Ti Lung Movies

In this Chinese romantic melodrama, a young shepherdess falls in love with a boatman but cannot marry him as her father, a compulsive gambler, is deeply in debt. Another man offers to pay all of her father's bills if only she will marry him. She demurs, but then she sees the boatman acting kindly towards another woman and gets jealous. To get even, she begins cozying up to her potential benefactor. Fortunately, a helpful widow intervenes and tells her that she misunderstood what she saw. Later the brave boatman goes to sea to earn enough money to pay off the debts. Unfortunately he is gone so long that the poor girl thinks he has died. She finally agrees to marry the patient benefactor. As the wedding ceremony begins, the boatman finally returns. He then fights the other man and ends up kidnapping the girl. Romantic bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lei Li (David Chiang) is so proud of his prowess as a swordsman that he has vowed to cut off his right arm and retire from fighting if he ever loses a match. Early in this film, he has the opportunity to put his vow into effect, but circumstances lead him back into fighting. His best friend is killed by a group of thugs, led by a man who fights with a triple-bladed weapon, and Lei Li must avenge this needless death. Of course, now he must fight left-handed, but the bodies pile up, a tribute to his prowess. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this Shaw Brothers kung fu gangster flick, a young gang member named Chieh is exiled after a brawl ends with his mob boss father dead. When he returns after a year away, young Chieh finds that his own gang has joined forces with the one that had his father killed and now he's a target. Seeking out the other former gang members who wouldn't go along with this shift in loyalty, Chieh draws together a small but mighty army -- including his mysterious Thai half-brother -- to do battle against the rival crime syndicate that robbed him of his father and his honor. Some of the greatest knife-fighting in the history of Hong Kong action cinema is what follows. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Based on the Chinese novel All Men Are Brothers, Seven Blows of the Dragon revolves around a series of violent martial arts battles, and features both epic sword and spear fights, as well as brutal hand-to-hand combat. The film stars David Chiang. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Mr. Shatter (Stuart Whitman) is an international assassin, hired to bump off a top government official. He is compelled to fend off a host of Oriental kung-fu and karate experts. Peter Cushing and Anton Diffring make brief appearances. The film -- shot simultaneously with Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, which also co-starred Peter Cushing -- was something of an experiment for the ailing Hammer studios in the mid-'70s, shortly before they expired, attempting to mix an Oriental style with their own distinctly British brand of filmmaking. In most markets, Call Him Mr. Shatter was released simply as Shatter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Empress Dowager tells the story of the last imperial family member who actually ruled in China until her death in 1908. She handed over the titular rulership to Kuang Tsu but retained all actual power. Retaining power seems to have been her real talent; she was unable to reform the Ching (Manchu) Dynasty and its system of government to meet the challenges of European dominance in Asia. The Empress Dowager was a fascinating, dominant woman in a male-oriented culture and she was a brilliant manipulator. This movie shows some of her intrigues, one of which prevented China from defending itself from the Japanese and led directly to the first Chinese revolution in 1911. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Stories are told about a group of Chinese who fought so valiantly against the Japanese during the 1933 Sino-Japanese war that the Japanese buried them with full military honors. This martial arts epic shows the filmmaker's imaginary re-creation of the final hours and days of these legendary heroes. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When a Shaolin temple finds itself under siege, it relents and allows a number of young newcomers to participate in its exclusive martial arts training. The eager students then come to the defense of the temple in this action-packed martial arts drama. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Following the runaway success of the Shaw Brothers' Hong Kong hit Black Magic, a sequel was quickly made with an entirely different cast of characters. In this story, set largely in Singapore, a black magician who stays eternally youthful by drinking human milk, and Lo Lieh (Kang Chung), a warlock who resurrects female zombies by pounding magical nails into the corpses' heads, battle the good guys. In one particularly disgusting scene, a magician afflicts one of his enemies with a plague of worms and centipedes -- living under the poor man's skin. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Jin Yong's historical novel The Eagle Shooting Heroes has been adapted into countless Asian television series as well as several films including Ashes of Time and this lengthy and involved Shaw Brothers effort directed by prolific Hong Kong filmmaker Chang Cheh. During the Sung dynasty, a young man named Kuo Ching (Alexander Fu Sheng) is raised and trained by a group of kung fu experts following his father's murder. One day, Ching sees one of his instructors murdered by the Skeleton Claw move, in which the killer straightens his fingers, making them rigid enough to penetrate both flesh and bone. Ching defeats the assassin, then encounters a titled noblewoman named Yung-er (Tien Niu) who is disguised as a pauper. They are subsequently taught by Hung, the Nine-Fingered Beggar (Ku Feng), who can smash a tree into splinters with a single chop of his hand. Ching gains still more knowledge from the master Cho (Phillip Kwok) which prepares him for the three tests he must face and overcome in order to win Yung-er's hand in marriage. The all-star cast includes Danny Lee, Dick Wei, Johnny Wang, and Ti Lung, but most viewers will want to watch for the energetic star turn by Alexander Fu Sheng, whose international stardom was just starting to peak when, ominously, he moved into a house once owned by the late Bruce Lee and known for its negative feng shui. Shortly thereafter, Fu Sheng died tragically young when he crashed into a cement wall in a vehicle driven by his older brother. This film remains one of Fu Sheng's best-known efforts, and led to three sequels. His ghost is still rumored to walk the Shaw Brothers backlot, and his makeup cubicle was left empty for years to appease his spirit. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide