8 Diagram Pole Fighter

8 Diagram Pole Fighter was released in 1983.It is directed by the late Lau Kar Leung and stars Gordon Liu,Kara Hui,Lily Li,Phillip Ko,Johny Wang,and Alexander Fu Sheng.

8 Diagram Pole Fighter is based on the Yang Family generals.When the battle between the Liao Dynasty against the Yang Family in golden beach took place,the Yangs were betrayed by general Pun Mei.General Yeung Yip and all six sons of the Yang family fought in battle and only the fifth and sixth brother survived.They managed to escape,Sixth Son went back home and was left traumatized and fifth son took refuge in a monestary in Mount Wutai.He changed his ways and became a monk after many years.The Khitans were still searching for the remaining brothers and their last resort was to kidnap fifth Yang's younger sister.After younger sister has been kidnapped,fifth brother finds out her whereabouts and decides to break the buddhist code to rescue her and avenge his family's death.

8 Diagram Pole Fighter has got to be one of the best Shaw Brothers martial arts films of all time and from the early 80s.This has got to be Lau Kar Leung's top five best films among Heroes of the East,36th Chamber,Mad Monkey Kung Fu,Martial Arts of Shaolin.

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Warriors Way (2010)

Rating 3.5/5

The Warrior's Way was released in 2010.It is directed by first time director Sngmoo Lee.It stars Dong Gun Jang(The Promise,Dangerous Liaisons),Kate Bosworth(Superman Returns,Wonderland),Geoffrey Rush(Pirates of the Caribbean,Shakespeare in Love),Danny Huston(X Men Origins:Wolverine,Children of Men),Tony Cox(Bad Santa,Oz the Great and Powerful),and Shaw Brothers Legend Ti Lung(Avenging Eagle,A Better Tomorrow).

This is Jang Dong Gun's hollywood debut.and like many other Asian actors.His English is poor,so you have a hard time understanding him.What was great about the Warriors way was the casting and the cinematography.There was a lot of rugged and gritty characters that used more dialogue than lines.The producers and the filmakers created a western world so real that they got too lost in the enviroment they created and were having too much fun.Leaving the audience somewhat bored and waiting for the action.Too much of the relation between Yang and Lynne were shown,along with the characters in the village.The villains were left out and only showed up when needed.there wasnt too much focus on them. Ti Lung finally makes a hollywood debut.He speaks English as well.And if you have never seen his work at the shaw brothers movies that made him a legend before Donnie Yen,Jet Li,and Jackie Chan.You need to check them out Asap.

Ride Along (2014)

Ride Along is another overrated buddy cop team up with a watered down pg-13 rating.Ice Cube has been known for playing the opposite side of the law and now is hard to see him playing a police officer,especially when his early music was about breaking the law and murder.Kevin Hart is the same as you have always seen him.Mostly jokes about his height which gets old and being a wanna be cop while working as a security guard.His best movie IMO was SoulplaneHart is no Chris Tucker or Dave Chappelle,since neither of them have been in the spotlight recently Hart takes over the leading role.The villian is a fifty pound overweight Laurence Fishburne who barely has any character development and mostly shows up at the end of the movie.Same cliche story there is a smuggler whose identity cannot be found and never gets caught,aftewards he has been bribing police officers and the mole is found.Police man teams up with underdog and then proves himself that he can be part of the team.This movie would of been more entertaining if it had an R rating.Both Ice Cube and Hart would of had better dialogue using more profanity and you can tell that in the script the dialogue was limited and often corny.Watch better R rated and better action movies like:48 hours 1&2,Lethal Weapon movies,2 Guns,Rush Hour movies

