News

Cynthia Rothrock returns to her martial arts action roots in Lady Scorpions, directed by Bruce Del Castillo and released in 2024. Rothrock stars as retired FBI agent Alena Moore, pulled back into action when her granddaughter is kidnapped. Helping in the rescue is Alena’s daughter Lacy, played by Caitlin Dechelle.

This review will examine how Lady Scorpions balances fast-paced action with meaningful character moments. Rothrock’s fighting chops remain as sharp as ever, and Dechelle proves a capable partner.

Their dynamic injects heart into an otherwise formulaic plot. While predictable in places, Lady Scorpions entertains through its empowered female leads and showcase of Rothrock’s decades of experience. Imperfections and all, it satisfies cravings for thrills and honors its stars’ legacies.

Rescues, Revenge and Reunions

The film introduces retired FBI agent Alena Moore and her daughter Lacy. Alena has a longtime grudge against mob boss Lucien, whose latest “deal” causes problems.

Stars: Cynthia Rothrock, Caitlin Dechelle, Sofia O’Brien, Jose Manuel, Jeff Fahey | Written by Bruce Del Castillo, Stephen Carolan | Directed by Bruce Del Castillo

The good news is that Cynthia Rothrock has a new film, Lady Scorpions. The bad news is that it’s from Tiger Style Media, the same production company that gave us the underwhelming Art of Eight Limbs and The Lockdown. The good news for you is that I’m willing to risk taking a bullet, or a kick to the head, to tell you if the third time is a charm for them.

On her way to her car, Lacy gets jumped by a pair of attackers whom she makes quick work of. Not that she was in any danger, it was a demonstration for her self-defence class. She’s less successful at getting her mother Alena (Cynthia Rothrock) to pick up the phone when she calls...

Necronomicon, Once Upon A Time in Hollyweird, Baba Yaga, and Adventures of Mickey Sherlock Mouse and Winnie the Pooh are four titles from DRagon Studios that are currently available on DVD at Movie Zyng Warehouse.

From the mind of Hp Lovecraft comes the story of The Necronomicon, known to many as the book of the dead. A book so evil that it is made from human flesh. A book that can bring the dead back to life. The Necronomicon was created by the wickedest man in the world. The magician Aleister Crowley while visiting the depths of Hell and depravity. Now Dragon Studios takes you to place that has only ever been written about in the books of H P Lovecraft. As you to can visit The Necronomicon.

Movie Zyng Warehouse:

https://www.moviezyng.com/necronomicon-dvd-michael-madsen/840418307175

Once Upon A Time in Hollyweird unfolds in the glitzy and mysterious world of Hollywood,...

After yesterday’s rumors and confusion, we now know that Hong Kong director and cinematographer Corey Yuen has died. Interestingly, according to the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, Yuen passed away in 2022, but the media kept his death a secret at the request of his family. While the Federation did not reveal a date of death, we know the Righting Wrongs, The Transporter, and Doa: Dead or Alive director died of complications from Covid-19. On Monday, news about Mr. Yuen’s death was revealed on Chinese-language social media by action legend Jackie Chan, who trained alongside Yuen under Sammo Hung Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, and Yuen Biao at the Peking Opera School.

Corey Yuen started as an actor, contributing to 114 projects and playing roles in films like The Jade Raksha, Long ya Jian, Ai Nu, Brutal Boxer, and more. He worked alongside cinema’s greatest martial artists, including Chan, Michelle Yeoh,...

Corey Yuen, the actor, action choreographer and director of “So Close” and “Doa: Dead or Alive,” died in 2022, the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed to Variety.

Local and English-language reports say that Yuen died of Covid-19 on an undisclosed date in Hong Kong. He was born on Feb. 15, 1951 as Ying Gang-ming.

His death was initially kept private at the request of his family. But on Monday, the news was revealed on Chinese-language social media by fellow action star Jackie Chan, who paid tribute to Yuen and others in the industry who had died.

Yuen and Chan were contemporaries and trained together with Sammo Hung Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Yuen Biao at the Peking Opera School. Together, they were sometimes referred to as the Seven Little Fortunes or The Lucky Seven and made their mark during the heyday of Hong Kong cinema from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

Godfrey Ho (pictured above), often regarded as a prolific and enigmatic figure in the world of low-budget cinema, is best known for his extensive catalogue of ninja-themed films, which often utilized unconventional methods such as splicing together unrelated footage. Here’s a list of the top 10 films from this cult director, known for their entertainment value, eccentric style, and cult status:

Ninja Terminator (1985)

Arguably Ho’s most famous film, Ninja Terminator features Richard Harrison and a bizarre plot involving magical golden ninja statues. The film is infamous for its patchwork editing and incoherent storyline, making it a cult classic. Ninja the Protector (1986)

This film combines elements of crime thrillers and ninja action. It’s known for its convoluted plot and Richard Harrison’s prominent role as a ninja master. Ninja Thunderbolt (1984)

Featuring a blend of police procedural and ninja action, this movie is remembered for its unusual narrative structure and outlandish fight scenes.

