Release Year: 1996

‘Balance of Power’ is a fast and fun little programmer that gets by on the likability of its star and the pairing of him with the always great Mako.

Although the state of Hong Kong cinema is much approved now, it’s hard to forget the wretched state just a few years ago. ‘Big Bullet’ really stood out when it was released and remains a class act.

The action is still impressive, and deserves 4 stars, but the direction, annoying camera work and lack of real plot drag it down into the 3 star category.

‘Hard Way Out’ is a sloppily cobbled together mess that is littered with awful genre cliches and a collection of very bad actors.

‘Bloodsport II’ is an improvement over its predecessor due to the greater quantity (and quality) of the action.

‘Book Of Swords’ offers very little of substance and is really only suited to hardcore Mortal Kombat fanboys.

The action is about only thing that makes ‘Dr. Wai’ worth watching, with Li on typically fine form for a couple of battles with some interesting opponents.

On paper, this looked a winner: Yuen Biao in an Indiana Jones role fighting an assortment of villains in search of an ancient relic. On celluloid though, this is a grand turkey.

‘First Option’ is definitely a high scorer on the cheese scale, but luckily it’s also loaded with some original action scenes that make it worth your while.

Vitally, ‘First Strike’ is still full of the energy and invention that leaves so many other action films pale in comparison.

This is, in all honestly, a very bad film. However, if it were purely being judged on the action, then it would easily gain 3 stars.

Avid fans of Chow’s humour can also rest assured as this is one of his sharpest films.