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Cung Le and Veronica Ngo join forces for 'The Target'

"The Target" Teaser Poster

Veronica Ngo Thanh Van – multi-talented star of the The Rebel, Clash and the upcoming Furie – is teaming up with former MMA fighter-turned-activeness star Cung Le (Europe Raiders, Vicious Domestic dog) for a Vietnamese martial arts thriller titledThe Target (akaMục Tiêu Chết).

Unfortunately, Ngo volition only be producing,and will not appear in The Target. Additionally, Wing Chun practitioner Peter Pham and Jackie Chan Stunt Squad member Six-Dan Tran (The Greenhorn) are also part of the production.

According to MAAC, Truong Ngoc Anh (Truy Sát aka Tracer) was previously attached, but dropped out for reasons unknown.

We'll keep you lot posted equally we learn more. For now, don't miss a featurette for The Target below (via Alejandro Torres):

Final Score (2018) Review

"Last Score" Theatrical Affiche

Manager: Scott Mann
Producer: Dave Bautista
Cast: Dave Bautista, Pierce Brosnan, Ray Stevenson, Julian Cheung, Alexandra Dinu, Lara Peake, Amit Shah, Bill Fellows, Aaron McCusker, Leemore Marrett Jr.
Running Time: 104 min.

By Martin Sandison

Non to exist confused with the Chris Mitchum-starring Indonesian actioner Final Score – a moving-picture show Paul's review completely sold to me (and doesn't disappoint in its batshit annihilation-goes fashion); this 2018 Final Score is a pretty different fauna. Very encouragingly, both this film and Nightshooters are British productions, and they bring the action. While the latter was made for nothing, and delivers ane of the best picture experiences of final twelvemonth, Last Score has some more money to play with. Producing and starring is none other than Dave Bautista (Master Z: The Ip Human being Legacy), in a part which finds him using paw-to-mitt gainsay more than almost other films he'due south fabricated, and producing some very convincing acting chops. Oh, and Pierce Brosnan (Goldeneye) is in information technology too.

Mike (Bautista) is ex-special forces, whose brother was killed in activeness. His brother'due south widow Rachel (Lucy Gaskell, All the Ordinary Angels) tends a bar in London, and Mike visits often and thinks the world of her daughter Danni (Laura Peake, The Marker). The two take a trip to meet West Ham United football squad play where a gang of Russian terrorists led by Arkady (Ray Stevenson, Thor) infiltrate the stadium to demand the release of Dimitri (Brosnan), their former leader who is attending the game. Mike loses Danni during the game and and then learns of the villains scheme, and must save the mean solar day.

Terminal Score unabashedly steals from Dice Hard to the betoken of consummate derivation; ideas such as the terrorists demanding the release of Dimitri, the protagonist contacting the goodies and baddies via walkie talkie, the climax featuring Danni being captured by the villains… I could go on. It'due south obvious the picture-makers are having a lot of fun with this, but different the invention of Nightshooters the motion-picture show doesn't play with these tropes very cleverly. What the picture show does accept on its side are a blistering lead performance from Bautista, an agreeable extended cameo from Brosnan (his accent is a thing of beauty) and a second half that includes full on brutal fights, a motorbike chase that continues out on to the roof of the stadium, and a good turn of Brit wit.

Bautista function produced the film, and y'all can encounter why he believes in the textile; it'due south a proficient opportunity for him to take the lead in a film that plays to his strengths of action, humour and stretching out with his acting. At that place are a few scenes in which he deepens as an thespian and shows he tin deport a motion picture. In one of these he has a huge outburst, impressive in its lack of restraint, and then a dialogue scene with Brosnan that sees the two give and accept sweetly. Brosnan's dialogue hither is absurdly amusing, and a glint in his optics seems to say: "I'm here for the pay mean solar day, and I'm gonna accept some fun". I'one thousand certain, despite the schmaltzy music, the movie makers know how ridiculous this scene is.

To the activeness. Each duel is choreographed differently, just with Bautista using modern martial arts moves similar those in Krav Maga. There'due south an authenticity to the depiction of combat that speaks volumes of the commitment of the film makers, and Bautista himself. A highly predictable fight comes midway through, with human mountain Martyn Ford (Accident Man) taking on our hero. It's a loftier touch on sequence in which you really experience Ford's punches, just unfortunately doesn't last likewise long. I guess I'chiliad used to, and love, Hong Kong motion picture fights that continue forever. Come the end we get some neat kick from Alexandra Dinu (Bullet Head), she even does Cynthia Rothrock's signature scorpion boot. At that place is some roughshod violence throughout, with fingers sliced off to fall in to a frier, heads submerged in the frier, plenty of heads blown off. For the near role the framing, form and editing of these scenes is above-average, but occasionally in that location are line breaks and illogical editing that took me out of the film equally a viewer.