Stars: Mathis Landwehr, Kira Kortenbach, Matthias Hues, Billy Blanks, Mike Derudder, Mike Möller, Cynthia Rothrock, Kurt McKinney, David “Bolo Jr” Yeung | Written by Ross W. Clarkson, Sean David Lowe | Directed by Ross W. Clarkson

As you can probably tell just from the title, The Last Kumite was inspired by 80s action films, the iconic Bloodsport in particular. And it opens like it stepped out of a time warp from the 1980s with an old-school pop song playing over a montage of scenes shot on the streets of New York City before taking us to the dojo where Michael Rivers is teaching his daughter Bree (Kira Kortenbach).

After an inspirational speech at the end of her training, it’s time to go see Mom. If you guessed that means a trip to the cemetery, you’ve seen as many of these films as I have.

The next day, Michael fights in...

The golden era of VHS was ideally suited to the Girls with Guns subgenre as video sleeves of attractive women armed to the teeth would invariably be enticing to the target audience. In addition, a large number would mix martial arts with the then current trend for the bullet ballets that was “Heroic Bloodshed”. Female assassins would frequent the plots riffing off “La Femme Nikita” and “The Killer” which leads us to “Dreaming the Reality”, which was recently released as a Blu ray media book in Germany after being absent from home release for some time. Does it escape from the pile of cheap exploitation flicks or return to obscurity? Only one way to find out.

Silver Fox (Moon Lee) and Black Cat (Yukari Oshima) are assassins raised from childhood by Fok (Eddie Ko) alongside adopted brother Scorpion (Cheuk-nin Cho). After a hit results in the death of several school children,...

Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chika Kanamoto, Emerson Min, Sticky Fingaz, Ji Yong Lee, Andrey Ivchenko, Kristanna Loken, Shannen Doherty, Cynthia Rothrock, Weston Cage, Kris Van Damme | Written by James Cullen Bressack, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Alethea Hnatko-Cho | Directed by James Cullen Bressack

Jean-Claude Van Damme has kept a fairly low profile compared to many other 80s action heroes. And that includes such non-genre appearances as voice acting in kids films like Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3, Minions: The Rise of Gru as well as a cameo in the French comedy Haters. However, Darkness of Man sees him return to the Dtv action spotlight

As the film opens, Russel Hatch lies in a puddle of his own blood, bleeding out from several bullet wounds. He tells us in voice-over that, like every story, this began with a woman. And we go back to Miami two years prior when Hatch was an Interpol agent.

Michelle Yeoh has come quite a long way from the days of Yes, Madam and Police Story 3: Supercop. While the Malaysian actress used to fight alongside stars like Cynthia Rothrock and Jackie Chan in some of the best martial arts movies to come out of Hong Kong, today she’s broken out into dramas and sci-fi projects in addition to action. Deadline reports that the Academy Award-winning star of Everything Everywhere All at Once is now set to star in the sequel series, Blade Runner 2099, for Prime Video.

The details have been shrouded in mystery as of now. However, the year in the title implies a significant jump in time from the last sequel, Blade Runner 2049. The Denis Villeneuve film brought in talents like Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto and Ana De Armas. It would also see Harrison Ford return to the role of Dekker. Blade Runner 2099...

It can feel that Robert Clouse must have made a faustian pact back when he helmed “Enter the Dragon”. For all of that film's iconic success, he seemed doomed to be forever searching to recapture it to slowly diminishing returns. From “Game of Death” to “The Battle Creek Brawl”, Golden Harvest would return to him frequently when co-producing stateside. So it was no surprise in 1990 that they would hire him one last time. Eureka Entertainment brings those final features to blu ray and once again Cynthia Rothrock throws down in “China O'Brien”.

on Terracotta by clicking on the image below

China (Cynthia Rothrock), city cop and martial arts teacher saves a student but unwittingly shoots a kid dead. Leaving the Force, she returns home to Beaver Creek where her Sheriff father John (David Blackwell) is finding law and order hard to maintain as local crime boss Sommers...

If you love action classics like Kickboxer and Bloodsport, a whole host of 80s and 90s martial arts superstars return to the screen in the action thriller The Last Kumite, coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Uhd/Bd Steelbook, as well as digital platforms in the UK and Ireland from 13th May… And I’ve got my pre-order in already!

