Reviews (11)

Where is this going...
...you may ask yourself at the start of movie. A dinosaur skull is the object of many people's desires, but why it is so covented.. well, that's never explained. A man in impenetrable armor protects the skull from interloping secret agents (he's bad. We know he's bad because of the way he laughs - maniacally). Who does the Chinese government call in to help? A secret agent who is actually a butcher. Again, it's unclear if he's retired, under deep cover or being a butcher is just something he likes to do.

Welcome to the world of Stephen Chow.

Stephen Chow is well known in Hong Kong cinema fans as being the Lord of Satire - targets being Wuxia films, Iron Chef and here, 007 movies. I forget the term, but Stephen Chow's movies fall into a categorey of film loosely translated as "makes no sense." "From Beijing with Love" you know is going to be a rough ride when the silhouette girls attack Our Hero during the opening credits and he is forced to shoot them. The first time I watched "From Beijing with Love" (what do people outside of Austin, TX do to see good HK movies? We have a monthly showing at a local drafthouse! Poor souls who don't live here.), I counted no less than seven times when I almost lost control of my bladder from laughing. The plot is muddled, incomprehensible and too fun to accurately describe here without depriving the new viewer of some truly outrageous and funny moments.

I will say just one more thing: "Magic Box!!!"

Watch this movie. You will understand. It's boffo.

A funny movie!
Let's face it, it's a James Bond parody a la Naked Gun! It's not necessarily my cup of tea, but I spent a great time watching it. This is the kind of movie that is not too complicated and that is fun to watch with friends.

The main character is a butcher who is in reality a secret agent who is sent on a deadly mission after having been forgotten by his own employer for years (yes...years!!!). He is teamed-up with a beautiful secret agent who actually works in secret for the enemy (who is in fact his employer!). Like Leslie Nielsen in Naked Gun, he's not the brightest guy in the world and maybe the most naive. But he has an edge: his throwing knife... Wait 'till you see the first time he use it to understand...

You can expect lots of funny situations and reboundings in this movie, but don't expect an intelligent comedy that will be remembered in ten years from now.

...
From Beijing with Love is actually one of the best spy picture parodies I've seen. While it's not as great as Casino Royale, the first Austin Powers, or Our Man Flint, it offers a wealth of gags along the line of typical Leslie Nielsen movies. Actually, I prefer this to Naked Gun and Spy Hard... while the enthusiasm is apparent, the jokes seem to come naturally and not devoid of intelligence... less sledgehammer, more watergun... From Beijing with Love also seems a bit more fresh, recontextualizing and toning down the stale routine in the Nielsen movies and Austin Powers sequels.

I'd never venture that this is something everybody should see, or that it should be viewed over any number of other films, but for people who are looking for some light silly entertainment and have already exhasted the supply of it at the local video store, From Beijing with Love offers just that... I don't regret watching it, had a few laughs, but I probably should have rewatched Withnail and I or Dr. Strangelove instead.

This movie is Insane.
What in the world was Stephen Chow thinking? In the sense of James Bond spoofs this is one of the worst of its kind. but it is still incredibly funny. this is the funnel cake of movies...figure that out for yourself, bliddy

Fabulous Introduction & Parody!
This is the best introduction to Stephen Chow for non Asian viewers. The special effects are easily up to par w/ all the other James Bond movies..if not better. Plus, you have the ever funny and subversive wit of Mr Chow. This was the very first one I saw of his..and still in my top 5. Maybe it was because all these HK movie books said not to watch him. Well..,they were wrong..even us foreign devils can understand this one very easily. He is the most gifted actor,writer, & goofball there is. 5 Stars for this still stands. Buy this..you'll be glad you took a chance. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Not A Gordon Liu Movie
His name is on the top, and his face is there on the left and down again at the bottom, and he is in two scenes of the movie, but this is not a Gordon Liu movie. It is an Aaron Kwok movie.

