Back in December we spoke about the fantastic Tiger Cops: Project A short- a love letter to the 90s Hong Kong/ Girls with Guns genre in which the titular heroine Inspector Tiger (Maria Tran) finally confronts the mysterious crime boss White Ghost played by none other than Hong Kong movie villain royalty Richard Norton (Mr. Nice Guy, City Hunter, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars).
Richard Norton with “Black Bear” Sifu Damien Chauremootoo
Well, now we finally have the release date for the short film (spoiler: you won’t have to wait long) and the full trailer too. You can enjoy it bellow via Fideo youtube channel:
Starring: Maria Tran, David Hong, Wilson Zou and Richard Norton
And the fun doesn’t stop with Tiger Cop: Project A on the 17.03. because Norton also filmed a short cameo in Tran‘s next installment of her Echo 8 film series, Echo 8: Beyond that we can hopefully expect by the end of the year too. It’s a good time to be a Kung Fu movie fan for sure.
No Retreat No Surrender (1985) was at the time a rare hybrid of Hong Kong and U.S.A.– an attempt to bring Asian Martial Arts movies to American audiences. It was written by Keith Strandberg and directed by Corey Yuen (Dragons Forever, Yes, Madam) in his English language debut. (Yuen would go on to have a successful career in the west from No Retreat 2 to working on Jet Li‘s American movies like Lethal Weapon 4, Romeo Must Die & The Expendables as well as effectively launching Jason Statham as an action star with TheTransporter.) It also notably had remaining vestiges of 70s Bruceploitation genre by inexplicably having a main character being trained by a ghost of Bruce Lee (Kim Tai-Chung aka Tong Lung.)
Directed by Oliver Harper (In Search of the Last Action Heroes) documentary features interviews not only with the likes of No Retreat producer Ng See-yuen, original cast members such as Kurt McKinney, J.W. Fails, Peter “Sugarfoot” Cunningham as well as sequel’s Cynthia Rothrock and Matthias Hues but also with famous fans such as Scott Adkins(Undisputed, Ninja). The only one missing is The Muscles from Brussels himself, Mr. VanDamme.
As of now movie is over 40% financed on Kickstarter and if you want you can pre- order it right here. I have no doubt this will get to 100% in no time.
After a surprise reveal at the end of Episode 3 of the fantastic 90s Hong Kong tribute web series Tiger Cops our favorite Aussie ass- kicker Richard Norton finally filmed a full on fight scene for the upcoming Episode 4.
Maria Tran ( King of the Cross, Tracer) and the director Adrian Castro found the time in their busy schedule to not only film their new movie Echo 8 Trilogy but also the new episode of their cult Tiger Cops series too. Considering the last part of the series was released in 2017 (not counting the 2020’s Tiger Cops: Toilet Paper Hero and ’23 Tiger Cop: Yes Madam specials ) this is a quite a pleasant surprise. And the fact that they did it in only couple of days is even more impressive.
MARIA TRAN VS RICHARD NORTON
And a little tease of their fight scene. You can definitely see some nice fight choreography here.
Originally started in 2015 Episode 3 of the Tiger Cops series finally revealed that none other that Norton is the mysterious crime boss White Ghost. Considering both Norton and Tran are from Australia and that Norton was one of the most impressive gweilo villains in the Hong Kong cinema in the 80s and 90s it was a match made in Kung Fu heaven. I mean this is the man that went against: Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yasuaki Kurata & Cynthia Rothrock just to name a few.
In the Previous Episode:
You can see the rest of the episodes on the Fideo Videoyoutube channel and as for Norton, we should see him next going toe to toe with Cynthia Rothrock like in the old days in the Black Creek in the first part of the 2025. You can still check out that project over here.
It’s been a long time coming (5 years!) but it seems that the fabled Bolo Yeung documentary is finallyready to go. And I must say I’m duly impressed.Filmmakers managed to interview practically every relevant co- star Bolo had through his 100+ movie career, from his Enter The Dragon (1973) co- star Bob Wall (R.I.P) to his Bloodsport (1988) and Double Impact (1991) nemesis Jean Claude Van Damme, Cynthia Rothrock (Tiger Claws 1, Tiger Claws 2 ), Matthias Hues (TC2000) and even Richard Norton(Ironheart). And that’s not even a half of it.