When Karate champion Michael Rivers (Mathis Landwehr) wins the last tournament of his career, shady businessman Ron Hall (Matthias Hues) offers him the opportunity to fight in an illegal, deadly Kumite in Bulgaria with the world’s best martial artists. Michael declines, only to find out later that his daughter Bree has been kidnapped and that in order to rescue her, he is left with no other option but to fight in the deadly tournament. When he finally gets to Bulgaria, he finds out that he is not the only...

The legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme is back in action in the upcoming thriller Darkness of Man, which is set to receive a digital release on May 21st. With that date just a couple months away, a trailer for the film has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above!

Directed by James Cullen Bressack, who crafted the story with Jcvd and wrote the screenplay with Alethea Hnatko-Cho, Darkness of Man has the following synopsis: Russell Hatch (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a washed-up, former Interpol operative who vowed to protect the son of an informant killed years earlier in a raid gone wrong. When merciless street gangs start an all-out turf war and the kid is caught in the middle, Hatch will stop at nothing to keep him safe and fight anyone who gets in his way.

Van Damme is joined in the cast by Emerson Min...

Co-produced by Corey Yuen and Yuen Biao, with the two of them also function as action director, and the first being credited as the director and the second as the protagonist, “Righting Wrongs” is considered one of the best movies of the latter and has now reached the status of cult for a number of reasons.

Buy This Title

by clicking on the image below

In that fashion, some trivia regarding the production are definitely interesting to mention. According to Rothrock, Golden Harvest originally signed her to play the villain opposite of Jackie Chan in Armour of God, but when production halted due to Chan's near-fatal filming accident, the studio reassigned Rothrock to Righting Wrongs with Biao. While practicing her moves for the film, she injured her right Acl; rather than take time off to undergo surgery, she proceeded to shoot her scenes using her left leg for her kicks.

Eureka Entertainment are set to release two of my all-time Favourite action movies, China O’Brien 1 and 2, the franchise that established American martial artist Cynthia Rothrock as an international action star. Presented on UK Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (separate releases) for the first time anywhere in the world, from brand new 4K restorations as part of Eureka Classics range.

Helmed by Richard Clouse, the celebrated director of Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, the China O’Brien films firmly established Cynthia Rothrock as an International action star following a successful string of hits in Hong Kong.

In China O’Brien, city cop and formidable martial artist Lori “China” O’Brien (Rothrock) is forced to resign from the force and return home to a small Utah town after her involvement in an accidental death. But upon arrival in Beaver Creek, she finds that her lawman father – Sheriff John O’Brien...

Throwback martial arts action film The Last Kumite heads to streaming in 2024, and here’s the trailer.

There is no question that the 1980s was a vintage time for action films, particularly in Hong Kong. There was a fruitful period in the mid 1980s when Hong Kong directors would hire American martial artists to go toe to toe with onscreen, both to broaden the international appeal and show a wide range of styles.

From Cynthia Rothrock going up against Sammo Hung in Shanghai Express to Richard Norton’s multiple bust ups with Jackie Chan in the likes of City Hunter and Mr Nice Guy, these performers went on to headline a series of low budget American action films that have since gained a cult following, perhaps most notably the China O’Brien series and the numerous No Retreat, No Surrender sequels

The Last Kumite looks set to be a throwback to that style,...

"It's time!" Capelight Pictures has unveiled a first look teaser for an upcoming 80s / 90s throwback movie called The Last Kumite, directed by filmmaker Ross W. Clarkson. This indie project has been funded on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, being readied for release in 2024. It's going direct-to-vod in the spring. The Last Kumite is a new spin on the great martial arts films of the 80s & 90s that are still loved amongst action film fans as much today as they were decades ago. The filmmakers describe it as "a new take on the tournament movie inspired by the likes of Bloodsport, Kickboxer and No Retreat No Surrender." Following a martial arts fighter who discovers other martial artists have also been "forced to fight to save their loved ones." Starring newcomer Mathis Landwehr as Michael in the lead role, with a massive throwback cast including Cynthia Rothrock, Michel Qissi, Matthias Hues, Richard Norton,...

Joe Cornet directed from Craig Hamann’s screenplay.

Premiere Entertainment Group (Peg) has licensed North American rights to ITN Distribution to the action western Taken From Rio Bravo starring Alexander Nevsky.

Joe Cornet directed from Craig Hamann’s screenplay in which Nevsky reprises his role from Gunfight At Rio Bravo as a mysterious Russian gunslinger who teams up with a sheriff in pursuit of a gang of sadistic human traffickers known as The Posse who have kidnapped five women.

