HONG KONG CREDITS: 1993 – Lethal Panther 2(Golden Kay International/Harvest International/My Way Film Co)
[Released on German DVD as “Lethal Dragon”, on UK VHS as “Lethal Panther”, and elsewhere (unconfirmed) as “Blood And Guts”]
Director Philip Ko [other sources list Cindy Chow Fung, and Philip Ko as “action director” only] Producer Ricky Wong Ga-Kui Presenter Jeffrey Cheung Kai-Ping
Cast “Cynthia Luster”/Yukari Ôshima, Monsour Del Rosario, Philip Ko, Sharon Kwok [Sau-Wan], Edu Manzano
PHILIPPINES CREDITS: 1993 - Magkasangga Sa Batas/“Partners In Law” (Harvest International Films Corp/Golden Kay International Films Corp)
[Philippines release date 2nd February 1993]
Directors Philip Ko, Erwin T. Lanado Screenplay/Associate Director Erwin T. Lanado Producer Luis Sy Executive Producer Jose Yu Cinematography Peter Li, Eduardo "Baby" CabralesMusic Jaime Fabregas Theme Song Singer Chad Borja Lyrics Jojo Villalva Editors Tony Sy, Philip Ko, Ever Ramos Sound Supervisor Gaudencio Barredo Sound Effects Rudy Cabrales, Jun Cabrales Production Manager Jess Baruelo General Manager Roger Gonzales Post-Production Manager Bong Lansangan Assistant Directors Larry Santos, Cindy Chaou Production Designers Kiddy Li, Lito Estacio Stunt Directors Philip Ko & his Stunt Group Stunt Coordinator Jerry Corpuz Special Effects Tikboy Sto. Domingo Makeup Artist Gloria Vidallion Wardrobe Juliet Tata, Leni Visaya, Max dela Cruz Script Supervisor Larry Santos Assistant Editors Richard Aning, Orland Brien Dubbing Supervisor James dela Rosa Post-Production Coordinator Antonio Benavidez Post-Production Assistant Tochie Tamone Propsmen Max Paglinawan, Romy Setmen Roy Amaranto, Allan Parian Looper Resty Brien Sound Technicians Elmer Torrena, Ondy Valleso, Alex Rima, Danny Lorilla, Danny Navarez, Winston Lope, Felipe Vera, Peter Emerencia, Roger Bernardino Stills Wilmore Baruelo, Oscar Baruelo Gaffers Antonio Cabrales, Man Keung Schedule Master Renato Gracilla Field Cashier Orly Centeno Titles/Opticals Rey Erestain Layout Artist Pete Manansala Property Custodians Noel Dayandante, Joel Dayandante Catering Nene Lopez & Co Drivers Bernardo "Ginaw" Dagoy, Boy Labo, Eddie Baylon, Albert Utility Men Rey, Lando Publicity/Promotions Alfie Lorenzo, Billy Balbastro, Oskee Salazar Company PRO Mar Munoz Cay
Cast Edu Manzano, "Cynthia Luster"/Yukari Ôshima, Gabriel Romulo, Shiela Ysrael, Rachel Lobangco, Charlie Davao, Lovely Rivero, King Gutierrez, Johnny Wilson, Stella Mari, Edwin Reyes, Marita Zobel, Monsour Del Rosario, Lani Lobangco, Boy Fernandez, Telly Babasa, Naty Santiago, Louie Katana, Paolo Conti, Jerry Corpuz, Perry De Guzman, Al Nanca, Greg Lucero, Blandino, Delfinger, Ronnie Francisco, Lito Martinez, Jun dela Paz, Rene Pascual, Commando Stuntmen, Thunder Stuntmen, SOS Daredevils, Nonong Talbo, Maxie Alvarez, Roger Santos [other sources also list Philip Ko, Sharon Kwok, Johnathan Palmer]
Named Lethal Panther for its UK release since the actual first, unrelated film was blessed with Deadly China Dolls, this contains precious little Cantonese speaking performers as leads since the Philippines was used as a location. Phillip Ko appears briefly and choreographs the action and while quick-cut editing is an issue, this is unusually strong, acrobatic gunplay coming from him. The team for once channels the need for excess and creativity so above average for a Ko Fei production it definitely is, with Yukari Oshima responding dependently. Watch out for a brief but obviously Bullet In The Head inspired car finale. Drama in between is just basic framework for mentioned action aspect but we do get to the fair goodies within relatively short periods of time.
Yukari leads an Interpol/NBI investigation of a weapons smuggling organization with ties to Japan, but operating in the Philippines. “Albert” is a macho Manila detective whose wife was killed by the gang. Philip Ko briefly appears as a gang member who is killed by the NBI team during an attempted kidnapping. After his partner and a bystander are killed, Albert takes a surviving witness to his mother’s country home.The location is betrayed and the homestead attacked.
Albert and Yukari then confront the gang at their hideout. While some of the fight scenes are spoiled by wire work, other sequences are better than average for Filipino action movies. The final fight is quite well done, but would have been even better had they left out the wires. The Cantonese version of this movie appears to have the most natural dialog and script, with a soundtrack apparently inspired by “Terminator.”
Before the juggernaut of Jurassic Park de-railed the local HK movie industry (or, perhaps more accurately, put it off course) by becoming the all-time box office champ, HK studios were producing a record number of movies per year. To take a quote from Tsui Hark about Wong Jing's movies, most of these were "cheap, fast and no good," and Lethal Panther 2 is a good example. This cheapie (shot in the Philippines) is so derivative of other movies that it copies stuff from them wholesale, such as music from The Terminator and a "car joust" at the end ala Bullet in the Head. It doesn't really help matters that the film is edited so badly that it started giving me a headache about halfway through.
The story has Yukari as an Interpol agent who comes to the Philipines in search of some Japanese terrorists…and that's about it. There's the usual attempts at humor and romance, but they all fall flat, as does most of the script -- which really hampers the movie as a whole. And, as per usual for most of Yukari's films during this period, the emphasis here is really not on Yukari, but rather on a two-bit actor trying to make a name for themselves; this time it's a low-rent gweilo who makes Jeff Speakman look like a tough guy. Major Yukari fans might still want to give this one a look, since the role is a bit different for her (she actually smiles -- and not in an evil way -- during the movie) and it's one of the few times she's used wires onscreen.
Oh Philip, how could you? Well, he could, and he did...many times over. One cheap-ass, mindless, uninspired Filipino flick after another. And this one is no exception.
It really pains me that the once mighty Philip Ko Fei, a name that to me use to mean quality, chose this path for himself. I also feel bad for poor Yukari Oshima, who he dragged through more B-movie schlock than I care to remember. And I doubt this would have happened had the two not been an item at this time. But I guess "the Osh" was just standing by her man, and I admire that.
This movie is as about as cheap as it gets. Well, maybe not, but it's pretty damn cheap. Philip, Yukari, and Sharon Kwok are the only known actors in the entire movie. The rest (including the male lead) are just Filipino no-names who look like they just stepped on the set in whatever clothes they were wearing, and whose sole motivation seems to be the paycheck at the end of the day. Forget the story, forget the characters. At this point, Philip had just stopped caring, so you don't have to either.