As a lower budget British production, the film can be forgiven for some dodgy CGI, peculiarly in the motorbike chase, and on a whole the effects work is decent. Manager Scott Isle of man helmed an earlier moving-picture show featuring Bautista, Heist, which also starred Robert De Niro. That 1, like Last Score, garnered mixed reviews, but I would catch it now I remember the guys got some talent. His directorial debut The Tournament I remember hearing about at the time (10 years ago) and will definitely check out. Any pic with a cast that combines my homeboy, Scotsman Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting), Ving Rhames (Lurid Fiction), Kelly Hu (Maximum Impact) and the 1-and-but Scott Adkins (Incoming) must exist worth a scout. Final Score has a nicely consistent aesthetic and tone, plus a good line in knowing humour that rises above most straight-to-DVD fare, even though it seems to exist in an alternate universe wherein Westward Ham United are doing well in European competition.

Final Score lacks the creative spark and is as well unoriginal to make a mark beyond lovers of action cinema, football and Bautista and Brosnan, only at that place is much to enjoy in its tension-filled narrative. Ane to put on with a bunch of mates, stuff pizza in to your mouth and drink your fill of beer. It's non memorable, but consistently entertaining, and will make full 100 minutes of your time nicely.

Martin Sandison's Rating: half dozen.5/x

Korea's 'The Villainess' is getting a U.S. Boob tube series remake

"The Villainess" Theatrical Poster

Skybound Entertainment (The Walking Dead) and Korea'due south Contents Panda are adapting the 2017 Korean actioner The Villainess into an English-language Television serial. Jeong Byeong-gil (Confession of Murder), who directed the original motion-picture show, is on board to captain the series' airplane pilot.

According to Borderline, the serial, also titledThe Villainess, follows Anes, who was kidnapped from her home in Korea and raised as a deadly assassinator in Los Angeles. Simply when Anes believes she has establish true peace, unsettling events drive her to render to Korea to uncover dangerous truths about her home and her past.

Nosotros'll go on you updated on The Villainessseries as we learn more. Watch the Trailer for the 2017 flick beneath:

To Be Number I (1991) Review

"To Be Number One" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Managing director: Poon Man-Kit
Author: Johnny Mak
Bandage: Ray Lui, Cecilia Yip, Kent Cheng, Waise Lee, Amy Yip Chi May, Frankie Chin, Elvis Tsui, Tommy Wong, Kenneth Tsang, Lo Lieh, Paul Chu Kong, Marker Houghton
Running Time: 136 min

By Paul Bramhall

The tale of real life gangster Ng Sik-Ho, more unremarkably known equally Bedridden Ho, has experienced a resurgence of late thanks to Donnie Yen's take on the character in 2017's Chasing the Dragon. Much of the talk around Ho's latest incarnation, was how it skilfully frames the story so as to massage information technology through the Mainland People's republic of china censorship board, which takes a hard line on any picture show perceived as glorifying a criminal lifestyle. While Wong Jing's (and his small army of co-writers and directors) effort is an admirable i, there was more than ane occasion on watching Chasing the Dragon, when I found myself thinking how much better it could have been without all the subtle political narrative manoeuvring. Thankfully, such a version exists, and it comes in the form of Poon Homo-Kit's 1991 epic To Be Number One.

Unlike Chasing the Dragon, which gave equal focus to Bedridden Ho and corrupt cop Lee Rock, To Be Number One is a pure gangster tale, and all the better for it. Although on a side annotation, in the same year Lee Stone would also be the focus of 2 movies, the self-titled Lee Rock and its sequel. Clocking in at 135 minutes, To Be Number 1 is dissimilar any other Hong Kong motion picture of the era in terms of its scope and ambition, anchored by a powerhouse functioning from Ray Lui as the titular character (so yep, if yous want to come across Bedridden Ho 1991 vs Crippled Ho 2017, cheque out Flash Point). Made at a time when Hong Kong picture palace was very much in its prime number, Lui'due south take on Crippled Ho was only one of nine movies he'd feature in during the aforementioned year. Interestingly he'd play Bedridden Ho twice, turning up for a second time in the Amy Yip (who'southward too in To Exist Number One) vehicle Queen of Underworld.

While all of the subtitled releases of To Be Number One unfortunately fail to interpret the large swathes of text that intermittently announced onscreen, indicative of the passing of time and significant events of the era, luckily this oversight doesn't prove to be detrimental to the viewers enjoyment. Man-Kit, who upwardly until this betoken had cut his teeth directing gritty slices of HK Triad life such as Hero of Tomorrow and Metropolis Kids 1989, brought in a whole host of top shelf talent to bring his vision to life. Respected cinematographer Peter Pau, who would go onto lens the likes of The Bride with White Hair and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, hither shows early signs of his unique heart for framing a scene, working from a script by Long Arm of the Constabulary manager Johnny Mak and Stephen Shiu.

Several reviews out there make comparisons to Brian De Palma's Scarface, and structurally it's a fair comparison. As a country bumpkin from the Mainland (remember when Mainlanders where always portrayed as state bumpkins in HK cinema?), Lui arrives in Hong Kong in the 70's to escape the Cultural Revolution. While he and his friends notice themselves slumming it every bit coolies in a rundown eating house, they likewise work odd jobs that toe the line betwixt legal and criminal, one of which somewhen puts Lui on the radar of a powerful HK gang boss (played by Kent Cheng), who sees potential in his ambitious personality. Shortly finding himself moving up the ranks within the gang'southward well-oiled drug trade, Lui'due south goals gradually brainstorm to aggrandize beyond the lot he's been given, and the lust for power leads to a bloody war between the pair that stretches across the next 2 decades.

