Riki-Oh - The Story of Ricky
by Ngai Kai Lam
from Tokyo Shock
A young man with superhuman strength is incarcerated at a prison run by corrupt officials and seeks to use his martial arts to clean up the system. The story is set in the year of 2001 in a prison owned by a major company. A new prisoner sees his friends being harassed and killed by the guards and seeks his revenge.System Requirements:Run Time: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: R UPC: 631595008623 Manufacturer No: TSDVD-0086
One of the most absurdly violent films ever made, this outrageous comic book of a movie is short on style but makes up for it in sheer audacity and excess. Brooding street kid Ricky Ho (Fan Siu Wang, playing the part of avenging angel with self-righteous earnestness) walks into the corrupt corporate prison system with superpowered martial arts skills and proceeds to punch his way through every bullying thug and sadistic guard who comes his way. Literally. His fist puts a gaping hole through the stomach of a giant sumo-wrestler-sized thug and the jaw of a pompadoured bully, and turns the skull of a pathetic guard into a bloody stump. As Ricky becomes a hero to the downtrodden prisoners, the assistant warden (who keeps breath mints in his removable glass eye) organizes the dreaded "gang of four," the cell block gang leaders, to take Ricky down. Fat chance!
There's nothing realistic about the bone-shattering, blood-splattering spectacle of crushed heads and snapped limbs, but the unrestrained display becomes so preposterously grotesque it hardly matters. You'll be convinced that the "Oh" in Riki-Oh stands for "Oh my God, did I really see that?" Yes, Ricky really does tie a sliced tendon with his teeth, a thug cuts open his gut and uses his own intestines to strangle Ricky, and the warden (for no apparent reason) puffs himself up into a giant rubber ogre. Ricky's curvy, feminine nemesis Rogan is played by Yukari Oshima, the butt-kicking, all-woman star of Angel and others. --Sean Axmaker
The Bride With White Hair
by Ronny Yu
from Tai Seng
Ronny Yu (The Bride of Chucky, The Phantom Lover, Warriors Of Virtue) directs this highly operatic fable based on a well-known martial arts novel with LESLIE CHEUNG (Temptress Moon, Farewell, My Concubine) and BRIGITTE LIN (Dragon Inn, Deadful Melody) as doomed lovers caught in the crossfire of warring clans. With beautiful cinematography by PETER PAU (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and over-the-top action sequences, THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR is one of the best swordplay fantasy film ever made.
The Heroic Trio
by Johnny To
from Miramax
A Hong Kong combination of Batman and The Three Musketeers, The Heroic Trio is a winning mix of action, sci-fi, fantasy, and police caper starring three outstanding Hong Kong actresses. Former popular singer Anita Mui is Tung/Wonder Woman, a mysterious crime fighter who aids the police whenever needed. Michelle Yeoh is Ching/Invisible Woman, an unwilling disciple to an age-old Evil Master, and Maggie Cheung is Chat/Thief Catcher, a runaway enlisted by the Evil Master who is now a bounty hunter for hire. When baby boys are being stolen for a horrific plan, Tung assists in the investigation while Chat plans to make some bucks off of catching the culprit. The baby thief is none other than Ching, who is carrying out the kidnappings for the Evil Master with the aid of her lover's invention--an invisible robe. But the good in her wins out, and she joins forces with Tung and Chat. This is a superhero film, to be sure. Fantastic sets and impressive wire-strung fight choreography make The Heroic Trio extremely fun to watch. Wonder Woman enters the picture by running full-tilt atop power lines while Chat rides a motorcycle and wields a shotgun like the Terminator. The outlandish and complicated plot seems right at home here, heightened by the moody lighting and the combined screen presence of Mui, Yeoh, and Cheung. All three give fierce and touching performances in a hyperbolic and enjoyable film. --Shannon Gee
Michelle Yeoh (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, TOMORROW NEVER DIES), Anita Mui (Jet Li's THE ENFORCER, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX), and Maggie Cheung (SUPERCOP) form an unstoppable combination as three powerful martial arts experts -- each with her own secret superhero identity -- who band together to battle the ultimate evil! Their foe is a demented but powerful wizard who believes that if he kidnaps all the babies in China he can build a demonic ruling class and eventually dominate the world. With everything on the line, it's up to the Heroic Trio -- Shadow Fox, Mercy, and Invisible Woman -- to rise up and stop him! A big screen adventure that's like CHARLIE'S ANGELS meets THE TERMINATOR, you're sure to love all the hard-hitting fun in this action-packed martial arts fantasy!