But at least the action delivers, right? Wrong! Yukari was one of the best female screen fighters of all time, and I love that little snaggletoothed Japanese tomboy to death. But not even she could save this clunker. There are odd moments of halfway-decent choreo. But for the most part, it is just a messy mix of awkward, acrobatic gunplay, retarded use of slo-mo, poorly edited fight scenes, and wonky wirework. What a waste.
But the silver lining here is the final showdown, which is pretty damn awesome! Actually, no, it's not, I'm lying. It's just more of the same crap, set to the theme from "The Terminator" and complete with a blatant rip-off of the car jousting battle from "Bullet In The Head". And they couldn't even get that right.
To sum up, this movie is piss poor, and a complete and utter waste of time. I wouldn't even recommend this for Yukari completists, 'cause this would be a shitstain on any movie collection; and I will in fact go and throw out my copy right now.
Let me get the story synopsis out of the way: an international criminal syndicate (two of whom are Phillip Ko and Ronnie Ricketts) is executing a vendetta against a Phillipines NBI officer who proves to be a thorn in their side. A Japanese Interpol officer (Yukari Oshima) and two HK detectives (one of them Sharon Kwok) join the Filipino officer to stop the bad guys. Along the way, a local lady becomes a witness to (and nearly gets killed by) the bad guys. Oh, by the way: one of the HK cops is a criminal plant. (Hint: it ain't Sharon!) Things eventually explode as the villains track down the good guys...and then the cops counterattack. Pretty much paint-by-numbers storytelling.
Unfortunately, it sounds better than it actually is. It's an all-around wasted opportunity by some genuine talent. The editing is for crap (I'd use a few expletives to better describe the editing, but I'll offend someone) and the music is pure second-hand (some of it you'll remember from a few other HK films and even THE TERMINATOR!). The action scenes aren't very well done; there's actual wirework involved in more than a few scenes. That's right: wirework. Now if it had a fraction of the quality SFX you'd see in a Yuen Woo Ping movie, that could be forgiven...but it gets so atrocious I actually winced at the execution. Bad movie! BAD MOVIE!
On the plus side: you have Yukari Oshima, Sharon Kwok, and I wish I knew the name of the actress who played the witness. They display their natural charisma (and they have a ton of it!), but their characters are so underdeveloped you can tell they had no choice but to go through the motions just to get paid. (You've guessed correctly if this is one of those films where Yukari is relegated to a one-dimensional avenger.) Ronnie Ricketts (bad guy number one in the movie) does the appropriate scenery-chewing, but that's all that can be said; Phillip Ko isn't around long enough to do anything but look menacing! Yukari has a few fights and gunbattles (especially at the end) but this is where some of that damn wirework comes into play. Someone -- ANYONE -- should have told the director that none of that crap was necessary! Sharon, unfortunately, doesn't get to do much except look gorgeous and tough (each when appropriate) and shoot a lot.
For Yukari Oshima fans and Sharon Kwok fans only. (It isn't a total waste of 90 minutes...)
HONG KONG CREDITS: 1994 - Deadly Target (Filmswell International Ltd)
[Also known as “Fatal Target”, original Cantonese title “Hong Tian Mi Ling”; also known as “The Penal Reconnaissance” (possible translation from Cantonese)]
Directors Godfrey Ho Jeung-Keung, Phillip Ko Fei Writer Hoh Chi-Mau [IMDB lists Joseph Chan] Producer Ricky Wong Ga-KuiAction Directors Phillip Ko Fei, Douglas Kung Cheung-Tak, Ken Yip Wing-Kin, Wang Zhi-Wen Cinematography Lau Yip Production Manager Lee Chun-Wa Sound Recordist 108 Records Ltd Co Sound Supervisor David Kitchens Editor Grand Yip [also listed as “William Yip”] Wai-Keung Planning Jeffrey Cheung Kai-Ping Lighting Jeng Man-Keung Presenter Ng Bo-Man Composer Chow Fook-Wing [IMDB credits “Nilson Ma”] Stunt Coordinator Phillip Ko Stunts Alex Austerd, Kevin Chin, “Steven Street”/Steve Griffin, Tommy Wong, Marcus Fox [also Car Stunts Co-ordinator]
Cast “Cynthia Luster”/Yukari Oshima (Inspector Cynthia Lee Lai-Nga/Lisa Li), Sharon Yeung Pan-Pan (Inspector Anna Yeung Na), John Cheung Ng-Long (Ben Ng), Edu Manzano (Eddie), Phillip Ko Fei (Wong Jun Lee), Lee Chun-Wa, Johnny Cheung Wa, Douglas Kung Cheung-Tak, Ken Yip Wing-Kin, Darren Shahlavi (Randy), Sarah Gomez, Simon Yeung Siu-Gwong, Wang Zhi-Wen, Daniel Fernandez
PHILIPPINES CREDITS: 1994 - Walang Kasukat Sa Tapang/"Courage Beyond Measure" (Solar Films International/Filmswell International Limited)
[Philippines release date 9th March 1994]
Directors Godfrey Ho, Poncho Bautista Story Joseph D. Velasquez Screenplay Humilde "Meek" Roxas Executive Producers Wilson Tieng, Alex L. Sembrano Supervising Producers Joseph D. Velasquez, Ma. Victoria Ramiel Cinematography Eduardo "Baby" Cabrales, Michael Lao Music Jaime Fabregas Editor Samuel Domondon Sound Supervisor Willie Islao Production Coordinator Ma. Victoria Ramiel Production Manager Antonio Ramos Post-Production Managers Poch Bautista, Samuel Domondon Art Director Rommel Papica Stunt Coordinator Philip "Kho"/Ko Stuntmen Gabriel Romulo, Al Nanca, Al Almanzanarez, Jhosep Ramos, Kid Alimureng Assistant Production Manager Florante Dionisio Location Scriptwriter Henry Nadong Scriptgirl/Continuity Adora Estrella Gaffer Man Keung Cheng Special Effects Erick Torrente Makeup Artist Mely Sioson Assistant MakeupArtist Ester Ocampo Wardrobe Assistant Salve Bazar Stills Nilo Dolaman Field Cashier Engelee Lim Schedule Master Manuel Sta. Maria Propsmen Brando Benitez, Edwin Baldonado Head Utility Simon Irinco Utility Cery Tapong, Edward Estudillo Assistant Cameraman Basilio Anad Electrician Eden Pobe Clapper/Loader Danny Cuenco Crew HMI Edwin Fajardo, William Anora, Rudy Pacursa, Fred Bilsera Crew Bong Macabale Caretakers Robin del Valle, Eric Purugunan Trailer Sound Effects Serafin Dineros Dubbing Supervisors Lucy Quinto, Fernando Villaroman Narrator Nick de Guzman Loopers Florencio Collado, Zaldy Collado Trailer Concept Joseph D. Velasquez, Samuel Domondon, Poch Bautista Service Drivers Rene Canlab, Romualdo Cervito, Maria Visto, Carlos Gascon, Carlos Lopez, Boy dela Cruz, Belto Coritana, Abe Robledo, Tito Grino, Rico Enriquez
Cast Edu Manzano (Edu), Cynthia Luster (Cynthia), Sharon Young (Pamela), Vivian Foz (Edu's Wife), Sarah Gomez (Vera), Dan Fernandez (Allan), Ramon Zamora (Police Officer), Charlie Davao (Boss Coffin), Joji Isla (Dodo), Ernie Ortega (Devil Lee), Philip "Kho"/Ko (Henry), Pinky Roces (Ida), Michelle Chuang (Angela), Edwin Reyes (Gani), Alma Lerma (Asyang), Nanding Fernandez (Colonel Suarez), Nick Nicholson (Giant Frank), Rando Almanzor, Rey Solo (Motorcycle Rider) [other sources also list Eddie Tuazon, Boy Sta. Maria] Robin John Cheung, Louie Katana, King Kong, Darren Shahlavi, Chan Wah Chan Brothers Shima, Hiroshi Goons Jordan Castillo, Vic Belaro, Don Pacrem, Bebeng Amora, Joe Baltazar, Jimmy Kho, Perry de Guzman Bodyguards Ronnie Francisco, Rene Santos, Jim Rosales
In Manila, two female Hong Kong cops visit one’s cousin, only to find out he is an evil weapons dealer that targets them for death. They team up with supercop Eddie and take down their cousin as well as a bunch of other goons in a prime example of mid-90′s Hong Kong action films. We get lots of shootouts, lots of jumping stunts, kung fu mixed in the middle of gun battles, and things exploding all over the place. These films are miles beyond the current CGI/PG-13 garbage being spewed out by Hollywood, but for a Hong Kong action film of the era, it doesn’t really stand out. However, it has chicks with guns blasting people all over the place, so it fits right into our pseudo-theme month. This is a low-budget movie filmed in the Philippines to save on costs, more info is with the cast.