Cornet, Cynthia Rothrock, Matthias Hues, Tatiana Neva and Don “The Dragon” Wilson round out the key cast.

The film was produced by Nevsky for Hollywood Storm.

Joe Cornet directed from Craig Hamann’s screenplay.

Premiere Entertainment Group (Peg) has licensed North American rights to ITN Distribution to the action western Taken From Rio Bravo starring Alexander Nevsky.

Nevsky reprises his role from Gunfight At Rio Bravo as a mysterious Russian gunslinger who teams up with a sheriff in pursuit of a gang of sadistic human traffickers known as The Posse, who have kidnapped five women.

Joe Cornet, Cynthia Rothrock, Matthias Hues, Tatiana Neva and Don “The Dragon” Wilson round out the key cast.

Joe Cornet directed from Craig Hamann’s screenplay. The film was produced by Nevsky for Hollywood Storm.

When most people think of martial arts masters, names like Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen, Chuck Norris, Michael Jai White, Cynthia Rothrock, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Michelle Yeoh come to mind. Still, Hollywood is ripe with what some would call unsung industry heroes, such as Scott Adkins, a powerhouse of talent on several fronts. In a detailed article featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Ritman delves into Adkins’ origin, a quest for the spotlight, and reputation for being one of the hardest working badasses in Tinseltown.

In addition to being a charismatic actor, Adkins is a gifted student of many martial arts disciplines, including Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Ninjitsu, Capoeira, Krav Maga, Wushu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Kickboxing and Brazilian and Jui Jitsu. His passion for elevating his body and spirit began near the age of 10 when the captivating Bruce Lee inspired Adkins to study Judo. After getting mugged...

Plot: The Expendables go after a team of mercenaries connected to a legendary arms dealer whose identity is unknown.

Review: Millennium Media has taken nine years to develop a fourth entry into the Expendables series. Things have changed in the near-decade since the last movie, which is reflected in the fact that this series instalment is much smaller scale than the ones that came before it. It’s primarily a spin-off entry for Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas, with the titular Expendables only supporting our hero on a personal mission, with Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross contributing little more than a cameo.

While that’s undeniably disappointing, Expend4bles is still a fun enough action flick if you keep your expectations in check. The budget seems much smaller than it was for the previous films, with abysmal CGI. Most of the action is confined to a cargo ship, as the Expendables...

"Fyre Rises" is a new UK produced action crime feature, directed by Paul Knight, starring Eric Roberts, Cynthia Rothrock, Joseph Millson, Jake Canuso, Harriet Thorpe and Tina Barnes, releasing October 9, 2023 on demand and in theaters:

"...debt-ridden pacifist 'Richard Fyre' is propositioned to return to his abandoned mercenary ways by flamboyant zealot, 'Priest'...

"...to eliminate his international competition in exchange for a clean slate..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Through martial arts cinema Fighting Spirit Film Festival aims to entertain and inspire people, promote martial arts culture, and support those who have chosen it as a career. The Festival is back in London this year with a two day action packed programme, including films, two free seminars, demonstrations, and more.

Tickets for Fsff 2023 are now available! click Here to view the schedule and purchase tickets.

Events And Free Seminars:

Capoeira workshop with Michael Nelson-cole

This workshop will take place at the Tottenham Community Sports Centre Boxing gym from 6-8pm and is open to all ages. Michael Nelson-Cole will teach the basics of Capoeira and explain it's origin and background. Come and move, jump, kick, and see what you're capable of! Entry is just £5.

Free seminar: Martial arts in fiction with Goran Powell and Chris Bradford

Authors Goran Powell and Chris Bradford discuss the importance of storytelling/narrative in martial arts fiction.

Stars: Hannaj Bang Bendz, Jamie Chambers, Marta Svetka | Written by Steven Durham | Directed by David Ryan Keith

So my father didn’t really teach me much in the way of life lessons but he did impart one piece of wisdom to live by… “Kevin,” he said, “you can never trust a man with three first names”.

It was with that in mind that I sat down to watch director David Ryan Keith’s latest project I Am Rage. Billed as a woman on a mission of revenge thriller from the team behind 2020 flick Army of One. Another female-driven thriller that I really dug and going by the trailer we were in for more of the same only dialled up to 11.

Erin (Hannaj Bang Bendz) is off to the countryside with her boyfriend, his brother and his brother’s new girl. While staying at the peaceful retreat our girls are about...

