Ti Lung Movies
John Woo established himself as one of Hong Kong's premiere action directors with this ultra-hip, ultra-violent action classic. The film centers around the complex relationship between two brothers: Sung Tse-kit (Leslie Cheung) is a recent graduate of the police academy while Tse-ho (Ti Lung) runs a massive counterfeiting ring along with his gangland associate, Mark Lee (Chow Yun-fat). Tension between the two brothers comes to a head when their father is murdered after a crime deal goes sour and Tse-ho lands in jail after being double-crossed. In perhaps the most influential scene in Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s, Mark avenges his friend by staging a dinner table assassination. As Mark tries to shoot his way out of the restaurant, pulling a series of hidden pistols from potted plants and alcoves, he gets horribly injured. With both founding members of the counterfeiting syndicate incapacitated, the operation falls into the hands of Shing (Waise Lee Chi-hung), Tse-ho's former underling who has little of his boss' élan or experience. When Tse-ho gets out of jail, he reunites with his now-crippled comrade, Mark, to take out Shing and to protect Tse-kit whose life is in danger for investigating their former subordinate. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, (more)
Following the bloody climax of the previous film, A Better Tomorrow -- again directed by John Woo -- opens with Sung Chi-hi (spelled Tse-ho in the first film though still played by Ti Lung) getting released from jail on the condition that he rat out his gangland associate and a shipyard owner, Lung (Dean Shek). Chi-ti's younger brother, a young cop named Chi-kit (Leslie Cheung), is working undercover on the case and has already gotten into the gangster's good graces by dating his daughter, Peggy (Regina Kent). Fearing that he might put his brother's life in danger, Chi-hi cooperates with the cops. Meanwhile, Lung comes to believe that he is responsible for the death of a competitor and flees to New York. There he promptly goes crazy while under the care of Ken (Chow Yun-fat), the twin brother of the sunglass and trench coat-sporting Mark who died in the previous film. During a gun battle with the Mafia who tried to blackmail the exiled crime boss, Lung miraculously regains his sanity. Together he and Ken return to Hong Kong to settle a few scores. This film's onscreen mayhem was almost matched offscreen. Director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had radically different views of how the film ought to progress. As a result, Hark reportedly recut the film without Woo's consent, ending a long-time professional relationship between the two filmmakers. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat
Though theatrically released as a single movie, this odd period kung-fu yarn -- directed by Frankie Chan -- was released in video as two separate films. The movie centers on the relationship between two vastly different wandering swordsmen: one, Yip Hoi (Chan), is a lighthearted scoundrel, while the other, Fu Hung-suet (Ti Lung), is a crippled, epileptic warrior whose mother taught him from a tender age to seek single-minded revenge against those who murdered their family. The two run into each other in a small bucolic village, where Fu immediately falls in love with a beautiful prostitute with a heart of gold. At the end of Part One, Fu fails to kill the nefarious Ma Hung-kwan. As Part Two unfolds, Fu continues on his quest of vengeance. Later, he learns from his mother that he and Yip Hoi are in fact related. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Sun Chung directs the 1978 martial arts action film Avenging Eagle, a kung fu film from the Shaw Brothers. Ku Feng plays the king eagle, a man who raises orphans to be his own personal goons in an outlaw band called the 13 Eagles. Ti Lung plays the rebel orphan who strikes out on his own, leading the rest of the group to want him dead. Ti Lung joins up with a mysterious warrior (Alexander Fu Sheng) and proceeds to take down the outlaw leader. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1977
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
- 1981
- R
In this horrifying martial arts film, a young hero takes on an evil sorcerer with the help of a good one. Together the good guys take on hungry alligators, zombies, and other fearsome creatures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- NR
Hefty Hong Kong kung-fu star Sammo Hung steps behind the camera to direct this period swordplay flick. The film opens in 1895 when a band of nationalists calling themselves the Black Flag Troop get annihilated while attacking the Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese war. Fast forward a couple years to 1898 when kung-fu master Tan Tzu-tung (Ti Lung), along with his assistant Nine Catties (Cynthia Yang Li-ching), stop over in a small town. Tan quickly learns that ruffians have infiltrated the berg hoping to murder a government official. Tan, Nine, and a surprisingly skilled blacksmith manage to fight off the thugs. The blacksmith turns out to be none other than Wang Wu, the leader of the Black Flag Troop. Tan quickly tries to recruit Brother Wu to his cause -- to reform China and expel the foreigners. Soon Tan, Nine, and Wu find themselves in a plot to assassinate China's wizened, corrupt Empress Dowager. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cynthia Khan, Rosamund Kwan, (more)
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
- 1974
- R
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
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Ti Lung, (more)
This Hong Kong crime thriller stars Chow Yun-Fat and Ti Lung as two cops who must hunt down Chu, a crime boss who has just been released from prison and is out for revenge against the mismatched partners. It's difficult to determine exactly who is chasing whom as Chu makes an attempt on the family of one of the partners. Although the story is standard buddy-cop fare in the mode of the American film Lethal Weapon and all of its clones, the action sequences and acting are solid, with performances from Yun-Fat and Lung, both veterans of the Hong Kong action genre. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Sometime in the lengthy pre-modern history of China, a man (Ti Lung) finds himself framed for poisoning some important local leaders, as he is the only one in his neighborhood known to possess the skills to make the poison, known as "Sacred Water." He eludes capture while he searches for clues about the real villain. Eventually he is captured by an evil, lesbian monarch, and the real battle begins. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tien Ching, Ti Lung, (more)
This fast-paced action film from the Shaw Brothers studios takes its inspiration from the events of the Sung Dynasty. The story begins with Bao Ting-tien (Ti Lung), the leader of a group of Sung rebels, attempting to rescue a prince from the Ching forces that have overtaken northern China. Bao crosses paths with Little Bat (David Chiang), a mysterious kung-fu expert, and the two decide to team up so they can pull off this daring mission. Unfortunately for both men, the odds are stacked against them -- their mission involves crossing a long, perilous rope bridge and storming into a compound guarded by countless soldiers. The action that follows involves heroic sacrifices, cliffhangers galore and plenty of bloodshed. The end result was a hard-hitting action film and another hit for "the Iron Triangle" (this was the nickname given to the teaming of director Chang Cheh and stars David Chiang and Ti Lung). ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Chiang, Ti Lung, (more)
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
- Starring:
- David Chiang, Ti Lung, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Lisa Lu, Ivy Ling Po, (more)
This Hong Kong actioner is basically a remake of Brian DePalma's 1987 The Untouchables. A tough cop is determined to bring down a powerful gangster but also has to fight corrupt elements both in the police department and the political establishment of the city. He is befriended by a federal agent (Maggie Cheung) who is also determined to bring down the gangster. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
Chang Cheh's martial arts film Have Sword, Will Travel concerns an engaged couple who are using their potent fighting skills to protect an expensive shipment of materials. Along the way, they encounter Liang, a stranger who sets in motion a series of adventures. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1982
In this vintage martial arts action-drama, Ti Lung stars as a simple student of kung-fu who falls under the influence of an unscrupulous master. When the student realizes his master is using underhanded means to obtain control of a martial arts manual that will give its owner amazing powers, the student must take on both his master and his minions in order to be sure the book does not fall into dangerous hands. Inheritor of Kung Fu has also been released under the title Two Graves to Kung Fu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Details are sketchy, but we're fairly sure that Ti Lung plays the title role in Kung Fu Instructor. The story is Standard Martial-Arts Plot No. 3. A reigning Chinese dynasty must defend itself against evil rival clansmen. Grunt! Ow! Aiyee! Wang Yu also stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
