What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[chazgower01]

Dreaming the Reality (1991, Hong Kong) 35mm on Facebook 3.5/5
Four years after first appearing together as adversaries in 'Angel' (aka Iron Angels), Moon Lee and Oshima Yukari are back as sisters this time - trained from childhood to be assassins. Eddy Ko plays their dad, dispatching orders and warnings with a calm, cool ticking of a time bomb. Things start off crazy with an almost botched mission featuring Yukari swinging from the tree tops with her machine gun blazing and a van full of children blowing up.

Then we switch to Sibelle Hu without make-up, with a few extra pounds, drinking and smoking. Her brother and her run a bar in Thailand where Lee and Yukari are sent to take care of their next target. We also get some Muay Thai boxing, which is nice. And we get to see Thailand from 27 years ago, which I enjoy too.

After an ill-conceived plan to get a brief case with sensitive information (they attack him in an airport in the middle of the day!), featuring his severed hand still attached to the case, some cool stunts, and the Thai police and military chasing them - Yukari manages to escape, while Lee ends up in the river with the briefcase, but no memory.

Not sure if Hu in a Muay Thai boxing match is supposed to be comedic or not (It is), but it leads to them meeting and taking in and caring for the lost and confused Lee who gradually falls in love with Hu's brother (Ben Lam). However... the dad now thinks she's betrayed him and wants her dead...

Not the most popular of the Lee/Yukari movies, I personally like this for its characters, it's raw violence (of course), it's storyline and, naturally for Lee and Yukari - though it also has it's unexpected moments that surprised me too. There's just something simple and watchable about it, in a way that exemplifies cheaply made but thrilling Hong Kong action cinema. They'd make better movies, for sure, but this one has some fun.

[chazgower01]

I took an old song of mine and used Naked Killer to make a video to it... thought it turned out pretty cool. Please check it out when you get a chance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNan3UI3Ncs&t=18s

[HungFist]

Black Lizard (黒蜥蜴) (Japan, 1962) [TV] - 2/5
The best detective in Japan (Minoru Oki) battles female super villain known as Black Lizard (Machiko Kyo) in a cartoonish and episodic Edogawa Rampo story. This is the 1962 Daiei version, not the better known Shochiku/Kinji Fukasaku 1968 version. This has occasional colourful charm, a battle of wits and even musical numbers, but it's also painfully long and talkative.

Modern Yakuza: Outlaw's Code (現代やくざ 与太者の掟) (Japan, 1969) [DVD] - 3.5/5
Surprisingly good transitional ninkyo / jitsuroku film sparks nicely in both genres, unlike most similar 'halfway-there' efforts. Bunta Sugawara is a jailbird back on the streets, a rough and violent but also chivalrous man who makes friends with a fellow yakuza (Kyosuke Machida). Perhaps better than any other yakuza film, this movie captures the psyche of a man just out of prison with no friends, no home, nothing to go back to. It's also beautifully filmed with ninkyo romantics and jitsuroku roughness somehow co-existing without cannibalizing each other. Add a bit of noirish atmosphere, a great Tomisaburo Wakayama supporting role (he sings also!) and an ultra bloody ending, and the film successfully overcomes its unexceptional story and the comedy-resembling Shingo Yamashiro stuff inserted in the middle. Fine effort from Yasuo Furuhata, whose films often strike as dull to me.

[HungFist]

Japan's Most Chivalrous (Japan) (日本大侠客) (1966) [TV] - 1.5/5
Masahiro Makino's adaptation of an often filmed story, hailed as one of the finest ninkyo films by Chris D, who also described it as "fast moving". I struggle to comprehend his view almost as much as I struggled with the film. Nothing really happens at all during the first 70 minutes except some old lady dies of boredom, I mean illness, and Tsuruta almost gets into a fight, twice! Makino was one of the most prolific and respected of ninkyo directors, yet his films often strike as slow paced and visually as well as emotionally flat to me. This is the most non-eventful of his films that I've seen. There is one particular point of interest, though, villain actor Bin Amatsu is cast against type as a good guy. This is the only time I have ever seen him play a good guy, and it's a shame his role is so small.

Modern Yakuza: Outlaw's Honor and Humanity (現代やくざ 与太者仁義) (Japan, 1969) [DVD] - 3/5
Noirish but not especially moving tale makes Sugawara play the second fiddle to young lovers (Masakazu Tamura, Ai Sasaki) on the run from the yakuza. Sugawara is the loyal yakuza brother trying to protect them, Ryo Ikebe an older brother obliged to bring the runaways to his boss. Violent and stylish, with some excellent character dynamics between Sugawara and Ikebe, it's a shame the central story about the young lovers is superficial and predictable, giving the viewer little reason to care.

[chazgower01]

Rumble in the Bronx (1995, Hong Kong) DVD 3/5
There will always be a soft spot in my heart for this movie, as it was the first time I got to see Jackie on the big screen. And rewatching it now, it actually starts off as a decent movie with some good action and some decent fights. Jackie’s trying to make his first U.S. distributed movie under his own guidance (Stanley Tong is back as director) and even though it’s not a work of art, it has its moments.
Jackie comes to America for the wedding of his uncle (Bill Tung again) and in the process helps Anita Mui, who has bought his uncle’s Bronx based grocery store from a multi-ethnic gang of hoodlum’s. That’s where it’s ok.
Then about 35 minutes in we’re introduced to some diamond smuggler’s and even worse, some overly used cliche’s and it gets a little goofy. It still makes me laugh when the rock band drummer yells, “Hovercraft!”
Jackie injured his ankle during production and the ending ends up being fairly lame. Sexy Françoise Yip plays Jackie’s somewhat love interest and Anita Mui adds a little bit of humor.
Harmless fun and the fight in the bad guys hideout is pretty good stuff, and there are a handful of decent stunts. The ending is just disappointing (Jackie battles a… hovercraft), but with one leg, even Jackie Chan couldn’t do too much.
It’s the 6th highest grossing movie in Hong Kong history, and Jackie’s 2nd best ever. In the U.S. it did $32 Million, with it’’s reported budget being $7.5 Million. Welcome back to America!

[chazgower01]

1994

1994 had been another great year for Stephen Chow, but Jackie Chan had the biggest hit of the year with Drunken Master 2. Michelle Yeoh continued to not impress at the HK box office (though I remember kind of liking Wing Chun) and Jet Li's numbers continued to slip. The HK box office in general was starting to cool.

1. HK $40,971,484.00 Drunken Master II (Jackie Chan) (#22 ATBO)
2. HK $37,523,850.00 From Beijing With Love (Stephen Chow)
3. HK $37,367,669.00 It’s a Wonderful Life (Leslie Cheung)
4. HK $37,033,685.00 Treasure Hunt (Chow Yun Fat)
5. HK $36,906,730.00 Love On Delivery (Stephen Chow)
6. HK $30,177,208.00 Hail the Judge (Stephen Chow)
7. HK $29,131,628.00 He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (Leslie Cheung)
8. HK $21,410,490.00 I Have a Date With Spring
9. HK $19,388,051.00 The New Legend of Shaolin (Jet Li)
10.HK $17,935,329.00 Long and Winding Road (Leslie Cheung)

HK $15,735,456.00 The Great Conqueror’s Concubine
HK $14,785,382.00 Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
HK $11,193,177.00 Bodyguard From Beijing (Jet Li)
HK $10,404,725.00 A Chinese Torture Chamber Story (Yvonne Yung Hung)
HK $09,023,583.00 Ashes of Time (Wong Kar-Wai)
HK $07,678,549.00 Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai)
HK $04,492,333.00 The Romance of the Vampires (Yvonne Yung Hung)
HK $04,151,747.00 Wing Chun (Michelle Yeoh)
HK $03,756,107.00 Sex and the Emperor (Yvonne Yung Hung)
HK $02,481,978.00 Ancient Chinese Whorehouse (Yvonne Yung Hung)
HK $00,117,857.00 Wonder Seven (Michelle Yeoh)

[chazgower01]