It's a structure that's proved to exist tried and tested over the years, with the likes of Martin Scorsese'southward Goodfellas and Yoon Jong-bin'south Nameless Gangster also adhering to the same framework. One aspect that they all accept in common though, is that they never feel derivative of De Palma'southward classic, and Man-Kit crafts a tale that's distinctly Hong Kong in its identity. Of course another aspect of any Hong Kong production from the 80'south and early on xc'south that deals with the Triads, is the action. It should exist made articulate that To Be Number I isn't an activity movie, merely during this era in Hong Kong action was such an intrinsic part of its motion picture manufacture, y'all could expect at least a couple of stunts or fists to exist thrown fifty-fifty in the virtually unexpected genres.

Here Bloodmoon director Tony Leung Siu-Hung is on action choreography duties, and he does an outstanding job of adapting the classical style of his early career (Tiger of the Northland, A Fistful of Talons) to a more contemporary and realistic setting. I've e'er found Siu-Hung's belatedly 80's/early ninety's work on triad potboilers to be underrated. He was 1 of the few action directors who showed a real agreement of how to however keep the difficult hitting aesthetic and flow that'southward synonymous with HK choreography, just use it in the context of a more than realistic environs. His work on the likes of Walk on Burn down and Rebel from Cathay are as well stellar examples. Here the activeness is frequently bloody and brutal, with lime and acid thrown into people'due south faces, brutal beatdowns, and even some flying kicks are sprinkled in for practiced measure, without ever coming across as gratis.

Lui's rise to power is complimented by a fantastic cast of supporting characters. Just like any movie is a product of its time, so it could be said reviews likewise offer a unique perspective from the time they're written. Watching To Be Number One in 2018, there's an undeniable nostalgia to seeing then much talent from Hong Kong'due south golden era onscreen together. Waise Lee, Lawrence Ng Kai-Wah, and bulked up bodybuilders Frankie Chan and Dickens Chan (ironically playing brothers) feature as Lui'southward beau Mainlanders and eventual followers. We accept Elvis Tsui as a mute enforcer, who at one bespeak gets to go John Woo with some double handed pistol action, and Cat Three icon Amy Yip as Kent Cheng'southward moll (both Tsui and Yip would star together in the legendary Sexual practice and Zen in the same yr). Throw in appearances from Lo Lieh every bit a gangster and Cecilia Yip equally Lui's ameliorate half, you're left with a cast that can never be replicated.

Any tale that focuses on Crippled Ho somewhen culminates in the ICAC'south (Independent Commission Against Abuse) purge confronting corrupt members of the police forcefulness, one which saw Ho's network of cops that he had in his pocket autumn apart around him. While these days the ICAC is more known as the subject of David Lam's limp wristed Z/S/Fifty Storm series (non to mention 1993's Outset Shot – I judge Lam is an ICAC fanboy, if such a thing exists), in To Be Number One the weight of their crackdown is fully felt, as Lui finds himself in increasingly desperate circumstances. Blinded by his own greed and embattled by other rival gangster factions, the added force per unit area of having to bargain with a constabulary force no longer possible to castor off with stacks of greenbacks, all culminate to show just how frail information technology is when indeed, y'all're number one.

Despite existence an early on entry in Homo-Kit'southward filmography, he'd never top the quality on display in To Be Number One. Possibly also eager to replicate its success, he pulled together an about identical bandage and crew for the sprawling Lord of East China Ocean and its sequel in 1993, which saw Lui pace into the shoes of Luk Yu-San, a Shanghai fruit seller who rose to prominence every bit an opium dealer in the early 20th Century. He'd then cast Lui again in Hero of Hong Kong 1949, also from 1993, for another tale inspired past true life events, with every bit uninspiring results. It'southward proof that even if y'all have the aforementioned chef and the aforementioned ingredients, success is not always a guarantee. But in the instance of To Be Number I, everything was left to simmer for just the right amount of fourth dimension and in the right portions, resulting in a satisfying tale of true life crime.

While Chasing the Dragon did its office to prove information technology's still possible to tell these tales in today's SARFT friendly environment, watching Man-Kit's magnum opus makes you realise merely how many sacrifices have to be made in order to exercise so. While many would say they were worth it, watched against a motion picture similar To Be Number I, in that location can be no denying, any other effort could merely be a afar number ii.

Paul Bramhall's Rating: 7.5/10

Posted in All, Chinese, Golden Harvest, News, Reviews | Tagged Amy Yip Chi May, Cecilia Yip Tung, Elvis Tsui, Julian Cheung, Kenneth Tsang, Kent Cheng Jak Si, Lo Lieh, Mark Houghton, Ng Homo Tat, Poon Human being Kit, Ray Lui Leung Wai, Waise Lee |

Deal on Burn! Extraordinary Mission | Blu-ray | Simply $ix.99 – Expires presently!

