"Actor: Xin Xin Xiong"

• Simon Sez | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

• The Blade | DVD | (17/04/2000) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-10.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Legendary Hong Kong Director Tsui Hark blends violent action and stunning swordplay in his remake of the Shaw Brothers classic One-Armed Swordsman. The Blade is a sweeping epic which highlights the incredible fighting talent of Chiu Cheuk Hong Kong's latest action start. When a master sword-maker adopts the son of a murdered friend (Chiu Cheuk) the boy learns the master's craft well. As a young man he learns about his fathers death at the hand of a mysterious tattooed killer (Xiong-Xin-Xin). He takes fathers broken blade and sets out to seek vengeance. The daughter Ling follows but is caught in a bloody ambush. When he tries to rescue her his arm is hacked off in the battle and he is believed dead by all except Ling and his friend who set out in search of him. But he is saved by a hermit girl who nurses him back to health where he finds an old kung fu manual and practices with the broken blade to perfect the art of one armed swordfighting. In a breathtaking finale unlike anything you have seen before our hero sets off once again to find the tattooed assassin a quest that leads to an explosive and spectacular showdown.

• New Dragon Gate Inn | DVD | (31/07/2000) from £11.42   |  Saving you £8.57 (75.04%)   |  RRP £19.99

  New Dragon Gate Inn is the DVD title of the 1992 swordplay adventure Dragon Inn, producer Tsui Hark's follow-up to Once Upon a Time in China and Swordsman 2 (both 1991). In the wake of the huge success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it is a film ripe for rediscovery. A pair of warriors (Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung), who only admit their love when it is too late, have to rescue two children from the clutches of a corrupt warlord. Fleeing through the vast, highly pictorial desert, they seek shelter in the isolated Dragon Inn run by the man-eating Maggie Cheung (traveller's tip, don't try the "mixed meat"). The scene is set for intrigue, romance and exhilarating wirework, as our heroes wait for the enemy to arrive in what is essentially the classic High Noon scenario. The build-up isn't always coherent, though that may have something to do with the subtitles, which are unnecessarily crude. Despite this the production values and high-flying fights are first-rate and the two actresses make the film, particularly the devilishly sexy Maggie Cheung. The final showdown in a desert storm is breathtaking.On the DVD: In the cinemas this was an absolutely gorgeous 2.35:1 widescreen film, which here has been reformatted to 16:9 TV ratio, sacrificing important visual information at either side and significantly damaging the stunning cinematography. Enough survives to indicate just how beautiful the complete images are, and the anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 transfer is sharp and clean on exterior shots, though some of the dimly lit interiors display considerable grain. Although only mono the sound is full and free from distortion, providing a good showcase for the atmospheric score. The film can be watched with the original Mandarin soundtrack and English subtitles, or dubbed. Included is an interview with Donnie Yen and detailed text biographies of the two female stars. The music promo is Hong Kong Legends' own trailer, included together with five further trailers for other releases. The original theatrical trailer is also present, and no matter what screen setting it is played at, everything looks vertically compressed. However, change the DVD player setting from widescreen to 4:3 letterbox and the trailer plays in the correct 2.35:1 proportions, confirming how the film was really shot. Though the DVD packaging bills this edition of Dragon Inn as the full-length original version though there is no explanation of what footage has been restored from previous releases. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Once Upon A Time In China And America | DVD | (30/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Once upon a time in China & America' is one of the biggest budget Hong Kong movies of all time taking over million at the box office and combines the talents of Director Sammo Hung and Producer Tsui Hark together with a heady mix of gunplay and Kung Fu action with Jet Li proving that the fastest guns in the West are no match for the fastest hands in the East. Wong Fei Hung (Jet Li) together with his fiancee (Rosamund Kwan) and devoted sidekick Seven (Yueng Pan Pan) find themselves in the Wild West in search of new horizons. However an early confrontation with Native American Indians renders Jet unconcious and parted from his group. When he comes to he finds he has lost his memory but the one thing that is still clear in his mind is the ability to fight with lightening speed. The warriors of the tribe are amazed at his unique abilities and offer him respect and friendship. Unable to communicate he manages through sign language to persuade them to help him find his true identity leading to countless action packed encounters on his path to be reunited with his friends.

• The Black Sheep Affair (1998) | DVD | (03/07/2000) from £9.94   |  Saving you £13.04 (187.63%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In The Black Sheep Affair special forces agent Yim Dong (Chiu Man Chuk--the brilliant wu shu marital artist star of 1995's The Blade) is transferred to the fictional ex-Soviet Republic of Lavernia, actually Hungary, where the explosive Now You're Dead (1998) was filmed. Soon he has arrested Mishima, played by Hoi Lin who delivers a chilling performance as a ruthless Japanese terrorist who believes he is Christ returned to bring bloody redemption. Before long Mishima's fanatical followers are causing mayhem, while in a bittersweet sub-plot Yim revives his relationship with the girl he loved in Beijing before the 1989 uprising. The comparatively low budget shows occasionally, and even in the Cantonese version all the Lavernians are dreadfully dubbed with American voices, one duplicitous official coming across like a camp Oliver Reed. Against that there is an attempt to offer some political substance, and the action--a mixture of martial arts and gunplay--is fast, furious and stunningly staged, so that even as it goes ludicrously OTT it remains exhilarating. The "shoot-the-hostages" finale reaches an emotional intensity and breaks rules no Hollywood action flick would dare, turning into a John Woo-like slaughterhouse which makes the likes of Die Hard (1988) look tame. On the DVD: The end titles carry the Dolby Digital logo, so why both the Cantonese subtitled and English dubbed versions of a 1998 film are presented in two-channel mono is a mystery. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is good but not exceptional, and exhibits some clear compression artefacts. The "music promo" is essentially one of Hong Kong Legends' own specially-made trailers, and is accompanied by more trailers for a further five films. The photo gallery is pointless but the text biographies of the two main stars are detailed enough to be interesting. Two minutes of poor quality video show Chiu Man Chuk demonstrating some wu shu moves, while a four-minute interview conducted at the same time via a translator for French television does little more than reveal the star as an amiable chap. Several of the features are also present on the DVD of Chiu Man Chuk's Body Weapon (1999). --Gary S Dalkin

• Once Upon A Time In China II | DVD | (02/02/2003) from £7.06   |  Saving you £12.93 (64.70%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Like its predecessor, Once Upon a Time in China 2 stars Jet Li as Wong Fei Hung, this time pitched against the xenophobic White Lotus cult, which is violently trying to rid China of foreigners (the period is the early 20th century). To complicate matters, he also finds himself fighting against the reactionary Chinese government. The martial arts battles, in particular one against co-star Donnie Yen as the government's strongman, are everything connoisseurs could wish for. Jet Li is not only acrobatic; he has a powerful screen presence that makes him a convincing hero. Production values, including sets and costumes, are excellent. The only flaw, at least to Western eyes, is the comedy, which has corny jokes about eating dog meat and so forth. On the DVD: the DVD is in widescreen format, with high-quality picture and sound and well-produced subtitles. The extras are well worth having, and include a lengthy scroll-down text biography of Jet Li, interviews with the star and with Donnie Yen, and a very informative audio commentary by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan. --Ed Buscombe

• Once Upon A Time In China III | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £10.97   |  Saving you £9.02 (45.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Set in the era when China was just beginning to establish relations with Europe, Once upon a Time in China 3 is a mixture of politics, intrigue, broad comedy, and kung fu action. Charismatic Jet Li stars once again as Wong Fei-hung, a legendary Chinese hero who is a doctor, a pacifist, and an amazingly skilled martial artist. Like many Hong Kong films, this movie has a woefully complicated plot: in summary, a kung fu competition not only sparks a bitter rivalry between different martial-arts associations, it also becomes the linchpin in an assassination plot. But this leaves out Wong Fei-hung's increasingly romantic relationship with his aunt (played by Rosamund Kwan), the rehabilitation of one of the villain's henchmen, and the introduction of a steam engine to a Chinese factory, among other subplots. Once upon a Time in China 3 is not the strongest in the series--the subtitling is unusually clumsy, the editing is rough, the plot is confusing, and the melodrama is more crudely played than in the other films--but there's still a clear, raw authority to the storytelling that is a hallmark of director-producer Hark Tsui (Peking Opera Blues, Green Snake). Though it seems to have been made in a rush, Once upon a Time in China 3 will still reward devotees of Hong Kong films, and the frequent and wild fight scenes will appeal to action fans. --Bret Fetzer --This text refers to the DVD edition of this video.

• Wonder Seven | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Seven orphans each with his or her own skill operate as a secret police bringing criminals to justice. However when a mission goes wrong the group winds up falsely accused of murder and must clear their collective name by bringing the real criminals to justice...

• Lesbian Vampire Warriors | DVD | (25/06/2012) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-17.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  IT'S VAMPIRE VS. VAMPIRE IN THIS BLOODTHIRSTY KUNG FU ACTION EPIC!Vampire hunter Ar leads a simple life, slaying the un-dead whilst simultaneously spending time with a family of non-lethal vegetarian vampires. That is until the mysterious and ruthless vampire Mung comes to town, causing all kinds of carnage and feasting on fellow vampires whilst stealing their power.With the bodies piling up and her vampire friends under threat, Ar has no choice but to face Mung, fang to fang. But as Mung becomes more and more powerful, Ar will have to make the ultimate sacrifice if she is ultimately to triumph - become one of her very own most revered adversaries - the un-dead!

• Donnie Yen Triple | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Iron Monkey - Platinum Edition: One of the most visually spectacular films ever produced by a Hong Kong studio this is a traditional epic style movie boasting fight choreography by Yuen Woo Ping action director of ""The Matrix"" ""Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"" and ""Kill Bill vol 1"" and soon-to-be Hollywood star Donnie Yen. This film is credited by fans and critics as containing some of the most intricte and technically difficult fight action ever shot for the screen. Set in the late Ching Dynasty 'the film depicts the life of legendary herbal doctor Dr Yang whose high-kicking alter-ego ""Iron Monkey"" protects the poor and needy against the barbaric excesses of the corrupt political regieme. Relentlessly pursued by the goverment's most accomplished fighters Yang must utilize all his skills to avoid capture and protect his people. (Dir. Yuen Woo-Ping 1993 Cert. 12) New Dragon Gate Inn: Bursting with enery hyper-kinetic fight-action and stunning imagery 'New Dragon Gate Inn' tells the story of fabled resistance fighter Zhou Huaian and his heroic struggle against despotic eunuch and master swordsman Cao Shao-qin played with considerable menace by martial-arts supremo Donnie Yen. 'New Dragon Gate Inn' is an atmospherically tense action-drama packed to the brim with amazing fight sequences awe-inspiring cinematography and nail-bitting drama. The final fight sequence shot in the Gobi desert is an adrenaline-pumping masterpiece which is undoubtedly one of the most memorable scenes in any Hong Kong movie. (Dir. Raymond Lee 1992 Cert. 18) Once Upon A Time In China 2: martial arts expert Wong Fei-Hung (Jet Li) faces Kung a mercenary rival with skills to equal his own. In addition Canton is convulsed by a struggle between the local representatives of the Chinese government and Europeans who want to control China and Wong ends up in the middle of this fight. The climatic shipboard fight sequences are simply amazing! (Dir. Tsui Hark 1992 Cert. 15)