Weightlifter, Bodybuilder, Martial Artist and Actor
We also get a candid look at the man behind the on- screen villain persona with the mix of rare interviews, old photos and recording spanning all the way to his earliest days in the post- WWII China. Man’s got quite a story to tell and his journey takes him from China to Hong Kong to Hollywood, California and everywhere in between- I for one, can’t wait to follow along.
From the gritty streets of post-war China to the dazzling lights of Hollywood, Bolo Yeung’s story is one of resilience, transformation, and unrelenting determination. Known to millions as the iconic villain of Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport, his journey is far more profound than the characters he played.
Produced by Hussar Entertainment,Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story is directed by Pavel Nyziak and is expected to debut in 2025.
According to the Ultimate BOLO YEUNG page the long- awaiteddocumentaryChinese Hercules- The Bolo Yeung Story will be finished in time for the Enter The Dragon50th anniversary on July, 2023!
After a long delay caused by COVID we are overjoyed to finally get confirmation that the documentary is back on track and on it’s way. You can check the page here for more updates as they come in.
In the other Bolo related newsJean-ClaudeVan Damme is preparing for his big Martial Arts movie swan songWhat’s My Name? and if the sources are to believed he is supposed to re-enact some of the biggest fights from his career like the ones with Bolo, Qissi and Lundgren (Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Universal Soldier).
Will this be enough to entice Mr. Yeung from his retirement for one last dance? I don’t know but I sure hope so. After all they say third time is the charm, and we already had them go at it in Bloodsport and Double Impact before. That would be a really great way to cap off both of their careers.
Ring of Fury, Singapore’s answer to Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury (and Big Boss) originally filmed in 1973 is finally available and can be viewed in full on Youtube!
Movie had a tumultuous release history. It was supposed to be a first real Singapore Martial Art flick but it wasn’t meant to be. It all started when the first time directors Tony Yeow and James Sebastian hired a local Kyokushin Karate trainer Peter Chung who repeatedly refused their offers citing that he doesn’t know anything about acting.
Still they persevered and in the end Chung relented. Armed with a shoestring budget and cast of unknowns they crafted a story of noodle-seller,Fei Pao, who seeks revenge on a group of thugs who murdered his mother (over unpaid protection money).
“We had a fight at the granite quarry in Bukit Timah and there wasn’t even a mattress on the ground. They said, ‘If you fall, you fall.’ And sometimes you might fall on small stones and it was painful.” said the star of the movie Peter Chung .
After things imploded, the unpaid star of the movie Peter Chong kept the only known copy of the film, 35mm print in his fridge wrapped in newspapers for decades hoping for it to be eventually released into the public! Ban was eventually lifted in 1994 (after losing some scenes of sex and violence) but movie would wait another 20+ years to be restored and released but it was finally screened at the Asian Restored Classics of 2017.
And now, even better- it’s finally available worldwide in full on the Asian Film Archive official Youtube channel (updated w/Archive.org). As a giant fan of the genre and especially the early 70s Martial Arts boom I know I will enjoy it, so let’s all give a watch to the Singapour’s fists Kung Fumovie: https://archive.org/details/ring_of_fury
Since we last touched upon this subject (talking about the Ugandan Kung Fu project Bruce U) couple more Lee related projects popped up:
Danny Chan (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle) is for example starring as Chen Zhen (made famous by Lee in Fist of Fury) in a team- up action comedyKung Fu League as well as reprising his role as young Lee in Donnie Yen’s Ip Man 4.
More significantly The Warrior TV show (for the longest time a stuff of legends) based on the original Bruce Lee’s concept (and executive produced by his daughter Shannon Lee) spearheaded by Justin Lin (Fast and the Furious) is set to premiere on Cinemax in early 2019.
Now, as we all know by know when there’s an official project some unofficial ones can be expected too.
ENTER THE AFGHANI BRUCE LEE!
Abbas Alizada (Abb Li for short) gained prominence as a Bruce Lee imitator on facebook, his photos and videos going viral in 2014. His first attempt of film-making was an Azerbaijanicomedy picture released in 2016 called Brat Lee (Brother Li). Well, now it’s seems his first “major” English- speaking role is finally in the cards.
Armani Burj Khalifa held a press conference for the movie titled HE IS BACK (sounds more like a Schwarzeneggersploitation picture, does it?). Film is to be directed by Chitah Yajnesh Shetty with Abb Li joined by a female lead Alina Lliumzhinov. Movie is being produced by Showtime Cinema & SBM Pvt Ltd in association with Ninjoor Pictures so we know more than a few people are banking on this being a hit. Also it’s a pretty international affair seeing that talent spans America,Thailand, India and China.