Thunderbolt (1995, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 3/5
Six years before Fast and the Furious, the Hong Kong film industry had their own little brief cinematic fad with racing, and Jackie’s foray into it would end up being one of his highest grossing movies of all time. That’s not to say it’s one of his best movies - it’s not.
The way Jackie was making movies at the time (and he’d been on this path for a few years), was with more action than fighting - it can work with a decent story, a good director, quality actors, interesting characters (like in Police Story 3), etc. Here though it sort of starts and ends with the story, which is fairly dumb, and ends with the characters, which are REALLY dumb.
Jackie plays Foh, a race car driver and mechanic, who works with the police to set up sting operations to impound souped-upped up street cars. He crosses paths with ‘Cougar’, an over-the-top, one-dimensional villain played by tall, blonde haired Thorsten Nickel, who gets arrested and released and then decides to kidnap Jackie’s two teenage daughters in an attempt to get Jackie to RACE him. Yep, that’s all he wants. That’s AFTER he destroys Jackie’s home and car work garage in an outrageous display that the whole city of Hong Kong could probably hear, but that attracts not a single cop. It IS pretty cool to see - very creative in the way they do it - it’s just… implausibly silly.
In fact, between the dorky characters, who do implausible things, and act completely out of character at the weirdest times and the overacting stereotypes of some of the other characters…it’s not a bad movie? Is this how we grade a Jackie Chan movie?
The action is decent, though the race finale is just ok - it’s the car crashes that stand out more than anything, and the fighting…. yeah, it’s limited, but welcomed when it happens, though Sammo (brought on as Fight Choreographer) chooses a more close-up shot of the battles - I suspect to give them a more in your face feel - but it doesn’t lend to the way Jackie lays out his fights any favors. Dragons Forever - that’s how you film a Jackie Chan fight.
Also on board for this are Anita Yuen as the annoying reporter who falls in love with Jackie, Michael Wong as the frustrated Police Captain, and Chor Yuen as Jackie’s dad. Ken Lo again gets some fighting time vs Jackie along with Sawada Kenya.
Watchable in an American B-movie sort of way, where if you like the star, you’ll still watch the movie.

Notes: Thunderbolt is Jackie’s 3rd highest grossing Hong Kong box office movie of all time (behind First Strike and Rumble in the Bronx) and it currently ranks #13.

[chazgower01]

1995

1995 was a big year for Jackie Chan, as he'd broken into the American market finally, and at the same time set a new record for the highest grossing film in Hong Kong Box Office history (which he'd break the following year - it's still #6 all time). Stephen Chow had FOUR movies in the top ten - but combined they didn't gross as much as Jackie's two (of the top three) movies of the year.

1. HK $56,911,136.00 Rumble In The Bronx (Jackie Chan) (#6 ATBO)
2. HK $52,529,768.00 God of Gamblers Return (Chow Yun Fat) (#8 ATBO)
3. HK $45,647,210.00 Thunderbolt (Jackie Chan) (#13 ATBO)
4. HK $35,234,481.00 Sixty Million Dollar Man (Stephen Chow)
5. HK $33,770,736.00 Full Throttle (Andy Lau)
6. HK $25,093,380.00 A Chinese Odyssey (Stephen Chow)
7. HK $24,829,983.00 Peace Hotel (Chow Yun Fat)
8. HK $20,872,117.00 A Chinese Odyssey II (Stephen Chow)
9. HK $16,281,325.00 Out of the Dark (Stephen Chow)
10.HK $15,530,642.00 My Father Is A Hero (Jet Li)

HK $11,403,790.00 High Risk (Jet Li)
HK $07,933,314.00 Lover Of The Last Empress (Yvonne Yung Hung)
HK $07,476,025.00 Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai)
HK $05,085,770.00 Don’t Give A Damn (Sammo)
HK $03,308,775.00 The Blade (Tsui Hark)
HK $03,041,885.00 A Fake Pretty Woman (Yvonne Yung Hung)

[chazgower01]

First Strike (1996, Hong Kong) DVD 2.5/5
Another attempt to break into the American market, Jackie Chan’s First Strike is a somewhat entertaining action movie with a confusing story, some great action scenes and Jackie’s goofy brand of humor. In other words, it’s a modern Jackie Chan movie.
After the moderate success of Rumble in the Bronx the previous year, Miramax studio released Police Story 3 (Supercop) 5 months later to limited theaters, where it did about half ($16 Million), so New Line was hoping this James Bond-ish action adventure would catapult Jackie to superstardom.
It didn’t - it only did $15 Million in the U.S., though it certainly added fans and got his name and reputation out there through massive promotion. In Hong Kong, it became the biggest Hong Kong Box Office hit ever (still #5 all time).
One thing about this movie though - everytime it gets boring, or you start thinking, “What the hell is going on?” - we get an action or fight sequence that’s entertaining enough to keep watching (The Snow skiing scene, the apartment fight with the two giant guys, the ladder fight, Jackie on stilts). The underwater shark scene finale is entertaining (and silly), but it really could’ve used a good fight to end things.
Ken Lo has a very small part, Bill Tung is there to give us a connection as Police Story 4, and Stanley Tong is back as director, but a lot of Jackie’s usual crew is no longer around. Newcomer Annie Wu is attractive, but just a prop in this badly written script.