"Extraordinary Mission" Blu-ray Cover

"Boggling Mission" Blu-ray Cover

Today's Deal on Burn is the Blu-ray for Alan Mak and Anthony Pun's Extraordinary Mission (read our review).

Mak and Pun – the directing duo backside the Infernal Diplomacy sequels, the Overheard saga, and Donnie Yen's The Lost Bladesman –are dorsum with an action thriller that follows an undercover police officeholder who attempts to have downwards a drug trafficking syndicate from the inside.

Boggling Missionstars Huang Xuan (The Great Wall), Duan Yihong (Battle of Memories), Lang Yueting (Part) and Zu Feng (League of Gods).

Guild Boggling Mission from Amazon.com today!

Blast (1997) Review

Nail | Blu-ray (MVD Marquee)

Manager: Albert Pyun
Writer: Albert Pyun
Cast: Linden Ashby, Rutger Hauer, Kimberly Warren, Tim Thomerson, Norbert Weisser, Andrew Divoff, Yuji Okumoto, Vincent Klyn, Tim Thomerson, Sonya Eddy, Shannon Elizabeth, Jill Pierce
Running Fourth dimension: 159 min.

By Z Ravas

When I was 10 years-old, I thought you couldn't get whatsoever libation than Linden Ashby. That probably sounds amusing now, just I still retrieve the player was able to combine the amiable charm of someone like Owen Wilson with a bonafide martial arts background (Ashby studied karate, tae kwon do, and kung fu from the age of 21 onwards). Although he portrayed the parody of a martial arts star equally Johnny Cage in 1995'southward Mortal Kombat, one gets the sense in another life Ashby could accept been the genuine article. More than anything, information technology was probable time working confronting Ashby: by 1997, the year he starred in Smash, the activity movie boom of the Eighties and Nineties had more or less dried upwardly, and old superstars like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal were on their way to direct-to-VHS fare like The Legionnaire and The Patriot, respectively.

The shrinking market for traditional activeness fare is keenly felt while watching Nail, a movie you might telephone call 'Die Difficult in an Olympic training pool.' The film arrives from notorious B-Movie male monarch Albert Pyun, whose career trajectory more than or less mirrored the dwindling favor of the action genre. While the Eighties saw him pair with Van Damme for Pyun's biggest hit, Cyborg, and the early Nineties brought the likes of his visually impressive cyber-punk feature Nemesis, by '97 it appears Pyun barely had a few pennies to rub together to make a film like Blast. In an repeat of his later work similar Ticker, Boom consists most exclusively of tight close-ups on actors' faces, as though the cast was never in the same room at once, and continually uses the same nondescript hallway to stand in for the unabridged floor of a building. On one hand, you accept to experience for Pyun: at that place's well-nigh no conceivable way you lot could brand a solid Die Hard knockoff on a shoestring upkeep. At the aforementioned fourth dimension, watching Boom tin be a dire viewing experience, the kind that only makes you distressing for yourself.

Blast's (frankly bizarre) opening titles acknowledge the Centennial Olympic Park Bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and posit the motion picture as something like a dramatic reenactment of "what could accept happened" if a band of terrorists had attacked during the games. This stab at docu-drama realism is an attempt to keep the moving-picture show grounded, but feels like a mistake as it lends the moving-picture show the feeling of a dull procedural. The first 30 minutes of the movie involve a whole lot of security checks, automated doors, and CTV monitors equally the women's Olympic swim team head to their Atlanta training facility. Thanks to a mole on the inside, Andrew Divoff's (Wishmaster) heavily armed terrorists have over the pool and end upward holding the entire swim team earnest. If their demands are not, the young women (featuring a 24 years-sometime and undiscovered Shannon Elizabeth of American Pie fame) will be executed ane by ane.

Enter our John McClane-mode "wrong guy in the incorrect place at the wrong time," Linden Ashby, who's a janitor(!) at the facility. Don't fret: Ashby'southward character is actually a one-time tae kwon do champion, now disgraced subsequently a debilitating injury led him to a life of alcoholism. At commencement I was worried when Ashby was introduced with a hobbled leg, merely the movie more or less forgets about his injury whenever it'due south time for Linden to kick some ass. Unfortunately, information technology takes a solid forty minutes before Ashby'due south character even realizes a terrorist plot is afoot, so those expecting an action-packed 99 minutes might find themselves disappointed by scenes of Divoff preening for the cameras as he rattles off his demands on national television, or Ashby'southward poor co-worker (a mannerly Sonya Boil, of TV'southward Fresh Off the Boat) fleeing Divoff's armed goons down that same repeating corridor.

Considering Pyun's experience working with martial artists like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Olivier Grunier, i would promise the action in Blast doesn't disappoint, and thankfully what fiddling manus-to-hand combat occurs proves well executed. At that place's a kind of R-rated nastiness to the violence you don't often see in these 'Die Hard'-lites, with Ashby bashing bad guy's faces into sinks or stabbing knives through throats. Ashby acquits himself well as an onscreen fighter, his background on brandish with a couple of loftier kicks and a flurry of punches. The real problem is that Linden Ashby doesn't have much screentime and, worse yet, no one to play off of. Whereas Bruce Willis was able to interact with the likes of Al Powell and even Hans Gruber himself, Ashby spends most of the movie on his ain, silently dragging his increasingly beat up torso down hallways and stairwells. Whether this was due to a lack of imagination during scripting or Ashby having a limited number of days on set, we can only judge. Nail frequently cuts to the actions of a few of Pyun'southward other stable players, including Tim Thomerson (Dollman) and Yuji Okumoto (Nemesis), every bit they work to defuse the state of affairs from the Mayor's role, but these scenes fall flat thanks to the film's ambition to realism. Pyun's attempt to simulate a crisis management situation feels antonymous to the entertainment value of a B-level action pic; the wit and oneliners of Die Hard are solely missed.

I should probably mention Rutger Hauer is in this movie. The Blind Fury histrion plays a counter-terrorism expert left a paraplegic after a previous run in with Divoff's baddie. This basically means he appears periodically in a darkly lit room, offering advice on hostage negotiation to the constabulary. I should also probably mention that, in a baffling move, the Dutch player was hired to portray an American Indian, consummate with some kind of fake tanner and long braids. It's something yous have to see to believe, much like the catastrophe of the film when Hauer and Divoff finally come up face to confront. All I'll say is that it involves a swimming pool and a flop inside a wheelchair.

Nail is a strange one. The film arrives on Blu-ray from MVD Entertainment Group, a distributor who has recently made a proper name for themselves with their MVD Rewind Drove featuring Nineties guilty pleasures similar Nemesis and Double Dragon. MVD have chosen to pluck the movie from obscurity and I'k not entirely sure why, unless they're looking to fill out Albert Pyun's filmography – a move I'1000 in total support of. While the scripting hither feels dry and bromidic, I practise get the sense that Pyun is straining to make an outsized projection work on a miniscule budget. Pyun's efforts can't quite overcome a drab location, the lack of activeness sequences, and a charismatic lead who is conspicuously absent from much of the moving-picture show, merely I can't fault him for trying. If you're feeling particularly charitable, or you're a Linden Ashby superfan like I was at 10 years-old, Nail might provide a nighttime's modest amusement. For anybody else, you're probably better off rewatching Under Siege or Sudden Death for your inferior Die Hard fix.

Z Ravas' Rating: 5/10

Buffalo Boys | DVD (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

RELEASE DATE: March v, 2019

On March fifth, 2019, Samuel Goldwyn Films is releasing the DVD for Buffalo Boys,an actioner prepare during the Dutch occupation of Indonesia.

When all seems lost in a small town overrun by colonialist violence, two revenge-seeking brothers arrive, meting out bloody justice that leaps effortlessly between brutal Western gunslinging and stylized Eastern swordplay.

Directed past Mike Wiluan – producer ofMacabre, HeadshotandBeyond Skyline – Buffalo Boys stars Ario Bayu (Macabre), Tio Pakusadewo (The Raid 2), Pevita Eileen Pearce (Single), Happy Salma (Capres), Donny Damara (2014), Mikha Tambayong (Fallin' in Love) and El Manik (Carok)

Buffalo Boys too reunites Wiluan withHeadshot cohorts Sunny Pang (The Dark Comes for Us) and Zack Lee (The Raid 2) – and features action choreography by Kazu Patrick Tang (Hard Target 2).

Given the consistent output from Indonesian movie theatre (i.due east.Merantau,Macabre, The Raid, The Raid 2, Killers, The Golden Pikestaff Warrior,Headshotand The Nighttime Comes for Us), colour us very excited.

If you tin can't expect for its March 5th DVD release, Buffalo Boys will play in select Theatres and VOD on Jan 11th, 2019.

Pre-order Buffalo Boys from Amazon.com today!

Angry Ranger (1991) Review

"Aroused Ranger" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Wang Lung Wei
Producer: Jackie Chan
Bandage: Ben Lam Kwok Bun, Jackie Lui Chung Yin, Sun Chien, Leung Yuen Jing, Mai Kei, Edward Mok Ga Yiu, Benny Lai Keung Kuen, Danny Grub Yun Kin, Johnny Cheung Yiu Wah, Anthony Carpio, Christopher Chan Sai-Tang, Mai Kei
Running Time: 87 min.

By Martin Sandison

Once one of the premier members of the Jackie Chan stunt team, whose greatest part in a Chan movie came with the archetype Police Story two (he actually appears in ii roles, one equally an innocent fire fighter and the other every bit nasty villain Hung), Ben Lam is one of the great unsung heroes of Hong Kong movie theatre. Like Yen Shi Kwan (One time Upon a Time in China) or Kim Wong Jin (Operation Scorpio), he appeared in numerous classics such as Legend of the Wolf and Love on Delivery, merely unfortunately didn't make the transition to leading man. There is ane movie, all the same, in which he starred and conveyed his true talent as an onscreen fighter, and as an actor:Angry Ranger. The movie has all of the elements that we all dear about golden age Hong Kong martial arts movie theater, and is also notable as being one of the few movies that legendary Shaw Brothers villain Johnny Wang Lung Wei (Martial Lodge) lent his directoral manus to.

Peter (Lam) is an ex-con just released for hospitalising some thugs who attacked his friend Hsing (Bruce Mang Lung, Stool Pigeon) and gets a job as a fish vendor. His wild and reckless means accept non been put to bed, and one night him and Hsing steal a automobile belonging to gangster Lun (Jackie Lui Chung-yin, The Mission). Soon Peter becomes embroiled in a web of gangster double crosses, mainly because, equally he puts it, he volition vanquish up anyone that bullies him. Information technology doesn't help that he becomes romantically involved with gangster Han'south (Dominicus Chien, 5 Venoms) girlfriend Jane (Leung Yuen-Jing, Hard to Kill). Soon the situation comes to a head with what we all wanted: a huge martial arts showdown.

Previous to Angry Ranger, Lam had shown sparks of greatness in his onscreen fighting abilities, but they were all too brief. From the off, Lam's controlled ferocity, martial arts chops and technique in the moving picture are truly impressive, and make the viewer beg for more. Information technology helps that the flick was made right at the heart of the gold age, in the early 90'south, and that choreographing are the Jackie Chan stunt squad, coming off the back of Chan's archetype Operation Condor. In that location are three stand out fight scenes, all mini masterpieces in themselves. The commencement is the most vicious and cathartic, as Peter has been wronged by the gang for the first time and must bring the smack down. The impact of his punching and kicking places him loftier in the pantheon of screen fighters; every accident connecting with such ability that it jumps off the screen.

The well-nigh sustained i-on-one fight comes next, with Lam facing off confronting gangster Macau Hua (Cheung Kwok-Wah, Shaolin Prince) in an intense duel that sees Cheung using some traditional kung fu techniques confronting Lam'southward kickboxing. The give and take, petering off of the styles here is a wonder to behold, with both fighters adapting brilliantly.

Unfortunately the finish fight between Lam and Sun Chien, a mouthwatering lucifer up on paper, is brusk and scrappy. Information technology's the most disappointing aspect of the movie. Only previous to that Lam takes on a bunch of fighters, near tellingly Benny Lai, who kicked Jackie's ass at the end of Police force Story ii. The build upwardly to money shots here is truly transcendent, with two shots especially that blow my mind; ane has Lai side kicking Lam, with the latter flight through the air similar a rag doll. The next features Lai once again showing his masterful boot, as he performs some wire assisted kicks that fuck up Lam big style.

Aside from the activeness, Angry Ranger is surprisingly strong in other departments. Lam is a decent actor, and the office brings out his strengths in this regard, with a quietness that erupts in to wildness and violence. Jackie Lui (whose total proper noun in the film is AIDS Lun! Come up on, this is early 90's Hong Kong cinema, so anything goes!) commits to an interesting role, and lends depth to what could have been a very i-dimensional character. A movie like this wouldn't be complete without a hefty dose of cheddarish romantic montage, terrible-but-charming music, and Leung provides the romance in a sexy and absorbing fashion, despite having no depth to her character at all.

Unfortunately at that place is a blandness to the aesthetic at times, with little thought being put in to the camera fix ups and lighting. Information technology is a case, at times, of the screen going dead when there's no activeness. Peradventure it's not surprising Johnny Wang just directed i flick subsequently, the trash classic Escape from Brothel. That film's virtually notable achievement is a scene when a completely starkers Sophia Crawford (Beauty Investigator) fights Billy Chow (Miracles: The Canton Godfather).

Angry Ranger can be forgiven for its lapses in to bad taste, simply a scene wherein frogs are stomped to decease goes likewise far, and is completely unnecessary. The execution of the fight sequences is what nosotros're here for, and with such a loftier quality on offer, whatsoever martial arts movie fan will exist in 7th heaven. Seek it out, my brothers and sisters!

Martin Sandison'south Rating: eight/10

Hwang Jeong-min to star in Korean remake of 'Saving Mr. Wu'

"Saving Mr. Wu" Theatrical Poster

Equally Paul Bramhall says in his 2017 article: Simply like Hollywood believed that a western audience would rather spotter a western (re: Caucasian) bandage, so countries like Japan, Korea, and Bharat have followed the aforementioned thinking, that local audiences would besides exist more probable to watch local stars than check out the foreign original.

AFS reports that Hwang Jeong-min, the star of The Wailing,The Battleship Island andA Fierce Prosecutor,volition be starring in a Korean remake of the 2015 Chinese thrillerSaving Mr. Wu.

The original, which was directed past Ding Sheng (Railroad Tigers), is based on the 2004 real-life celebrity kidnapping of Mr. Wu (played past Andy Lau), who was kidnapped by six criminals disguised as police officers.

At this fourth dimension, no other stars or directors are fastened to the project, simply as soon as we learn more, we'll update yous.

Sean Lau, Nick Cheung and Karena Lam have serious 'Integrity' in the film'southward New Poster

"Integrity" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Filmmakers Alan Mak and Felix Chong – the duo behind Infernal Affairs andThe Lost Bladesman –accept a new criminal offense film in postal service-production titled Integrity (read our review), which will exist the outset installment in a planned trilogy.

Integritystars Lau Ching Wan (Call of Heroes), Nick Cheung (Helios), Karena Lam (Bounty Hunters), Anita Yuen (Thunderbolt) and Alex Fong (Kung Fu Jungle), via AFS.

The story follows a leading anti-corruption agent who is forced to team up with his ex-wife to save an investigation in which both the defendant and the whistleblower have disappeared (via SD).

Integrity hits domestically on Feb 5, 2019. Don't miss the Trailer below:

Deal on Fire! The Assassin'due south Blade | Blu-ray | Only $vii.49 – Expires soon!

Assassin's Blade Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Assassin's Bract Blu-ray & DVD (Well Get USA)

Today's Deal on Burn is the Blu-ray for Jingle Ma'due southThe Assassinator'due south Blade (akaThe Butterfly Lovers), starring Wu Chun (14 Blades), Charlene Choi (The Twins Consequence), Hu Ge (1911).

In The Assassin'southward Blade, Zhu Yanzhi (Choi), disguised as a man, seeks to learn martial arts with an elite clan. Once she begins her intense preparation, Zhu finds herself at odds with her trainer and superior, Liang (Chun).

The Assassin'due south Bract also stars Fan Siu-Wong (The Story of Ricky 2) and Ti Lung (Duel of Fists).

Society The Assassin'due south Blade from Amazon.com today!

Rampant | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go Us)

Rampant | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Rampant | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go U.s.)

RELEASE Engagement: February 26, 2019

On February 26, 2019, Well Go The states is releasing the Blu-ray & DVD forRampant(read our review), a period thriller from managing director Kim Sung-Hoon (Confidential Consignment).

A darkness looms over ancient Korea: murderous creatures known as Nighttime Demons have overrun the country. Returning from a long imprisonment away, Prince Ganglim discovers that it will take the forcefulness of his entire kingdom to stop the bloody binge spreading across the nation.

Rampant stars Hyun-Bin (The Swinders), Jang Dong-Gun (No Tears for the Expressionless), Jo Woo-Jin (Inside Men), Kim Eui-Sung (Railroad train to Busan), Jeong Homo-Sik (Battleship Island) and Seo Ji-Hye (Lonely Tree).

Pre-order Rampant from Amazon.com today!

Showdown | Blu-ray (MVD Rewind)

RELEASE Appointment: February 26, 2019

On February 26, 2019, MVD Rewind will be releasing the Special Edition Blu-ray forShowdown, a 1993 martial arts picture show directed past Robert Radler (Best of the Best).

Check out the official details below:

Ken Marks (Kenn Scott, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ii: The Surreptitious of the Ooze) finds a dangerous enemy on his kickoff mean solar day at his new schoolhouse; an enemy who makes his living equally the champion of an illegal fighting performance. School janitor and ex-cop Baton Grant (Billy Blanks, King of the Kickboxers) trains Ken to defend himself. What Baton doesn't know is that the human being behind it all is the one human being from his by who wants him expressionless.

This VHS favorite features an all-star cast that includes Christine Taylor (The Wedding Vocalizer), Patrick Kilpatrick (Death Warrant), James Lew (Ninja Turf) and Brion James (Blade Runner) in the motion-picture show the proves at that place's not a problem in the world that a good roundhouse kick to the confront can't solve.

Bonus Features:

Original R-Rated version of the film (98 min.)
Interviews with Director Robert Radler, writer Stuart Gibbs, and star Baton Blanks & Patrick Kilpatrick (more to be announced)
Photo Gallery
Original Theatrical Trailer (SD)
Collectible Mini- Affiche
Sound: English language v.1 Surround, two.0 Stereo
Subtitles TBD

Pre-order Showdown from Amazon.com today!

Return, The (2018) Review

"The Return" Korean Theatrical Poster

"The Render" Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Malene Choi
Writer: Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen
Cast: Thomas Hwan, Karoline Sofie Lee
Running Time: 85 min.

Past Paul Bramhall

Out of all the many characters that frequent Korean picture palace, the one which is arguably the near underrepresented is that of the international adoptee. And then it came as quite a shock when I watched the recently released Champion, a mainstream product starring Ma Dong-seok as an adoptee raised in the U.S., who returns to Korea both to accept role in an arm-wrestling contest (yes, it's an arm-wrestling flick) and likewise attempt to observe his biological mother. Champion marks the first time for an international adoptee to be the lead grapheme in a Korean pic, with near other examples relegated to either minor roles (Choe Stella Kim in Ode to My Male parent), or stories that focus on life before the adoption takes place, such as the Kim Sae-ron starring A Brand New Life and Barbie.

The wider effect of international adoption in Korea is a much more complex one. Originally triggered after the Korean State of war in 1953, the practice is attributed to a admirer named Harry Holt, who adopted 8 so-called 'K.I. Babies' in 1955 after seeing a documentary on TV in the states. Even so at that place's a darker side to Holt's good intentions, one he could never take been aware of at the time, which is that of Korea's obsession with racial purity (a facet of their society which, while significantly less prominent than it was 65 years ago, nonetheless remains). A huge percent of the babies adopted overseas, in the years immediately post-obit the Korean State of war, were fathered to American soldiers who left one time the state of war concluded. Commonly leaving a female parent and child in poverty, the Korean government was happy to offload these mixed race babies back to America.

