Cast Member: Jimmy Wang Yu

Jimmy Wang Yu, Angelo Mao, a very young Bolo Yeung, and one-time Bond, George Lazenby teamed up for this Golden Harvest-produced attempt at cracking the international market.

‘Beach of the War Gods’ is a fantastic vehicle for its star and his supporting cast to showcase heaps of wickedly staged old-school fight action.

‘Fantasy Mission Force’ is a ridiculous film, but if you think you’ve seen every curio that Eastern cinema has to offer, this is worth watching.

For a low budget, rushed production, the emotional content of the film and the quality of its cast save the day providing us with a kung fu influenced ‘Shawshank Redemption’ wannabe.

It’s hard not to be drawn into director Wang Yu’s eccentric world with its almost Python-esque techniques and fights.

A few moments of Wang Yu madness creep into the film to enliven things, but this is mostly a hard slog to get through.

‘One-Armed Boxer’, while a little rough around the edges, has lost none of its crazy energy and still packs an almighty bloody punch with its almost non-stop 90 minutes of martial arts fight action.

Without any argument, ‘One-Armed Swordsman’ is therefore a quality swordplay film that has much to offer to viewers today.

At the end of the day, ‘Temple Of The Red Lotus’ works as more of a historical artefact than a genuinely exciting swordplay feature.

Although dated, ‘The Chinese Boxer’ is historically fascinating and provides an interesting point of reference to the many films that would follow.

While certainly mounted on a sometimes epic scale and beautifully shot, Lau’s film disappoints due to rushed character motivations, unconvincing drama and an excessive use of slow motion.

With a director of considerable merit, a cast of fine performers and action that, while not exactly trail-blazing, is certainly very watchable, ‘The Magnificent Trio’ is another good release from Celestial.