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Earlier this summer, the home video distributor Shout Factory was announced to be collaborating with Hong Kong Film Archives to bring you the 4K remastering of the most coveted of Chinese action film classics. The films will include works by Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. The partnership is set to be a treasure trove for fans of classic action films from Hong Kong cinema. Now, Shout! TV is going further by unveiling a Hong Kong Fight Club Fast Channel. Fast channels are free ad-supported television channels on services like Roku, Plex or Freevee that stream content live like old-fashioned television. You can also watch it Right Here!

The channel showcases the absolute greatest in action cinema from Hong Kong’s cinematic golden age of the ’80s and ’90s. Restored from new 4K scans, the channel will showcase the classic films in the best quality...

It was recently reported that the home video distributor Shout Factory is collaborating with Hong Kong Film Archives to bring you the 4K remastering of the most coveted of Chinese action film classics. The films will include works by Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. One of the titles included was Peking Opera Blues from 1986 and Blu-ray.com reports on the new details. Tsui Hark directs with a cast that includes Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh, Cherie Chung, Kenneth Tsang and Mark Cheng. The new remastered release is due to hit retailers on September 23.

Description: Shout Factory’s Hong Kong Cinema Classics continues to offer movie enthusiasts a treasure trove of must-see film classics from a remarkable era in cinematic history. The goal is to preserve and present these iconic movies in their finest form for fans, both old and new, at home.

Official selection of...

The home video distributor Shout Factory is collaborating with Hong Kong Film Archives to bring you the 4K remastering of the most coveted of Chinese action film classics. The films will include works by Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. The digital titles will include A Better Tomorrow in 4K, A Better Tomorrow II in 4K, and A Better Tomorrow III in 4K, Tsui Hark’s Peking Opera Blues in 4K, John Woo’s The Killer in 4K, Tony Ching’s A Chinese Ghost Story (starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang), A Chinese Ghost Story II (starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang), and A Chinese Ghost Story III (starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Joey Wang) and John Woo’s Bullet In The Head in 4K (starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai).

However, the first two big releases are the Chow Yun-Fat films Hard Boiled and City on Fire. The descriptions...

Shout! Studios is punching Monday in the face with brass knuckles by announcing an outstanding action film initiative with Hong Kong Cinema Classics! The celebration of Hong Kong action classics includes 4K presentations on Digital and physical media featuring iconic filmmakers, time-honored films, and many of the action genre’s legendary badasses of the silver screen.

The Hong Kong Cinema Classics collection brings films like Hard Boiled, City on Fire, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Bullet in the Head, Fist of Legend, Peking Opera Blues, and more to the stage!

Per today’s press release from Shout! Studios:

Hong Kong cinema in the ’80s and ’90s, renowned for its thrilling action choreography, distinctive visual styles, and emotional storytelling, represents a remarkable era in cinematic history, whose crime thrillers, martial arts classics, and action films, in particular, have left an indelible mark on Hollywood, profoundly influencing everything from Quentin Tarantino’s...

Hong Kong cinema in the ’80s and ’90s, renowned for its thrilling action choreography, distinctive visual styles, and emotional storytelling, represents a remarkable era in cinematic history, whose crime thrillers, martial arts classics, and action films, in particular, have left an indelible mark on Hollywood, profoundly influencing everything from Quentin Tarantino’s movies to the iconic Matrix and John Wick franchises. Among these are many acclaimed and popular early works by renowned filmmakers John Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, Corey Yuen, Gordon Chan, Johnnie To, and internationally renowned actors Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Leslie Cheung, and Tony Leung Ka-fai. Many of these highly sought-after movies from Shout!’s Golden Princess library and seminal Hong Kong classics have been dormant and out–of–print for decades outside of Asia.

For the upcoming Hong Kong Cinema Classics releases, Shout! Studios, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Film Archives,...