If I was being a skeptic I would say that there’s far too many inexperienced people involved in this movie but there are some positives too. Director Chitah Yajnesh Shetty is a legit JKDinstructor under the late Grand Master Richard Bustillo so he knows his martial arts. Kaecha Kampakdee of Ong- Bak 2 and Asian Connection fame is in charge of action choreography and cinematographer is Ross Clarkson (Undisputed III, Ninja II: Shadow of a Tear) so that could easily translate to some solidly shot Martial Arts scenes. Filming begins in January 2019, so we’ll keep you informed how things go.
One thing is for sure- it’s 2018 and Bruceploitation is alive and well.
In the late 70’s, the early days of post- Bruce Lee boom, we were bombarded with all kinds of Kung Fu flicks-from the Shaw Brothers to the to the rise of young Jackie Chan‘s to the budding American Martial Arts flicks but it’s a movie called Death Promise that really sticks out like a sour thumb. I mean to this day I haven’t encountered another a Kung Fu movie like that- a film about the common folk’s rise against their evil landlords. Combining Asian Martial Arts with the harsh social reality of the life in the projects and Charles Bronson or should I say Charles Bonet style complete overkill revenge movie.
In New York City, slum lords are resorting to using nefarious methods to evict tenants or have them leave so they can tear the buildings down for more commercial properties. One such victim is Charley Roman, a karate expert whose electricity and water has been shut off courtesy of the slum lords.
Unfortunately it doesn’t show that the effects of the late-70s New York
financial crisis also include Karate and Kicking Ass!
Obviously someone is dead set on evicting poor souls out of their homes but at this point we have no idea who. Their next play is to set buildings on fire. To that end we have some bad archival footage of fire. They tried to set fire to his building too, even thou the few card-boards they have wouldn’t make much difference. But Bonnet won’t give them any chance, So he jumps in and immediately starts kicking ass. Unfortunately the bearded punk didn’t seem ready for this and he started going into some kind of spasms as soon as Charles Bonet touched him. I wasn’t sure should I laugh out loud of just feel sorry for the guy.
After Bonet dispatches of the arsonist gangs we finally see the evil cabal that’s behind all of this aka The Landlords and for and I must say for an evil cabal they are very diverse group of people from very different backgrounds, everything from the elderly high court judge to the nasty ghetto pimp. I have to wonder just how all these people got together in the first place?
Anyway , Charley’s dad ends up mysteriously dead on the kitchen floor. He seemingly met his demise without any resistance, uncharacteristic for him. All the while Bonet and his black friend (with an awesome name Speedy Leacock) were having fun at the bar.But who could have defeated an old boxer like him so effortlessly? I mean we saw him dispose off some young punks with no trouble earlier in the film. The plot thickens. Bonet finds his father’s body and completely loses his mind– coupled with a ridiculous scream effect!
Now, despite the wishes of his late father his teacher Shibata show him the letter (revealing their enemies) right away, without a second thought. Unfortunately according to Shibata his skills are not up to par, so before any revenging is done- so he sends him away to China (or maybe upstate New York ) to his master Tony Liu(The Way of the Dragon, Fist of Fury) to sharpen up his skills. There’s just one thing, Liu is absolutely not an old man (hell, he is 65 now- 40 years later and that’s still not that old) and grey in his hair is painfully obviously a paint.
Also if you pay any attention the fact that his master- a Japanese Karate practitioner Shibata was taught by a Chinese Kung Fu Man who’s style is definitely not Karate doesn’t seem to bother anyone. But it’s an old American picture, maybe we should just be happy there’s no yellowface involved.
Returning to his home after months of heavy duty training he is right away reunited with Leacock. And with his help he is making a list of people he needs to kill. As we all know you can’t really achieve anything if you don’t make a list fist. They start of by pouring the poison down the string Ninja style, ending a life on elderly Judge in his sleep without anybody noticing a thing before it’s too late. Their next kill is a bit more public, Bonet dispatches of the evil businessmen by punching him to death trough a car window after a lengthy chase! They also get reinforcement, Liu’s other student shows up to help out- looking like a Bruce Lee’s mentally challenged third cousin.
