SUN DRAGON

SUN DRAGON
猪仔血泪
(Zhu zai xie lei)
Hongkong, 1979

Willy Dozan
Carl Scott
Louis Neglia
Joseph Jennings
Liang Hsiao Sung

Directed by Hwa Yi Hsi

A trio of robbers looking for a hideout happens upon a farm and wipes out the family, save for the son, Tim (Carl Scott), who is badly wounded in his escape. Billy Chong (Willy Dozan) and his pal find Tim and take the battered kid to their doctor uncle, who heals Tim by using Chinese remedies. Naturally, Tim wants revenge on the gang that murdered his family. After some martial arts training from the doc, Tim sets out with Billy for some good ol' fashioned vengeance.

This is Willy Dozan's first appearance in Hongkong movies. And his name was changed into Billy Chong. He was pairing with the same director for the next movies, Crystal Fist and Kung Fu Zombie. There is a-plenty of fighting and both Billy Chong and Carl Scott (who is a very good black fighter) are good leads. Being budget minded, the locations are spare and the fighting is strictly ground kung fu, no trickery or outlandishness.

A FISTFUL OF TALONS

A FISTFUL OF TALONS
Hongkong, 1983

Directed by Sun Chung

Willy Dozan
Pai Ying
Hwang In Shik

A FISTFUL OF TALONS is a classic kung fu gem featuring charismatic star Billy Chong (KUNG FU ZOMBIE), Hapkido expert Hwang In-shik from THE YOUNG MASTER as lead villain and the action choreography of Robert Tai (THE FIVE VENOMS). It possesses more than enough genre talent in front of and behind the camera to make it worth tracking down.

A hot-headed country bumpkin (Chong) encounters a kung fu master, played by Taiwanese wuxia film veteran Pai Ying, who is on the run from Qing loyalists. After getting into his own trouble with the Qing, Chong leaves his father’s restaurant to become Pai’s student and aid him in fighting the Qing and their fierce Manchurian leader (Hwang).

Where TALONS gets a little more interesting is in its time period which is shortly after the fall of the Qing Dynasty and during the Republican era. Hwang, is plotting to lead a revolt against the government yet first needs to claim an imperial seal from Pai. Thankfully, this overused plot device is given little further attention and instead the film focuses on the famous Manchurian queue (ponytail) that all Qing-era men were required by law to wear. With the dissolution of the Qing Dynasty, so went the queue, a sure sign of treasonous loyalty to the old regime.

Chong and his buddies initially make it their mission to cut off any queues they see on Qing loyalists. This leads to a frantic group fight within a grain barn involving scissors, sickles and lots of severed hair. It draws on a similar scene in Jackie Chan’s DRAGON LORD while displaying early, advanced elements of the dynamic rope and ladders scene that the Yuen Clan choreographed for ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA in 1991.

This scene, with its overhead camera sweeps and exaggerated wire-assisted leaps, sets the kinetic tone for all the action to come. Chong, a balanced screen fighter with strong sparring and leg fighting skills has no trouble leaping right into Tai’s action madness with an assured stance and cocksure attitude.

Chong’s mission is complicated when his efforts to bag a trio of petty thieves for the reward money catches the eye of a village elder and more importantly his spirited daughter (Liu Hao-yi). She ends up following Chong as he fights his way through more Qing fighters to catch up with Pai. Chong receives a rather bland and ill-defined kung fu training course from Pai. They come to her rescue towards the end in what becomes one of the most violent, dramatic and cruel uses of animals in a fight sequence.

(edited from Mark Pollard's review)

THE BRAVE ARCHER

THE BRAVE ARCHER

Shaw Brothers 1978

Directed by Chang Cheh

Fu Sheng

Tien Niu

Ku Feng

Kuo Chui

Danny Lee

Wang Lung Wei

Jin Yong's historical novel The Eagle Shooting Heroes has been adapted into countless Asian television series as well as several films including Ashes of Time and this lengthy and involved Shaw Brothers effort directed by prolific Hong Kong filmmaker Chang Cheh. During the Sung dynasty, a young man named Kuo Ching (Alexander Fu Sheng) is raised and trained by a group of kung fu experts following his father's murder. One day, Ching sees one of his instructors murdered by the Skeleton Claw move, in which the killer straightens his fingers, making them rigid enough to penetrate both flesh and bone. Ching defeats the assassin, then encounters a titled noblewoman named Yung-er (Tien Niu) who is disguised as a pauper. They are subsequently taught by Hung, the Nine-Fingered Beggar (Ku Feng), who can smash a tree into splinters with a single chop of his hand. Ching gains still more knowledge from the master Cho (Phillip Kwok) which prepares him for the three tests he must face and overcome in order to win Yung-er's hand in marriage.