The 1990s were an exciting period for action films, with many of them getting released direct-to-video and showing up seemingly randomly at local video stores, requiring fans of the genre to have memberships at multiple locations to get to see everything. There was so much that if attention wasn’t paid, titles would be missed easily or rented twice under different titles at different video stores. Stars emerged within those ranks and gathered the love and adoration of fans. Here are the 10 of the best Dtv action stars of that era:

Dolph Lundgren

Let’s start with the obvious man on the list, the one that everyone saw films from at their local video stores. Lundgren had films that were released in theaters, on video, and direct to cable in some cases during the 1990s, but one thing is for sure, he was a mainstay of the action film aisle...

The Film

Cynthia Rothrock made her film debut in Yes Madam, subsequently going on to great success in supporting roles in the likes of Righting Wrongs and Millionaires Express. Lady Reporter (also known by the much cooler title The Blonde Fury) though would be her first true vehicle. It was conceived for her and directed largely by her Yes Madam colleague (and sometime partner) Mang Hoi. It’s a ground-breaking film in one major way: it was the first, and to date remains the only, time that a non-Asian actress was top billed in a Hong Kong martial arts film.

The film finds Rothrock playing Cindy, and FBI agent recruited to go undercover at a Hong Kong newspaper which the Feds think is being used as cover for a counterfeit money operation. As you might expect, kicking ensues.

The plot isn’t particularly complicated, but it doesn’t always connect perfectly from scene to scene.

Joe Cornet and Alexander Nevsky‘s action packed western Gunfight at Rio Bravo was released in the US by Shout! Studios back in January and is available on all of the major digital platforms. The sequel Taken from Rio Bravo was shot in Arizona last summer and is now in the final stages of post-production – and the project went over so well when it was presented to international distributors at the Cannes Film Festival last month, Cornet and Nevsky have announced that they’re putting another sequel on the fast track to production! This one will be titled The Last Heroes of Rio Bravo, and filming is scheduled to begin in August.

Cornet will be directing The Last Heroes of Rio Bravo from a screenplay by Craig Hamann, who also wrote the previous two films and crafted the stories with Nevsky. A plot synopsis for the third entry in the...

Also known as The Lady Dragon, Cynthia Rothrock first started acting in Hong Kong films in the 1980s following a very successful career as a competition martial artist. She holds 5 black belts and is ranked 8th Dan Grandmaster. She competed against men for a good part of her competition days due to there not always being a women’s category, where she won many times over. Her achievement in the martial arts world got her the first female cover of Karate Illustrated and her film career is filled with action and a bit of humor. Here are 5 of the best Cynthia Rothrock movies:

Yes, Madam (1985)

Her very first movie role, the part of Inspector Carrie Moss was designed for Rothrock and her skills, or so it would seem while watching the film. Directed by Corey Yuen and co-starring Michelle Yeoh, a woman who needs no introduction at this point, the...

The upcoming western Taken from Rio Bravo has received its first trailer and we’re pleased to present it exclusively here on JoBlo!

The action-packed trailer starts off with an attempted robbery that results in juuuust about everybody getting a bullet to the chest courtesy of one nasty gunslinger. He joins forces with the seemingly more cautious sheriff, out to find his soon-to-be bride, nabbed by a group of bastards who take women over the border into Mexico. Judging by the trailer, Taken from Rio Bravo looks to be a tightly constructed picture with plenty of gunplay. And yes, that is our very own John Fallon in the trailer!

The official plot synopsis of Taken from Rio Bravo: “The action western sees the return of the mysterious Russian gunslinger who teams up with a sheriff in pursuit of a gang of sadistic human traffickers known as The Posse, who have kidnapped five women.

Film reunited star, director and writer from Gunfight at Rio Bravo.

Premiere Entertainment Group (Peg) has acquired worldwide rights to Taken From Rio Bravo and will offer the action western at the Cannes market.

The film is a sequel to recent US release Gunfight at Rio Bravo and once again stars bodybuilder and former Mr Universe Alexander Nevsky. Nevsky stars as a Russian gunslinger who teams up with a sheriff in pursuit of a gang of human traffickers.

Also in the cast are Joe Cornet, Cynthia Rothrock, Irina Antonenko, Matthias Hues, Tatiana Neva and Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson. Joe Cornet once again directed,...

The Film

With Cynthia Rothrock having only done Yes Madam, and Michelle Khan [Yeoh] departing the loose franchise following Royal Warriors, this third entry (the title of which also translates as Royal Madam III: Male and Female Thieves) had to turn to new talent. Billing then 20 year-old Taiwanese actress Yang Li-tsing as Cynthia Khan was a cynical move on par with introducing a new action star to US movies today, and giving her the screen name Kate Theron. Like the alternate title fusing those of the two previous films, it’s not something that screams of inspiration, but like Cynthia Khan herself, this film is a dark horse that deserves more credit, and to be looked at on its own terms rather than based on what its name is ripping off.

