Sammo Hung

A collection of 33 posts

Soi Cheang

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Soi Cheang, 2024)

Even though it sounds like one of those straight-to-iQiyi action movies, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is in fact one of the most highly anticipated Hong Kong films in years. As a star-studded period piece, it might have fallen in to the trap of so many recent films in

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King Hu

The Valiant Ones (King Hu, 1975)

Sammo Hung

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Since today is Sammo Hung's birthday, I figure it's a good time to repost this look at his career, originally posted on the now-defunct website Frame.land back in the summer of 2017. There were originally several video clips interspersed throughout the essay, but they seem

The Odd One Dies

The Shaolin Cinematic Universe

This was originally commissioned by the Vulgar Cinema website in July 2014, and was published in December 2015. Then, after that site disappeared, it was revised and republished at Frame.land in May 2019. Now that site too appears to be defunct, so I'm posting it once again

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Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee: The Man, the Legend, the Arrow Films 4K Box Set

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Ricky Lau

The Mr. Vampire Sequels (Ricky Lau & Lam Ching-ying, 1986-1989)

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Sammo Hung

Heart of Dragon (Sammo Hung, 1985)

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Mang Hoi

The Tantana (Mang Hoi, 1991)

The 36th Chamber

Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (Various, 2020)

It’s hard to imagine how long I’ve been talking about the film that would eventually become Septet: The Story of Hong Kong. The first time I tweeted about it appears to have been August of 2017, although that tweet is phrased as a reminder, which means I must

King Hu

The King of Wuxia (Lin Jing-jie, 2022)

Joining the ever-expanding pantheon of great Chinese filmmakers given the full-length documentary treatment is King Hu, the man behind many of the most accomplished and influential action films of all-time. But while Johnnie To, Ann Hui, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Jia Zhangke are still very much alive and working, and thus

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Strange Tales

The Best of the Martial Arts Films (Sandra Weintraub, 1990)

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Sammo Hung

The Millionaires' Express (Sammo Hung, 1986)

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Sammo Hung

Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)

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Wong Jing

Kung Fu Cult Master (Wong Jing, 1993)

Tsui Hark

The Once Upon a Time in China Series

With the fall 2021 release of Criterion’s Once Upon a Time in China boxset, I put all my reviews of the series together here in one convenient place. Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991) Tsui Hark is the John Ford of Chinese cinema, and Once Upon

Bruce Lee

Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978)

Just the most remarkable collection of 1970s bodies on display: not just Bruce Lee, but Sammo Hung, Colleen Camp, and of course Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (whose body was, like Lee’s, also replaced by a double for a couple of early scenes). Each one iconic in their own way. An accidental

Sammo Hung

Sammo Hung Capsule Reviews

The Prodigal Son (1981) — June 26, 2013 Lam Ching-ying is one of the great supporting actors of kung fu cinema, and this is a great showcase for both his acting and fighting. He plays an opera actor (specializing in female roles, as Lam himself did when he was a stage

Wilson Yip

SPL: Paradox (Wilson Yip, 2017)

It’s unclear if this film is actually a continuation of the SPL series or if it just started as one and then mutated into its own thing. I thought I saw the characters for “Sha Po Lang” on the title card of the movie though, so I’m just

Sammo Hung

My Beloved Bodyguard (Sammo Hung, 2016)

Sammo Hung’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair (known as “The Bodyguard” here in the US and “My Beloved Bodyguard” everywhere else), his first since 1997’s Once Upon a Time in China in America, finds the now 64 year old star playing a recently retired security agent

Roy Chow

Rise of the Legend (Roy Chow, 2014)

Every generation gets the Wong Fei-hung they deserve. A fin-de-siècle doctor and martial arts instructor, the real life Wong has been inspiring cinematic incarnations for most of the history of Hong Kong’s film industry. The first was in a series of productions running form the late 1940s to the

Jackie Chan

Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983)

Comparing Project A to Sammo Hung’s Wheels on Meals, released the next year in 1984, shows some stark differences between Sammo and Jackie Chan as directors. Both films are swashbuckling adventures with ridiculously athletic fights and stunts, slapstick comedy, and a real obsession with beating the hell out of

King Hu

Painted Skin (King Hu, 1993)

King Hu’s final film, it is, like his greatest work (A Touch of Zen) and his first film as an assistant director (The Enchanting Shadow), an adaptation of a story from the 18th Century collection of folk and supernatural tales Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling.

Mabel Cheung & Alex Law

Painted Faces (Alex Law, 1988)

A lovely account of youth spent in the China Drama Academy Peking Opera school, based on the experiences of Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Corey Yuen, and the other members of the Seven Little Fortunes performing troupe that grew up to dominate Hong Kong Cinema from the late 70s

Wilson Yip

SPL: Sha Po Lang (Wilson Yip, 2005)

A rote cop/Triad story somewhat elevated by a serious commitment to operatic melodrama on the part of director Wilson Yip and composer Chan Kwong-wing. Sammo Hung is the gangster, Simon Yam the veteran cop willing to break all the rules to capture him. Donnie Yen is the new guy

Corey Yuen

She Shoots Straight (Corey Yuen, 1990)

Neither “She Shoots Straight” nor the its alternate title (“Lethal Lady”) capture the film very well. It’s a film about family, specifically the kind of family where everyone is a cop. This family just happens to have a lot of daughters and only one son. Joyce Godenzi stars as