In the decades that followed things inverse a lot. The mixed-race upshot faded away as a bi-production of the armistice, and instead most babies put up for adoption were from single mothers, still unfortunately viewed as a source of shame in Korea. With a Confucian guild and so focused on ancestral bloodlines, domestic adoption has never been much of a feasible selection, with the concept of raising someone else's child seen as an alien ane. By the mid-1960's, Korea wasn't only sending babies to the U.S. but also Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, French republic, Switzerland, and Germany. Information technology became a common quip to say that Korea's biggest export was babies, and it was only in the mid-80'due south that the government looked to start quelling the amount information technology was sending overseas, with the most recent law putting further restrictions on international adoption introduced in 2013.

Which brings me to director Malene Choi's feature length debut with The Return. Choi is an international adoptee raised in Denmark, and has created a unique docu-fiction hybrid that speaks on a level beyond the subject matter on the surface. The loosely structured plot focuses on Karoline, a thirty-something adoptee raised in Denmark, who comes to Korea hoping to track down her biological family. She stays in the Koroot guesthouse, an actual guesthouse in Seoul, dedicated to introducing Korean culture to adoptees wanting to know more about their home country. While there she meets another Denmark raised adoptee in the form of Thomas, as well in his thirties, and the pair form a kind of bail as they explore a land and civilisation which feels completely alien to them.

What makes The Return so unique is that both Karoline and Thomas are not only characters, but rather the actual actors playing variations of themselves. Karoline Sofie Lee and Thomas Kwan are both actors who came to Denmark as children adopted from Korea, and their roles in The Return embody both the directors own experiences, besides as their own, blurring the line betwixt fiction and reality. Blurring the line fifty-fifty further, is that the supporting characters we see in the guesthouse are bodily guests that were staying there at the time of filming, their ain stories interwoven into the narrative. This decision gives The Return an inimitable sense of actuality, with moments of unexpected poignancy often arising out of simple conversations that have identify within the comfy surroundings of the guesthouse.

An adoptee from America explains how he instantly felt at home in Korea as shortly every bit he arrived a couple of years prior, but it strained relations with his adopted family to the point that they asked him to choose between them and relocating there. A lady explains the consummate lack of emotion she felt upon meeting her birth male parent for the first time, while everyone else that was in the room was reduced to tears, only how the opposite happened when she met her nascency female parent. An artist explains how she uses her feel as an adoptee to create. All have a different story to tell, and while the scenarios themselves are specific to their own experiences, the emotions behind them are relatable to anybody, as feelings of both regret and reconciliation bubble to the surface through their words.

Choi takes a foliage out of Park Chan-kyong'due south Manshin: 10 M Spirits in her choice to employ a fictional framework rather than make a full-fledged documentary, allowing for a much broader range of creative freedom than the talking head format would have allowed. The feeling of disorientation that both Karoline and Thomas carry effectually with them is playfully achieved through both the visuals and sound blueprint, as scenes are rapidly edited together allowing for brief glimpses of someone just walking out of shot, around a corner, or closing a door. Meanwhile playful blips and the sound of a disconnected phone line whir over them, invoking a feeling of disjointedness and noise.

Indeed the most awkward scenes in The Return are those that involve the Korean language. Watched on mute it could well await similar whatsoever other Korean production, however with audio there's a discomfort in watching Karoline'due south attempt to help the guesthouse cook make a repast, who only speaks Korean, as she struggles to maintain the balance between patience and frustration. But when the mutual languages of English and Danish are spoken does the tension dissipate, with the scenes between Karoline and Thomas having an air of natural realism well-nigh them which is pleasant to lookout man. At one point Thomas candidly admits that he has much less in common with the other guesthouse adoptees than he expected to, while Karoline is visibly happy to have some other Danish person to talk to, leading to both giving the other a small part of what they feel they're missing in Korea.

Events culminate with Thomas being notified that his birth mother has been located, and that she'd similar to meet him the following twenty-four hour period. Choi'south treatment of the meeting is masterful, opting to forego the piece of cake route of a tearful reunion, instead the meeting begins awkwardly, in a scene that almost feels drowned out by the silence, with just the accompanying translator intermittently translating the odd moments of small talk. Played out in existent time, when the questions practise finally come upward about the by, the emotional weight they carry with them is fully felt, and just like in reality, the full impact of them isn't felt on Thomas until the meeting is over, and he reaches a decision on what he'll do with the rest of his fourth dimension in Korea.

While The Render speaks powerfully to the experience of beingness an international adoptee from Korea, its triumph really is that it achieves much more than that. For anyone that's lacked a sense of closure, or sought somewhere to belong, the understanding of the lengths nosotros'll go to as humans to seek a resolution to such longings, is possibly what information technology speaks to the most. In the concluding scenes Karoline hasn't found exactly what she came to Korea for, but in the unspoken final moments, it could just be that she's found something more than.

Paul Bramhall'due south Rating: 8/10