Female action stars have a long and glorious career in Asian cinema. Go read a book about them or something. Okay, just kidding. There was a big “Girls with Guns” fad in the late 1980′s/early 1990′s which is the focus here, and this is one of many entries that were low-budget but filled with lots of stunts. Many of the films had several of about six to eight actresses who were in the bulk of them, and we have two here, Yukari Oshima and Sharon Yeung Pan Pan, who both have a long resume filled with similar films.
Lisa Li (Yukari Oshima) – A Hong Kong police woman who goes on vacation in the Philippines to visit her cousin Ben Hung, who turns out to be really evil! Her boss in the Hong Kong is named Tiger. Aren’t you glad I pointed that out? May also go by the name “Cynthia Lee,” as a sign in the movie says. Yukari Oshima was a big action star in the late 1980s/early 1990s Hong Kong, but by this point was working out of the Philippines because the Hong Kong studio didn’t know what to do with a half-Japanese female action star, especially one that was usually branded asexual because she wasn’t supermodel attractive. This is a shame, as Yukari is very skilled in the martial arts. See her here in Godfather’s Daughter and Tomb Raiders/Avenging Quartet
Anna Yeung (Sharon Yeung Pan Pan) – Partner of Lisa Li who accompanies her on vacation. Despite both of them being largely asexual, they certainly have a few lesbianic undertones thrown in during their workout sessions. No complaints. Sharon Yeung Pan Pan was a talented martial artist who starred in Hong Kong movies and television through the 80′s and 90′s, ending her run around the end of the girls with guns movie fad.
Cousin Ben Hung (John Cheung) – Cousin of Lisa Li who also happens to be an evil gun smuggler. Sort of how my cousin works for Coca-Cola. Except he’s not evil, nor smuggles guns. Ben Hung has a sister who isn’t named despite being a major character. Once Lisa Li and her friends get in the way, it is time to see that money is thicker than blood, and he tries to take her out.
Eddie (Edu Manzano) – The supercop of the Philippines, every gun runner and drug dealer knows his name. Edu Manzano is still acting today and appeared in such Filipino genre films as Captain Barbell and Darna: The Return.
Ben Hung’s Sister (Sarah Gomez) – Hi, I’m Ben Hung’s Sister. I’m evil, I’m a main villain, I sleep with men to convince them to buy guns from my brother, and I don’t have a name! What the Hell, movie?
Henry Wong (Phillip Ko) – Rumored he was married to Yukari Oshima at the time and may have been the actual director using Godfrey Ho’s name as a pseudonym! That would be a first (this is rumored for a few of these Phillip Ko/Yukari Oshima/Godfrey Ho Filipino action films) but may just be an artifact of Godfrey Ho’s constant use of fake names. Godfrey Ho, why do you continue to make researching these movies difficult?
Dik (????) – Undercover cop in Ben Hung’s gang. Gets his cover blown. Enjoys dressing in dresses. Sadly, he does not make it to the end of the film. I will always remember you, Dik. Maybe I’ll find out who played you.
In Manila, there is a shootout at a truck hijacking. People in danger are saved by a cop with a bad car named Eddie (and many baddies are shot.) The rest of the police force is upset at Eddie for stealing their glory (despite the fact they weren’t doing anything glorious!) Eddie jumps on the truck as it drives away, only to fall onto a passing car then land in the street. This is all real, no stunt men. Eddie instead fires his gun at the back of the truck, so of course it explodes in a gigantic fireball that can probably be seen from space.
We jump to two women at airport, Lisa Li and Anna Yeung, wearing fashion that no one wears today. They are greeted by a man with a sign saying “Cynthia Lee” but Lisa Li tells him she is Lisa Li (according to the subtitles) so this is the first of several instances where the subtitle names don’t match up with what the characters are saying. The man works for Lisa’s cousin Ben Hung, who is now rich.
At Ben Hung’s compound, two ponytailed guys do martial arts and remind us that we are in the 1990s with their fashion, ponytails, and kickboxing. The Asian guy is Ben Hung, and the white one with the kickboxing fetish is named Lando. He doesn’t have any Colt 45 or Millennium Falcons, though.
A random white guy is playing the Terminator video game (the one where you shoot the gun) and gets upset about Eddie. There will be several random people in this film, as the movie doesn’t bother to explain who anyone is until much later, so don’t expect many names. This random white guy had something to do with the truck hijacking, but besides that we don’t know him nor will we see him for another hour. Eddie is at home, gets a text message from his daughter, who is named Angela but called Angel in the subtitles in a second instance of dual names. Eddie can’t see his daughter because his mother-in-law blames him for the death of his wife. A delivery man drops off a special package – death by sword! Luckily Eddie has a suit of armor lying around that he uses as a shield to block the sword. The delivery man is killed when he falls through a glass table (sure, whatever) then Eddie has about three seconds to toss out a second package that has a bomb in it. Which would have killed the delivery man as well. So what was the point of standing around and fighting? Never send UPS to kill someone, always go FedEx.