[chazgower01]

1996

The Hong Kong Box Office's regression is in full swing by this point....

1. HK $57,518,794.00 Police Story 4: First Strike (Jackie Chan) (#5 ATBO)
2. HK $36,051,899.00 Forbidden City Cop (Stephen Chow)
3. HK $25,218,130.00 Tri-Star (Tsui Hark)
4. HK $22,493,617.00 Young and Dangerous II
5. HK $21,115,357.00 Young and Dangerous
6. HK $20,837,056.00 Shanghai Grand
7. HK $19,495,558.00 Young and Dangerous 3
8. HK $17,330,091.00 First Option
9. HK $16,243,515.00 The Age of Miracles (Alan Tam)
10.HK $13,847,368.00 The Scripture With No Words (Jet Li)


HK $13,286,788.00 Black Mask (Jet Li)
HK $11,615,085.00 Viva Erotica (Leslie Cheung)
HK $11,013,726.00 Those Were the Days
HK $09,771,575.00 Big Bullet

HK $02,621,660.00 Beyond Hypothermia
HK $01,578,700.00 Ebola Syndrome
HK $01,163,320.00 Ah Kam (Michelle Yeoh)

[grim_tales]

Shaolin Wooden Men (1976): 3.5/5

This was pretty good, considering it was made before Jackie became a really big star (Drunken Master etc). The story is above average and the action is good. Apparently this is meant to be in Mandarin, but the HKL DVD is in Cantonese.

[HungFist]

Apparently this is meant to be in Mandarin, but the HKL DVD is in Cantonese.

Yeah, should be Mandarin since it's 1976. HK cinema didn't switch to Cantonese until 1978. I don't know the details though. Did it happen overnight or how? Mark or Ivan could probably shed some light on this?

[Markgway]

Golden Harvest made the switch in 1977 with The Iron-Fisted Monk.

Went from there, really.

[HungFist]

Zatoichi and the Fugitives (座頭市果し状) (Japan, 1968) [BD] - 3.5/5
Good, darker than usual entry with a powerful ending. This was made soon after Zatoichi the Outlaw (there was one film in between) and in its depiction of Zatoichi's vulnerability it feels like a follow up of sorts. Takashi Shimura (likeable noble doctor) and Kyosuke Machida (one of the titular fugitives) provide good support. I haven't paid much attention to Machida in his Toei films, but he's pretty good here.

Modern Yakuza: Loyalty Offering Breakdown (現代やくざ 盃返します) (Japan, 1971) [DVD] - 1.5/5
Slow moving and quite frankly boring part 3. Dodgy boss Koike orders loyal and clueless Sugawara to stab another boss, who is actually a pretty decent man with a rational son (Hiroki Matsukata). Sugawara eventually comes to realize this. Oddly enough, this is a ninkyo film rather than anything even remotely resembling the modern, soon-to-come jitsuroku films. Should've been called "The Conservative Yakuza" instead.

Note: this is part 3, not part 4 like Chris D claims (he mistakenly included Outlaw of Shinjuku in the series). The series then continued with Sadao Nakajima's Three Cherry Blossom Blood Brothers (1971) and what is the best known film in the series, Fukasaku's Street Mobster (1972).

[chazgower01]

Angel 2 (aka Iron Angels 2) (1988) Amazon Prime 2.5/5
An early movie of Director Stanley Tong (Here he's the Action Director), this sort of a sequel (minus Oshima Yukari unfortunately) has Moon Lee, Elaine Lui and Alex Fong returning as the Iron Angels, on a vacation in Malaysia that turns into a mission.
The opening sequence, showing them completing a mission shows some promise, but very quickly they're on the way to Kuala Lumpur and we get mostly an hours worth of character study - Fong meets two of his long time guy buddies (one of whom is investigating the other) and they drink and end up in a ladyboy bar in a lame fight. We find out the friend who IS being investigated, is very rich and has some weapons smuggling going on as he plots to take over the world. Elaine Lui falls in love with him, he kidnaps the investigating friend, the others find out what's going on...
Wait, did I forget that Moon Lee is in the movie? The producers apparently did! She has one decent fight, during the last 15 minutes of the finale and other than that she plays second place to Elaine Lui, who this time actually does some stunts and machine guns some bad guys. Still... the lack of action for a good part of this movie slows it down.
Despite all of this, and one of the most melodramatic endings ever, I can't help but enjoy these characters and these movies. It wouldn't be hard to spice up... a little more sex appeal, a little more fighting, and... a little more Moon Lee!

