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It’s John Woo all right, but turned all the way up to 11!… (more…)

Action choreographer on Hero, House Of Flying Daggers, The Warlords and far too many others to mention, Tony Ching Siu-tung is back in the director’s chair for the first time in five years – but is this the triumphant return we were hoping for…? (more…)

A naff title but this potentially very interesting release sees action choreographer Ching Siu-tung return to the directors chair after many years of collaborations with Zhang Yimou (Hero, House Of Flying Daggers, The Curse Of The Golden Flower) and Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer). (No sign of a DVD with English subs yet!) Kelly Chan, Leon Lai and Donnie Yen star…

Wong Kar-wai returns to his 1994 classic to produce a definite version – but is it really any better…? (more…)

A fun filled pantomime from the Shaw Brothers – with super extending legs that can deliver a kick from a distance, dwarfs that squirt Alien-like acid puss from their spots and pet dragons… (more…)

Just another early 80s wire-fu movie – or at least it would be if not for the performances of leads Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh and some fine action from Ching Siu-tung… (more…)

If you ever wanted to know where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon came from you only need to know one name, King Hu. This ground breaking film, possibly one of the greatest of the martial chivalry genre, started it all… (more…)

Osamu Tezuka’s (Astro Boy) Dororo gets the live-action makeover, from director Akihiko Shiota, starring Memories Of Matsuko’s Kou Shibasaki, but spoiled a little by wishy-washy CGI and under-par action from legendary Ching Siu-Tung… (more…)

Veteran Hong Kong director Tony Siu-Tung Ching (director of classic “A Chinese Ghost Story” and the “Swordsman” trilogy and the action choreographer for “Curse Of The Golden Flower”, “Hero” and “House Of Flying Daggers”) makes a dazzling return to vintage form with the epic, AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS, starring Donnie Yen (Flashpoint; Dragon Tiger Gate; Seven Swords; Hero), Kelly Chen (the Infernal Affairs trilogy; Tokyo Raiders) and Leon Lai (Seven Swords; Infernal Affairs 3). You can read our review here »

AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£15.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99) by Cine Asia on 23rd March 2009. Special Features include: Making Of featurette; Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo audio options; theatrical trailer.

Three undisputed masters of contemporary Hong Kong cinema – Tsui Hark (Seven Swords; Zu Warriors; Once Upon A Time In China), Ringo Lam (Full Contact; City On Fire) and Johnny To (Mad Detective; PTU) – join forces for the first time ever to apply their directorial skills ‘exquisite corpse’ style to Triangle, an “inventive, and darkly comic” (Mail on Sunday) crime thriller starring Louis Koo (Flashpoint), Simon Yam (SPL; Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life), Honglei Sun (Mongol; Seven Swords), Lam Ka Tung (Mad Detective; Infernal Affairs) and Kelly Lin (Mad Detective; Zu Warriors).

Read our review of Triangle here »

Nominated for an Oscar, Jet Li stars in director Zhang Yimou’s (Raise The Red Lantern, Not One Less) first foray into the swordplay genre, and it’s one of the most beautiful and offbeat yet… (more…)

A beautiful tale of romance and bitter betrayal, Zhang Yimou’s follow-up to Hero is even better… (more…)

Tsui Hark’s follow-up to the classic Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain is a spell blinding feast for the eyes. The special effects are equal anything Hollywood has to offer, but sadly it’s also just as hollow… (more…)

Peter Chan’s take on the historical wuxia drama is far grittier and more grounded than we’re used to, with a fine performance by Jet Li that will surprise his critics – but do we really need another film like this? (more…)

Saturday night’s all right for fightin’ as Jimmy Wang Yu plays a one-armed warrior with a problem (again!)… (more…)

Director/action choreographer Ching Siu-tung’s solid if slightly disappointing movie An Empress and The Warriors is released on UK DVD today.

Starring an under-utilised Donnie Yen, Leon Li and Kelly Chen, it’s an historical melodrama. Yep, another one. And sadly it doesn’t delight in the way you might hope from the director of Hong Kong 80s and 90s classics like the Chinese Ghost Story and Swordsman series of films, or from his collaborations with Zhang Yimou – Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and Curse Of The Golden Flower.

You can read our full review of An Empress and The Warriors here »

Peter Chan’s The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kineshiro, is released in the UK on two-disc DVD and Blu-ray today by Metronome.

You can read our review here »

Out today, Akihiko Shiota’s entertaining live-action update of the Dororo manga, by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka – and there’s still a chance to win a copy on DVD…! (more…)

With the imminent release of Kung Fu Hustle on DVD, is there a better time to revisit this silly but fun classic?… (more…)

A nicely played and well-directed swordplay film – but haven’t we seen it all before? (more…)

The ground breaking martial art films that broke Jackie Chan as a superstar… (more…)

The bizarre and often baffling follow up to Swordsman II sees Brigette Lin reprising her role as Asia the Invincible… (more…)

The impressive feature debut from Tsui Hark (Seven Swords, Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain) that kick started the Hong Kong ‘new wave’ of the 80s… (more…)

Director Zhang Yimou’s latest swordplay inspired movie is a visual delight, but this one won’t please the martial arts fans… (more…)

Shot back-to-back with Ashes Of Time and sharing much of the same cast, the stars get to let their hair down in a very different take on the same Louis Cha novel… (more…)

The bite size guide for those of you who loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but were too afraid to ask where to go next… these are the ten Hong Kong movies you MUST see! (more…)

Peter Chan’s The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kineshiro, is on limited release in London and around the UK by Metrodome.

You can read our review here »

Three of Hong Kong’s most respected directors – Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To – each take one half-hour segment of the same plotline, each with complete creative control – but is it any more than an self-indulgent experiment? (more…)

We have three copies of the live-action version of Osamu Tezuka’s (Astro Boy) Dororo to give away on DVD… (more…)