The Medallion
by Gordon Chan
from Sony Pictures
Action superstar Jackie Chan (Rush Hour 2 Shanghai Knights) combines his high-flying style with state-of-the-art special effects as he unleashes the power of THE MEDALLION the film Roger Ebert gives a big Thumbs up! Chan plays Hong Kong detective Eddie Yang who works with the beautiful Interpol agent Nicole (Claire Forlani from Meet Joe Black and The Rock) and the bumbling agent Watson (Lee Evans of Mouse Hunt) to try to rescue a boy from the clutches of the villainous Snakehead (Warlock s Julian Sands). But when a fatal accident ends his life Eddie is brought back to this world with the help of THE MEDALLION and is supercharged! Now empowered with superhuman strength Eddie sets out to thwart Snakehead s plan for world domination. Filmed on location in Hong Kong Thailand and Ireland. Jackie Chan has got the power and kicks THE MEDALLION into high gear.System Requirements:Running Time: 88 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396005020 Manufacturer No: 0502
The inspired pairing of Jackie Chan and British comedian Lee Evans (Funny Bones) gives The Medallion some extra oomph. Hong Kong agent Eddie Yang (Chan) flies to Ireland to track down a very bad guy named Snakehead (Julian Sands, Warlock, exuding his dependable oily menace) who has kidnapped a young boy with the power of life and death. When Eddie dies protecting the boy, the boy resurrects him with a magical medallion--and when Eddie comes back, he's got supernatural powers, much to the befuddlement of his former partner, Arthur (Evans). Along for the ride is Eddie's old flame, Nicole (Claire Forlani, Mystery Men), wearing tight outfits and delivering high kicks. Chan has lost the astonishing elasticity of his youth, but he's still spry enough pull some dazzling moves, and Evans is just amazingly funny. Between the two, The Medallion is far more entertaining than you might expect. --Bret Fetzer
The Storm Riders
by Wai-keung Lau
from Tai Seng
Based on the best-selling, long-running martial arts comic book series "Fung Wan: Wind and Cloud" by celebrated artist Ma Wing-Shing, "The Storm Riders" stars Hong Kong pop superstars Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok as orphans raised by the powerful Conqueror, who taught them martial arts so to help him dominate the world.
The Moon Warriors
by Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
from Tai Seng
Swordsman II
by Siu-Tung Ching
from Tai Seng Video Marketing
It's not necessary to see the first Swordsman before you see Swordsman II--though some of the characters are the same, the cast is almost completely different. Into the thick of a clan feud in long-ago China comes young swordsman Ling (Jet Li), who has a romantic attachment to the leader of one side of the feud (Rosamund Kwan). However, on the other side is an evil sorcerer, Asia the Invincible (Brigitte Lin), who has found a magical scroll that will give the user formidable powers if the user castrates himself. Not only has Asia done so, over the course of the movie he transforms into a woman. Ling accidentally meets the newly feminine Asia, who remains silent to hide her still masculine voice, and they find themselves in the throes of a powerful attraction. But this much of the plot is only the tip of the iceberg; Hong Kong movies routinely pack enough story for three films into one, and Swordsman II is no exception. What is exceptional is the emotional power of the story, the superb performances, and the spectacular and hyperkinetic cinematography. Lin is completely magnetic and Li is at his buoyant, charismatic best. There's something so delightful and inviting about the special effects in Hong Kong films that it's simply more fun to believe them than not, even if they aren't realistic by Hollywood standards. At their best, Hong Kong fantasies (like A Chinese Ghost Story or Green Snake) become much more than camp. An epic of amazing scope and surprising richness, Swordsman II is quite possibly one of the greatest movies ever made. --Bret Fetzer
A Chinese Ghost Story III
by Siu-Tung Ching
from Tai Seng
The Bride With White Hair 2
by Ronny Yu
from Tai Seng
The BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR saga continues with the bloody massacre of the followers of the Eight Clans. Powerful, insane and obsessed with hatred, The Bride (Brigitte Lin) has gone on a killing rampage, and can only be stopped by the one person she loves (Leslie Cheung).
Swordsman III - The East is Red
by Raymond Lee (II)
from Tai Seng
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