Review, buy Martial Arts: Enter The Shootfighter [1994], Lion Strike [1995], The Water Margin - A Treasure Of Gold And Jade / Bandits Who Steal Are Executed, An Actor's Revenge [1962], The Water Margin - Both At Last Will Reach The Sea / Ever Busy Are The Gods Of Love, Rage-Ring of Fire II, The Water Margin - A Dutiful Son And The Love Of A Brother / Escape Is Not Freedom, Snake Deadly Act [1995], Island On Fire [1992], The Shaolin Temple [1981], Water Margin, The - How Easy To Die, How Hard To Live / A Man's Only Happiness, Ulterior Motives [1992], Shaolin Chastity/Shaolin Vs Lama, Eagle vs Silver Fox, Black Belt Jones 2, Wing Chun, My Young Auntie, Best Of The Best - Parts 1 And 2, The Water Margin - The Girl Who Loved The Flower Priest / Kao Chiu Loses His Heart, Angels 2

If ever there was a triumph of bricks without straw, this is it. An Actor's Revenge is based on a weary old melodrama that had already been twice filmed before Kon Ichikawa got to it. The action is set in 1836. A Kabuki star famed for his female roles sets out to avenge himself on three rich merchants who drove his parents to suicide, aided by an audacious bandit. In the 1935 film version both roles were taken by matinee idol Kazuo Hasegawa. In this, Ichikawa's 1963 remake, his outrageous ploy was to cast the same actor (now well into his 50s, paunchy and jowly) in the same double role-and then throw at him a whole heap of extravagant visual and stylistic tricks: split screen, distorted colour, strip-cartoon thought-bubbles and more. Rather than trying to rationalise the corny plot Ichikawa plays it at full throttle, revelling in its wild implausibilities and sexual ambiguity: at one point Hasegawa as the bandit watches himself as the actor, in drag, making falsetto advances to a woman. The photography, art direction and jazz-tinged music score all contribute to the mood of shameless bravura. An Actor's Revenge is a film that has to be seen to be disbelieved. -Philip Kemp.

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Review The Water Margin / The Water Margin - Both At Last Will Reach The Sea / Ever Busy Are The Gods Of Love

The Water Margin - Both At Last Will Reach The Sea / Ever Busy Are The Gods Of Love (The Water Margin)

Release date: 1996-01-29
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: ~~£12.99~~
Price: £9.50

Review The Water Margin - Both At Last Will Reach The Sea / Ever Busy Are The Gods Of Love / The Water Margin:

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Review Mia Video Entertainment Ltd / Rage-Ring of Fire II

Rage-Ring of Fire II (Mia Video Entertainment Ltd)

Actors & Directors

Richard W. Munchkin
Don 'The Dragon' Wilson

Release date: 1994-10-10
Run time: 91 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Rage-Ring of Fire II / Mia Video Entertainment Ltd:

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Review The Water Margin / The Water Margin - A Dutiful Son And The Love Of A Brother / Escape Is Not Freedom

The Water Margin - A Dutiful Son And The Love Of A Brother / Escape Is Not Freedom (The Water Margin)

Release date: 1996-03-25
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: ~~£12.99~~
Price: £13.31

Review The Water Margin - A Dutiful Son And The Love Of A Brother / Escape Is Not Freedom / The Water Margin:

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Review Eastern Heroes Ltd. / Snake Deadly Act [1995]

Snake Deadly Act [1995] (Eastern Heroes Ltd.)

Actors & Directors

Chan Wai Man
Wilson Tong
Ng Kun Lung
Angela Mao
Fong Hak An
Wilson Tong

Release date: 2000-02-28
Run time: 91 min.
RRP: ~~£9.99~~
Price: £0.49

Review Snake Deadly Act [1995] / Eastern Heroes Ltd.:

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Review Mia Video Entertainment Ltd / Island On Fire [1992]

Island On Fire [1992] (Mia Video Entertainment Ltd)

Actors & Directors

Jackie Chan
Tony Leung Ka Fai
Andy Lau
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
Barry Wong
Yen-ping Chu

Release date: 1995-06-12
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: ~~£12.99~~
Price: £10.98

Review Island On Fire [1992] / Mia Video Entertainment Ltd:

Island on Fire is, as the trailer says, "five films in one!". Despite the packaging headlining Jackie Chan this violent modern-day prison drama is an ensemble piece with Chan, a pool-player in prison for accidentally stabbing a man to death, on screen for no more than a quarter of the 92 minutes. Anyone buying this as a Chan movie may be seriously disappointed, for apart from the brevity of his role there is no trademark Chan humour. Also in the brutal and corrupt prison is Andy Lau, an undercover cop searching for the murderer of his professor, and Sammo Hung offering comedy and pathos as an inmate who keeps escaping to visit his son. There are many more characters, together with one subplot involving a mouse which anticipates The Green Mile (1999) and another concerning an assassination conspiracy which parallels Nikita, also released in 1990. Island of Fire is an uneven, always entertaining, sometimes moving film which packs an incredible amount of incident into its running time. However, it should be noted that it is an imitation of, rather than an official entry in, Ringo Lam's Fire series, which includes Prison on Fire (1987) and City on Fire (1987). On the DVD: The anamorphically enhanced 1. 77-1 picture is a very good transfer of a rather grainy print, though given the many darkly lit scenes, this grain is probably part of the original film. The mono sound is fine. [+]

The film can be watched with the original Mandarin soundtrack and English subtitles, or with a much better than average English dub. The packaging claims there are over 60 minutes of extras. In fact there are nine deleted/extended scenes of variable quality, the best of which give more emotional depth to Sammo Hung's character, together with video interviews with Sammo Hung, Jimmy Wong Yu and director Chu Yen Ping. These total around 20 minutes and are interesting but not specific to the film. Also included is the theatrical trailer, Hong Kong Legends' own "music promo" trailer and eight trailers for further releases. There is also a six-page "animated" biography of Jackie Chan. -Gary S Dalkin.

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