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The Lady Is The Boss (1983)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Justin

Lau Kar Leung brings Hung Fist kung-fu to the disco in 1983’s The Lady Is The Boss, one of his most uneven films with the Shaw Brothers studio. The basic premise is excellent: an old-fashioned kung-fu instructor clashes with the young American-educated daughter of the school’s founder, who arrives in Hong Kong to take over the school’s management. Unfortunately, some truly woeful over-acting and cheesy comedy make most of the film fairly difficult to watch, even when interspersed with … (read more)

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The Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

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Posted on October 22, 2006 by Justin

You would be hard pressed to find a Shaw Brothers film more well-known internationally than The Five Venoms. It’s garnered a huge fanbase as a cult film over the years, inspiring everyone from rap supergroup the Wu-Tang clan to cult filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Released in 1978, it fuses elements of the older swordplay and wuxia films that Shaws produced for many years with the harder, more realistic action sequences that came with the kung fu films of the late … (read more)

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Invincible Shaolin (1978)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Justin

Invincible Shaolin is one of the first two discs to be released on to the Australian market from the remastered Shaw Brothers catalogue being lovingly restored by Celestial in Hong Kong. For those who don’t know: Shaw Brothers was a powerhouse of a studio operating in HK from the late 50’s to the early 80’s. They made hundreds of films in the kung fu and wu xia genres, and those by this director — Chang Cheh — are amongst the … (read more)

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Two Champions of Shaolin (1978)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Justin

Chang Cheh’s films with the “Venoms” crew of actors and action choreographers are amongst his most famous. Justifiably so, too — these guys do their thing well, with some amazing fight sequences that show off a variety of styles and some complex choreography.

Two Champions of Shaolin is set at the beginning of the Qing dynasty and focuses on the two dominant schools of martial arts, Shaolin and Wu Tang. Wu Tang supports the Qing government, while the Shaolin school … (read more)

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