Country: Hong Kong

‘The Water Margin’ is the kind of grandiose masterwork that is enthralling and, despite the presence of three accomplished directors, has a remarkable consistency to it.

While ‘Fist of Fury’ is the Little Dragon’s best film, this comes a close second and would not be out of place in the DVD rack of any martial arts movie fan.

‘The Way We Are’ is a gentle production about an act of kindness flowering into a friendship and how simple events can create a long-standing link between people who are initially strangers.

‘The Way We Were’ just doesn’t know what its heritage is and squanders a good concept for needless in-jokes while Liu Kai-Chi deserves a much stronger vehicle and Fiona Sit is woefully underused.

‘The Web Of Death’ would be a four-star film but (and it is a big ‘but’!) for the preposterous sight of seeing the heroes fleeing from a green spider.

A cast of real stars has been assembled and coupled with effects that range from the good to the poor, but overall this is still a cold film with very little heart.

‘The World Of Treasure’ notches up the odd moment of entertainment during its course and arouses sporadic interest. However, as a Michael Hui film, or even a general Hong Kong comedy it is found wanting.

Possibly not as well structured or action packed as ‘Drunken Master’, but still an impressive note in both Biao’s and Jackie’s filmography making it an essential purchase for fans of old school kung fu.

Though the overly moral message may deter some, there’s more than enough rough and tumble scraps to entertain fight fans and a host of strong performances from the leads as well as a thoroughly involving story to engage most everyone else.

When you’ve got Dean Shek, Sandra Ng and Eric Tsang all screeching for ninety minutes, you know it’s going to be a tough experience.

‘Those Merry Souls’ has a strong cast, some genuinely funny moments, and a bizarrely entertaining plot.

‘Three’ is a bold idea, but one out of three is too bad. The follow-up, ‘Three… Extremes’ would do it all better.