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Richard James Havis
A happy-go-lucky hero was deemed the missing ingredient for an action comedy hit. San Hui was hired for Aces Go Places. 4 sequels followed.
Soi Cheang Pou-soi’s first horror films were very low-budget and relied on clever use of cameras and cuts instead of special effects.
Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman sees a Hong Kong film character fight a Japanese one. Who won depended on which film version you saw.
In the 2000s, Lau added action star to his CV with roles involving martial arts, guns and gangsters. Three films show his versatility.
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Spurred by Mission: Impossible’s success, Chen made three films full of CIA agents and explosions aimed at Western audiences. None did well.
1984 Leong Po-chih film with Chow Yun-fat as one of a trio of friends stays character driven while showing Japanese atrocities, expert says.
Hong Kong cinema was late to the exploitation genre, but made up for lost time. We recall three 90s classics full of sex, violence and gore.
Although beautifully staged, this Hong Kong-US-China production starring Tony Leung and Tang Wei had a muddled story and misguided messages.
1994’s The Final Option, starring Michael Wong, was such a hit it spawned a prequel and sequels. We recall them and how they were received.
Hong Kong martial arts actor Donnie Yen rose to super stardom with Ip Man, but some of his films as a young actor showcase his skills best.
Hong Kong filmmaker Chang Cheh wanted to do justice to Louis Cha’s The Legend of the Condor Heroes. But his trilogy is dense and confusing.
From a film starring Kelly Chen and Donnie Yen to an Indiana Jones rip-off with Jet Li, 4 of Tony Ching’s lesser-known productions.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Riley Ip made films featuring stars such as Takeshi Kaneshiro and Anthony Wong. Here are the 3 best.
We recall a lurid mix of wuxia and witchcraft, Cheng Pei-pei in Dragon Swamp, and two films featuring a risible lizard and non-giant spider.
Angela Mao, all glammed up, plays an assassin in Broken Oath, a 1977 remake of a Japanese classic. It is one of her greatest performances.
Hong Kong’s film industry suffered a huge slump from 2000-2009, but did the mainland Chinese market and China co-productions save it?
John Woo teamed with Tom Cruise for a ‘boring’ hit. Peter Chan turned to romance. Ringo Lam and Jean Claude van Damme made stomachs churn.
Known for the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Young and Dangerous films, Andrew Lau’s output is wide-ranging. We recall some lesser known films.
Sword-fighting films were popular in the 1960s and 1990s. Tsui Hark and Derek Yee were among directors who reinvented the genre this century.
Anthropologist Alice Roberts describes how secrets of diseases can be uncovered from old skeletons building workers and archaeologists find.
Shaw Brothers backed Lau Kar-leung to make two sequels to The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, one so bad it was the studio’s last martial arts film.
A library of Hong Kong films, including the likes of A Chinese Ghost Story and Hard Boiled, has been bought – good news for fans overseas.
Tsui Hark’s 1990 Hong Kong film Swordsman was a long and rambling affair that was difficult to follow, yet it was a resounding success.
1988 Hong Kong film follows Yu Jim-yuen, the master of the Peking opera school in Kowloon whose pupils included Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.
We recall Journey to the West film adaptations, from Stephen Chow’s turn in the title role to one in which Donnie Yen plays the Monkey King.
A professor uses ‘anomalistic psychology’ to try to understand belief in phenomena that lack scientific support, such as psychics or ghosts.
Hong Kong filmmaking underwent successive evolutions thanks to films like Fist of Fury, Infernal Affairs and John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow.
A triad movie with a young Stephen Chow, a crude war film and a crime caper starring Leslie Cheung. These 3 Woo projects fly under the radar.
A psychologist who helped develop an award-winning meditation app explains how the practice can lower stress, boost concentration and more.
