By Will Kouf of Silver Emulsion Films ===== Contrary to many Chang Cheh films from this mid-'70s period, The Savage Five is not focused on kung fu. Martial arts are present and integral to the story, but those looking for unforgettable hand-to-hand battles will be better served by other...
By Matt L. Reifschneider of Blood Brother Film Reviews === Every year, I attempt to craft a new list dedicated to my Shaw Brothers addiction, and every year I seem to give myself an aneurysm trying to whittle down the massive Shaw Brothers catalog into a theme and...
By Peter Altman (@misterlychee) === THE FLYING DAGGER, directed by Cheh Chang, is a Kung fu film with a deep emotional center. In the opening of the movie, Yu Ying (Pei-Pei Cheng) happens upon the scene of a rape and double murder. Outraged, she kills the perpetrator,...
By Kim August === Where else but in a Chang Cheh movie would frenemies comment on each other’s knife skills as they slice through their targets like butter? The fight in question happens early in The Duel as rival gang bloodshed turns inward toward the Ren clan. Brothers...
By Will Kouf of Silver Emulsion Film Reviews === All of the Shaw Brothers films based on the classic Chinese novel Outlaws of the Marsh (AKA The Water Margin) are among my all-time favorites. The best of the bunch is probably The Water Margin, but the one that nearly surpasses it...
By 1976, Chang Cheh had become tired of making almost nothing but back-to-back Shaolin movies since 1974's Heroes Two. Looking for something fresh to sink his teeth into, he decided on a genre you don't see a lot in Hong Kong film: the war film....
By Kim August In 1982, director Chang Cheh unleashed one of his greatest examples of super-heroic mayhem with Five Elements Ninjas. Calling back to a favorite theme of China vs. Japan, this no-holds-barred example of Peking Opera acrobatics and traditional Japanese ninjutsu remains a fan favorite...
By Matt L. Reifschneider of Blood Brothers Film Reviews When the Alamo Drafthouse chain of theaters announced a partnership with Celestial Pictures to bring the iconic Shaw Brothers catalog to theaters around the US, it truly was a magic moment for martial arts fanatics in the country. I’ve seen...
Chang Cheh’s movie adaptation of Jin Yong’s novel of the same name, Ode to Gallantry, is a rare classic for many reasons. It is one of the last Venom Mob films (although Lo Meng and Lu Feng don’t appear) to be made by the Shaw...
“I don’t feel like messing around with you. Please excuse me!” In this Robin Hood style early Chang Cheh wuxia, none of our heroes are who they seem to be. Lily Li’s Miss Jiang is not quite the damsel in distress she seems-despite her crying- Miss...