Grudge Match (2013)

rating 3.5/5
Grudge Match was filled with some good humor,drama,and boxing action.Definitely one of Stallone's best movies in the past ten years.What makes the movie is Robert De Niro.He was the one with more emotion and depth.Stallone plays the same old meathead boxer that he played in Rocky but only older.De Niro was perfect for picking on him and ridiculing him.Lots of old school actors as well like Alan Arkin,Kim Basinger.Also both De Niro and Stallone get to parody both of their iconic boxing characters.Another supporting actor that did a great job was John Bernthal that played De Niro's son.He has been in many shows and other movies and can play different characters as well.Kevin Hart wasn't bad at all too playing the promoter part like a young Don King.The plot was predictable but all actors had great performances. However Grudge Match was a box office bomb.The movie has a $40 million dollar budget and earned 45 worldwide.The youngest actor was probably Kevin Hart so unless you didnt grow up watching Stallone and De Niro movies or you're not fond of them,you wouldnt enjoy the movie as much.Other movies like this:Great White Hype,Gladiator,Undisputed

Out of the Furnace (2013)

Out of the Furnace is a predictable gritty revenge movie where the characters live depressing lives.It was a predictable movie and slow paced but worth a watch.Christian Bale plays a different character and has good chemistry with Casey Affleck,which they both play as brothers. Willem Dafoe shows up as a fight promoter but he is wasted as well as Forest Whitaker,Zoe Saldana,Sam Shepard.They could of been replaced by other actors.The character in the movie that stood out the most was Harlan DeGroat(Woody Harrelson).He is definitely the one you grow to hate and affects all the people that are around him.He has a little of Mickey Knox from Natural Born Killers in him.Bale shows emotion and plays the opposite from the crazy tough guy,selfish roles you usually see him in.Casey Affleck wasn't bad at all either.The end was a little weak because Harlan doesnt really get to pay for what he has done.Out of the furnace was a box office bomb making half of its budget of 22 million.It felt like it was cheaper though.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

   Hot Tub Time Machine is a comedy directed by Steve Pink (Accepted).Starring John Cusack,Clark Duke ,Craig Robinson,Rob Corddry,Crispin Glover,Chevy Chase.

   Adam(Cusack) takes his nephew (Clark Duke) along with his two friends Nick and Lou back to their favorite hangout place when they were younger at a ski resort.They spend their weekend at their favorite hotel.After having many drinks in their jacuzzi, it accidentally becomes a time machine taking them back to the year 1986.That night was a Winterfest concert with the band Poison performing and many important events happened that night.Now Adam and his friends must try to relive the same day without making any changes that might interfere in the future.

Collateral Damage

5 Element Ninjas

Paul

Legion (2009)

Bad Blood aka King of Triads

King of Triads also known internationally as Bad Blood is another film directed by Dennis S.Y Law(Fatal Contact,Fatal Move, Vampire Warriors).King of Triads stars Simon Yam(Ip Man,High Risk),Bernice Liu(Legend is Born Ip Man,King of Fighters),Andy On (Black Mask 2,True Legend),Ken Lo(Circus Kids,Legend of Drunken Master)

A group of Triad members escape from prison,they have a valuable item for counterfeiting money.One of the members Andy Lok gets hit by a police truck and is arrested.In fear of his life Andy testifies and informs his daughter Audrey Lok(Bernice Liu)about his plan.The other Triad members are now fighting for power to see who will become the next boss.Audrey has a half brother,Andy Lok(Andy On) who manipulates him to take out the members one by one so they can both have control of the gang.

The story is probably one of the worst,most laziest put to film.The only saving grace about this movie is that there is lots of Hong Kong actors that are new and old.Chan Wai Man is one of the senior members and he has not stopped making movies ever since the early 70s.Ken Lo which is mainly known as the baddie in Drunken Master 2 also puts out some good kicks.The action was directed by Jet Li stunt double and veteran Hong Kong actor Hung Yan Yan.You can see the effort and the great editing and shots that are put in this movie.Andy On is one of the youngest stars and his moves are amazing for not being a martial artist.This movie was also to promote newcomer Wushu champion Jiang Lu Xia of Coweb.There is all type of fighting from weapons,hand to hand,guns.Sadly the director focuses more on the villians which are extremely weak compared to the heroes,and that's why the movie is not at all succesful.Just like his other movies like Fatal Move,Fatal Contact.If you have seen those two you know the endings are not very happy.Unless you are aware of these martial arts actors I recommend you get King of Triads aka Bad Blood.If you do not know who these actors are,you will be very let down.Rent it first.