Eddie chats with his contact, who is dressed as a woman. The contact is really an officer named Dik Hung who is undercover (why did the subtitles decide to give two non-related characters the last name? Before I knew the undercover guy was Dik Hung I spent part of the film trying to figure out why Ben Hung kept changing his name.) Also, “Dik Hung”. No one in the subtitles saw what that name could also mean? Whatever, movie! Ben Hung wants to be the number one arms dealer, but there are four other groups standing in the way. Fighting with arms dealers has to wait, because Lisa and Anna need to get into a fight with some people playing volleyball on the beach. Our heroines, random beach brawlers.
Back at their hotel, Lisa reveals to Anna that she hates men and has done so since her father left her mom. That and a few other things have a small lesbian subtext, but we all know Lisa ends up with Eddie so it’s is just a red herring. The two get a call from headquarters that Chan’s brothers are in town. Yes, Chan’s brothers. We all remember them. Hello, movie, try explaining who the frak these random people are! The girls follow Chan’s brothers, watch them meet some of Ben Hung’s arms dealers, get spotted, and then have a big fight. Eddie is also in the neighborhood, and he shoots Chan’s brothers and arrests the two girls, until he can see if they are really cops. Soon they are forced to work together thanks to the Manila police chief being friends with the Hong Kong police chief.
Ben Hung is informed of the girls being police officers, and his sister insists that they leave. They refuse, so six goons walk over to the girls to blow them away. Eddie is there and soon a big gun battle breaks out. Anna kills someone with a fork during this fight, because that’s how it works in Manila. No one says “Fork you!” or any other quip, which is too bad. Opportunity lost.
You think Chan’s brothers were dangerous? Now Henry Wong arrives! A. – Who the frak is Henry Wong? B. – Why the frak doesn’t Chan arrive to go after the guy who killed his brothers? Oh, wait, my bad, I forgot you aren’t supposed to think about the plot and just go with the flow, even if the plot is heading straight off a cliff. To answer some of the questions, Henry Wong is a big weapons buyer who will be making a large purchase for a Middle Eastern buyer, and will do so from his friend Lee, who has a beard and is therefore evil. Meanwhile, Eddie and the girls are driving in his car, when suddenly two cars filled with machine-gun toting thugs drive up. Guns are blazing, windshields are being riddled with holes, and the heroes are gonna die. Until Eddie pulls out his rocket launcher that he keeps under his car’s seat. Anna fires it at one of the pursuing cars, and said car goes flipping up into the air. The second car decides it will be a good idea to swerve directly into the first car, and as soon as it does both cars explode in massive explosions. Then the explosions explode in an even bigger bunch of explosions that are probably big enough nearby people suffocated when all the oxygen was burned up by the flames.
Ben Hung must convince Henry Wong to do business with him, so he sends in his sister to seduce Henry. This works, because all Henry Wong does is stare at her chest. His bodyguards also stare at her chest. Ben Hung’s sister could have a three-foot mustache and no one would notice because it is above the chest level. Her having boobs allows for easy persuasion, but to make sure Ben Hung goes to have a talk with fellow arms dealer Lee to ask him to work together. Lee laughs at Ben, but will now have a hard time laughing as Ben’s men gun everyone down. No one can giggle when they look like Swiss cheese.
Eddie is shot at while getting groceries, so he steals a car and does some wheelies. This somehow allow him to chase the person who was shooting at him, until Eddie is lured into cargo shipping container. Too bad the cargo container is already filled with Peter Patrelli. There is also a bomb in the cargo container, and a crane lifts it into the air. So the car smashes out of the cargo container and explodes (I laughed initially because I thought Eddie was in the car, but it turns out he jumps out of the container right afterwards on a conveniently left rope) and then the container explodes. Why wasn’t the bomb put in the car…oh, never mind. Eddie is gunning down about ten men while hanging from a flaming rope tied to a flaming wreck of a cargo container. Somewhere this film left reality and is now orbiting Jupiter. All of this makes Eddie late for his daughter’s birthday party.
Eddie arrives at his daughter’s birthday party dressed as a clown, with the two female cops also dressed as clowns. CLOWNS??? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! This movie just became horrible! Get these clowns off the screen! Luckily, after Eddie hugs his daughter, he and the female cops are now back in plain clothes and raiding Hung’s warehouse. Hung’s sister and Henry Wong see them raiding and escape, but now Henry Wong wants to use a different buyer to get his weapons. So Ben Hung and his sister come up with a plan: She will kill Eddie while Ben Hung kills all of his rivals. This plan is so brilliant they’ve been trying it and failing at it for the past half an hour! But this time it’s different, see, because they stated it out loud before they do it! Affirmations, man, they really work. Like the time I kept telling myself that one day I will swim the English Channel, and then I finally did swim the English Channel. Sort of. I watched the History Channel when it had a special about England, but it is really the same thing.
Henry goes to his second buyer, Dai Tin. Dai Tin is the white guy who was playing the Terminator video game way back in the beginning of the film! Why does he have the most Asian name in the film? Is he suddenly the white villain from a Rush Hour movie? Ben Hung orders Dik Hung and Lando to kill everyone working for Dai Tin. So they do, thanks to the magic of motorcycles and machine guns. And the fact they are named Lando and Dik Hung, which are names that make you not want to mess with their owners. Ben Hung’s sister captures Eddie after she takes his daughter hostage, but Eddie is rescued by Dik Hung dressed in drag again thanks to his guards being complete and utter morons (so just like every prison guard ever in the movies.) One of the moron guards is played by Lee Chun-Wa who played goons in many Hong Kong movies from 1975-1995.
We now find out that the arms dealers named Frank and Kwok’s brothers (why all the possessive brothers? GRRRR!!!!) are going to stand against Ben Hung muscling in on their racket. A big shootout happens when Ben Hung’s men ambush them, and as it is dark with no lighting I don’t know what happens for five minutes, but it looks like Ben Hung wins because he kills the other three guys, making Wong his client again thanks to default. The two most beautiful words in the English language.
Ben Hung promises Iraq weapons to Henry Wong, the kind that fought the Americans. That’s supposed to be intimidating or something, but as the Iraqis just had a bunch of garbage in Desert Storm it isn’t really that impressive. Maybe if they were selling American weapons, it would seem more dangerous, because then America would be blamed for arming the insurgents of wherever the weapons are going. But that would require someone caring about the plot besides it being filler between scenes of people shooting each other. All the baddies are at a warehouse preparing the weapons to ship, and Dik Hung is caught as an undercover because he keeps leaving to make phone calls.
Before Dik Hung can be killed, Eddie, Lisa, and Anna come crashing in on motorcycles, which they swing off of thanks to ropes. The swinging cops gun down lots of goons while on the ropes. The bikes of the three main cops crash into buildings and explode like Ford Pintos at a bumper car convention. The three main cops are joined by actual backup for once, as uniformed Filipino police officers arrive with guns to also shoot lots of goons. The action sequences are pretty well choreographed, with lots of wire work that make some of the stunts ridiculous, but that adds to the fun. The main battles are Lisa Li vs. Henry Wong, Anna vs. Lando, and Eddie vs. Ben Hung and his sister. All three of these main fights involve lots of other random goons running in only to be killed by the heroes. The final sequence is at least 15 minutes long, and I lost count of the bodies that pile up. Eventually, Lisa arrests Wong, Anna kills Lando, and Eddie kills all of Ben Hung’s goons so it is just him and his sister left to fight Eddie. Ben pushes his sister out to use as a shield to shoot Eddie, which also makes his sister get shot as well. Ben then prepares to shoot Eddie dead, but Dik Hung leaps in the way and takes the bullet. Eddie shoots and wounds Ben Hung, and arrests him. He consoles the wounded Dik Hung, but Ben Hung manages to grab a gun and shoot at Eddie again, and Dik Hung takes the bullets again, and Eddie shoots Ben Hung again, except this time Ben Hung is killed, and Dik Hung also dies. It is not a good day to be Hung, that’s all I’m saying.
It is goodbye time at the Manila airport, as Lisa and Anna prepare to go back to Hong Kong. Eddie’s daughter keeps crying about Lisa, wanting her to stay due to all the bonding that they did despite not being in any scenes together. Finally, Lisa agrees, which I thank her for because I couldn’t take another second of that annoying daughter whining. Lisa will stay a little longer. Get close a little longer. Make it fresh a little longer. Make it big long lasting freshness with Big Red!
That’s all for this outing of Hong Kong 90′s Action Theater. Join us next time when some other female’s shoot up some bad guys because that’s what made money at the time so we must make 2,000 imitations movie on Hong Kong 90′s Action Theater! And remember to spay and neuter your Ben Hung or he might go all arms dealer on you.
Trying to ride the Hong Kong action film bandwagon, this fun little picture holds its own in the action department, but fails in the editing and writing.
Travelling to the Philippines on vacation, Interpol agents Anna and Cynthia visit Cynthia's cousin Ken, who happens to be a major arms dealer. Renegade cop Eddie meets up with the pair, and they try to find Wong, a man trying to make a gun deal. His gun sellers keep getting killed, until he makes a deal with Ken. Eddie gets all of his information from a mysterious informant, a man dressed (badly) as a woman. The final showdown pits Anna, Cynthia, and Eddie against Ken, Wong, and their various henchman.
Plot and story are not really the main thrust of this film, the action is. I am unfamiliar with the actors, and the film does not mention who played who, but the stunts by Phillip Ko are incredible. The film makers stage a fight or gun battle at the drop of a hat. One scene even has Anna and Cynthia teaming to battle on the beach against a dozen guys WHO WANT THEIR VOLLEYBALL BACK. That is the only reason for the carnage! Most of the time, the camera lovingly strays on the cute duo as they stretch by putting their feet well above their heads. Eddie, the stereotypical renegade cop, gets in a giant explosive fight just so he can make it to his daughter's birthday party on time.
The action is fantastic, but the choppy editing really hurts. There is a subplot where Eddie's mother-in-law blames him for his wife's death, but that situation is never elaborated on. Some scenes end with a character talking in mid-sentence. The dubbing is atrocious, from giving most of the cast Americanized names, to lots of "hey"s and throat clearing dialogue just to have noise when the cast are moving their lips. The attempts at comedy are pretty disastrous, with one scene involving the transvestite, and some men who are attracted to him, that is down right unbearable.
This is nothing earth shattering in the Asian film genre, but this is worth the rental price alone for some very well done action.
Review from hkfilm:
Despite being an extremely talented martial artist, Hong Kong audiences never seemed to warm up to Yukari Oshima. Though part of this might be attributed to the fact that local audiences do not generally like "girls with guns" movies (even though Western fans eat them up) and the fact that Yukari is Japanese, most of it probably comes from the way Yukari refused (seemingly) to adopt a "feminine" role in any of her films.
For better of worse, every successful female action actress in Hong Kong has displayed some form of feminity in their career, whether expressing more "female" emotions such as love ala Michelle Yeoh in Wing Chun or just showing skin ala Chingmy Yau in Naked Killer. In fact, it probably says a lot that former models like Hsu Chi are finding work in action movies. At any rate, Yukari always seemed to play against gender stereotypes, especially in relation to the action genre. In fact, in some of her most notable roles (such as the transexual/eunuch in The Story of Ricky) she manages to drop gender roles almost completely. Even though Yukari's "tough" traits made her more popular with her cult Western following, there have been several attempts to "feminize" her roles, and Deadly Target is probably the most obvious of these -- something which hurts the movie as a whole.
The plot is standard Godfrey Ho B-movie stuff. Yukari and Sharon Yueng are two cops who take a vacation to visit Yuakri's cousin, who just happens to be the biggest arms dealer in Thailand. You should know the drill here -- eventually Yukari must take on her own cousin, aided by Sharon and another cop (John Cheung). However, Yuakri's character is much different here than in almost all of her other movies. She actually makes her first appearance in the movie wearing a short skirt. This might not seem like much, but for someone who made most of her screen appearances wearing workout clothes or other genrder-neutral outfits, it's a major change. Yukari seems to be uncomfortable in the clothes -- she even looks like she has problems walking around in heels -- and this hurts her on-screen presence. The differences also carry on to Yukari's character. Most of her movies have her as a very tough cookie, but Deadly Target almost seems to reduce her to comic relief, even going as far as to putting her in a clown suit for one scene. Yukari, again, does not seem comfortable with this, and it hurts her performance, and the film as a whole.
Despite the problems I had with Yukari's performance, she does pretty well in the action scenes. Even though there might be too much wirework for some, she does look suitably tough during these bits. There is also a decent amount of gunplay, which is staged well and manages to make the other actors look good. Overall, Deadly Target is a alright B-movie. It doesn't really do much besides deliver some good action, but that's a hell of a lot more than most other Godfrey Ho movies bring to the table (this being one of the few films he shot all-original footage for, instead of using stock stuff or parts from other movies), and if you're looking to kill ninety minutes while watching people beat up each other, it's not a bad choice on a rainy day when you don't have anything better to watch.
MIKE CASSEY Scriptwriter, actor and bon-vivant: Interview with Andrew Leavold 12/11/09
Mike: Just got back from spending a month with Jean-Claude van damme in Bangkok revising his script for "The Tower" which we should be shooting in Ukraine and the States next March, April and May.
Andrew: It's his story, then? Producing as well?
Me and JCVD
It's probably his last Martial Arts Movie...he's 50 years old next year and it is a little autobiographical...more like JCVD meets Bloodsport!
Jim told me the story about Van Damme auditioning for Kimmy Lim
Before my time the story. Baxime...but Mr. Lim told me the story. Apparently no producers were interested in Van Damme at that time!
Me, JCVD and Gary Daniels
His accent was too impenetrable, supposedly.
I'll see if I can get you and interview with JC...but he's s busy these days.
As Henry VIII in a TV commercial
What brought you to the Philippines initially?
That's a movie in itself! In a nutshell...I married a Filipina I met in the Middle East in the early 80s and we then moved to England. But after a few years she was diagnosed with leukaemia. When she was dying, I brought her back to be with her family. She died a week later (aged 35). I returned to the UK briefly and then decided to return to the Philippines for a year to help her family start a business. I've always been a writer (I sold my first short story in the UK when I was 14 years old) but always with a seemingly impossible desire to write for the movies.
ANGEL IN THE DARK
As a struggling writer I continued to sell short stories to paperbacks, and also had some stage plays produced in the provinces...but never in London. I also edited several magazines around the world, video magazines and even one about Wine and Cigars...neither of which I had any knowledge of! I had the same Agent in London as Ridley Scott, and he told me to move to Hollywood and circulate for six months...something which I didn't have the funds to do. Anyway, I'd basically given up writing for 2 years to nurse my sick Filipina Wife.
ANGEL IN THE DARK
How did you land your first film gig?
A Filipino friend discovered by accident that I was a writer and introduced me to two local Movie Prodcers, Jesse Chua and Boy Agbayani. They asked me to write an Engliah script for them which they bought but never produced. That was around 20 years ago. That got me into the Filipino Movie circle and I was soon acting in local movies (I'd been a stage actor in the UK...small time). I was also hawking movie stories around to local producers and sold a few...but most were never produced. A close friend, Spanish Movie Actor Rom Kristoff, who was also based here for a while, then introduced me to Bobby Suarez. He and Bobby had been very close for many years but had never actually worked together.
I remember seeing Rom's name on Bobby's unproduced posters.
Rom did a lot of Italian and Local Movies here as the lead.
Who introduced you to Mr Lim?
That was the Director Teddy Chua, whom I'd met through Boy Agbayani. Forgot to mention that a few days after meeting Jesse Chua and Boy Agbayani they invited me to the first day's shooting on their new Movie starring Rom Kristoff and entitled "Angel In The Dark", directed by Teddy Chua (maybe under a different name?) and that's where I met the other kwailos working in the movies here...James Gaines, etc. I ended up acting in that movie as a Goon called "Casey"! Actually I also played an extra (different disguises) in 5 other scenes!
Teddy Chua (who died last year in October) introduced me to Kimmy Lim as a writer about a year later. I did two scripts for Mr. Lim which were produced. One was an action thriller called "Tukso ng Panahon" whose English title was "Dangerous Passion" and the other was "Anino" (The Shadow) which was a lame rip-off of "The Mask of Zorro" (something I hate doing).
But the copycat industry dictated it must be done!
It was also Teddy who introduced me to several Hong Kong Directors, including Philip Ko and Ringo Lam. I always strive to be original...but of course we occasionally "pay homage" to other movies...ha ha!
I'm particularly interested in the early 90s, as it seems there's a spike in Hong Kong productions being made in the 'Pines. Philip Ko, of course, is instrumental in making his wife an action star in several of these productions. Then there's Cynthia Khan!
Cynthia Khan was a lovely woman both as a human being and an actress. A very "gentlemanly" woman...if you know what I mean! And I think Teddy Chua was a prime mover in getting some of these productions over here. He would then act as the movie's production manager. He had a lot of experience and connections both here and in Hong Kong and India.
It almost feels like the HK guys took up the slack once the Americans and Europeans started to leave… Now, Philip Ko's English is rather limited - how did he organize his productions? Were they mainly local crews, with an AD who could speak both Cantonese and Tagalog?
Very professional. I worked with her on "Matira ang Matibay" (check the date and English title on imdb!). Apparently it was my original script that brought her into the project. Unfortunately, Philip Ko (one of the 3 directors on that project!) was never one for sticking to a script, so the resulting movie was a bit chop-sockey! Because Philip was doing one version for the Philippine market and another version for the Chinese market. We in fact were shooting two versions of the movie at the same time.
MATIRA ANG MATILBAY
Philip's English at that time was very poor. He used a lot of sign language, references to American Movies and an interpreter named Louis Kantana, who was also an Actor here via Malaysia and Hong Kong. Louis now runs his own Hair Salon here. Philip was notorious for firing Actresses from the set...meaning more rewrites for me! He told me that he didn't really like women in his films unless they were "macho" types!
When you look at the timeline of Silver Star's productions, you come in at the tail end, when he's down to one or two a year, down from 5-6.
Yes. Kimmy Lim is now in his 80s I believe. He was getting old when I met him and he was slowing down...but still earning money from the movies he made thirty years ago. Like Bobby, I guess who still manages to resell his old movies even today. In the 1970s and 1980s the Philippines was the Number 3 Film-producing country after Bollywood and Russia. But things really changed because distributors and audiences were becoming more discerning and film technology was improving in an attempt to compete with television and especially video.
Like you said, I arrived in the Philippines in 1990...at a time the movie industry here was just about to go belly-up! Within a few months of me arriving here, I was working as an actor and extra on a different movie every week. The Italians were shooting 3 or 4 Movies here a year, the Japanese were shooting 3 or 4 Movies (mostly brought here by Hiroshi Akanoma who had a production company here called Rodeo Films), the Koreans were shooting 2 Movies a year, Roger Corman was shooting 2 or3 Movies through Cirio Santiago, Kimmy Lim was shooting at least 2 Movies per year, Bobby Suarez was shooting 2 Movies, Pacific Hollywood (based here with American Producer Mike Sellers (check spelling!) was shooting at least one international movie per year and then of course there were plenty of local movies. I forgot to mention Solar Films who were doing co-productions with Hong Kong via Philip Ko. I managed to earn a decent living by acting and selling scripts and storylines to most of these companies and even English scripts to Regal Films. Unfortunately, most of my scripts were never produced because during 1991-92 the decline in the Philippine Movie business had already started with a vengeance.
Cirio/Corman's BLOODFIST 2050
Were Regal really interested in getting into the international market? They didn't make much in English, as I recall…
Mother Lily was scared of making international movies because she, like most of the local Producers (with the sole exception of Bobby Suarez) did not understand what was required for international movies, especially technically speaking. There were almost no Filipino writers, cinematographers, cameramen, editors or composers who really understood the needs of international Distributors and audiences.So Mother Lily wanted to stay in her comfort zone of producing local movies only for the local market. It's what she understood and was good at. To her, it was almost the same as selling sacks of rice.
Ought to mention that Mother Lily's husband and her son Dondon Montenegro did see the potential in Regal producing international movies and they were the ones who sanctioned three English scripts from me. But by then the decline had set in and it was too late.
From what Jim Gaines told me, Mother Lily had no interest in the action films - more comedies and teen romances.
Mother Lily was only interested in one aspect of a movie...the budget! Whenever I would present her with a 10-page proposal for a project, she would skip past the story pages, the actors, locations, etc. and go straight to the bottom line of the budget and say, "Too expensive!" End of meeting! For her, action was too expensive to shoot, which is why she stuck to comedies, dramas and romances. And to her credit, she knew exactly what local audiences wanted in terms of those limited genres. For her, action was too expensive to shoot, which is why she stuck to comedies, dramas and romances.
But other companies made a good go at the export trade. Cine Suerte, for instance, not to mention Cinex.
Yes, you're right. There were a handful of local companies concentrating on action movies, starring local action stars like Fernando Poe Jr., Bong Revilla, Ronnie Ricketts, etc.
