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Hong Kong Action DVDs

Chungking Express

Sales Rank:10362
List Price: $9.99
Lowest New Price: $3.63
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Anamorphic
Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Brigitte Lin
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Faye Wong
Valerie Chow

Chungking Express tells two stories loosely connected by a Hong Kong snack bar. In one story, a cop who's been recently dumped by his girlfriend becomes obsessed with the expiration dates on cans of pineapple; he's constantly distracted as he tries to track down a drug dealer in a blond wig (played by Brigitte Lin, best known from Swordsman II and The Bride with White Hair). Meanwhile, another cop who's recently been dumped by his girlfriend (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, from John Woo's Hard-Boiled and A Bullet in the Head) mopes around his apartment, talking to his sponge and other domestic objects. He catches the eye of a shop girl (Hong Kong pop star Faye Wang) who secretly breaks in and cleans his apartment. If you're beginning to suspect that neither of these stories has a conventional plot, you're correct. What Chungking Express does have is loads of energy and a gorgeous visual style that never gets in the way of engaging with the charming characters. The movie was shot on the fly by hip director Wong Kar-Wai (Happy Together, Ashes of Time), using only available lighting and found locations. The movie's loose, improvisational feel is closer to Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless than any recent film--and that's high praise. Quirky, funny, and extremely engaging, Chungking Express manages to be experimental and completely accessible at the same time. --Bret Fetzer

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Tomorrow Never Dies

Sales Rank:15139
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $11.98
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

AC-3
Color
Dolby
Dubbed
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Joe Don Baker
Pierce Brosnan
Judi Dench
Teri Hatcher
Ricky Jay

Pierce Brosnan leaps into action as Agent 007 in this spectacular thrill ride of death-defying stunts and amazing high-tech gadgets. In the most electrifying Bond film yet, the unstoppable action hero must prevent a tremendous disaster ripped from tomorrowÃ"â??s headlines. Someone is pitting the worldÃ"â??s superpowers against each other Ã"â?" and only James Bond can stop it. When a British warship is mysteriously destroyed in Chinese waters, the world teeters on the brink of WWIII Ã"â?" until 007 zeros in on the true criminal mastermind. BondÃ"â??s do-or-die mission takes him to Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a powerful industrialist who manipulates world events as easily as he changes headlines from his global media empire. After soliciting help from CarverÃ"â??s sexy wife, Paris (Teri Hatcher), Bond joins forces with a stunning yet lethal Chinese agent, Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), in a series of explosive chases, brutal confrontations and breathtaking escapes as they race to stop the presses on CarverÃ"â??s next planned news story: global pandemonium! With powerhouse action sequences, including a wild motorcycle pursuit through (and over!) Saigon, Tomorrow Never Dies is a thrilling action-adventure Ã"â??that roars from start to finish with the throttle wide open (Gene Shalit, NBC-TV)!

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King Boxer (aka 'Five Fingers Of Death')

Sales Rank:17059
List Price: $14.95
Lowest New Price: $4.36
Lowest Used Price: $4.15
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

Anamorphic
Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Lo Lieh
Tien Feng

Better known in the United States as Five Fingers of Death, this spectacular mix of martial arts action and Western-style melodrama from the legendary Shaw Brothers Studios helped to light the fuse for the kung fu movie explosion in the early '70s. Indonesian actor Lo Lieh is the young acolyte caught up in a struggle between rival martial arts schools; after one villainous outfit murders several of Lieh's classmates with the help of hired killers, he trains to develop the invincible "Iron Palm" technique and defeat the opposing school. Korean director Chang-hwa Jeong delivers stunning (and very violent) action set pieces (set to a dizzying array of American library music cues, most notably Quincy Jones' theme to Ironside) but also manages to create a compelling and dramatic sub-story about loyalty and honor. The result is a martial arts film that can be enjoyed by viewers who aren't fanatical about the genre and diehard kung fu heads alike. The widescreen DVD (which surpasses all previous VHS and DVD versions of the film) includes an interesting commentary track by Quentin Tarantino (who aided Dragon Dynasty in assembling its Shaw Brothers library) and critics Elvis Mitchell and David Chute, who discuss King Boxer's appeal and thematic similarities to Hollywood product; Chute is also featured with critic Andy Klein in one of three short supplements about the film's production and history, with director Jeong and martial arts choreographer Liu Chia-Liang taking center stage for the others. - Paul Gaita

