Hong Kong Nocturne

Hong Kong Nocturne is a 1967 musical film directed by Umetsugu Inoue.

Cast

Paul Chang
Chan Hei
Chao Hsin Yen
Cheng Kang-Yeh - Wang Ying
Cheng Pei-pei - Chia Chuen-Chuen
Chiang Kuang Chao - Chia Szu-Chen
Chin Ping - Chia Ting-Ting
Tina Fei Chin - Hsiao Hua
Fan Dan - Promoter
Lily Ho - Chia Tsui-Tsui
Peter Chen Ho - Chen Tze-Ching
Ku Feng - Janitor at ballet school
Li Hao
- Fang Yun-Tai
Li Yunzhong - Japanese film director
Lui Ming
Ouyang Sha-fei - Chen Tze-Ching's mother
Tien Feng - Yen Fang
Tien Shun - Mr. Chen
Wu Chun-li
Wu Wei
Yueh Hua

Heroes Two

Heroes Two is a Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Chang Cheh, and starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Chen Kuan Tai. It is also known as Bloody Fists and Blood Brothers.

Plot

Heroes Two begins with the burning of the Shaolin Temple, and chronicles the efforts of Fong Sai Yuk Alexander Fu Sheng) and Hung Si Kuan as they combat the forces of oppression, fighting alongside the Chinese revolutionaries. Manchurian General Che Kang is a clever Warlord who capitalizes on the na?veté of Fong Sai Yuk. Neither man realizes that they fight for the Shaolin cause, and General Che Kang tricks Fong Sai Yuk into believing that Hung Si Kuan is a renegade bandit. With the help of the General’s henchmen, Fong Sai Yuk defeats a bloodied Hung Si Kuan. Then the tough rebel is put into shackles inside the General’s castle. Word quickly spreads that Fong Sai Yuk beat the unbeatable Shaolin hero, and the local faction of the rebellion attacks the unknowing Fong Sai Yuk for his rash actions. When the rebel leader reveals the true nature of Hung Si Kuan, Fong Si Kuan is beside himself. The na?ve martial artist initially intends to correct his mistake by sneaking into the General’s dungeon and liberating his cohort from the grasp of the Manchurians. However, General Che Kang himself is a powerful Kung Fu practitioner who foils Fong Sai Yuk’s plans. Once Fong Sai Yuk joins his Rebel brothers, they devise a plan to tunnel into the underground prison and rescue Hung Si Kuan. After several tenuous attempts at freeing him, the Shaolin heroes succeed in their task. Now reunited, Fong Sai Yu, Hung Si Kuan, and their Rebel brothers must endure the assault of General Che Kang and his Manchurian army.

Flag of Iron

Flag Of Iron is a Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Chang Cheh and starring the Venom Mob.

Plot

The master of the respectable and honored Iron Flag Clan is murdered by the mysterious Spearman, an assassin hired by the elder brother of the clan Chow Feng . Brother Lo takes the heat when the authorities arrive to make an arrest and agrees to go away for a while. Chow Feng offers to send him money, however money never arrives, only killers constantly trying to take Brother Lo’s life. The Spearman arrives again, only this time to save Brother Lo from being murdered. Spearman admits to Lo that he killed his Chief but he was tricked into doing so by Chow Feng so that Chow Feng could take control of the two gangs . Lo and his brother Iron Monkey team up with the Spearman to go after Chow Feng and take revenge for their murdered chief.

Five Shaolin Masters

5 Shaolin Masters aka 5 Masters Of Death is a Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Chang Cheh, with action choreography by Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing.

The film focuses on Shaolin's historic rivalries with the Qing Dynasty.

Plot

Hu Te et. al escape the burning Shaolin temple after the Qing soldiers destroyed it in ''Shaolin Temple''. The group of 5 decide to develop secret codes to identify fellow patriots, enlist those patriots and eventually meet up again to escape to the south away from the Qings, and also identify the traitor who sold out Shaolin temple. Ma Fu Yi , joins the Qing top fighters to eliminate the rebels but is exposed by Ma Chao-Tsing who gets captured by Ma Fu Yi. Hu meets up with a group of Shaolin men secretly posing as bandits to rescue Ma as their leader is killed in the process, thus the bandits join the rest of the Shaolin patriots.

Suffering continuous defeats at the hands of the Qing kung fu experts, the 5 Shaolin patriots return to the temple ruins to perfect their kung fu and take revenge for their destroyed temple and dead comrades.

Five Element Ninjas

Five Element Ninjas is a Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Chang Cheh. It was released in North America as Chinese Super Ninjas.

Plot

''Chinese Super Ninjas'' is a tale of vengeance, betrayal, and ambition against the backdrop of ninja martial skills and arts. When his school is destroyed and his colleagues all slaughtered by supreme ninja Cheng Yun and his five element ninjas, Tsiau Chin Hau sets out to take his revenge. But stopping the elemental ninjas is an awesome task. So, Chin studies the secrets of the ninja under the guidance of teacher Yan Yong Fe. Thus armed, Chin and his newfound cohorts Li Yin Win, Chan Sin, and Wan Fong challenge the element ninjas in a climactic battle to the death.