In her 1987 “An Autumn’s Tale”, Second Wave Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung draws from her experience as a student in New York and revisits the American Dream, through the eyes of a female protagonist, Jenny (Cherie Chung), who is building her life and identity, juggling between societal expectations and individual desires. Her co-lead Samuel (Chow Yun-fat), is a young man with a rough-around-the-edges charm and survivalist instincts, most likely inspired by the resilient immigrant spirit Cheung encountered in New York’s Chinatown. Under a rom-com façade, the film discloses many thought-provoking layers about migration, cultural displacement, identity, and the fragility of human connections.

In a scene midway through the narrative, Samuel visits Jenny at an upscale Chinese restaurant in Chinatown called Big Panda, where she works. The restaurant’s owner is a sleazy figure, with his gaze lingering inappropriately on Jenny’s youthful, slender figure. Samuel, eager to impress Jenny,...

Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong filmmaker. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in the West he is best known for his action and crime movies, which have earned him critical respect and a cult following, which includes American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

His films, often made in collaboration with the same group of actors, screenwriters and cinematographers, frequently explore themes of friendship, fate and the changing face of Hong Kong society. Sometimes described as “multifaceted and chameleonic” due to his ability to switch tones and genres between movies, To is nonetheless seen as having a consistent style, which involves mixing subdued realism and social observation with highly stylised visual and acting elements. To has cited King Hu as the director who has influenced his work the most. To heads...

The Asian Film Awards Academy (Afaa) and the Singapore Film Society announced today that Hong Kong's first-generation kung fu superstar Sammo Hung will visit Singapore for the Afaa's Masterclass Series and a number of activities at the upcoming 12th Singapore Chinese Film Festival (Scff). Director Sammo Hung's five important movie classics will be screened during Scff as the festival's first “Filmmaker in Focus” special segment.

Studied under Peking Opera master Yu Jim Yuen at a young age, Hung was the “big brother” of the famous Seven Little Fortunes. Under the guidance of a strict master, Hung learned the true skills behind the four basic techniques of traditional Chinese opera: Singing, reciting, acting and martial arts. His career as a young performer gave him the foundation for his future as an action superstar and cultivated his hardworking and dedicated persona.

Hung thinks that “achievements” mean a great deal to him, and...

Known for his usual cool, Chow Yun-Fat gives an uncharacteristic performance in this 80s fish-out-of-water romcom set in New York's Chinatown. But rather than struggling for air, he is shark-like in what is a standout comedic performance as a troubled good-guy-gone-rogue opposite Cherie Chung in a film that oozes 80s bravado.

An Autumn's Tale is screening at Five Flavours

Jennifer (Chung) moves from Hong Kong to New York to study and be closer to her upwardly mobile boyfriend Vincent (Danny Bak-Keung Chan). She is to initially stay with a distant relative, Samuel (Chow), supposedly something of a ‘figurehead' in the US. But this supposedly idyllic trip to the Big Apple is very quickly brought down to earth. While Samuel might have been ambitious in Hong Kong, in New York he is another waiter with drink and gambling problems. He struggles to keep hold of money and lives in a ramshackle apartment building,...

By 1982, the martial arts movie in its traditional guise was starting to flounder. The era of the Kung Fu comedy was starting to fade, and the era of Jackie Chan was just starting to hit full gear as “Project A” was to come the next year and the modern action movie would begin to form. “The Postman Strikes Back” consequently falls somewhere in between and as it receives a fresh Blu-ray release from 88 Films, it’s time to step back and revisit a movie that probably deserves a bigger audience.

on Terracotta by clicking on the image below

Errand Horse (Leung Kar-yan) is a postman delivering mail to remote villages. With the impending railway, on the way his work will be obsolete. A chance encounter with a young thief (Yuen Yat Chor) leads to a meeting with Hsu (Eddie Ko), an official who has an offer...

Leslie Cheung, a luminary of Hong Kong's golden era of the 80s and 90s, stands out as one of its most gifted representatives. Revered globally as both an actor and a singer, he holds a position as one of the forefathers of Cantopop, leaving an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.