The action is rediculous, sped up, and not very coordinated. The humor is poor, and mostly unfunny. The two male roles are played by very similar looking actors. One of them is introduced as being semi-powerful, but later on he doesn't use any of his power. There are subtitles over a Chinese audio track, but you can't turn them off. There are also two song number in it (I hate musicals).

This is one of very few DVDs that I wish that I hadn't bought. I own about 40 kung fu DVDs and this is in my bottom three. It is terrible, from the beginning to the end.

Wonderfully absurd
An excellent selection for a night of Chinese takeout and nonsensical kung fu. Every review on this page is absolutely correct; the film is poorly shot, the dialogue poorly translated (if at all), the action clumsy, the acting mediocre. It's so dizzyingly fragmented, it's wonderful. We could not for the life of us stop laughing. Just when we thought it couldn't get more bizarre than it had, the last scenes (I think it was supposed to be a conclusion of some sort) surpass all others in leaving the viewer completely bewildered and highly amused.

Boring, hard to follow
This movie is boring and uninteresting. There are moments of "comedy" mixed into the vague story. I couldn't make heads or tails with the story and the characters. The fights are clumsily choreographed. I don't even know what the liquid sword is. I do not recommend this film.

Legend of the Liquid Sword
It is a funny kung fu movie, that includes sing and dancing. I couldn't stop laughing throughout the movie.

Gordon Liu Only a Cameo.
Gordon Liu is in no more than 10 minutes of this film. He has just one very brief action scene and it's too quickly edited to follow. While he is always thoroughly entertaining, his talents are greatly wasted in this film. The rest of this movie is just OK, like most of director Wong Jing's movies it is one part exquisitely surreal fantasy, one part unfunny comedy. I could watch it, but not without some fast-forwarding. For director Wong Jing's best work, check out Lord of the Wutang aka Kung Fu Cult Master. ... Read more

Description

The late Leslie Cheung (The Bride With White Hair, Farewell My Concubine) stars in this Hong Kong remake of Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria. Tomboy Lam (Anita Yuen in a performance that won her the Best Actress award at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards) is so obsessed with pop music diva Rose (Carina Lau) that she decides to disguise as a man to meet her idol at a singing audition. There, Lam meets Sam (Cheung), Rose's producer-boyfriend who signs the talentless "boy" to a recording contract to spite his moody girlfriend. It doesn't take long before Rose--and Sam--find themselves both falling for Lam! ... Read more

Description

Based on the well-known, live-action films of the same name, A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation is the fantastic tale of strange demons, hungry ghosts, and timeless love. Tsui Hark is internationally well-known for his iconoclastic style, solid storytelling, and tightly maintained pace. Among his many famous Hong Kong films are A Better Tomorrow, A Chinese Ghost Story, as well as Once Upon a Time in China. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

An Entertaining Movie
This movie is for kids, and in that sense, it does a fine job. Not too scary, a little silly/funny, but a moving storyline. There are some oddities that probably resulted from translation, and it may be more compelling in its native language (some of the songs seemed particularly odd), but it was, all in all, an engaging and entertaining movie.

An Unforgettable Tale
Dumped by his girlfriend, debt collector Ning, with his pet dog, Solid Gold, wanders heartbroken through the countryside until he encounters a beautiful spirit named Sui Seen in a dangerous ghost town. After rescuing him from the inhabitants of the town, Sui Seen appears ready to surrender Ning's soul to her mistress, the demonic, soul-eating Madame Trunk.

Because of Ning's persistence and his lovable demeanor, she finally grows to care for him. Barely escaping the clutches of the Tree Demon, Ning and Sui Seen finds themselves pursued by a pair of ghost-hunting monks by the name of White Cloud and Ten Miles. Racing for the Reincarnation Gate on a ghost train, the two hope to start a new life together.

One unforgettable tale it is with great graphics, dubbed voices, story and everything!

bizzare plot with unique animation
This Hong Kong production is an interesting change of pace from Japanese anime.

The plot is bizzare view of ghosts, ghost busters and life paths. A clue to understanding this film is identifying the "standard" life path and how the ghosts are opting out.

