"Actor: Yuan Te"

• Red Corner | DVD | (01/02/2000) from £9.43   |  Saving you £6.56 (69.57%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Using a faulty thriller for his soapbox as an outspoken critic of China, a devout follower of the Dalai Lama, and an influential supporter of Tibetan freedom, Richard Gere resorts to the equivalent of propagandistic drama to deliver a heavy-handed message. In other words, Red Corner relies on a dubious strategy to promote political awareness, but director Jon Avnet appeals to the viewer's outrage with such effective urgency that you're likely to forget you're being shamelessly manipulated. Gere plays a downtrodden TV executive who sells syndicated shows on the global market, and during a business trip to China he finds himself framed for the murder of the sexy daughter of a high Chinese official. Once trapped in a legal system in which his innocence will be all but impossible to prove, Gere must rely on a Chinese-appointed lawyer (played by Bai Ling) who first advises him to plead guilty but gradually grows convinced of foul play. Barely attempting to hide its agenda, Red Corner effectively sets the stage for abundant anti-Chinese sentiment, and to be sure, the movie gains powerful momentum with its tale of justice gone awry. It's a serious-minded, high-intensity courtroom drama with noble intentions, but one wonder if it has to be so conspicuously lacking in subtlety. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Shanghai Noon & Shanghai Knights 2: Movie Coll | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Drive | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £8.67   |  Saving you £-2.68 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Drive takes the standard American mismatched-buddies action comedy formula and turbo-charges it with furious Hong Kong wirework and martial arts. The result is a three-and-a-half million dollar "B" picture which looks like it cost 10 times more. The perfunctory story crosses Universal Solider (1992) with Rush Hour (1997) as a biologically enhanced Mark Dacascos flees a small army of Hong Kong assassins through California, teaming up with comedian Kadeem Hardison and delivering an almost unbelievable amount of bang per buck. Director Steve Wang stages the action with flair and clarity, the stunts, wirework and fights being exceptionally well-choreographed and shot. With Hardison's patter, two offbeat redneck assassins and a TV show about a frog with Einstein's brain there's abundant surprisingly genial humour, aided by Brittany Murphy's ditzy performance as a Twin Peaks-like teenager with hormones in overdrive. The cyborg aspect simply justifies the superhuman combat, but nevertheless a huge showdown in a retro-space age club is clearly styled after the "Tech Noir" bar sequence in The Terminator (1984), adding motorcycle killersstraight out of Rollerball (1975). Drive captures the rush of Hong Kong action movies yet almost has the feel of a musical, the mayhem replacing song and dance and offering more popcorn entertainment than many a bloated summer blockbuster.On the DVD: For such a low budget movie the 2.35:1 anamorphically enhanced image puts many far bigger features to shame, being pin-sharp throughout, with strong and accurate colours and minimal grain. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is equally strong, with sound-effects and music both having considerable impact, explosions ripping thorough the room like the latest Arnie shoot 'em up. There is a 47-minute retrospective documentary which is particularly interesting on the way the film was cut and restored for American release--this DVD presenting the director's cut which runs over 16 minutes longer than the US version. Six deleted/extended scenes are presented in a variety of formats, and it's easy to see why they were deleted. Also included are the original theatrical trailer, three photo galleries, cast and crew biographies and interview galleries with director Steve Wang and four of the main stars totalling about 20 minutes of material. The informative commentary track has Wang, Dacascos, Hardison and stunt co-ordinator Koichi Sakamoto revelling in their sheer enthusiasm for the movie and for Hong Kong action in general. --Gary S Dalkin

• Hero | Blu Ray | (16/05/2022) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From director and writer Corey Yuen (Righting Wrongs, Red Cliff, The Transporter) comes this high-octane tale of criminal gangs, betrayal and greed. When brothers Ma Wing-jing (Taksehi Kaneshiro) and Ma Tai-cheung (Yuen Wah) flee their impoverished homeland to seek their fortune in Shanghai, they at first find more grinding penury when they are forced to work as lowly coolies, however Wing-jing soon becomes embroiled in the seedy world of big city triads and his once insignificant life becomes an arrogant lust for power. This fabulous remake of Cheh Chang's classic The Boxer from Shantung (1972) from the legendary Shaw Brothers studios is given a 90s makeover chock full with stunts, fights and awe inspiring action sequences. A must for collectors of martial arts cinema.