Cheung's brilliance transcended geographical boundaries, captivating admirers in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea. Notably, his pivotal role in John Woo's “A Better Tomorrow” marked a turning point, propelling his acting career to new heights. Subsequent collaborations with esteemed directors such as Chen Kaige and Wong Kar Wai propelled him to international stardom.

Eventually, his name figured in the first place on the list of the most favorite actors in the 100 years of Chinese cinema, in the third of the Most Iconic Musicians of All Time, and CNN considered him the Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong...

Click here to read the full article.

Alex Law, the famed Hong Kong director and screenwriter behind Echoes of the Rainbow, Painted Faces and An Autumn’s Tale, has died. He was 69.

The South China Morning Post reported that Law died Sunday with director Mabel Cheung, his long-time partner and collaborator, by his side. In a double blow to Hong Kong’s cultural landscape, Law died on the same day as the influential novelist and prolific screenwriter Ni Kuang.

Along with Cheung, Law was responsible for creating some of the most enduring classics of Hong Kong cinema, including the Cheung-directed Migration Trilogy. The duo’s films were known for their realistic, and somewhat romantic, portrayals of their fellow Hongkongers, offering nuanced views of society as well as the diaspora and tapping into nostalgia for the time before the 1997 handover.

Born Alex Law Kai-yui in 1952, in what was then British Hong Kong,...

The first blockbuster success for Johnnie To came in 1988 with “The Eighth Happiness”, an ensemble comedy that became the highest grossing film of the year in Hong Kong and, at the time, the highest grossing of all time.

on Amazon

In intense, New Year movie style, the labyrinth script does not make that much sense as a whole, essentially focusing on presenting as many different episodes as possible, in order to highlight the protagonists and entertain its audience through comedy and some sexual connotations. The basis however, is the life of three very different brothers. Fai is a TV host who is single, but also the boss of the house who always takes care of his brothers. Long is betrothed to an air hostess, Do-Do, but at the same time is a relentless womanizer who also tries to make it as an actor. Sung is a young...

The title “Carry on Hotel” to an Englishman like myself brings back memories of the classic film series of the same name. These “Carry On” films were full of toilet humour and sexual innuendos and were considered icons of the British Film Industry. Hong Kong cinema equally has a frequent confrontation with the idea of taste; again toilet humour and obsession with sex are frequent features. Having experienced both of these styles over the years it would be inevitable that my interest would be piqued. So with curiosity (and a certain amount of trepidation) I decided to sit down and watch this and see if it lived up (or down) to my expectations.

Two adulterers attempt to make out only to find that their room is full of security cameras. As a pop group finds their television connected to the security feed they watch with interest as...

Antique shop owner Elaine is a mother and a gun runner; her crime boss, Mr. Hung (Paul Chun) uses her shop as a base for importing firearms. They also have a young daughter Ka Ka whom she brings along when she sells those guns illegally in an old apartment in Hong Kong. Hung’s henchman, known as Bullet (Roy Cheung) is always there during the sales as a lookout and a safeguard.

However, during the latest transaction, Inspector Lau Chung Pong (Chow Yun-fat) and his squad show up at the door, a shootout follows, and Elaine is wounded while the gun buyers manage to escape. Accordingly, Bullet has no choice but to kill her because they don’t want to leave any loose ends and of course, Ka Ka witnesses the whole ordeal. Further investigations lead Inspector Lau to a small village outside of Hong Kong where Elaine’s sister,...

Backed up by Shaw Brothers, and featuring Chow Yun-fat in one of the protagonist roles, Stanley Kwan’s feature debut was a crowning success, both in the box office and in the Hong Kong Film Awards, where, despite its failure to win any, it was nominated for nine awards.