[chazgower01]

Angel III (aka Iron Angels 3) (1989, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 3/5
This might be the best AND the worst of the Angel films. At times I thought some stuff was so goofy… I just couldn’t help but keep watching.
We get exactly what the series needed - more Moon Lee than in Angel 2 - and her fights are really good. Her battle after getting discovered sneaking around the castle with 50 guards is amongst the best I’ve seen her in.
And we’re not going to see Moon naked or anything like that - but she has a scene where she’s forced to completely strip and put on new clothing (as a security precaution by the female guard) that adds some welcome sex appeal to the series. We don’t necessarily need any Category III nakedness here, but a little bit of sexuality doesn’t hurt.
She has a good four fights in the first hour of the movie, and it's good to see her really let loose. Her skills here are in fine display and we even get some nunchucks action from her.
Problem is, she pretty much disappears from the film for the last 30 minutes of it.
The bad guys are colorful and over the top - from the Thai ruler to his female hench lady with a mini alligator (or whatever it is) for a pet - sometimes they’re laughable, but most definitely watchable.
Gone is Elaine Hui from the first two movies and in her place is… Ralph Chan??? Kharina, who made her debut in the previous movie is back as ‘Angel 21’, but she doesn’t do much. So that leaves our Angel team fighters as Moon, Alex Fong (who's always pretty impressive fighting), and… Ralph. Two of the main three Angels fighting in this movie are DUDES.
Still… in the finale as Alex and… Ralph come flying into battle with Jet Packs (!)… and then proceed to beat the crap out of everyone, I couldn’t help but enjoy it.
It’s fun, but a little goofy at times, but Moon’s scenes make it the best of the series yet.

[Killer Meteor]

Golden Harvest made the switch in 1977 with The Iron-Fisted Monk.

Went from there, really.

Shaws held out mostly until 1979, depending on the genre. They topped the 1973 box office charts with the Cantonese House of 72 Tenants.

[Markgway]

Yeah, the Hui Brothers comedies were also popular throughout the decade, but until '77 there was precious little in the way of Cantonese martial arts.

Shaws were a little behind the curve compared to Golden Harvest, as they were in most things.

[HungFist]

Be-Bop High School: Koko yotaro koshinkyoku (ビー・バップ・ハイスクール 高校与太郎行進曲) (Japan, 1987) [DVD] - 3/5
Part 3. Miho Nakayama is gone (replaced by Izumi Igarashi from Shojo Commando Izumi, playing similar character in similar manners), and so is the plot. The film works even without them, however. The soundtrack and the action, particularly towards the end, are once again highly enjoyable. By this film Toru Nakamura and Kojiro Shimizu had reached pretty respectable levels as action performers (as mainstream actors), and there are several bits of inventive choreography that puts many real martial arts movies to shame. There's some great humour as well (including a particularly funny scene with jealousy struck Shimizu trying to deal with a girl choosing another guy over him), and the 1st, 2nd and n'th panty shot in the series (just mentioning) which may or may not been a factor in making this the 8th most popular domestic film at the 1987 box office.



Be-Bop High School: Koko yotaro kyoso-kyoku (ビー・バップ・ハイスクール 高校与太郎狂騒曲) (Japan, 1987) [DVD] - 2.5/5
Part 4, the first one that is sort of bad... yet sort of good. You can clearly sense the "anything goes" approach where no joke is too bad as long as it helps fill in the running time and not too much care has been put into ensuring every scene is as good as the previous one. The film is also surprisingly, and regrettably, sadistic in places. Yet, the characters are still awesome and there are many good/funny bits so you can't help but to be entertained most of the time.

[chazgower01]

Knockabout (1979, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 4/5
Half way through what appears to be a goofy comedy along the lines of Jackie Chan's Drunken Master or Fearless Hyena (the latter of which had come out two months earlier), it suddenly does an about-face and becomes a deadly serious drama (though it continues some goofiness throughout).
Hong Kong movies, of course, are no stranger to these type of multi-genre mash-ups, but here it works surprisingly well, even if behind the scenes we know it's two of Jackie's friends specifically trying to emulate his success.
BUT, Yuen Biao's training scenes might actually be BETTER than anything Jackie's done - and even though the final showdown starts out looking almost EXACTLY as Jackie would've done it, once Sammo joins in, it becomes its own unique fight that's maybe as good or better than what Jackie was doing during this same time period.
This is most definitely Biao's movie, and he delivers.
He stars with Leung Kar-Yan as his brother, who scam people and try to lazily make their way through life. But in trying to scam an old man who proves to be their superior, they decide to have him teach his kung fu to them so they can use it to their advantage. Sammo plays a blinking beggar who ends up helping (and training) Biao when things go horribly wrong.