The all-star cast includes Danny Lee, Dick Wei, Johnny Wang but most viewers will want to watch for the energetic star turn by Alexander Fu Sheng, whose international stardom was just starting to peak when, ominously, he moved into a house once owned by the late Bruce Lee and known for its negative feng shui. Shortly thereafter, Fu Sheng died tragically young when he crashed into a cement wall in a vehicle driven by his younger brother. This film remains one of Fu Sheng's best-known efforts, and led to three sequels.

THE AVENGING EAGLE

THE AVENGING EAGLE

Shaw Brothers 1978

Directed by Sun Chung

Produced by Mona Fong

Screenplay by I Kuang

Ti Lung

Fu Sheng

Ku Feng

Shih Szu

Chi Ming Sing (Ti Lung) was kidnapped as a child by the master of Iron Boat Clan, Hung Yu Tse (Ku Feng), and forced to learn Kung Fu with other abducted children. Hung Yu Tse broke their will through torture and transformed the reluctant recruits into blood-thirsty martial arts warriors, called the 13 Eagles. The corrupt father figure of the 13 Eagles would send his brain-washed warriors to rob and/or kill his enemies. On one such raid against a worthy rival clan, Chi Ming Sing is mortally wounded and left for dead by his Eagle brothers. The rival Clan leader’s daughter takes an interest in Chi Ming Sing and nurses him back to health. Her affections and the peaceful disposition of her family convince him that there is more to life than raping and pillaging. Chi Ming Sing realizes how evil Hung Yu Tse truly is and returns to the palace of the Iron Boat Clan hoping to get close enough to kill his former leader. Upon returning, Hung Yu Tse suspects something is amiss with Chi Ming Sing, and orders him to kill a pregnant woman in cold blood to prove his loyalty. To keep up his charade, Chi Ming Sing is forced to carry out the evil deed to cast off suspicion. Chi Ming Sing is determined to do what it takes to eliminate Hung Yu Tse but it won’t be easy because his Eagle brothers protect their master. That’s when Chi Ming Sing meets Tso Yi Fan (Fu Sheng), another driven man who wants to destroy the Iron Boat Clan. The two men forge a respect and friendship for one another even though Tso Yi Fan is obviously hiding some deep skeletons in his closet. When Hung Yu Tse learns that Chi Ming Sing has regained his mindset, he orders the other 12 Eagles to hunt down and destroy their former comrade. Chi Ming Sing and Tso Yi Fan are two amazing warriors who must pit their skills in combat against the 12 Eagles and their evil master.

AVENGING EAGLE is Sun Chung’s best film. His style is very similar to the Godfather of Kung Fu, in many respects, only with more experimental techniques and less reliance on the power zoom. As the career of Chang Cheh winded down during the initial Venoms run, Sun Chung showed great promise and was poised to become Cheh’s sucessor. Unfortunately, the end of the era we call Old School (in 1984-85) pretty much put the brakes on his career. Sun Chung masterfully controls the flashback sequences as this film is presented non-chronologically. He also manipulates the action sequences with flair, and never makes the mistake of allowing the fights to overshadow the story or performances. Though he deserves the praise, the guy is only human and AVENGING EAGLE has two major weak spots: the haphazard editing and the experimental tracking shots. Chung employs lots of kinetic camera movement which foreshadows the spinning digital manipulation seen in THE MATRIX fights. Only Chung’s is all analog and blurry, serving no purpose except to increase the cheese level. Screenwriter I Kuang creates another story with depth, emotion, intrigue, and plenty of surprises. Sun Chung realizes Kuang script and insures AVENGING EAGLE is balanced and energetic.

When Fu Sheng’s identity in the film is revealed, it adds an unexpected twist to the plot structure. Something that Ku Feng quickly utilizes to his advantage in the finale. Speaking of Feng, he is awesome here—contorting his face and using body language to bring his character to life. Besides being a real cold bastard to the people who oppose him, Feng is equally caring to those in his regime. He displays the expressions and emotions of a true surrogate father. And when Ti Lung betrays his trust, there is a look of disappointment that only a true father would exhibit. So disturbed is Feng that he orders his 12 remaining ‘sons’ to hunt down and kill Ti Lung. He unwittingly sends his minions to their in their doom, because Ti Lung swings a mean set of triple-irons, and Fu Sheng employs razor-sharp blades that slash their opponents to bits. Ku Feng’s no slouch though, and has his own set of steel Eagle claws which he uses on our heroes. Ti Lung gives a superb performance as a man trying to atone for his sins. He wants to destroy the Iron Boat Clan by removing the problem at the source. He must get close enough to Ku Feng without being suspected or seen by others. So he has to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. He also has to make sacrifices and obey the one he hates the most. I won’t reveal Alexander Fu Sheng’s motivation in the film because that would ruin it for a lot of viewers. Yet Fu Sheng really steals a lot of thunder from Ti Lung. When he uses those blades of his, it’s hard not to be impressed. Wang Lung Wei, Eddie Ko, and Dick Wei portray the evil Eagle brothers.

(dvdcult.com)