As the story begins, Bao-er, fed up with her Derek, her husband’s cheating, decides to divorce him. To adapt to her new life as a single woman and mother of young boy Dang Dang, she seeks solace with a group of friends in similar situations, who call themselves the ‘Happy Spinsters Club’. Despite the seemingly happy front that her “sisters” put on, underneath it all each of them secretly yearns for a man in their lives, with them frequently arranging (group) dates. In the meanwhile, Derek moves in with his new girlfriend, Sha Niu, who is much younger that Bao-er but much more immature also.

Occasionally considered Johnnie To’s debut (despite that he had already some experience with TV films) and occasionally part of the New Wave, for its unusual narrative style for a wuxia and the similarities it shared with “The Butterfly Murders” and “The Sword”, “The Enigmatic Case” (which he co-directed with Andrew Kam) did not do well in the box office, with To having to return back to TV for a number of years.

Lu Tien-chun is an imprisoned swordsman, who spends his time in prison, accused of killing three men and burning a whole village. Normally, he would have been executed, but the authorities believe he knows the whereabouts of a large amount of gold, the reasoning behind his crimes. One-eyed warden Hsiung Chen is particularly interested in extracting the secret and is willing to torture the young man to do so. However, Lu Tien-chun manages to...

A cursory glance at Andy Lau’s IMDb profile will show 173 credits. So the odds that every movie he starred in would be good are fairly slim given the difficult alchemy that is film making. However, when you consider the director is Ann Hui then it should be at least watchable right????

Ben (Andy Lau) is a Hong Kong student in Tokyo, although less interested in study and more about making money. His friend Ming is trying to integrate himself into the Yakuza even if it means marrying into the organisation. Another student Tit-lan (Cherie Chung) finds herself involved with the Yakuza after leaving her sponsor, who also has her passport. Ben and Tit-Lan are thrown together as their stories merge and find themselves in a struggle to survive and escape back home.

To start with, the plot doesn’t kick in for 50 minutes. Now Hong Kong...

Following the great success of “Winners and Sinners”, Sammo Hung could not but use the same recipe of comedy and action once more, with “My Lucky Stars” featuring an even more impressive cast than its predecessor, since John Shum gave his place to Eric Tsang, which allowed Sammo Hung to give him his former role as the bullied one. Furthermore, Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan had more significant roles, although they were not the protagonists once more, while the villains include Dick Wei, Bolo Yeung, Lam Ching-ying (who was also action coordinator along Sammo Hung once more), and the body builder/martial artist/stuntwoman Michiko Nishiwaki, in probably the most impressive presence in the film. Lastly, the main female role was held by Sibelle Hu instead of Cherie Chung, a substitution that also aimed to add to the action aspect of the movie, although comedy remained the main element of the narrative.

“Winners and Sinners” inaugurated a series of movies that eventually reached number seven, although, starting with number four it strayed away from the original trilogy. Featuring a rather entertaining combination of martial arts and comedy, with the latter being the main focus, the film was a big success commercially, also winning a Hong Kong Film award for Best action choreography, for the work by Sammo Hung, Lam Ching-ying and Yuen Biao, who also stars in the film. The latter has a small part, while Jackie Chan also appears, although in a secondary role.

The story revolves around five men, who, as the movie begins, and in hilarious fashion, end up getting arrested due to a number of failed attempts at various crimes. Teapot, who is constantly bullied despite being the strongest among them, Exhaust Pipe, who reads books on how to get supernatural powers, Vaseline, who cannot...

While Patrick Tam is internationally well-known for being the mentor of Wong Kar-Wai, his directorial efforts are hardly less impressive than his mentee. Since his debut feature, “The Sword”, he has directed movies with a strong sense of aesthetics and vigorous narratives with a tinge of melancholy. His 1984 release, “Cherie”, follows the same route.

The movie opens with a businessman getting interested in an exercise instructor, whose name is later revealed to be Cherie. The businessman and his assistant try numerous ways to gain the affection of the girl, often resulting in fremdscham-inducing moments. From candlelit dinners in a yacht to expensive dresses as gift, the businessman uses every trick in his arsenal, but is dismayed when Cherie turns her fondness to a photographer with an acute interest in art and aesthetics. She increasingly falls for the photographer. However, there is a problem: he shuns the idea of marriage.

