When discussing the greatest films to come out of the Shaw Brothers Studio, The Mighty Peking Man isn't likely to be in the running. That being said, it is one of the better known Shaw films and has developed quite a robust cult of fans....
By Will Kouf of Silver Emulsion Film Reviews === All of the Shaw Brothers films based on the classic Chinese novel Outlaws of the Marsh (AKA The Water Margin) are among my all-time favorites. The best of the bunch is probably The Water Margin, but the one that nearly surpasses it...
By 1976, Chang Cheh had become tired of making almost nothing but back-to-back Shaolin movies since 1974's Heroes Two. Looking for something fresh to sink his teeth into, he decided on a genre you don't see a lot in Hong Kong film: the war film....
Hong Kong cinema and the Shaw Brothers studio are primarily known for their action films, but like any country's cinema there is a range of offerings well worth exploring. The work of Ann Hui is a great place to begin that deeper dive into Hong Kong films. She...
Johnnie To's Loving You was released after his early successes --- films like The Eighth Happiness, Justice, My Foot, The Heroic Trio --- but before he established Milkyway Image and made the films he is ultimately known for and most associated with. Loving You feels like a film caught in transition; it's part...
Rivals of Kung Fu was released in 1974, but because of the way it focuses on story over action, it feels like it could have been made a few years earlier. It is a cause-and-effect story that slowly moves forward on small details and slight...
As I mentioned in my post about Teenage Dreamers, I'm a huge fan of Hong Kong delinquent youth films. When On the Wrong Track began with Andy Lau's face superimposed over slow-motion fire and crashing cars, I was instantly reminded of the 1973 Chang Cheh/Kuei...
Teenage Dreamers is a charming example of the Hong Kong youth film, a genre that has endeared itself to me over the years. Films about youth are common around the globe (we are all human, after all), but the movies out of Hong Kong have...
Lau Kar-Leung's The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is one of the greatest films to come out of the Shaw Brothers studio, if not the entire genre. It also has the distinction of being the first Shaw film I saw (sometime in the mid-'90s). It left an indelible...
It's back to school time, so it's a great time to Get Schooled with some Shaw Brothers training films during Shawtember (as if you needed an excuse to watch your favorite Shaw films!). Today's film is Lo Lieh's Clan of the White Lotus, and for...