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Riki-Oh - The Story of Ricky

Sales Rank:15340
List Price: $29.95
Lowest New Price: $16.51
Lowest Used Price: $15.89
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Siu-Wong Fan
Mei Sheng Fan
Ka-Kui Ho
Yukari Ôshima
Frankie Chin

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

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Shanghai Knights

Sales Rank:12908
List Price: $9.99
Lowest New Price: $3.49
Lowest Used Price: $0.80
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Jackie Chan
Owen Wilson
Fann Wong
Aaron Johnson
Aidan Gillen

Better than your average sequel, Shanghai Knights almost defies the law of diminishing returns. Lacking the freshness of Shanghai Noon, it compensates with a looser, disposable plot that plays to the strengths of costars Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. It's 1887, and odd-couple heroes Chon Wang (Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Wilson) are in London to retrieve the Imperial Seal of China, stolen by an English lord (Aidan Gillen) who killed Wang's father in his quest for the British throne. Wang's lithe and lovely sister (Fann Wong) joins the battle with high-kicking force, appealing to Roy's roguish charm and surfer-dude anachronisms. While Chan continues his transition to safer stunts and good-natured homage to Buster Keaton, Gene Kelly, and other Hollywood legends, Wilson indulges the party vibe to good effect, maintaining the anything-goes approach that allows silly encounters with Jack the Ripper, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and a Dickensian urchin named Charlie Chaplin. (Chaplin wasn't born until 1889, but if the filmmakers didn't care, why should you?) --Jeff Shannon

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Broken Arrow

Sales Rank:12206
List Price: $9.98
Lowest New Price: $3.73
Lowest Used Price: $0.89
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

AC-3
Closed-captioned
Color
DVD-Video
Letterboxed
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

John Travolta
Christian Slater
Samantha Mathis
Delroy Lindo
Bob Gunton

John Travolta is Vic Deakins, a bomber pilot who launches a devilish plan to hijack two nuclear missiles for big-time extortion. Vic never sweats, spews out great one-liners, knocks off money men with glee, toys with killing half a million people... he even smokes!

If you giggled at his "Ain't it cool" line from the trailer, you're in the right frame of mind for this comedic action film. Never as gritty or semi-realistic--or for that matter as heart-thumping--as the original Die Hard, Broken Arrow still delivers. If Travolta is cast against type, everyone else is by the numbers; Christian Slater as Hale, the earnest copilot looking to foil the plot, Samantha Mathis as the brave park ranger caught in the middle, Frank Whaley as an eager diplomat, Delroy Lindo as a right-minded colonel. As with his previous script (the superior Speed), writer Graham Yost moves everything quickly along as Hale and the ranger try to cut off Deakins's plan over a variety of terrains. We have plane crashes, car chases, a pursuit through an abandoned mine, a helicopter-train shootout, and lots of fighting between boys. Each time Hale finds himself perfectly in place to foil Deakins. You're suppose to laugh at the unbelievable situations. That's where Arrow is deceptive: its tone is right for the laughter compared to the mean-spirited Schwarzenegger and Stallone action films with labored jokes. Hong Kong master director John Woo (The Killer, Hard Target) pulls out all the stops--slow motion of Hale and Deakins's gymnastic gun play, nifty stunts, countdowns to doomsday. Woo may know action, but he needs more guidance in creating unique and stunning special effects. This is action entertainment at its cheesiest. Travolta and Woo later reteamed for Face/Off. --Doug Thomas

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Last Hurrah for Chivalry

Sales Rank:11314
List Price: $14.95
Lowest New Price: $5.23
Lowest Used Price: $8.18
MPAA Rating: Unrated

Format:

Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Damian Lau
Pai Wei
Chau Wa Ngai
Kong Lau
Hark-On Fung

