shaw Brothers bring another film to the 101 Action Movies list that brings all the variables we’ve come to expect from the classic kung fu movies, fights, betrayals, secrets, and more fights! Cheh Chang directs the tale that has a convoluted and engaging plot as young Yang Tieh (Sheng Chiang) is summoned to his…
Five Fingers of Death aka King Boxer (1972) – Chang-hwa Jeoong
The 101 Action Movies brings another Shaw Brothers classic to my screen. It’s a fairly generic tale, yet for all that, it’s a lot of fun, and the fight sequences are exciting. There are glowing red hands indicating the power of the Iron Fist, there are eyeballs ripped from sockets with a music cue that…
Come Drink With Me (1966) – King Hu Hu Jinquan
The next entry on the 101 Action Movies knows kung-fu, and is also the first Asian film to show up on the list. From the famous Shaw Brothers comes this dazzling combination of martial arts and sword work. It’s a fun ride, though looking at it with the eyes of the 21st century, I would…
American Ninja (1985) – Sam Firstenberg
My exploration of B-movie 80s action movies continues with American Ninja. And what a surprise this one came from Canon and Golan and Globus as well. I think they must’ve made out alright in the 80s with all the goofy little low budget action movies they were making. It may be hard to believe but…
The Mind Reels 