Cast Member: Norman Chui

During a period where comedy punctuated every kung-fu flick of the time, director Patrick Tam creates a very sombre martial arts drama and never allows the tension to drop.

‘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.

Although not his most important film and certainly not his most famous, ‘Three Against The World’ is a welcome addition to the Andy Lau canon and certainly worth catching.

‘Tiger On The Beat’ is a surprisingly successful outing that proves Liu Chia-Liang was just as capable of handling modern day actioners.

There are odd glimpses of entertainment in ‘Tiger On The Beat 2’, but not enough to make this a recommended film to even hardcore action fans.

‘What Price Survival’ is nice to look at on the surface but is ultimately very tedious and the action sequences make for insufficient compensation. All in all, dull and boring.

‘Wing Chun’ is not a bad film by any means. In fact, it is quite enjoyable, but only for those partial to Hong Kong style zany comedy, and wire-worked action sequences.

While those unfamiliar with its history may find fault with the now-dated effects, it remains a credit to everyone involved that ‘Zu’ still looks fresh almost 20 years after it was first conceived.