Cast Member: Sonny Chiba

Existing in its own heightened reality, ‘Bodyguard Kiba’ is all about making our hero look cool (and indestructible!) and the bad guys as nasty as possible.

Not as riotously entertaining as the first instalment, ‘Bodyguard Kiba 2’ is still a fun watch, mainly to see Chiba strutting his cool stuff and for the impressive fight scenes that open and close the film.

‘Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon’ seems to do so much right that it makes me wonder why this wasn’t the start of a series of films.

‘Kabamaru the Ninja Boy’ is the typical ‘fish-out-of-water’ comedy but lacks the necessary qualities to succeed beyond its premise.

‘Kill Bill: Volume 1’ is a great tribute to Asian action cinema that mixes Tarantino’s stylised violence with some top Yuen Woo-Ping choreography.

It just takes a while to get going with too much wandering around, the leads randomly and conveniently bumping into everyone, and their romance clogging up too much of the runtime.

Buoyed by Fukasaku’s energetic direction, copious action, and some still to this day impressive special effects, ‘Message from Space’ delights in being two hours of ambitious infectious fun.

Not the best of its kind and it drags a little too much with the running time, ‘Shogun’s Samurai’ is still a decent slice of Samurai drama from a time when they used to make them big.

If you just remember to bring a sense of humour, and wonder, you’ll be rewarded with what is easily one of the best Japanese films of the year.

‘The Bullet Train’ delivers a lot of thrilling spectacle and drama nearly fifty years after its initial release.

Whether you’re looking for a martial arts movie with a bit more depth or just want some top-notch action, this really does deliver on all levels and I heartily recommend it.

‘The Storm Riders’ is a film that all Hong Kong film fans will want to watch for its reputation. Whether or not it’ll stay in the viewer’s mind much longer after the final credits role is a different matter.