The story, as ever, is largely a framework to hang the action on, but this time it sees Khan as...

Michelle Yeoh has just won the Academy Award for best actress with her hysterically good performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, making Oscar history as first Asian woman winning that category. It has been a long way since the year 1937, when white actress Luise Rainer won the same category for sporting a “yellowface” and play a Chinese villager in “The Good Earth.” But the Malaysian-born actress had already built up a reputation in the 1980s and '90s as Hong Kong's kick-ass action star.

Check out the interview of Michelle Yeoh An Interview with Michelle Yeoh : One of Asia's Biggest Film Stars

A ballet dancer since 4, she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy as a teen, but her dancer career didn't last long. After winning the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title and the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Australia in the early 1980s, she...

Awards season is celebrating Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once leading up to Oscar night. The Criterion Channel is celebrating Yeoh’s martial arts legacy with eight of her Chinese films added in the month of March. Showbiz Cheat Sheet recommends all eight, but here’s a guide to the films Criterion Channel selected.

Michelle Yeoh | Peter Pau/Sony Pictures Classics ‘Yes, Madam!’ Was the one that started it all for Michelle Yeoh

Yeoh had supporting roles in two movies before taking the lead of Yes, Madam! The female police actioner launched an entire series that took on the name In the Line of Duty from part three, after Yeoh had left. The first entry teams Yeoh up with Cynthia Rothrock, playing a British cop, with unbelievable fight scenes against modern day criminals.

‘Royal Warriors’ took Michelle Yeoh martial arts movies to the next level

The second entry...

Rousing action films get your blood pumping and lift your spirits. In some respects, they're even more thrilling when women play the action hero. Though ladies have been kicking butt in movies for decades now, it's still just as exciting when a new woman fights her way to the big screen and into our hearts. If you're a fan of action films -– and hopefully if you're a fan of women –- you've probably seen many of this century's most popular female-led action epics. There are the "Kill Bill" films, of course, Ripley's badassery in "Aliens," and more recent fare like "Atomic Blonde" and "Mad Max: Fury Road."

These are all incredible films that certainly deserve their place in the action pantheon, but others deserve our attention, too. For one thing, there actually were a few female-led action films made before the year 2000, something you might not be aware of...

Action films of all types and budgets are coming out left and right. With all the streaming services, direct-to-vod, and smaller theater runs, films that may not even have gotten greenlit at all years ago are making it to our eyeballs fairly easily. With so many titles coming, which ones should everyone look forward to? Here are five action films that are coming out relatively soon that we’re looking forward to.

Darkness of Man (2023)

The new Jean-Claude Van Damme flick just wrapped and should be coming out later this year. It’s being labelled as a neo-noir action thriller. The story follows an Interpol operative played by Jcvd who ends up entangled in a gang turf war when he takes an informant’s son under his wing. Of course, things go from bad to worse, and some Jcvd heroics are needed to save the day. The film comes courtesy...

The Film

With Everything Everywhere All At Once looking a likely Best Picture Oscar nominee, starring roles in the new Witcher spin off at Netflix and American Born Chinese for Disney+ and the small matter of the Avatar sequels, Michelle Yeoh is having a banner year in 2022, in which she also turned 60.

Eureka’s new release of Yes, Madam (previously on UK DVD from Hong Kong Legends under the title Police Assassins) turns the clock back to the very beginning of Yeoh’s career, aged 23, in her first leading role.

Yeoh plays Inspector Ng. Her friend, also a cop, from the UK is murdered and the microfilm he was carrying unknowingly acquired by three bumbling thieves, who get wrapped up with the gangsters who want killed Ng’s friend for the film. Yeoh then teams up with Scotland Yard detective Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock in her film debut) to solve the murder,...

Female action stars put the badass in what they do in their own unique ways. They’ve been around for years, but don’t seem to get as much screen time or as high-budget films as their male counterparts. Through the years, plenty of ladies have shown us what they can do and that whatever the boys can do, they can do it better. Sometimes in heels.

Who are our 5 favorites? Who are the best ones in our hearts? Who deserves to be on this list? Who do we keep going back to again and again? Look no further!

Lily Li aka Lily Li Li-li

An early female action star, Lily Li is from the golden age of Shaw Brothers films. If you do not know who the Shaw Brothers (or Shaw Bros) are, you need to go find some of their films and educate thyself! They had mostly male stars,...

The 1990s had a plethora of action films, and movies in general, released direct-to-video. The film rental business was booming, and some video stores even hosted signing events with the stars to promote the films and their business. Direct to video action films were the most popular Dtv genre (next to soft-core erotica) and they were produced by the ton. Every week brought a new bunch of options to your local Blockbuster or Mom & Pop store. For the purpose of this list, the titles selected are fun watches even now, that were released direct-to-video for the majority of the population, and they were decently popular on the video store shelves. Without further ado, here are 5 of our favorites!

