Burt Kwouk Movies

A multicultural band of acrobatic do-gooders take on gangsters of three great nations in this action-packed sequel to the French box-office smash Yamakasi. The Yamakasi are a team of crime fighters who can scale buildings and urban towers with the ease of a fly walking up the wall; after leaving their home base in Paris to set up operations in England, the men decide to set up a satellite facility in Thailand to teach their techniques to the local youth in the name of self-defense. But when major crime waves hit both London and Bangkok, the Yamakasi discover they may not be welcome everywhere they go, and when an impromptu exhibition of their skills at a building site angers a consortium of Asian and European criminals, they must face off against the British Mafia, the Japanese yakusa, and the Chinese Triads all at once. Julien Seri, who directed Yamakasi, returned to do the honors once again for this sequel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

First broadcast by Britain's Channel 4 in 2001, the weekly, half-hour Banzai was a spoof of those Japanese game-and-prank shows in which celebrities and civilians alike were subjected to the most embarrassing and dangerous stunts imaginable for the entertainment of the public. Enthusiastically narrated by a brace of Japanese-accented commentators (one of whom, Burt Kwouk, gained fame as Kato in Peter Sellers' Pink Panther comedies), the series featured such regulars as "Mr. Banzai," the manic, silver-tongued host who whisked the viewers from one outrageous segment to another; "Mr. Shake Hands Man," who crashed celebrity bashes and shook hands with the rich and famous, refusing to let go until the shake-ee tried to wrest free on his or her own; and "Lady One Question," who lived up to her billing by shoving a microphone in the face of her victim, asking a single question, then standing in stony silence and staring at the victim long, long after the question had been answered. As for the stunts seen on the series, there were every bit as wacky as their names ("Interesting Penalty Shoot-out Conundrum," etc.) A huge international hit, Banzai was picked up for American consumption by the FOX network beginning July 13, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this lively and erotic Belgian actioner two strong and beautiful female kickboxers team up with a lawyer to bring a crime lord to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After the death of Peter Sellers in 1980, writer/director Blake Edwards assembled a new "Pink Panther" film from outtakes of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau from previous movies in the series (the result was called The Trail of the Pink Panther) and later made two attempts to revive the series with another actor. In this case, Edwards cast Roberto Benigni as Jacques Gambrelli, a hopelessly inept French policeman who turns out the be the illegitimate son of Inspector Clouseau. Gambrelli becomes involved with the investigation of a kidnapping involving the beautiful Princess Yasmin (Debrah Farentino) literally by accident, when he crashes into a car driven by Police Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom). Gambrelli soon becomes smitten with Yasmin, while the investigation suggests that the kidnapping was set up by her mother, the Queen (Shabana Azmi), and her lover, General Jaffar (Aharon Ipale). Claudia Cardinale who played a different character in the original Pink Panther returns, while Burt Kwouk returns as the violent Korean manservant Cato. Roberto Benigni's Gambrelli proved no more successful at the box office than Ted Wass's Clouseau-like Clifton Sleigh in The Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), though after his multiple-Oscar winning success with 1998's La Vita e Bella, Roberto's probably gotten over it. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. play a couple of what-the-hell flyboys flying contraband to Laos during the Vietnam War. Gibson doesn't seem to care about anything but the "guts and glory" aspects of the job, but Downey has serious questions about the moral implications of their mission. When a Laotian general expresses more concern over the wellbeing of an opium shipment than the men who are risking life and limb to fly it in, Gibson comes around to Downey's way of thinking. By film's end, Gibson is stuck in one of those character-building dilemmas so common to films of this nature: should he deliver his cache of weaponry, or should he dump it all to rescue a bunch of refugees? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Plenty boasts a cast of actors ranging from John Gielgud as an ethical and caustic senior diplomat to Meryl Streep as Susan Traherne, a woman looking for solace and a decent life in the aftermath of World War II. After World War II has ended, along with her work in the French Resistance movement and an idealized love affair with a soldier, Susan finds jobs in the business and diplomatic worlds. Her life slowly disintegrates as she tries and fails to have a child then marries diplomat Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) and suffers further emotional decline as her rather conventional marriage eventually becomes cool and finally, alienating. Against Susan's difficulties are tumultuous events in the background -- the Suez Canal crisis and Middle East developments among them. David Hare adapted the screenplay from his successful stage play which first opened in 1978. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the four-part story "Four to Doomsday," the Doctor (Peter Davison) is still imprisoned on an Urbankan space vessel, still at the mercy of two frog-like aliens who hope to conquer the world. Hoping to prevent this catastrophe, the Doctor enlists the aid of four earthling passengers, each from a different race and time period. Unfortunately, this foursome is not quite what they appear to be. First telecast January 25, 1982, "Four to Doomsday, Episode 3" was written by Terence Dudley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two years after the death of Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards tried to exhume his corpse in this pastiche of clips and out-takes from the old Pink Panther films. The plot concerns the legendary "Pink Panther" diamond which is once more stolen. Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is again enlisted to find the stolen bauble. When he follows the trail of the diamond to another country, he leaves on an airplane that is soon reported missing. Television reporter Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley) then sets out to interview old acquaintances and associates of Clouseau, including Lady Litton (Capucine), Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) and Sir Charles Litton (David Niven), who recall their experiences with the bumbling inspector. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the four-part story "Four to Doomsday," the Doctor (Peter Davidson) and his companions are trapped aboard a space vessel commandeered by the frog-like Urbankans. Likewise in the same predicament are four other passengers, all apparently earthlings, each from a different race (Greek, Chinese, Mayan, and Aboriginal Australian) and different time periods. First telecast January 19, 1982, "Four to Doomsday, Episode 2" was written by Terence Dudley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Revenge of the Pink Panther, for the final time, the bumbling but impeturbable Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) maddens his long-suffering boss Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), sharpens his wits and martial skills with his manservant Cato (Burt Kwouk) and foils the bad guys without ever having a clue about what he is doing. In the story, Clouseau allows a gang of drug racketeers to believe that he has been assassinated and dons a series of disguises as he travels all over the world in order to apprehend the culprits. He is assisted by Simone Legree (Dyan Cannon), the former girlfriend of the drug-lord Douvier (Robert Webber). Though it received a very mixed reception from critics, this, the fifth of the Pink Panther series, did very well at the box-office. Sadly, it was actor Peter Sellers' final screen appearance before his death in 1980 (the later film, The Trail of Pink Panther was composed of outtakes from previous Pink Panther films). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Beau Geste, the classic adventure story of a young man's dangerous journeys as part of the French Foreign Legion, becomes the subject of broad parody in this slapstick comedy. The original tale, best known to film lovers from William Wellman's 1939 classic, tells of several brothers who join the Foreign Legion after claiming responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of an invaluable family heirloom. Eventually, brothers Beau and Digby find themselves in conflict with their vicious commander, leading to a potential mutiny. The plot here is similar, with Michael York assuming Gary Cooper's role as Beau, and first-time director Marty Feldman co-starring as Digby. However, following the lead of former collaborator Mel Brooks, Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from the satirical to the vulgar. A cast of notables keeps things lively, with Peter Ustinov and Ann-Margret mocking their own images as the sadistic commander and lusty Geste stepmother. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide