Yip, Deannie

Legend of the Red Dragon

When his wife and entire village are brutally murdered by evil Manchu soldiers the master warrior Kwun (Jet Li) sets out on a mission of vengeance with the only survivor of the massacre his son Ting. For seven years the two journey across ancient China on their quest for revenge always staying one step ahead of the deadly army. But Kwun is forced to face the past when they come across a wealthy benefactor with five young Shaolin masters in his charge who unbeknownst to Kwun have the detailed map to a priceless treasure trove tattooed on their backs. It is not long before Manchu officials find out about the maps and deadly soldiers come after the masters. Now in an ancient battle that will pit Kwun against one of the very soldiers who helped to kill his family he and Ting will unite with the young masters of Shaolin for a fight to the death. Get ready for an ancient martial arts battle with the world's most masterful warriors!System Requirements:Running Time: 83 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 043396065970 Manufacturer No: 06597

A distraught warrior (the charismatic Jet Li) forces his toddler son to choose between a sword and a wooden horse. If he chooses the sword, together they will fight the corrupt government that killed their family; if he chooses the horse, the warrior will send him to join his mother--in hell. Thus begins The New Legend of Shaolin, a wild Hong Kong fantasy. Though the opening sounds grim, the movie shifts ahead seven years and becomes increasingly comic as its plot unfolds. The story centers around a map tattooed on the backs of five boys; it leads to treasure from the Ming dynasty that a heroic sect hopes to use to reestablish the Shaolin temple, which the government destroyed. Meanwhile, Li is forced by poverty to become the bodyguard of a blowhard merchant, who doesn't realize that his bride-to-be is part of a mother-daughter team of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, a villain deformed by a poison that gives him invincible powers is hunting down the five boys, one of whom is the merchant's son... As is usually the case with Hong Kong cinema, the filmmakers have crammed in enough stuff to fill several ordinary movies. The exaggerated stoic conversations between Li and his 7-year-old son, both of them stone-faced and painfully serious, are extremely funny, as are the bizarre bits when the bride's mother masquerades as a ghost. And on top of all this are at least seven spectacular action sequences that are both comic and exciting. A prime example of the unique joys of Hong Kong pop culture. --Bret Fetzer

Dragons Forever

A fitfully amazing, frequently disheartening hodgepodge of action, farce, and romance, slapped together as a costarring vehicle for three of Hong Kong's major movie stars: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung (who also directed), and Yuen Biao. Its light-footed, try-anything spirit makes it consistently enjoyable, but these wonderful performers are working (to put it kindly) beneath their gifts. Chan plays a womanizing attorney who recruits arms-dealer Hung and madcap inventor Biao to dig up dirt on the corporate sleaze balls he's supposedly defending--industrial polluters (and heroin smugglers) whose effluents threaten the bucolic fish farm of a handsome widow woman. The trio doesn't have many collective scenes, so their Three Musketeers act never really gets off the ground. As always, the fights and stunt work are mind-boggling; the jaunty details are fun: Chan's flick-of-the-wrist trick with a fancy briefcase; Hung's deft run- through of a few choice Cantonese opera moves; and Yuen Biao's Olympic-level acrobatics on, around, and within an industrial steel-tube staircase. --David Chute

New Legend of Shaolin

A distraught warrior (the charismatic Jet Li) forces his toddler son to choose between a sword and a wooden horse. If he chooses the sword, together they will fight the corrupt government that killed their family; if he chooses the horse, the warrior will send him to join his mother--in hell. Thus begins The New Legend of Shaolin, a wild Hong Kong fantasy. Though the opening sounds grim, the movie shifts ahead seven years and becomes increasingly comic as its plot unfolds. The story centers around a map tattooed on the backs of five boys; it leads to treasure from the Ming dynasty that a heroic sect hopes to use to reestablish the Shaolin temple, which the government destroyed. Meanwhile, Li is forced by poverty to become the bodyguard of a blowhard merchant, who doesn't realize that his bride-to-be is part of a mother-daughter team of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, a villain deformed by a poison that gives him invincible powers is hunting down the five boys, one of whom is the merchant's son... As is usually the case with Hong Kong cinema, the filmmakers have crammed in enough stuff to fill several ordinary movies. The exaggerated stoic conversations between Li and his 7-year-old son, both of them stone-faced and painfully serious, are extremely funny, as are the bizarre bits when the bride's mother masquerades as a ghost. And on top of all this are at least seven spectacular action sequences that are both comic and exciting. A prime example of the unique joys of Hong Kong pop culture. --Bret Fetzer

Martial arts master Jet Li stars in this high-kicking historical revenge spectacular as a kung fu student trained at a Shaolin monastery. Li joins rebel forces in an attempt to overthrow the ruling oppressors and is betrayed by a fellow student.

Carry On Pickpocket

Carry On Pickpocket is a tedious action comedy about lovable sneak thieves who team up with the cops to entrap some mobsters who are making life tough for everyday decent crooks. Sammo Hung (TV's Martial Law does his standard wistful fat-nebbish number--until he's either dancing or fighting, when the joke becomes how surprisingly graceful he is. (Thugs in HK movies have been saying "Hey, fatty" to him, and then paying dearly for it, for quite a few years now.) Some of the pickpocketing scenes, and the later full-bore action stuff, are almost up to Hung's mature standard (Eastern Condors), and for a supposed comedy the movie is often startlingly vicious. For completists only. --David Chute

The great SAMMO HUNG (Eastern Condors, The Prodigal Son, Project A) directs and stars in this sizzling action comedy! Two pickpockets find themselves both falling for their latest prey, a beautiful woman who turns out to be a police inspector. In return for their freedom, the two agrees to help her retrieve millions of dollars worth of diamonds from a ferocious mobster. Filled with terrific action sequences, hilarious pickpocketing gags, and an awesome no-holds-barred fight finale!

Fight Back to School 2

Spiritual Love

A supernatural love story from Hong Kong, with heavy Splash overtones. Chow Yun-fat mugs happily as a lovable screwup, a collector for a loan shark, whose cranky girlfriend happens to be a ghost. The mixture of romance, comedy, and slapstick horror is pure Hong Kong--especially when the ghost girl's dead husband erupts from Hell to get her back, taking the form of a purple, flying, disembodied head. Meanwhile, Chow's Cantonese opera-singing mannish cousin (Cherie Cheung, from Peking Opera Blues) pines for him secretly and mines the legendary content of ancient librettos for charms to be used against the sexy spirit. In the best episode, Chow performs some funny, mincing imitations of classic Chinese opera routines. --David Chute

Carry on Pickpocket

Carry On Pickpocket is a tedious action comedy about lovable sneak thieves who team up with the cops to entrap some mobsters who are making life tough for everyday decent crooks. Sammo Hung (TV's Martial Law does his standard wistful fat-nebbish number--until he's either dancing or fighting, when the joke becomes how surprisingly graceful he is. (Thugs in HK movies have been saying "Hey, fatty" to him, and then paying dearly for it, for quite a few years now.) Some of the pickpocketing scenes, and the later full-bore action stuff, are almost up to Hung's mature standard (Eastern Condors), and for a supposed comedy the movie is often startlingly vicious. For completists only. --David Chute

Arrest the Restless