Lady Dragon (1992)

Let’s start with the Queen of 90s action in the US, the one, the only, the kickass Cynthia Rothrock. This woman is the real deal, with many martial arts...

Coming 26th September from 88 Films in UK.

Lawyer Jason Chan (Yuen Biao), fed up with the failings of the justice system and the way it allows criminals off the hook, vows to take the law into his own hands after a key witness and his entire family are murdered. However, his plans are soon complicated when he finds hotshot detective Cindy-Si (Cynthia Rothrock) on his case.

Shot through with intrigue and action, this slick Hong Kong thriller rattles along magically in a satisfyingly explosive manner. In this Deluxe presentation, Righting Wrongs is a must for all serious collectors of martial arts mayhem.

Terracotta Blu-ray & Dvd Store

Hong Kong neon-noir police action, On The Run, is out in September via 88Films. This gritty, and sometimes brutal film, features Yuen Biao in a full-on action and dramatic role, a change from the comedy-action films he is known for. Yuen Biao plays a police officer, trying to solve the case of his wife’s murder, and slowly unravels the layers of who he can and can’t trust in his circle. Pre-order now at a special discounted price on the Terracotta store Here

Might as well go for the Yuen Biao double. Also released in September, Righting Wrongs is some straight up beat ’em up Hong Kong 80’s action cinema. Starring Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock, this release comes packed full of extras and special features, again via 88Films Here

July Blu-ray Releases

Summer Time Machine Blues – hilarious Japanese time-travel comedy featuring student high-jinks and a broken air-conditioner.

Alexander Nevsky will star in the new western Taken from Rio Bravo, which recently completed principal photography in Arizona under the direction of Joe Cornet (Promise).

Also starring Matthias Hues, Irina Antonenko (Gasoline Alley) , Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, John Fallon (The Shelter) and Cornet himself, Taken from Rio Bravo is one of two upcoming films – the other, Gunfight at Rio Bravo was shot last year and will be released first – in which Nevsky plays a mysterious Russian gunslinger named Ivan Turchin.

The film follows two friends in 1874, East Texas who pursue a posse of sadistic human traffickers who have kidnapped five women. Along with an Indian scout they race against time to find and free the women before the traffickers sell them to sex-slave buyers at the Mexican border.

“Not only did the same wonderful production team [from Gunfight at Rio Bravo] sign up again, we also returned to the great Arizona location of Gammons’ Gulch,...

Everything Everywhere All at Once. Courtesy of A24.In an interview with Donna Chu of the Hong Kong Film Archive in 1999, Michelle Yeoh said, “Nowadays, when people hear that Michelle Yeoh is in a film, they will immediately think it is an action film. I hope in the future it will be different, and I can present a variety of faces of myself to the audience. But right now I'm very proud of myself for what I've done, creating a niche for myself in action films, because I've worked very hard to achieve this. I really treasure this status and do not take it lightly. But as an actor, you just want to try to act in different styles, and pursue being in different genres of films.”1The twenty plus years since then have seen Yeoh accomplish exactly that, as she is now internationally famous not just as a star of action films,...

Everything Everywhere All at Once describes Michelle Yeoh’s career right now. She is everywhere. As Emperor Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Discovery, she boldly went where no one has gone before with a role so scene-stealing that there’s talk of a spin-off dedicated just to her character. Yeoh also dominated as the powerful matriarch and ultimate “tiger mom” Eleanor Young in Crazy Rich Asians. And she’s one of the only actors to play two completely different characters in the MCU: Ying Nan in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. A24’s multiverse-spanning science fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once is one more indication that Yeoh isn’t slowing down. Coming soon, she has lead roles in The Witcher: Blood Origin, American Born Chinese, and the four upcoming Avatar sequels.

Most remember Yeoh from her...

There are relatively few famous unfinished films, ranging from von Sternberg’s “I, Claudius” to Jerry Lewis’ “The Day the Clown Cried” to various Orson Welles joints that continue to be patched together by former collaborators long after his death. But most such projects, usually abandoned due to financial and/or legal woes, languish in an obscurity compounded by the fact no one cries for the resuscitation of something they don’t know exists.

But somebody did notice the plight of “New York Ninja,” , a moderately successful figure in Taiwanese action cinema. An already marginal, guerrilla-shot endeavor whose plug got pulled when the planned distributor went under, it has now been meticulously if none-too-seriously reconstructed by Vinegar Syndrome’s Kurtis M. Spieler, who “re-directed” the extant footage sans any surviving original script or sound components.

