Karate instructor George Pendovsky follows a trail of blood to determine the fate of his student Tony Wilson, who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. He discovers that Tony perished in a secret tournament of death staged before a crowd of rich decadent spectators. Tony and other young fighters who died in the ring that night are hooked up to life support systems so their body parts may be preserved and exploited in a lucrative black market for organ replacements. Fighting his way through a wall of intrigue Pendovsky finally zeros in on the evil racketeers lead by the twisted NINJA MASTER.

SET IN THE DAYS OF THE MING DYNASTY

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.

A man, Sloan, fights to get his wife back when she is taken by another champion fighter Tong Po. Sloan leads the police into the secret Mexican fortress where he teams up with another and enters a fight to the death. sasha mitchell,nicholas guest.

Drunken Master is a film that, following Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) (made with the same ensemble cast and director Yuen Woo Ping), consolidated Jackie Chan's position as the new Hong Kong kung fu action star of the late 1970s. Set in the late 19th century, Chan plays the great Chinese hero Wong Fei Hung as a loveable young rogue who is always getting into fights or embarrassing his family. Eventually his father decides the only way to make a man of Chan is to send him for training with an old drunken drifter played by Yuen Siu Tien. Just as they did in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, the pair make a fine double-act, though this time there is much surreal entertainment to be had from the older man teaching the younger the fine art of drunken kung fu. Learning to fight like the Eight Drunken Gods before the final confrontation with Hwang Jang Lee causes Chan considerable problems, though Yuen Siu Tien simply fights better the more he drinks. Yuen Siu Tien would reprise the role in his final film, Magnificent Butcher (1979) yet with Chan he finds a perfect blend of slapstick comedy and creatively staged action which makes Drunken Master a genuine kung fu classic. On the DVD: The picture is generally strong though inevitably there is a fair amount of grain. Unfortunately the original 2. 35-1 film has been reformatted to 1. 77-1 widescreen TV ratio. [+]

Film dubbed into English language. A young orphaned girl grows up to become a deadly kung fu master, and one by one to hunt down and kill the murderers of her family. But fate is harsh when she has to fight the man she loves along with her adopted father. Finally she uncovers the real villain, an evil and powerful monk, agains who he must make a final and lethal confrontation to fulfil her destiny. To add to this film's notoriety, Quentin Tarantino refernces it in Kill Bill part 1.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is so many things: a historical epic on a grand scale, an Asian martial-arts flick with both great effects and fantastic fighting (choreographed by The Matrix's guru Yuen Woo Ping) and a story of magic, revenge and power played with a posse of star-crossed lovers thrown in for good measure. Set during the Qing dynasty (the late 19th century), the film follows the fortunes of righteous warriors Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien (Asian superstars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, respectively) whose love for one another has lain too long unspoken. When Li Mu Bai's legendary sword Green Destiny is stolen by wilful aristocrat's daughter Jen (exquisite newcomer Zhang Ziyi), who has been trained in the way of the gangster by Li Mu Bai's arch-rival Jade Fox, the warriors must fight to recover the mystical blade. The plot takes us all across China from dens of iniquity and sumptuous palaces to the stark plains of the Western desert. Characters chase each other up walls and across roof and treetops to breathtaking effect and to Tan Dun's haunting, Oscar-winning East-West inflected score. Directed by Taiwanese-born Ang Lee and cowritten by his long time collaborator American James Schamus, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon joins the ranks of the team's slate of high-quality, genre-spanning literary adaptations. Although it superficially seems like a return to Ang's Asian roots, there's a clear thread connecting this with their earlier Western films, given the thematic focus on propriety and family honour (Sense and Sensibility), repressed emotions (The Ice Storm) and divided loyalties in a time of war (Ride with the Devil). Nonetheless, a film this good needs no prior acquaintance with the director's oeuvre; it stands on its own. The only people who might be dismissive of it are jaded chop-socky fans who will probably feel bored with all the romance. Everyone else will love it. [+]

There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalising on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a. k. a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package. -Jeff Shannon.

In Last Hero in China, Jet Li reprises his role as Wong Fei-Hong, a legendary figure in China. Both a doctor and a teacher of martial arts, Wong has just moved his school in Canton, only to discover that the neighbouring house is a brothel. Though Wong's students are delighted and the earnest brothel master only wants to study with him, Wong feels he has lost face. But this becomes the least of his troubles: soon he's fighting a corrupt police chief, a temple of slave-trading monks, and a deafness-causing medicine sold to children-and that's just in the first hour. Last Hero in China is a grand melodrama, featuring exaggerated heroes and villains, goofy humour and hyperbolic kung fu action. The plot takes some hard-to-follow turns, but the action is so non-stop it hardly matters. The lion vs. centipede dance/fight has to be seen to be believed, to say nothing of the priest with a floating lotus chariot and a flying claw. Jet Li is in fine form, Gordon Liu (as the venal top cop) is maniacal and despicable, and the lovely Cheung Man plays an expert martial artist looking for her kidnapped sister. The character of Wong Fei-Hong also appears in the Once Upon a Time in China series (where he was first played by Li) and in Jackie Chan's Drunken Master movies. [+]

In Love Song of Vengeance, Shurayuki-hime-a. k. a. Lady Snowblood, "Yuki" for short (played by Meiko Kaji)-continues her advertures in the female samurai saga that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. In Lady Snowblood, Yuki avenged her family by slaying the four criminals that killed her father, raped her mother, and predestined her to the life of a justice-seeking assassin. Love Song of Vengeance picks up where Lady Snowblood let off, not so much as a sequel like Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, but a continuation of the lone assassin's adventures (similar to Zaitochi). Sentenced to death for her crimes of murder, Yuki is given pardon by Kikui, a secret government police agent. In return for her freedom, Kikui wants Yuki to assassinate anarchist Ransui and obtain a secret document he is hiding. While carrying out her orders, Yuki discovers the document in question is actually a letter incriminating agent Kikui. Always one to be on the side of justice, Lady Snowblood switches sides, joining anarchist Rasui to face off, expose, and destroy the crooked agent. [+]