Cast Member: Lily Li

Full of negative characterisation, sloppily handled sentiment and rudderless direction, this is a film that drags along like the walking dead and manages to smother its noble intentions with complete indecision.

Unfortunately, ‘Beauty Escort’ is no old school classic and should probably only be viewed by complete-ists, or after you have exhausted many (many) other old school kung fu flicks or very late at night with a buddy who can make fun of it with you.

Despite the fact that ‘Challenge Of The Masters’ hasn’t aged as well as some of Liu Chia-Liang’s other notable works, there’s undoubtedly much on offer for genre fans and the casual cinema-goer.

Another chance to see that consummate genre star, Ti Lung, glide through every scene with a debonair charm that is hard to equal.

The few moments of promise at the beginning do not last long and the occasional flashes of action are merely there to trick us into sitting through the whole thing.

Fans of Shirley Yu and Chen Ping or lurid seventies Chinese sex-comedies will find some rewarding nuggets of enjoyment within ‘Crazy Sex’.

‘Disciples Of The 36th Chamber’ is a quality film; from the choreography to Liu Chia-Liang’s artistically composed frames, this is a more sophisticated kung fu film.

It’s very strange how such a well-polished and highly entertaining film has come under such criticism from some Hong Kong film fans.

This masterful kung-fu drama shows how quickly Liang found his own way of conveying his thoughts to the audience.

The same lead duo and director had given audiences the wildly uneven ‘Fast Fingers’ the year before, but whereas that was entertaining, ‘I Will Finally Knock You Down, Dad!’ is a bit of a slog.

There’s weaknesses in some of the plot twists, but there’s also good action, fine performances and the kind of bold visual statements that linger in the mind.

‘One Arm Hero’ has its moments, though they don’t help the finished production achieve anything more than the entertaining.