Yuen Biao - The Chinese Cinema

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Yuen Biao

A collection of 15 posts

The Valiant Ones (King Hu, 1975)

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The Valiant Ones (King Hu, 1975)

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Since today is Sammo Hung's birthday, I figure it's a good time to repost this look at his career, originally posted on the now-defunct website Frame.land back in the summer of 2017. There were originally several video clips interspersed throughout the essay, but they seem

The Mr. Vampire Sequels (Ricky Lau & Lam Ching-ying, 1986-1989)

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The Mr. Vampire Sequels (Ricky Lau & Lam Ching-ying, 1986-1989)

Pretty Good Stuff

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The Odd One Dies

Pretty Good Stuff

The Best of the Martial Arts Films (Sandra Weintraub, 1990)

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The Best of the Martial Arts Films (Sandra Weintraub, 1990)

Righting Wrongs (Corey Yuen, 1986)

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Righting Wrongs (Corey Yuen, 1986)

Hero (Corey Yuen, 1997)

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Hero (Corey Yuen, 1997)

The Millionaires' Express (Sammo Hung, 1986)

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The Millionaires' Express (Sammo Hung, 1986)

Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)

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Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)

The Once Upon a Time in China Series

The Once Upon a Time in China Series

With the fall 2021 release of Criterion’s Once Upon a Time in China boxset, I put all my reviews of the series together here in one convenient place. Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991) Tsui Hark is the John Ford of Chinese cinema, and Once Upon

Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978)

Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978)

Just the most remarkable collection of 1970s bodies on display: not just Bruce Lee, but Sammo Hung, Colleen Camp, and of course Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (whose body was, like Lee’s, also replaced by a double for a couple of early scenes). Each one iconic in their own way. An accidental

Yuen Biao Capsule Reviews

Yuen Biao Capsule Reviews

Dreadnaught (1981) — June 24, 2013 I want to spend a month or five just watching all the movies where Kwan Tak-hing played Wong Fei-hung. There's only like 80 of them dating back to the late 1940s. Should be pretty easy to find. Weird seeing Yuen Biao, who played

Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983)

Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983)

Comparing Project A to Sammo Hung’s Wheels on Meals, released the next year in 1984, shows some stark differences between Sammo and Jackie Chan as directors. Both films are swashbuckling adventures with ridiculously athletic fights and stunts, slapstick comedy, and a real obsession with beating the hell out of

Winners & Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983)

Winners & Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983)

More a straight comedy than any of the other Sammo Hung films I’ve seen, though it does contain some interesting stunts. An amiable hangout movie, with Sammo and his buddies just playing around with goofy jokes and the barest necessities of a plot. Sammo and his four ex-con friends

Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung, 1987)

Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung, 1987)

It occurs to me that I’d never actually seen Sammo Hung in a starring role before. I’d seen him as a supporting actor and bit player, and as a director and fight choreographer, but never as the lead. At least not since his late-90s TV series with Arsenio