Movies
The Deadly Breaking Sword
A decent Shaw Bros film. It stands out because the camera work, lighting and use of color are well above par, sadly the balance between story and martial arts is a little off. The promised revenge lasts only 10 to 15 minutes max, but even though there's an overall lack of action it never gets dull or boring. Nice filler.
Chung Sun is one of the lesser known Shaw Bros directors, even though his track record is quite impressive. Together with Cheh Chang he tackles The Bloody Escape, a rather simple but effective martial arts production that brings the goods if you're looking for a prime 70s action flick. It's not often that you see a Shaw Bros production shot on location, so that's a nice detail. Other than that, the somewhat stricter focus on action stands out, but in the end this is just another vintage Shaw Bros martial arts flick. It's fun and entertaining, not a minute too long, but it's also pretty expected and by the numbers.Read all
Chung Sun isn't quite as well-known as his Shaw Bros contemporaries (Cheh Chang and Yuen Chor), but based on what I've seen so far (which is just 6 films), he's better than both of them. Somewhat conveniently, his films are also a perfect mix of Chang's martial arts extravaganzas and Chor's fantasy elements. The martial arts scenes are quite dynamic, the fantasy elements are a little subdued, but they add a bit of extra flair to the story. The film isn't too long, it's nice to see most scenes were shot on actual location and the pacing is solid. A fun Shaw Bros fantasy brawler and another Chung Sun film worth watching.Read all