The animation style consists of 2-D characters on a 3-D computer generated background. I found it impressively surreal, but exhibiting an element of harshness. It was less ethereal than the reference standard Princess Mononoke (2-D characters on nature paintings background)

Those who prefer English dub should switch the audio to Cantonese for the songs, you'll notice the meter flows better. (I listen in Mandarin with subtitles and switch to Cantonese for the songs)

This isn't really "anime" by otaku definition. I give it a good score for its unique Chinese flavor not found in other animated films. Not quite a masterpiece, but worth seeing.

A Chinese Ghost Story (animated)
Gosh the pace is amazing! So far I haven't seen any comment from Malaysia, but it doesn't mean that we are not really in this. Just to remind all friends out there since 1982, started with James Bond's "A view to a Kill", we are known as one of the first world wide released of any blockbuster movies. Much-much more update than Tokyo, that for sure.

Back to our review, its a good movie really, the animation are nice, very chinese folklore, fighting sequence are carefully crafted, the sound are accepted and sometimes push your speakers to the limit but it has to be in Mandarin 5.1 and Cantonese 5.1 but English version is quite dissapointed, way below the standard.

Remember the credits only goes to film's production and the DVD transfer which is much-much better than VCD copy that I got it from Hong Kong. But the DVD itself looks cheap and no effort given at all. Surpringly its from Pioneer. Totally ... Read more

Description

The late Leslie Cheung (Bride With White Hair), the late Anita Mui (Moon Warriors) and Anita Yuen (C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri) all return to this sequel to the smash comedy hit He's A Woman, She's A Man, which picks up exactly where the first film left off. Now living with his songwriter boyfriend Sam(Cheung), Wing (Yuen) has also become a popular "male" singer, her female identity well disguised. When Wing unintentionally expressed her love for Sam during an award acceptance speech, Sam has to scramble to find a new girlfriend for his star in order to calm the gay rumors. He finds Fan (Mui), a downstairs neighbor who was once a megastar herself. Complications arise when Fan also falls in love with Wing, not realizing that "he" is actually a "she". With the recent departures of both Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, Who's A Woman, Who's A Man is not only a great followup to the classic gender bender, but also a cherishable memorial to two of Hong Kong's finest screen legends. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Strange spoof
Whoever produced this movie tried hard to spoof the original Once Upon a Time in China series. I'm honestly surprised that Jet even took this role. Nonetheless, this film does have its interesting moments. The guest appearance by Gordon Liu is also a treat for genre fans.

You don't want this version!
When I first put this DVD in I noticed that they cut away the opening, then the movie starts and I can't believe my eyes as the quality of the DVD is even lower than my VCD version, this is just frustrating to watch. The subtitle cannot be change or removed since it is fixed onto the movie, the subtitle is in chinese and english use at the same time, the quality of the image is so below par that the subtitle at times can't even be read. Another thing is the audio, you can't switch between Cantonese and Mandarin like on my VCD, yes this too was fixed to cantonese only. There is no extra features, you might as well buy a VHS tape, which would probably be an improvement on the picture quality. It does look like they tranfer this movie from an overused VHS tape with no other intention then to sell it to unsuspecting "customers"(read victims).

Chopped Version of Last Hero In China
I agree with Michael Van about the clipped version " Deadly China Hero" as I own "Last Hero in China" which is the movie in its orginal presentation and with Subtitles. This is actually, if placed in order of sequences by year, the Fourth "Once Upon a Time in China" series before OUATIC IV/V came out. Nonetheless, you have to watch this movie as it has, as usual, great martial art scenes. I own all but OUATIC IV and most of Jet Li's DVD's that are available. The 6th version of OUATIC is "Once upon a Time in China and America" also starring Jet Li. Though this may be the 4th Jet Li did as Wong Fei-Hung, you do not have to see the three previous OUATIC's. Order is not important with this version of Wong Fei-Hung but the tales of this Martial Artist (a real actual Chinese Hero) is. Get this DVD and try to get "Last Hero in China" also. In fact, get every Jet Li movie made. You will not be dissappointed. This man is our replacement for Bruce Lee.