Five Deadly Venoms

Five Deadly Venoms is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Chang Cheh, about five kung-fu fighters with unique animal styles: The Centipede, The Snake, The Scorpion, The Lizard and The Toad. The film was listed at number 11 on ''Entertainment Weekly'''s list.

Plot

The dying master of the powerful Poison Clan dispatches his last pupil on a crucial mission. Worried that the skills he has taught are being used to evil ends, he orders Yan Tieh to trace a retired colleague and warn him that the fortune he amassed from the clan's activities is under threat from five of his former pupils, each an expert in his own lethal combat style. Yan must discover the whereabouts and true identities of these masked warriors, and decide which, if any, he can trust to join him in his mission.

Styles

Each of the Poison Clan is alternatively referred to as either their venom style code name, or as their number in regard to the order of being taught by the master . Among fans, he is known as "Hybrid Venom," as his training contains a little bit of each of the five styles, though it is incomplete and was told to align with one of the venoms to stand a chance by his master.

Number 1: Centipede
Wriggly and quick, this style is a nice blend of defensive and offensive posturing. The strikes are so fast that it is almost as if he has a hundred arms and legs. The weakness of this style as revealed by Yan Tieh is to attack both the opponent's upper and lower body in a simultaneous assault.

Number 2: Snake
On one hand: the mouth, venomous fangs emulated in precise finger motor control. On the other: the stinging whip of a rattling tail. Masters of this ability can even fight extremely well while lying on their back from the floor. The weakness of this style as revealed by Yan Tieh is to stop the "head" and "tail" from combining, as neither the head nor tail can function well individually.

Number 3: Scorpion
The scorpion represents a double threat! Kicks from the Scorpion style are just like the stinging tail of the namesake. When delivered by a master, a single kick can paralyze or even kill, let alone the strong pincer-style attack of the arms to contend with. The weakness in this style is not clearly revealed as Yan Tieh is cut off from his explanation but one can assume that it would be to stay out of reach of The Scorpion's damaging kicks and make him come to you.

Number 4: Lizard
An emphasis on speed and gravity, the Lizard style is best known for the ability to walk on walls, and can fight with ease from such positions.

Number 5: Toad
Toads don't do much, but they are tough. That is the essence of this style, a primarily defensive pose. The Toad is invincible to just about any form of attack, including blades and puncture. They can even bend solid metal. The weakness of this style is that any master of the Toad style has a "weak spot" that when punctured, drains the user's Toad style benefits Number 5's weak spot were his ears as shown in his fight with The Snake, when The Scorpion secretly struck his ears with his darts. Apparently, the easiest way to discover the weak spot in one's Toad style is to use an .

Cast

*Kuo Chui - Lizard
*Chiang Sheng - The young Student
* - Centipede
*Lo Mang - Toad
* - Scorpion
*Wei Pei - Snake
*Wang Lung Wei - The Judge

Cultural References

The film is referenced in World of Warcraft where a poison selling shop in the city of Stormwind is named "The Five Deadly Venoms"
The film was referenced extensively in Juuken Sentai Gekiranger, in which the are based directly upon the Five Deadly Venoms, each reflecting the fighting styles in the film. They, in turn, were brought into Power Rangers Jungle Fury as the Five Fingers of Poison.
This film is also referenced frequently in the works of the Wu-Tang Clan.
In the indie comic book series Infinite Kung-Fu the major villains have taught themselves the forbidden poison styles, which are the same styles displayed in "The Five Deadly Venoms"

Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter

Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter is a Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Lau Kar-leung, and starring Gordon Liu and Alexander Fu Sheng. It is released as The Invicible Pole Fighters outside of Hong Kong and Invincible Pole Fighter in North America.

The film is based on the true story of a man who, after his father and brothers are killed, develops the Yang Ga Ng Long Baht Gwa Kwun style.

Plot

The Yangs are a well-known family of soldiers in the service of the government but are betrayed by a government official conspiring with the Mongols. All of the Yang family males except the 4th, 5th, and 6th brothers are killed . 4th brother is captured by the Liao and is not mentioned again . loses his mind after the death of his family, while the other brother , takes refuge in a temple to put his anger and past behind him. Liu's superb martial arts skill, particularly with the , impress the temple's senior monks. After refusing to leave the temple at first, Liu later fights for the right to depart after he learns that his sister has been captured by the conspirators and a senior monk is killed by the Mongols. Liu confronts the Mongols and during the ensuing battle to free his sister, the monks from the temple arrive to lend support and help him to defeat the Mongols.

Production

Fu Sheng died during filming and does not appear in the final showdown as originally written in the script. After Fu Sheng's death, the story was changed to center on Gordon Liu.