Release Year: 1973

Not the best star or director have done but an entertaining slice of super cool 70s style nevertheless and certainly entertaining once Wang Yu erupts into action. 

What prevents Battles Without Honour and Humanity from being a true masterpiece is its confused, muddled plot.

‘Beach of the War Gods’ is a fantastic vehicle for its star and his supporting cast to showcase heaps of wickedly staged old-school fight action.

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.

Shen Chiang’s ‘Call to Arms’ is about as dull and listless as they come, never once engaging its viewer even at the most basic levels of entertainment merit.

‘Enter the Dragon’ is a campy and extremely entertaining action romp that is successful because of two important ingredients – Bruce Lee and Martial Arts.

The plot and characterisation are very weak but there’s enough about the fights to keep a kung fu fan watching till the end.

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.

‘The Blood Brothers’ was not a disappointment in any way and this classic Chang Cheh tale of loyalty, love and revenge is an consistently engaging martial arts drama.

Despite a slow and at times wearisome first half of the film, it eventually blossoms into a distinguished genre work that is recommended to any fan of the Jade Screen.

‘When Taekwondo Strikes’, while still falling foul of the prosaic nature of the narrative and its uninspiring characterisation, is thankfully lifted above the mundane.