• The Eye Trilogy | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £10.95   |  Saving you £29.04 (265.21%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The Eye: At the age of two Mun went blind. After eighteen years in darkness she is given the chance of a risky corneal transplant operation. When the bandages are taken off Mun's eyes respond to the light around her and it appears that the surgery has been successful. However when Mun experiences a series of inexplicable and chilling encounters with mysterious strangers she fears that her newly restored eyesight has brought a different kind of darkness into her life. Featuring some of the most genuinely terrifying moments ever seen on screen as well as a finale more spectacular than anything to come out of Hollywood this stylish and haunting film from the critically acclaimed Pang Brothers (Bangkok Dangerous) deserves its place at the forefront of modern horror cinema. The Eye 2: Joey (Shu Qi) recovers from an overdose of sleeping pills after having her stomach pumped. It was a close call; she had visions of dead people accompanying her during her darkest minutes. But just when she looks forward to a brand new life she discovers that she is pregnant. Tortured by the thought of an abortion Joey finds herself becoming delusional and emotionally unstable. She is frequently threatened by the sudden presence of strangers and is stalked by a mysterious woman. The stalker confronts her; making eye contacts with her on a train platform she throws herself at a running train! Joey breaks down at the sight of the suicide only to discover that no 'jumper' is found on the track... The Eye Infinity: Whilst on a holiday to Thailand a group of friends tell each other ghost stories inspired by an accident they witness on a spot of sightseeing. Chongkwai the host of the party and local boy reveals a mystical book offering instructions on 10 different ways to view the physical form of spirits. Naturally they can't resist. However when one of them disappears under a cloud of mysterious circumstances the group soon realise that the spirits are after them!

• The Eye 2 | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £12.75   |  Saving you £2.24 (17.57%)   |  RRP £14.99

  What if the reflection you see is not yours? Joey (Shu Qi) recovers from an overdose of sleeping pills after having her stomach pumped. It was a close call; she had visions of dead people accompanying her during her darkest minutes. But just when she looks forward to a brand new life she discovers that she is pregnant. Tortured by the thought of an abortion Joey finds herself becoming delusional and emotionally unstable. She is frequently threatened by the sudden presence

• Shanghai Noon / Knights | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A double bill of Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson Wild West adventures including Shanghai Noon and the sequel Shanghai Knights Shanghai Noon (Dir. Tom Dey 2000): Two cultures collide when East meets West in Shanghai Noon a wildly hilarious stunt-filled action-adventure-comedy starring the death-defying action hero Jackie Chan Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu. Chan plays Chinese Imperial Guard Chon Wang (say it out loud) who hightails it to the wi

• True Vengeance | DVD | (01/01/1900) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Kicked out of the military twelve years ago former U.S. Intelligence Officer Henry Griffin is forced back into action by the notorious Japanese Mafia known the world over as the Yakuza. Griffin is commissioned by the Yakuza to assasinate a senior a senior American businessman. To ensure success they have kidnapped his eleven year old daughter. Lt. Kimberley Wilson of Naval Intelligence is coupled with L.A.P.D. detective Bill Emory to search for the fugitive Griffin whom trhey believe has again betrayed his country by siding with the Yakuza.

• Snake Charmer | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Hong Kong experiences a wave of macabre deaths: the victims have been sucked dry and steeped in snake venom. A young detective (Jackie Lui) follows a series of bizarre clues and scours the city's exotic underbelly to track down the killer. A nightclub (that doubles as a brothel) housing five seductive suspects appears to be at the centre of the mystery. The trail leads him to a beautiful and mysterious woman who has a special affinity with snakes. When the policeman's investigations come to a dead-end the chance discovery of a videotape pulls him into a decadent world of deadly drugs forbidden passion and poisonous murder.