"Actor: Chien Yu"

• The Thundering Mantis | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Seriously weird as only the best, completely-barking-mad kung fu flicks can be, The Thundering Mantis is the story of Ah Chi, a martial artist who hooks up with a kid sidekick. However, an old grudge resurfaces, with the result that the boy's uncle is murdered and the boy himself kidnapped. So far so Arnie-in-Commando, but it's at this point we're reminded that indigenous martial arts movies are something else again, as Ah Chi's rescue attempt goes disastrously wrong and the boy is tortured to death before his eyes. Apparently driven to insanity by this experience, Ah Chi goes berserk, breaking free and systematically trashing everything and everyone in sight. End of movie. Devotees will absolutely want this in their collections, but those who have yet to progress beyond the Jackie Chan/Jet Li school of Americanised martial arts films will need to leave their preconceptions at the door. There's a nice touch to the dubbed English soundtrack, where the voiceover artists seem to have taken it upon themselves to imitate various British character actors: listen out for Wilfred Brambell, Kenneth Connor and so on. On the DVD: The Thundering Mantis has no extras on the widescreen DVD other than a one-screen guide to other titles in the Kung Fu Connection series. --Roger Thomas

• Hong Kong 1941 | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £21.29   |  Saving you £-1.30 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Hong Kong 1941 is a film from the former Crown Colony uniquely focusing on the Japanese occupation during the Second World War. Starring Chow Yun-Fat, shortly before A Better Tomorrow (1986) made him a superstar, this is a war drama far removed from the usual action fare expected from Hong Kong cinema. The English title deliberately evokes Spielberg's 1941, though the content anticipates the same director's Empire of the Sun, even to the extent that the hymn "Suo Gan" is used in both movies. The story of two friends in love with the same woman may call to mind Pearl Harbor, though this comparatively low-budget feature offers an infinitely more convincing account of the horrors of war than Michael Bay's glossy big-budget epic, with some of the most harrowing sequences since The Deer Hunter. The film does not shy away from the moral complexities of collaboration with the enemy, and likewise presents the main characters as fully three-dimensional. Chow Yun-Fat inevitably dominates (he won a Golden Horse award for his performance), yet Cecilia Yip Tong makes a strong impression as the heroine whose terminal illness does not result in the expected sentimental clichés. Alex Man is memorable as the third corner of the triangle, but what makes Hong Kong 1941 genuinely notable is its emotionally charged evocation of WWII from a rarely seen perspective. On the DVD: Hong Kong 1941 is presented in an anamorphically enhanced transfer at 1.77:1, cropping just a little of the original Hong Kong Critics Award-winning cinematography. The picture is excellent, with no blemishes, fine detail, rich colours and barely a hint of grain. The sound is offered in stereo in the original Cantonese, with optional English subtitles, or in a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix and dubbed into English. Both tracks have occasional distortion on the music. The original version preserves the performances much better, though some of the subtitles are wildly inaccurate--references to living in the 21st century and to Japanese jet planes--while the dubbed track offers better than average voice acting but with many of the cultural references Westernised. The multi-channel remix adds only discrete ambient effects and is barely noticeable. The main special features are an information-packed commentary by Hong Kong movie expert Bay Logan, and two interviews. Chow Yun-Fat speaks rather nervously in English for 12 minutes on a variety of topics, concentrating on his work with John Woo. The interview with Cecilia Yip Tong, specific to Hong Kong 1941, is in Cantonese with English subtitles, runs 27 minutes and is anamorphically enhanced with excellent image quality. Also included is a routine photo gallery, the original theatrical trailer and 12 Hong Kong Legends DVD trailers. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Dynamite Trio | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Top Kung Fu stars Lung Fei and Mark 'Ghostface Killer' Long stars as masters of the Mantis kung fu style in this Kung Fu classic. The film caused near riots when released in the eighties in the West Indies and Africa due to the intense fighting styles.

• The Destroyer | DVD | (06/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Tiger Wong (Jimmy Wang Yu) is a student of martial arts who made a promise to his late father never to show his martial arts skills in public. A gang of mercenaries raid a nearby village. The villagers led by Fong Li send a party to ask for his help. But Tiger Wong refuses to help or get involved in the troubles. Only after seeing the brutality of the gang does he decide to take some action... Jimmy Wang Yu delivers a visual feast of dynamic martial arts action in typical style.

• Nine Venoms | DVD | (29/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Shaw Brothers favourites the Venoms star in this classic tale of sorcery and martial arts. Havoc ensues when an upright citizen Lord Cheng is attacked by the demoness Chin. A Taoist priest steps in to help but this result in a full scale attack by the demons. When the Lord's son becomes possessed by the spirits the Taoists have a real battle on their hands as all hell breaks loose in the martial world... Great set-piece choreography as only the Venoms can deliver! English Language Version.

• Last Hurrah for Chivalry | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Kao (Wei Pei) the duplicitous pivotal character has purchased a beautiful wife for 1 000 taels of gold; alas his rival the prodigious fighter Pei has paid her 2 000 taels to kill him. When loyalty can be purchased it no longer exists... With outstanding action choreography and notions of betrayed loyalty this early Wu Xia (martial chivalry) period piece was written and directed by John Woo becoming an essential point in the young artist's career and went on to directly influence most of 1980s Hong Kong action cinema.