Now, when they get to the pimp, Leacock insist on doing he deed himself. You can get complete picture of situation in those slums and it’s neighborhood when you hear his 12 year old brother had gone OD (must be some relative of Drew Barrymore too).
He seems as shocked by her disproportionately large nipples as the rest of us.
The remaining Landlord, an old man with a cane sends his men on the three of them and tries to run away but gest a shuriken into his hand, then one in his back. Bonet follows him to the roof where he gets cut by a katana in front of his eyes !? It turns out, Shibata is a Yakuza!He was behind the landlords all this time! So, wait, why did he then send his student to sharpen his martial arts prowess so he can more easily defeat him? Must be some Honor code we just can’t understand?
Aaaayyyy blonde dude is so fuckin’ awesome!
The remaining Landlord, old man with a cane got a shuriken into his hand, then his back. Bonet follows him to the roof where he gets cut by a katana in front of his eyes !? It turns out, Shibata is a Yakuza! He was behind the landlords all this time! So, wait, why did he then send his student to sharpen his martial arts prowess so he can more easily defeat him? Must be some Honor code we just can’t understand?
They go into a prolonged fight with Shibata before killing him with his own sword– irony, right? Also he then throws his lifeless body aka something that is obviously not a human being down the building. Also that something seems very, very heavy because someone in great shape like him can barely lift it.
Maybe even a greatest fall in history of the cinema!
Verdict: Unfortunately Death Promise’s Charles Bonnet never got to be the next best thing in Martial Arts movies, even though he did get to act again in his friend’s Roy Van Cleefe’s (another Martial Art legend) Black Dragon Revenge and Way of Black Dragon. And for all the cheesiness of Death Promise I consider that to be shame ’cause the dude was a real life badass and genuinely excellent Martial Artist and different than many tournament fighters back in the day he actually looked good on the camera. At least we finally did get a Latino American Martial Art super- star with Marko Zaror (Savage Dog, Reedemeer, Machete Kills, Undisputed 3) but we had to wait for 2000’s for that.
And now one more time: Death Promise theme!
Trivia: Interestingly in the old days when movies were made on the dime- posters were often masterpieces! Death Promise poster for example was done by the legendary comicbook artist Neil Adams (Batman, Deadman, X-Men). Now in the days of multi- million dollars franchises, we often only get bad Photohop photo- manipulation.
We talked before at length about the crazyand wild world of Bruceploitation cinema. You can even read our tribute here. Now, unexpectedly, genre is making a slight resurgence with Michael Worth (himself a Martial Art actor/ director)’s excellent efforts shining the light on Brucesploitation with a book (Bruceploitation Bible), documentary and even a weekly podcast. This once forgotten genre is finally getting the love it deserves!
Let the real Bruce Lee please stand up!
Now, to make things even more interesting we have news of Ugandan‘s premiere director Nabwana I.G.G.(Who Killed Captain Alex? and The Return of Unkle Benon) making his own spin on the Bruce Lee formula in an upcoming film staring African Kung Fu sensation Mansul Kiiza as the titular Bruce U. This will mark the first time Wakaliwood (Wakaliga, Uganda) Ramon production films in the People’s Republic of China– including the legendary Shaolin Temple and even The Great Wall of China!
Premiere of the movie was even attended by the Chinese ambassador in Uganda- Chu Maoming and Star Times CEO Andy Wang so I wouldn’t be surprised with further China/ Uganda cinematic collaborations!
Ugandan boy and Kung Fu fan Kiwa accidentally gets a chance to learn Kung Fu at China’s Shaolin Temple!
Though Cinthia Rothrock is most recognizable because of her classic Hong Kong movies (often with Richard Norton) and later a solid string of American Martial Arts B- movies (lots of those in the 90’s) she actually had roles in more than a couple of Indonesian flicks in the beginning of her storied career and as we all know- there’s not quite like an Indonesian action movie!
Now, one of the main selling pointsof this movie (for us) is without a doubt Peter O’Brian (The Intruder/ Rambu, The Stabilizer). To the best of my knowledge this is a man who who was offered a part in an Indonesian action movie (before that was hip) due to his uncanny resemblance to one Sylvester Stallone (the fact that one of his movies is called Rambu is a dead giveaway) and he said “Hell yeah!” and never looked back .To top it off in this movie he plays a deranged villain Bolt and his foil is non other than “Lady Dragon” herself Cintia Rotrock and with that combo like that- you can do no wrong.