[HungFist]

Angel 2 (aka Iron Angels 2) (1988) Amazon Prime 2.5/5

Angel III (aka Iron Angels 3) (1989, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 3/5

I wouldn't mind seeing these some day. Is that US Amazon Prime? Do they have proper transfers and original language?

I have the 1st film on HK DVD... Mei Ah if my memory serves me correct.

[chazgower01]

Angel 2 (aka Iron Angels 2) (1988) Amazon Prime 2.5/5

Angel III (aka Iron Angels 3) (1989, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 3/5

I wouldn't mind seeing these some day. Is that US Amazon Prime? Do they have proper transfers and original language?

I have the 1st film on HK DVD... Mei Ah if my memory serves me correct.

Yes, it's the US Amazon Prime - not sure the status elsewhere. Angel 2 is an original language with English subs, but 'Iron Angel 3' is a horrible English dub that is at times hilarious. Both appear to be complete, though I'm not 100% sure of that.

[grim_tales]

Magnificent Bodyguards (1978) rewatch: 3.5/5

Decided to watch this again (deciding to thin my collection), this is entertaining, surprisingly good fights and a couple of plot twists - there's even a song. It looks like it had some old-school 3D (?) shots here and there which look odd now.

[chazgower01]

Mr. Nice Guy (1997, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 2.5/5
One of the last times Jackie and Sammo would work together and the LAST time Jackie would let Sammo direct him, Mr. Nice Guy is a pretty average Chan movie that's only redeemed by what he can do in it.
The acting is horrible - seriously, for some reason whenever Jackie spoke I kept hearing his voice as Tommy Wiseau - and everyone else is just as B-movie bad - except Sammo, whose cameo is actually pretty funny.
When Richard Norton (as the bad guy, natch) is the best actor in your movie, you know you're in trouble.
Mr. Nice Guy is incredibly faced paced - to its advantage, as the story is dumb, the characters cliched, and the ending... well, it's another disappointing ending to a modern Jackie Chan film.
I pick on this movie a lot, and I'm not sure entirely why... I actually sort of enjoy it whenever I do watch it - mindless fun, with a lot of Jackie running around, jumping, fighting, and doing all of those things that only Jackie can do.
It's just so incredibly stupid whenever the characters stop to have a conversation. Maybe Tommy Wiseau needs to splice some awesome action sequences into 'The Room' and rerelease it.
The plot here is pretty basic: Jackie is a TV Chef, who gets the video tape of an investigative TV reporter (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) that has two gangs in the act of criminal behavior on it and they end up chasing Jackie, the reporter, Jackie's assistant (Karen McLymont) and Jackie's girlfriend (Miki Lee Ting-Yee) through the whole movie.
Yep, Jackie has THREE women in this movie, a red-headed Aussie, an African-American, and a Chinese. The bad guys kill people without much thought, yet they never think to off one of these three just to speed the process along?
Maybe not as bad as its remembered, but certainly not a recommended viewing.

[HungFist]

Evil Boss vs. The Henchmen (悪親分代貸) (Japan, 1971) [TV] - 2.5/5
A conceptually fun twist to the usual ninkyo formula with Tomisaburo Wakayama as... The Evil Boss! He's the corrupt bastard who'd normally function as the villain threatening the heroes, who are largely absent from this film. Made between Wakayama's similar Story of Japanese Evil Men films (1971, 1972), this one is a bit better than them. The film still underperforms with little action, no sex, and a deadly boring first 30 min, but the concept does begin to spark eventually and the ending is a ton of fun. Also features a goodish Wakayama vs. Bunta Sugawara fight that echoes their brawls in the Wicked Priest series.



The Viper Brothers: Prison Gang 13 (まむしの兄弟 懲役十三回) (Japan, 1972) [DVD] - 1.5/5
Part 3. This one is set in 1935, continuity be damned (the first two were post WWII). Sugawara and Kawaji nevertheless seemingly portray the same characters. Such disregard to continuity is actually beautiful! That's about as far as this film's excitement goes, unfortunately. Routine chinpira comedy lacks the grittiness of the first film. Instead it features Sugawara becoming a babysitter.