Release Year: 1981

Unlike much of today’s canto-comedy, the humour in ‘Aces.’ translates very well and certainly doesn’t seem to have dated after nearly twenty-years.

It’s such a shame that one of Lam’s more appealing roles is hamstrung by unusually poor direction from Tsui Hark.

It is a diverting 90 minutes with a few well constructed scenes scattered throughout, but this hardly compensates for its waste of potential.

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.

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

Possibly not for the Bruce Lee purists, but a fantastic old-school flick, which is, another must have.

‘Lion vs. Lion’ is so frustrating because when it’s good, it’s superb. Sadly the focus tends to be on the comedic aspects of the film which range from the amusing to the banal.

This fine period film flawlessly combines the dazzling choreography that one expects from Liu Chia-Liang and the moral edge that often underlines his work.

Although this isn’t the best Venoms film, it certainly isn’t the worst and still features a hundred reasons why it should be recommended viewing.

There’s therefore much to recommend this superior sequel, a film that takes the best elements of the original and invites viewers to contemplate a message beyond the common expectations of the genre.

Far more subtle than Chow Sing Chi, but certainly as funny, ‘Security Unlimited’ is an excellent introduction to the world of the Hui brothers.

The three films are of course better if viewed as one long film, but that is partially the undoing of this third instalment due to it’s comparatively slow pacing following the hectic earlier instalments.