“Cherie” is presented as a comedy.

“Amour fou” is a frequent plot driver that has been used since the beginning of cinema. Literally translating as “mad love”, obsession and doomed romance are staples of such tales. “Fatal Love” fits nicely into this category with two star-crossed lovers trying time to escape inevitable tragedy.

Wing (Leslie Cheung) has a spooky encounter with Hung (Cherie Chung) as he drives to meet friends at a club. Uncertain as to whether he had encountered a ghost, he becomes obsessed with finding her. Hung is in fact the girlfriend of Sam (Melvin Wong) a powerful man with criminal connections, and so she tries to push Wing away. As they become closer Wing learns more about Hung’s past and how she came to be with Sam. As she tries to break free, she discovers Sam won’t loosen his hold on her and escape may be impossible.

The...

Maybe It's Love. Photo courtesy of Celestial Pictures.The inspired "Shaw Sisters" retrospective at Metrograph focuses on women filmmakers who worked at the legendary Hong Kong studio. Two of the films—Maybe It's Love (1984) and My Name Ain't Suzie (1985)—were directed by Angie Chen. After directing a third feature, Chen turned to commercials and documentaries.Chen's life encompasses a broad swath of Chinese history. Born in Shanghai, she and her family caught the last train to Hong Kong during the civil war. They relocated for a time in Taiwan, moving back to Hong Kong when Chen's father left his family for Germany. Chen won a scholarship to a college outside Chicago, then transferred first to the University of Iowa before enrolling at UCLA. While translating a screenplay, she met Jackie Chan, who made her his assistant director on Dragon Lord (1982), a martial arts film shot in South Korea. Back in Hong Kong,...

Lam Ching Ying is my favorite star in any Horror movie, weather it be taking on hopping vampires or just plain old spirits, no one does it better than lam.

His roles in the Mr.Vampire movies show his skills as an actor, with great comic timing which goes well with his serious acting side, which we dont normally get to see on screen. This role would make him, not just a big star in Asia but also worldwide as the master of Vampire killers.

I hope you enjoy my top 10 list and please feel free to write your own favorites in the comments box at the bottom of the page.

10.Mr.Vampire 2 (1986)

Cast:Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao, Moon Lee, Chung Fat, Billy Lau

Mr.Vampire 2 as some good moments throughout the movie but doesn’t live up to the first one. Here Lam Ching Ying takes on Hopping...

Attention East-Coasters! It is a rare enough experience to see anything from Hong Kong's golden era of cinemas on a big screen anywhere, but thanks to those fine people at The Smithsonian's Museums of Asian Art in Washington DC, three undisputed masterpieces - currently unavailable to watch on any format in the USA - will be screening absolutely free!Stanley Kwan's ghostly melodrama Rouge, starring Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, Mabel Cheung's classic romance An Autumn Tale, featuring Chow Yun Fat and Cherie Chung, and Chor Yuen's swordplay classic Killer Clans will each be screening twice at the Freer Gallery in the Meyer Auditorium across the next three weekends, as part of the 17th Annual Made In Hong Kong Film Festival. Admission is free and seats will be assigned...

I thought it was about time i did a post on the great vampire buster of all time, yes you got it, lam Ching Ying. This will be listing all the movies and tv series where Lam Ching Ying either stars in or takes on the hopping vampires and evil spirits.

His roles in the Mr.Vampire movies show his skills as an actor, with great comic timing which goes well with his serious acting side, which we normally get to see on screen. This role would make him, not just a big star in Asia but also worldwide as the master of Vampire killers.

Other great movies which he starred in (But not in a vampire movie) were the likes of The Prodigal Son, School On Fire, Eastern Condors, The Magnificent Butcher and Painted Faces.

I have been a big fan of these movies since i first watched Mr.