X-Men Origins:Wolverine

High Plains Drifter (1973)

Vampires (1998)

  John Carpenter's Vampires in a 1998 Horror/action flick starring James Woods,Daniel Baldwin,Sheryl Lee,Thomas Ian Griffith,Maximillian Schell,Tim Guinee,Mark Boone Jr.

  The Vatican has been funding a secret vampire slaying group led by Jack Crow (James Woods) worldwide.After a mission to go on a nest in New Mexico the vampires are killed but they are unable to find the master vampire.Later on that night the vampire slaying time go out and celebrate in a motel and the master vampire known as Jan Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) appears.Valek kills everyone in the hotel leaving only a bitten prostitute,Katrina (Sheryl Lee).Crow and his partner Anthony Montoya escape.They take Katrina with them because after a few hours of being bitten,they are able to track down Valek's moves. Valek must go back to the church where the team is being leaded and look for answers and wonder why Valek knew where he was and knows his name.

  The budget of this movie was extremely low.About 20 million and it has a great soundtrack similar to other John Carpenter movies like Escape from New York and LA.

Ip Man 2 (2010)

  Ip Man 2 is the sequel to the Ip Man movie once again directed by Wilson Yip.This is now the 5th collaboration with Donnie Yen.Their credits include SPL aka Killzone,Flashpoint (rumored to be a prequel of Killzone),Dragon Tiger Gate,Ip Man.The movie has most of the returning actors from the first Ip Man. Sammo Hung,Lo Meng (Five Venoms,Kid With Golden Arm),Fung Hak On(Magnificent Butcher,Last Hurrah for Chivalry,Five Shaolin Masters),Darren Shalavi,(Mortal Kombat Web Series,Tai Chi Boxer)Kent Cheng(Once Upon a Time in China),Dennis To Yue(Ip Man Legend Begins),Huang Xiao Ming (Sammo Hung's son).

  After years of Ip Man's escape from Mainland China.He relocates to Hong Kong to live in poverty.Ip is trying to make ends meet and wants to teach Wing Chun to students.After he has some recognition he must get permission from the other masters to teach and prove himself that he can.One of the masters is played by Sammo Hung who is an expert at Hung Fist.At the same time Hong Kong is ruled by the British and make the Chinese work for little money.There is an event boxing match of Britain's famous Boxer Twister (Shahlavi) who is an arrogant selfish bully.He ridicules the Chinese martial artists at the boxing event and ends up hurting a couple.Master Hung decides to counter and go into a match with Twister.Twister has killed      Master Hung in the ring and now Ip Man must prove that Chinese martial arts can defeat Western boxing.

 The fighting is superb.Combines both Wire Fu and Kung Fu and the editing never looked better.Donnie gets to fight with Shaw Brother's legends Lo Meng and Fung Hak On,even though the fights were short and they are both in their 60s,they are still in top form.Sammo's fight with Donnie is different from the one in Killzone because they fight in a round table and have very limited space.Later on they become friends instead of wanting to kill each other.Huang Xiao Ming plays Donnie's disciple Wong Shun Leng.His fighting isn't bad but to be Sammo's son he's got to prove himself.Dennis To from the Ip Man prequel plays Sammo Hung's main disciple.It is one of his first films and he later proves in the prequel that he can throw down some serious Wing Chun and can also be a major kung fu star like Wu Jing.This movie put Darren Shalahvi's career on the map.Appearing in the Webisode of Mortal Kombat playing Kano and fighting along with Michael Jai White.Darren had more roles in B movies with Steve Austin and Steven Seagal.At least he is out there being recognized instead of being in crappy cameos in Zack Snyder movies like 300 and Watchmen.If you blink you probably missed his cameo appearance.This is one of the best Kung Fu movies in years along with True Legend,Ip Man prequel,Reign of Assassins.Donnie is in talks to do more Ip Man movies so stay tuned.

