A distraught warrior (the charismatic Jet Li) forces his toddler son to choose between a sword and a wooden horse. If he chooses the sword, together they will fight the corrupt government that killed their family; if he chooses the horse, the warrior will send him to join his mother-in hell. Thus begins The New Legend of Shaolin, a wild Hong Kong fantasy. Though the opening sounds grim, the movie shifts ahead seven years and becomes increasingly comic as its plot unfolds. The story centers around a map tattooed on the backs of five boys; it leads to treasure from the Ming dynasty that a heroic sect hopes to use to reestablish the Shaolin temple, which the government destroyed. Meanwhile, Li is forced by poverty to become the bodyguard of a blowhard merchant, who doesn't realize that his bride-to-be is part of a mother-daughter team of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, a villain deformed by a poison that gives him invincible powers is hunting down the five boys, one of whom is the merchant's son. As is usually the case with Hong Kong cinema, the filmmakers have crammed in enough stuff to fill several ordinary movies. [+]

This outlandish comic book of a movie stars newcomer Andy On as the genetically altered warrior played by Jet Li in the original Black Mask. As Zeus-the gigantic brain-in-a-vat that created Black Mask-sends his newest super-warrior to track Black Mask down, the nefarious owner of a professional wrestling network has a plan to genetically alter his wrestlers and turn them into animalistic half-humans-meanwhile, Black Mask falls in love with a beautiful geneticist who's paralyzed with phobic anxiety whenever a man touches her. None of the plot makes much sense, but sense is hardly the point. Though the computer-generated special effects are fairly crude, the relentless camera movement and rapid-fire editing of Hong Kong action master Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues, Time and Tide) and fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix) keep the spectacle rolling along entertainingly. Also featuring Traci Lords as a kick-ass wrestling queen. -Bret Fetzer.

An all-but-incoherent sequel to (and completion of) trendsetting martial arts director Chang Cheh's Water Margin adaptation of Seven Blows of the Dragon. The plot was so familiar to Eastern audiences that it's barely sketched in. Most of the picture is just fighting, Robin Hood-style daring-do staged and shot in the standard slapdash style of 1970s kung fu. China's emperor enlists the Liang Shan Po outlaws in a struggle against the traitorous lord Fang Lau. Seven heroes, complete with cool nicknames (David Chaing is Yen Ching, "The Graceful One") are assigned to infiltrate Lau's impregnable, water-guarded fortress, and several of these paragons get to die staunchly in rivers of blood. Ti Lung, who costarred in John Woo's The Killer almost 15 years later, fights minus an arm, before gallantly expiring. (The broadcast TV version, while nominally uncut, switches to black-and-white during the exsanguinate scenes. ) -David Chute.

Imagine, if you will, the visual cacophony of Fellini (director of 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits), the over-the-top action of Jerry Bruckheimer (producer of Armageddon and Gone in 60 Seconds), and the manic emotions and frenetic editing of Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!)-you have just gotten an inkling of the glorious pop cinema of Hong Kong. Deadful Melody, starring Brigitte Lin, one of the most magnetic actresses in the world, is a prime example. The ancient Chinese world of martial arts is ruled by six clans, the leaders of which all want to get their hands on the Magic Lyre, a musical instrument of near-apocalyptic destructive power. In their ruthless pursuit, they murder the entire family of the Lyre's guardian-all except for the youngest daughter, Snow, who falls down a waterfall clutching the Lyre. This sequence starts the movie with a bang, for kung fu in HK movie terms means much more than it did to Bruce Lee; the clan leaders are virtually supernatural beings, with names like Master Ghost and the whip-wielding Cold Hearted Seductress. Anyone properly trained in martial arts can fly and explode things from afar, which results in some pretty spectacular battles. Snow, of course, returns to take revenge after learning to play the Lyre and gaining enormous power. Brigitte Lin is never less than hypnotic; while this role isn't as complex as Asia the Invincible in Swordsman II, it's cut from the same cloth: imperious, cool, yet aching with loss and grief. The plot is a dizzying web of Machiavellian scheming and surprisingly rich emotions that will keep you riveted; if you can't follow it, don't worry-flying warriors clash and explode every few minutes. -Bret Fetzer.

This 1990 feature from anime legend Go Nagai, creator of Devilman and Cutey Honey among other animated series, is a spirited if uninspired mix of Ninja warrior swordplay, modern yakuza gangster gunplay, and anime-style demons. The mysterious Ninja Dragon is a vaguely supernatural warrior sworn to defend the Nindo clan. He dedicates his sword to Shinobu, the schoolgirl daughter of a yakuza lord, and just in time. Upstart gangster Ranjuji, a hulking thug with demonic eyes, massacres the heads of rival criminal families and kidnaps young Shinobu for his bride. There's plenty of flashy swordplay and bloody violence (blood spurting from wounds like a waterfall, limbs ripped from bodies, and a man's face ripped from his head like a banana peel), and the massive battle between the Ninja Dragon's trio and Shinobu's army makes up for sloppy technique with vigorous choreography and a rush of activity. Apart from a few sidelines for unnecessary exposition and a ridiculous contest that turns Ninja warriors into World Wrestling Federation wrasslin' chicks, Nagai keeps this silly, simplistic Japanese comic book B movie zipping along with gusto. It won't leave much of an impression, but it's a fun 70 minutes of brainless action. -Sean Axmaker.

A butt-kicking quartet of female ninja assassins are hired by a ruthless magistrate to silence his past conquests. Three former courtesans could ruin his chaste reputation and discredit his bid for political glory, so he puts a contract out on them. A hearty hedonist who despises the sanctimonious hypocrite sends his own supernaturally powered thugs to capture the women, and they battle in an erotic series of superhero skirmishes that mix martial arts and magic spells, where the sexy ninja warriors repeatedly sacrifice their clothes for the greater glory of duty. They meet their equal in a feisty blonde Mata Hari who creates Japan's first blue movie when she displays the magistrate's sexual shenanigans across the sky like a heavenly drive-in film. The film straddles the line between spirited spoof and misguided action adventure, which the tongue-in-cheek English dubbing ably undercuts with painful puns and innuendo, but it never loses its outrageous sense of low-budget spectacle. Full of audacious violence and gratuitous nudity and logic-bending twists, it's wacky and weird and nearly incomprehensible, but it's never dull. -Sean Axmaker.