So why the DRAMATIC drop around '89, '90? Surely it has something to do with the international market saturated with jungle action films and Platoon knockoffs?
Yours is a good point, Andrew, that maybe the market was tired of the Vietnam war movies being made here and re-hashes of lost treasure stories, but personally I don't think that is the real reason. Most local movie people attribute the collapse of the movie industry here to the upsurge in video/DVD piracy. I totally disagree with that simplistic opinion. In my humble opinion, there were two reasons for the collapse of the Philippine cinema. One was technical and the other was corruption.
Let's start with technical...
Okay, on the technical front, International Movie Distributors and audiences were becoming more demanding and sophisticated. Remember that in the early 1980s we already had stereo TV and as early as 1984, Philips in Europe had developed the laser-disc.
So Pinoy-made action films were starting to look relatively threadbare and impoverished?
Audiences expected their movies to have live-sound (not dubbed), be in stereo (UltraStereo was the fad for B-movies back then), to be in widescreen, to have great soundtracks and (thanks to MTV) be fast-paced and tightly-edited. Local Producers and Directors just didn't keep up with the changing cinematic trends but instead kept churning out the same old low-tech fodder. The local post-houses also did not update their equipment. The international Distributors were just buying these products any more.
Going back to the technical aspect of local movies...When I, my American Producer and Bobby were recently talking about the remake of Cleopatra Wong...Bobby was quite surprised when we told him that he would have to shoot it differently to the way he used to shoot in the past. We gave him a list of demands that he had to meet such as shooting on super 35mm, always using two cameras, having live sound with a stereo soundtrack, with post-prod. done in Thailand and using real American actors...he was quite shocked.
The other main reason for the collapse of the Philippine movie industry was local corruption. By the late 1980s, the Philippines had earned bad press in America and Hong Kong for ripping of foreign movie productions. Unfortunately, this is a label that still sticks. Unfortunately it's part of the Philippine psyche to think short-term and not long-term. But these stories soon spread around the international movie community and the Philippines were unofficially blacklisted.
I think that because I was involved more with writing (and eventually directing...I've directed stage plays in the UK) I was always in the underbelly of the movie industry here...meeting with local Producers and Directors as well as Directors and producers from Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. Acting was never my real aim, so I guess I was always more low-key than some of the other players even though I knew them all). But that's my style. I don't think most of the other players knew who I was or what I was really up to. I'm not normally a gossiper!
[10 years ago] was around the time that Hiroshi Akanoma hanged himself in his apartment because of mounting debt and no movie deals. I live in the same building that Hiroshi lived in and was the first one to get to his body after his girlfriend found him. But he was already dead when I got there. hanged himself with his own underpants! Very sad...a really nice human being. I miss him a lot but his girlfriend is back here now after living in Japan for a while.
This is Hiroshi of Rodeo Films? That's a very sad story. I'm not aware of the films he was producing for the Japanese market in the Philippines - can you please fill me in?
I'm not sure of all the movies he produced here, but they were usually co-productions between Rodeo and various Japanese movie companies, usually with Japanese actors in the leads and the usual local kwailo crowd in support roles. Should be easy to check on imdb. The only title i can remember is one called "Double Barrel" with Mike Monty. Rom Kristoff (who introduced me to Akanoma) often played a key role in these movies.
Can we moves back into your films as scriptwriter? I'm fascinated in the series of video features you scripted in the late 90s directed by Teddy Chiu and Philip Ko for what looks like a Malay company? The Resort Murders, for instance.
That was all through Philip Ko, who was wheeling and dealing to get movies projects from all over Asia. Because of Philip's "unique" style of directing (he would often change actors and locations in the middle of the shoot!) I scripted most of those "on the fly" rewriting the stories, scenes and characters on a yellow pad on the set during the shooting. No time to type them up!
These are between '96 and '98 - where are the markets he's selling to at the time?
We often had a mixture of Chinese actors, Korean actors, Malaysian actors, Western actors...all speaking their own languages! Pure bedlam! But a great way to improve my writing skills. No writer's block on those movies!
Philip was trying to cover and sell to all the Asian markets. Some were shown theatrically in some countries, some only on TV and some direct-to-video.
Was there a Malaysian theatrical or direct-to-video market Philip was targeting?
I think most of them made money...for someone!
Not to the West, at this stage?
Philip's style meant that he could never really break into the mainstream and so his market was always "B". that also meant low-budgets, short shooting schedules...and lots of confusion. I was never in on the marketing schemes to most of these productions, so don't know much about their back-end deals. I'm sure some of them wound up on in Western video stores. Most of the post-production was done in the countries that financed them, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia...we just provided the raw footage. So I never saw the final cut of these movies...or even knew their release titles!
Do you remember the name of the company? I've found "HVD Entertainment" listed.
Yes...I think that was a Malaysian company. We never met the producers at all, just the actors. Philip released several of them under his "One Take" company in Hong Kong.
So you don't remember much about the individual films...
Sorry I can't be much more help. We shot around 9 movies back-to-back and I was writing, acting and Assistant Directing (with Teddy) on all them so it's all pretty much of a blur! And I usually had to baby-sit the actors that didn't speak Cantonese...you know, take them to restaurants, sight-seeing, etc. Whew!
Then there was Xtreme Warriors/Digital Man (2001), another Ko film with Yukari Ôshima aka Cynthia Luster. What do you remember about Yukari?
That was produced by a Hong Kong company and Solar Films here in the Philippines. I was always on-set for all of Philip's films, rewriting, acting and directing some scenes with Teddy. Cynthia Luster became a close friend for a while and she's another really professional actress with a great personality. She was actually recovering from a knee injury while shooting that movie, so it was pretty difficult for her...but she never complained. A real trouper I've actually got some behind-the-scenes video footage of that production. Haven't watched it in years since my video camera packed up. Be good if I could get it transferred to DVD and send it to you.
Wow! I'd love to see it!
Give some time to find it among my boxes of stuff!
So Solar were quite active securing overseas deals?
Yes, Solar had some movie connections in Hong Kong. The two brothers that run Solar (forget their names off the top of my head...will check later) were part Chinese. Again, I sold them two action scripts that Philip was slated to direct with Hong Kong actors and local actors. But they never reached production stage. God...if only all the scripts that I sold were produced, then my imdb credits would be longer that Steven Spielberg's!
In Cirio/Corman's ANGEL OF DESTRUCTION
Solar was the Tien Brothers? Wilson and...?
Right! I always dealt with Wilson. All our meetings were in a Chinese Restaurant! Filipino producers always have eating-meetings!
They love their abodo…Can we please talk about your association with Bobby A. Suarez?
I believe it was early in 1992 that I first met Bobby. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Spanish actor Rom Kristoff who took me to the Basfilm office in Santa Cruz, next to Manila's Chinatown. This was the office of Bobby's film production company. It was a very small office whose walls were adorned with posters of Bobby's movies and international movies that his company was acquiring for sale in Asia.
With Rom Kristoff
It was a family-run company. His Wife Gene who was the company Secretary-Accountant was there along with his two sons Ritchie and John. It was a very warm and friendly atmosphere, so I immediate felt relaxed and at home.