Con Air (1997)

     Con Air is a late 90s action packed movie directed by Simon West (Mechanic 2011,Expendables 2). The movie stars Nicolas Cage,John Malkovich,John Cusack,Dave Chapelle,Danny Trejo,Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi,Mykelti Williamson(Forrest Gump,Heat),Rachel Ticotin (Man on Fire,Total Recall),Nick Chinlund (Training Day,Tears of the Sun,Chronicles of Riddick),MC Gainey (Wild Hogs,Beerfest).

   An army ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) released from active duty gets out and meets his wife at her job at a bar.He is confronted by local drunk customers and ends up killing one of them in self defense.Poe pleads guilty thinking he will do less time and spends ten years in prison.the day of his parole,he is transported in an aircraft with other convicts that have done worse crimes.The convicts have an inside plan on how to get control of the airplane and escape.It is up to Poe and the help of the DEA and US Marshalls to let Cyrus the Virus(John Malkovich) achieve his plan.

   Con Air is a summer movie full of action from all types of weapons,airplanes,hand to hand,vehicles.There is also a lot of comedy involved with the characters,especially the convicts.With a budget of 75 million and a worldwide gross of 224 million worldwide.It is a succesful well appreciated movie.At the time Nic Cage was  barely a leading actor with low budget movies before National Treasure,Face off,Gone in 60 seconds.This was the movie that made him a leading man after The Rock.John Malkovich plays a smart villian who is both sarcastic and deadly.Probaby one of his best career performances.John Cusack does well as a bookworm US Marshall who is very intelligent and finds out the prisoners moves.He has been around since the 80s and has done all type of movies like drama,comedy,action.With an all star cast that later their career took off like Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire,Dave Chapelle in Dave Chapelle Show,Danny Trejo in  Machete,Ving Rhames in Mission Impossible movies.Simon West has great editing in cinematography,action scenes and explosions that will give Michael Bay a run for his money.It is not a movie to be taken seriously not 100% realistic but it is almost two hours of great escapism with guilty pleasure fun.Simon West has already wrapped up production in summer of 2012 for the Expendables sequel.Let's see if he is able to top Con Air. The world will find out in August.

Punisher War Zone (2009)

 This is the third adaptation of the Punisher.Now it takes place in New York City.It is directed by Lexi Alexander and stars Ray Stevenson,Dominic West,Colin Salmon,Julie Benz,Wayne Knight.

This is a straight up action movie with all sorts of weapons that the Punisher uses in the comic books and the PS2 game.He is brutal and you see he does not hold back.The villains are once again The Italian mob, a bit cartoonish like the ones in the vampire movie Innocent Blood.Punisher's nemesis is the former crime lord that was disfigured known as Jigsaw.Jigsaw recruits his brother from the insane asylum to get revenge on the Punisher along with his mob.One of Jigsaw's crew members,Nicky was undercover and is killed by the Punisher.The Punisher later finds out he was a fed and pays respect to his wife and daughter. Jigsaw then recruits all the criminals in New York from Russians,Triads,Skinheads,Blacks,Hispanics to put a bounty on the Punisher.

Compared to the Thomas Jane movie this one lacks in dialogue but most have seen both prior Punisher movies and read the comic books so they have an idea of his origin.The most annoying character in the movie has got to be Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison. He tries extremely hard to be very sarcastic and loony.There is a lot of comedy as well with the villains having fun and destroying everything in their path instead of being coldlblooded one dimensional killers.The budget for this movie was 35 million and was used very well.Unfortunately the actors are unknown and the movie had very few advertising.The movie did not make even half of its budget back,but with dvd sales and streaming online it has gotten the recognition.If you are a Punisher fan this one you will like it is more like the comic book.The director is a female and proves that she can direct a great action movie.Hopefully she'll get more work in the future.

Red (2010)

Drive Angry (2011)