|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Kung Fu Cult Master |
|
|
|
AKA: |
The
Evil Cult |
Chingmy Yau and Jet Li |
|
|
AKA: |
The
Kung Fu Colt Master |
|
|
AKA: |
Kung
Fu Master |
|
|
AKA: |
Lord
of the Wu Tang |
|
|
Year: |
1993 |
|
|
Director: |
Wong
Jing |
|
|
Action: |
Sammo
Hung Kam-Bo |
|
|
Cast: |
Jet
Li Lian-Jie, Cheung
Man, Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching,
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo,
Francis Ng Chun-Yu,
Gigi Lai Chi, Ngai
Sing, Richard Ng Yil-Hon,
Leung Ka-Yan, Tin Kai-Man |
|
|
The
Skinny: |
Uneven
kung-fu epic is also a lightning-paced swordplay extravaganza
that should entertain through sheer spectacle. |
|
|
Review
by Kozo: |
An overly confusing plot weighs down this Wong Jing flying
kung-fu extravaganza, which was based on Jin Yong's novel
"Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre" (Yi Tian Tu Long
Ji). Here we go: there’s a huge hullabaloo about two swords
that everyone wants to find, because ownership means you’ll
be master of the world of martial arts. Two factions arise
from the competition for the swords. One is a group composed
of all your famous martial arts clans, i.e. Shaolin, Wu Tang,
and all those guys. On the other end is the Ming Sect, sometimes
called the Evil Sect, which is led by weird fellows like Green
Bat and Gold Lion.
Things get weird when two young lovers
from opposing factions (Francis Ng and Cheung Man) sire a
young child, Chang Mo-Kei, who eventually becomes a pawn of
these warring sects. His parents commit suicide to protect
the location of Gold Lion, who has one of the fabled swords
in his possession. Chang Mo-Kei grows up to be Jet Li, but
he’s a total wuss because he was struck with the “Jinx Palm,”
which makes practicing martial arts impossible.
Mo-Kei is ousted by jealous schoolmate
Ngai Sing, and finds himself at the mercy of a wacky monk
who teaches him the “Solar Stance,” which heals his wound
and makes him invulnerable. Mo-Kei sets out to stop the insanity
- especially after he discovers that the whole sect vs. sect
war is a clever plan formulated by the government to reduce
the power of the martial arts clans. And if that's not enough
plot for you, I left out a bunch of stuff.
Only Wong Jing could take a Jin Yong
story and turn it into crass entertainment, meaning bad jokes
and toilet humor. Luckily, the over-the-top fight sequences
from Sammo Hung are amazing. Sure, it all makes next to no
sense, but the spectacle is almost peerless. The female leads
give surprising performances. Chingmy Yau is quite appealing
as the good girl and Cheung Man is quite effective as the
femme fatale. Sadly, many of the films plot points are never
revealed. It seems that the film was intended as the first
of a two-parter - but this film was a financial flop, so a
sequel was never made. Regardless, enjoy it for what it is:
fast, furious, frenetic, and fundamentally forgettable. (Kozo
1995) |
|
|
Availability: |
DVD
(Hong Kong)
Region 0 NTSC
Mei Ah Laser
16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks
Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Removable English and Chinese Subtitles |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
image courtesy
of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
|
|
| back
to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| LoveHKFilm.com
Copyright ©2002-2017 Ross Chen
|
|
|