Bobby also seemed to like me right off the bat, too. He told me later that I reminded him of the late Mr. Digby (don’t know his first name), the Boss of Rank Distributors here in the Philippines many years ago and the man who took the orphaned teenaged Bobby under his wing, gave him his first real job and thus introduced him to the international movie business. He became a father-figure to Bobby and made a great impression on his life and his future. Bobby calls us both “British Gentlemen”, which I appreciate. Although these days, Bobby and I call each “brother”, which is a term that signifies our closeness and our mutual respect. We also help one another out and our respective families whenever there is a problem, because his family and mine are more than just close friends.
Back to the first time we met in 1992...before long I was a regular visitor to Bobby’s modest office, working on movie storylines and scripts for him, as well as helping him write important international letters and other specialized documents for his company. I never asked for a salary, but Bobby always fed me and gave me travel money and little extras here and there for my daughter’s birthday, etc.
This close, unique professional and personal relationship has continued right up until the present day...almost 18 years now. But many of the Directors, Producers, Stuntmen, Production Crew and Actors that used to frequent Bobby’s doorstep have moved on like James Gaines, Maria Isabel Lopez, Rom Kristoff, Franco Guerrero, Nigel Hogge, or even passed on like Jim Moss, Teddy Chiu, Mike Monti, Steve Nicholson, Ken Metcalfe and Hiroshi Akanoma. Although Bobby and I have never actually yet worked on a project together, today, Bobby and I are still regularly in touch and I’m still helping him with Storylines and scripts on a regular basis.
As I think you know, Andrew, even though Bobby is now getting on in years (aren’t we all?) he would still dearly love to make a comeback to his first love of making movies. In our own modest way, I and an American Movie buddy Larry Cain (who has worked as a Cameraman, Steadicam operator and Technical Consultant on many Filipino movies and TV commercials) are trying to raise the funds so that Bobby can do a modern remake of either “Cleopatra Wong” or “one-Armed Executioner”. British action star Gary Daniels (who is a close friend of mine and Bobby’s) has shown an interest in starring in these projects out of his respect and gratitude to Bobby who helped Gary kick-start his Hollywood movie career by giving him producer contacts in Hollywood when Gary was in the Philippines (like Van Damme and others) hoping to get a role in the multitude of low-budget actioners being shot here in the 1970s and 1980s).
Gary didn’t have much success here in the Philippines but he did make it big (at least for a while) when he got the lead role in Hollywood-Japanese movie “Fists of the North Star” in 1995. And his career seems to on the rise again after he appeared opposite Steven Segal in “Submerged”, has just finished shooting “The Expendables” with Sly Stallone, Jet Li and Jason Statham and now plays the villain in Wesley Snipes’ new movie. Gary’s a really nice, grounded and hard-working guy who deserves to be successful I’m sure I can get you an interview with him, if you wish. He’s a very friendly and amenable guy. I met up with him a month ago in Bangkok and he is in absolutely amazing physical shape...the best I’ve ever seen him.
In Bangkok I introduced Gary to Van Damme and they got on very well together. Van Damme was talking of offering Gary a role in his upcoming “The Tower” movie, but I’ve no idea if that will pan out or not. Another good move for Gary, if it pushes through.
Let's go back to when Bobby first approached you with the idea of doing Vengeance... It's a title he'd had on the shelf since '77! How had it mutated by the time you came on board?
Actually, a few years ago (maybe four or five?), Bobby was approached by Bigfoot Entertainment, a movie production company and Movie School based in Cebu in the Philippines and founded by a German. He knew the old Cleopatra Wong Movie and wanted to use it as a starring vehicle for his Vietnamese girlfriend, model Bebe Pham and so approached Bobby about a remake co-production.
And then Bobby called you in? At what point did this happen?
Yes, Bobby asked me to work on a new "Cleopatra" script. Bobby and I work very well together as a writing team. Bobby has great cinematic ideas, so we met at my apartment in Ermita and Bobby explained his ideas and jotted them down on paper. I'm one of the few people who can understand his writing "shorthand" and I instantly understand where he's going with an idea. Then he left me alone for a few weeks to work on the first draft, sending me occasional e-mails with more ideas.
If Bobby has one flaw about his story-telling, it's that he forgets that today we have the Internet, cell-phones, GPS, etc., so I have to work those factors into the script. But yes, Bobby was "on fire" because like me, he is so passionate about his craft.
Bobby's ideas are usual "general" and not too specific, so I have to work on the characters and what makes them tick, as well as figuring out story elements such as a "ticking bomb" scenario, double-crosses, moments of pathos, etc. Stuff to provide the tension and audience interest in between the five or so set action sequences. And like Bobby, I hate loose ends and plot loopholes. We don't want an audience asking questions like, "Why did he do that instead of...?" when they should be just carried along by the movie!
I did five rewrites of that script until we were both happy with it. But Bobby does worry about some details...such as his leads' costumes and weapons. But like you say, Bobby just wants to "cut to the chase", and he has great ideas about new action angles, too!
Gary Daniels was lined up to play the male lead, with Doris Young (the original Cleopatra Wong) playing the "Mother" and with Bebe Pham as her daughter...the new Cleopatra Wong. The torch passed from the Mother to a new generation. The German executive producer, Michael Gleissner also had a role under his screen name of Ken Arden. Your readers can check out BigFoot's website at www.bigfoot.com.
But as you know, that movie eventually fell by the wayside. That was due to problems over the budget. Bobby really wanted to shoot the movie in and around Manila and use a local grip house for the equipment hire, all with a view to minimizing the production costs. But Gleissner wanted Bobby to shoot everything at Bigfoot in Cebu, using their equipment and facilities. But that ballooned the budget because of extra air fares and hotel accommodation for our production crew and local actors. Although the new script belonged to Bigfoot, Bobby wisely didn't sell them the rights to the Cleopatra Wong character which belonged to him. And so the project was cancelled.
Michael Gleissner had a good reason for wanting the movie to be made at the Bigfoot studios, which I understand perfectly. He has a FilmSchool there and wanted his students to have first-hand experience of film-making and we would also have used some of his students, as actors, extras and interns. But it wasn't to be. You can imagine Bobby's deep disappointment at not being able to push through with his long-awaited movie comeback.
How do you think Bobby would adapt to the new film world - new audiences, new technology, new markets?
Excellent question. To be honest, I don't think he realizes just how much movie-making has changed in the past 10-20 years. As I think I said before, even low-budget movies must now have live sound, better lighting, Dolby Soundtracks, fast-paced editing, a good soundtrack, be in widescreen and with great cinematography with 2 cameras. The stories must also embrace new technologies such as mobile phones, GPS, Bluetooth, the Internet, satellites, etc. In the small movies made in 1960s and 1970s, those criteria did not exist. For example, a page of script 20 years ago was always timed at 1-minute of screen time but today one page of script is reckoned at 45-50 seconds screen time.
With Tetchie Agbayani
With Ringo Lam (2nd from left) on the set of THE SUSPECTS