Bolt (O’Brian) is brutally torturing a man (at one point his goon, an Asian Mr. T taking off some of his fingers with a meat chopper) and at the same time showing off his impressive physique. The poor man holds on before they threaten his young daughter and then he finally breaks down and gives Bolt the information. Information about what you ask? You’ll find out in a just a second.
Nancy Bolan (Cyntia Rothrock) is a head of security at HTI and she’s arriving to Indonesia as a courier carrying a mysterious silver briefcase. Not even ten seconds after she arrives at the station in a typical Asian fashion she and her colleague get attacked by a bunch of goons and after a hell of a fight they manage to take off in a speed boat. It seemed that they are finally safe but situation evolves into a gunfight at see and after defeating the goons and things finally look safe Rothrock gets drugged and passes out.
Now, the men holding her turn out to be working for her- ex- boyfriend! It turns out the said boyfriend faked his own death and waited three years all in effort to finally catch the Bolt– man he has a bone to pick with this dude! Rothrock on the other hand doesn’t seem to mind and the two of them continue where the left off with their romance.
The day after on the company meeting we finally learn the whole story. Rothrock is using three couriers (including herself) to carry a super- computer to the state, two being distraction and one being the actual real deal .Ironically no one knows where the real one is (at least as far as I can see). We also learn why is the criminal targeting them called Bolt, it’s because he is “The Terrorist Who Strikes Like Lightning“ (I just love that).
And then we have the fantastically ridiculous “Mission Impossible” scene where the black dude from the meeting takes off the mask- and it was Bolt all along! Considering they didn’t really have a budget for anything resembling a mask you see the scene from the back of the car.
Slika?
So, here we go again, everyone is waiting for the briefcase to come via boat but Nancy secretly changed the plan and the real briefcase is actually coming to the airport via helicopter. Actually some blond Brad Pitt looking dude is carrying it. Unfortunately, Bolt is already onto them. He intercepts the car of her boss and goes straight to the airport where shootout ensues and the blond boy gets it.The shootout is one of my favorite things in this movie because it literally makes no sense, most of the actors seem like they never seen firearm before and everything ends up exploding for one reason or another.
Now, in the middle of all the craziness she’s going out shopping with her friend and her daughter. Unfortunately ‘s man tried to kidnap her and end up taking a little girl (her friend’s daughter). She viciously goes after them (on a motorbike) and after some nearly impossible stunts she stops them end… they freakin’ kill the child- in slow motion! Man, nothing is sacred for the Indonesian filmmakers!
Confusingly after the traumatic death of a child Nancy goes on a romantic evening with her boyfriend and they have a strange sex scene with spliced footage of them kissing on the docks (these people are not sure how love scenes are supposed to work). After she wakes up tomorrow morning she immediately gets kidnapped and ends up being tortured by Bolt and his Asian Mr. T henchmen.
HTI arranges a trade, briefcase (the final one) for Nancy but of course her boyfriend crashes a meeting (literally- via jeep trough the wall) and a complete Martial Art/ Gun- Fu madness ensues with briefcase changing hands like a hot potato.
Bolt gets completely unhinged and starts destroying everything on his way and his showdown with Rothrock is truly of EPIC proportions. Unfortunately, it gets interrupted by her boyfriend (who seems to have made a habit of that) but then- he wants briefcase all for himself! She goes after him and the fight ends up in the helicopter- she conveniently strangles him with his own tie (you should take a lesson and never get in a fight in a business suit).
Verdict: Now, this movie has completely impossible fight scenes, bizarre editing choices and people who for the life of them can’t hold a gun properly. Production values are severely lacking (you’re sure to start laughing at some of the chases, explosions and gun battles) and that lack especially shows in the sound department (to the best of my knowledge Rothrock is the only actor that isn’t dubbed in the whole movie) but I challenge you to watch Angel of Fury and not have fun.
Complete Killcount by Cinthia, number 11 is especially impressive!
Trivia:We also have a bit of news to cap things off. Fantastic Mr. O’Brian is supposedly eying his comeback to the film industry after lengthy time away he spent teaching English and being a life coach. He’s been offered a role ofa British General Cameron, commander at the Battle of Gate Pa– whenever this comes true or not one thing is for sure- everything this man does will be on out “must see” list!
Just look at this face!
Worsemovies 