Its newly dubbed dialogue performed by a host of fan-fave exploitation veterans including Cynthia Rothrock,...

Stars: Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, John Liu, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Linnea Quigley, Ginger Lynn, Cynthia Rothrock, Michael Berryman | Directed by John Liu, Kurtis Spieler

The story behind New York Ninja is almost as incredible as the film itself. In 1984 Taiwanese martial artist and actor John Liu came to New York City with the intention of filming his latest movie there. While he did shoot it, he was so unimpressed by the results he abandoned the project and left the unedited footage in a vault and retired from filmmaking. An there it sat for thirty-five years later the footage came into the hands of film restoration specialists Vinegar Syndrome. They had the technology, they could rebuild it, all except for one critical element. The film’s soundtrack was missing, as was the script.

So they wrote a new one, not a spoof but authentic-sounding 80s style dialogue. And they hired a...

"This city owes... justice." Vinegar Syndrome has unveiled the brand new trailer for a long lost 80s campy action film titled New York Ninja, which has been finished and is ready for release in 4K this year after a premiere at Beyond Fest. Originally directed by & starring martial arts actor John Liu in his only American production, New York Ninja was filmed entirely on 35mm in 1984, but the project was abandoned during production resulting in all original sound materials, scripts, and treatments going missing. 35 years later, Vinegar Syndrome acquired the original unedited negative and painstakingly completed the film. Now with the voices of Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Linnea Quigley, Michael Berryman, Vince Murdocco, Matt Mitler, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Ginger Lynn Allen, and Cynthia Rothrock. A sound technician for a news station becomes a vigilante ninja in NYC after his pregnant wife is murdered. Restored in 4K from the original camera elements,...

Beyond Fest announces a city-wide presence with a slate including the US Premiere of Halloween Kills, the West Coast premieres of The Black Phone, Lamb, Vortex and Palme d’Or winner Titane on 35mm, the world premiere of New York Ninja, 50th anniversary of A Clockwork Orange, and a salute to the legendary Michael Mann.

Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, is excited to announce its complete slate of 2021 programming comprising 39 features, including 8 world premieres, 4 US premieres, and 17 West Coast Premieres. Following a sold-out residency at the Mission Tiki Drive-In in 2020, Beyond Fest returns to theaters for 10 days of cinematic excess from Wednesday, September 29th – Monday, October 11th. Built in partnership with the American Cinematheque, Beyond Fest will screen at the Legion Theatre, Aero Theatre, and Los Feliz 3 with all ticket sales going to the 501c3 non-profit film institution. Attendance to all screenings require physical proof...

Julia Ducournau’s Titane, which earned the Palme d’Or in Cannes, will open the Beyond Fest in Los Angeles, with the French director attending in person.

The Los Angeles-based genre festival also unveiled a U.S. premiere for Halloween Kills, with director David Gordon Green and producer Jason Blum on hand for the screening, while a world premiere will be held for John Liu’s New York Ninja, with cast members Cynthia Rothrock, Leon Isaac and Adrienne Meltzer in attendance.

For its 2021 edition, Beyond Fest will screen 39 features, including eight world premieres and four U.S. premieres, as the genre event returns ...

Julia Ducournau’s Titane, which earned the Palme d’Or in Cannes, will open the Beyond Fest in Los Angeles, with the French director attending in person.

The Los Angeles-based genre festival also unveiled a U.S. premiere for Halloween Kills, with director David Gordon Green and producer Jason Blum on hand for the screening, while a world premiere will be held for John Liu’s New York Ninja, with cast members Cynthia Rothrock, Leon Isaac and Adrienne Meltzer in attendance.

For its 2021 edition, Beyond Fest will screen 39 features, including eight world premieres and four U.S. premieres, as the genre event returns ...

Beyond Fest is returns with an impressive mix of premieres and special screenings that are sure to interest any genre fan, including early screenings of Halloween Kills and The Black Phone! We've included all the details below, but one screening in particular that will interest Daily Dead readers is Fede Álvarez presenting the first theatrical screening of the uncut version of his Evil Dead movie.

Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, is excited to announce its complete slate of 2021 programming comprising 39 features, including 8 world premieres, 4 US premieres, and 17 West Coast Premieres. Following a sold-out residency at the Mission Tiki Drive-In in 2020, Beyond Fest returns to theaters for 10 days of cinematic excess from Wednesday, September 29th - Monday, October 11th. Built in partnership with the American Cinematheque, Beyond Fest will screen at the Legion Theatre, Aero Theatre, and Los Feliz 3 with all ticket sales going to the 501c3 non-profit film institution.