Warning: Clip Job - Search out the Original
The other user comments are technically correct. The film is great... in its original version. "Deadly China Hero," however, is a clipped version of the film "Last Hero of China." I highly recommend the original film instead of this one, which cuts out several crucial scenes and important subplots. There's no reason to settle for this hacked-up version.

JET LI V.S. gordon lui what more could you want?
JET li stars in this powerful movie as he portrays chinese folk hero WONG FEI HUNG. THis movie is totally different from the other movies in the Once upon a time in china series. Some of the most memorable scenes from the movie are when Li battles "shaolin masta killa" Gordon Lui. The other great part in this movie is when Li dresses up like a chicken and battles a giant centipede. The end is still the best part when Li breaks his toes he's forced to get drunk and uses the Drunken style to win the final battle. One of Li's finest!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (5)

One Great Movie
I rented this movie on a whim just to check it out and im definately glad I did. I have no idea why people seem to think this movie is for 'teenage girls' because Im not a teenage girl and I really liked this. No, Im not usually into romance movies...they usually are so sappy im looking for the remote within the first 15 minutes. This was completely different, The acting and the story is so captivating, especially to me, as I could relate to the main character, being that im a musician as well. Thats what grabbed me from the beginning, the sheer reality of it, unlike the 'we're rich, snobby people in love but oh what a wacky love it is!' garbage, drivel most American romance movies are. Sure the plot had a few weak moments, but what movie doesnt? What really made this movie stand out to me was the ending..stark and real, not the typical 'everything is great!' hollywood nonsense. I wont give away too much, but the change was definately refreshing. do yourself a favor and rent or buy it.

love story with a difference
It's a love story with a little melodrama and a tragedy. And like most love stories, the plot is fairly transparent. However, what differentiates this movie from the run-of-the-mill romances are the strong performances of the leads, a well written script and lovely supporting characters. The film isn't merely about love, it's about life and living life in a positive way. It doesn't really dwell too much on melodrama or tragedy, instead prefering to concentrate on hope and living life.

Loosely, the plot is about a angry music composer, Kit, who is unable to make it in the commercial world because of his "principles." He breaks up with his superstar girlfriend and moves to a poorer part of town where he meets Min, her family and members of the Chinese opera troupe that Min is a part of. Kit rediscovers his love for his craft not only from his interaction with the positive-thinking-live-live-to-the-fullest Min but also from the members of the opera troupe. Their closeness and their passion for a dying craft helps Kit in his search for meaning.

I loved it that director Derek Yee let many of the street perfoming scences run. He just lets them sing. Music plays an integral part in this film. One of the loveliest scenes is the one where Kit jams with the Uncle and a Filipino band in Min's house.

I recommend this film and if you like it, I suggest watching the HK "Lost and Found." Another tale of hope in the face of tragedy with a lot less melodrama than most.

Uh oh
It appears as if the C'est la Vie (HK film) reviews are linked to some insipid europop act. So for the benefit of those looking for a film review I will say this: Imagine a room full of grown men (and a few women) crying because of a film. That is what Anita Yuen did to us. Simply put it is a tear-jerker kind of film but done in a humanistic unglossy kind of way only Hong Kong could pull off. I guess that is the benefits of still being a fledgling industry is that you can get away with sentimental and nobudget films without looking cheap; it just looks honest instead. suffice to say I liked it and still think Anita Yuen is one of the best things since swiss cheese.

They are from England.
There names are Sinead,Edele,Lindsay and Keavy. They are B Witchen,Ther sign are Sinead a flower, Edele a B,keavy a star and Lindsey a cat.They are all very prety and Edele and Keavy they are sisters.There most popular song is C'est la Vie. They are from Engand.

I thought it was one of the best videos ever made.
it was so cool, I loved it. I have ranked it with my list of favorite videoswith Hanson and NSYNC. ... Read more