In the Chinese wu hsia (martial chivalry) genre, sword-swinging heroes are often referred to as "altruists," and it's that aspect of the legend that gets a workout in this 1978 John Woo effort. Kao (Lau Kong), the duplicitous pivotal character, has purchased a beautiful wife for 1,000 taels of gold; alas, his rival, the prodigious fighter Pei, has paid her 2,000 taels to kill him. The moral is that when loyalty can be purchased, it no longer exists. The central action unfolds against this backdrop of a cynical, mercenary world. Kao selects a couple of fighters as soldiers in his quest for revenge, but being rare and noble souls they won't fight for money alone. Only after Kao, in a calculated move, helps Chang's dying mother will the fighters agree to take the case. This is only a moderately successful action movie, but it was a crucial stepping-stone in Woo's career: the action scenes, the highly emotional friendships, and the romantic music recall Chang Cheh, who Woo credits as an inspiration for his later gangster pictures, A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. The mournful resignation, the fading values, even the final assault on the baddie's headquarters, all these flourishes became staples of the Hong Kong gang films of the 1980s--though the gang flicks can't boast eccentric characters like the Sleeping Wizard, who fights in his sleep. --David Chute

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Jackie Chan's Who Am I?

Sales Rank:19018
List Price: $9.95
Lowest New Price: $4.85
Lowest Used Price: $3.15
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Anamorphic
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Full Screen
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Neil Berger
Dik Brinksma
Jackie Chan
Pim Daane
Michelle Ferre

Shot in English and budgeted higher than any of his previous Asian features, Jackie Chan's last film under his Hong Kong contract is an action-packed globe-trotting adventure shot with the American audience in mind. The spies and secret agent-laden plot is packed with car chases, explosions, gunfire aplenty, and of course Jackie's own brand of gymnastic martial arts. But the flood of his older films between his hits Rumble in the Bronx and Rush Hour had sated American viewers and Who Am I? wound up being sold directly to cable. It's our loss, for this mix of goofy slapstick and jaw-dropping action is his most impressive film since Drunken Master II. Playing a special forces agent (named, naturally, Jackie) struck with amnesia and adopted by an African bush tribe following a failed assassination attempt, he embarks on a quest to discover his true identity while armies of killers pour after him. After an explosive opening, the story gets momentarily bogged down in the kind of mugging humor that leaves most American audiences scratching their heads, but once Jackie kicks into gear the film is a high-speed action flurry that culminates in a furious battle atop a Rotterdam skyscraper. Jackie is at his most charmingly naive (he berates the villains, pleading "Why do you want to destroy when you can make things better?") and athletically impressive: the marvelous stunts--including a flight down the side of the skyscraper--and fight choreography make Rush Hour look like a Sunday drive. --Sean Axmaker

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Bruce Lee - Fists of Fury

Sales Rank:13084
List Price: $5.98
Lowest New Price: $2.02
Lowest Used Price: $1.90
MPAA Rating: Unrated

Format:

Color
DVD-Video
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Han Ying Chieh
Bruce Lee
Tony Liu
Malalene
Nora Miao

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Police Story 2 (Special Collector's Edition)

Sales Rank:15233
List Price: $14.95
Lowest New Price: $1.99
Lowest Used Price: $5.79
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Maggie Cheung
Jackie Chan

Before making a name for himself in Hollywood with the Rush Hour franchise, Jackie Chan was already an international superstar, thanks to Hong Kong films such as Police Story and its sequels. While not quite up to par with that film, Police Story 2 (released in 1988) still manages to pack quite the punch, picking up where Police Story left off. Chan's Ka Kui has been demoted from detective to traffic cop, something that depresses him but is a source of relief for his gorgeous girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung, Hero), who is hoping that they can live in peace. But hell hath no fury like a Triad member scorned, and Ka Kui finds himself a hunted man when the gangsters he locked away seek revenge. While the plot is familiar, the impeccably choreographed action sequences are a work of art. Exhibiting both strength and grace, Chan who also directed and co-wrote the screenplay as well as performed all his own stunts) is both heroic and comical as he fends off hordes of villains. He's in fine form, whether he's beating up his opponent or about to get bullied by a waif of a handicapped man. Chan is famous for including a blooper reel at the end of his movies, and while the bloopers for his later films appear almost forced--as if he had to scrounge around to come up with good material--his earlier pictures conclude with gasp-inducing mistakes that make the viewer wonder how one man's body can endure this kind of physical punishment. The DVD offers both the Cantonese version with English (and Spanish) subtitles, as well as a cheesy English dubbed treatment. Opt for the subtitles: The action will more than speak for itself. --Jae-Ha Kim

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