Asian Action Cast

If you want Peak Hong Kong Action Cinema, it’s hard to go past Master Yuen Woo Ping’s 1989 Donnie vehicle, IN THE LINE OF DUTY IV! Sassy police action with young talent, hot bod’s and a new attitude.
Donnie Yen is so hard boiled in this he’s practically egg jerky: he plays by nobody’s rules, not even his own. Cynthia Khan wears tight stone wash denim like she was born in them, and worthy alternative to the Rothrock/Yeoh duo she homages in her name.
Also starring everyone’s favourite heel (and secret love interest LBH), Michael Wong, who has more stars and stripes than captain America. The action is intense, it is non-stop and not even old ladies are spared Donnie’s disrespect. Watch it before Donnie finds you!

Raid on the Lethal Zone is Hermann Yau’s 2023 Chinese border force drama, outlining the trials and tribulations of a special drug enforcement group 8077 trying to stop a narcotics shipment while battling nature’s fury on the southeast Asian Chinese border.
The colours are drab, the mood is sombre and the calamities befalling our heroes are unrelenting, much like the rain, floods and mudslides. We felt this film had somewhere between 30% - 75% action (your mileage may vary if you don’t count natural disaster as ‘action’).
It’s sticky, hot, wet and there’s bugs, drug dealers, thieves and floods – but gosh darnit, special taskforce 8077 gonna get the job done. Derivative? Yes. Engaging? Not really. Well shot? Surprisingly yes! 16% of the Asian Action Cast gave this a thumbs up so if you’re curious, someone here supports you! (It’s Chris)

The Kaiju film taking the world (and Oscars) by storm, Godzilla Minus One has arrived on the Asian Action Cast. We navigate the bloated deep sea fish to look at Takashi Yamazaki’s 2023 award winning monster epic – and like most of the main characters, we are woefully unqualified for the task.

The Bastard Swordsman Returns! This 1984 Shaw Brothers effects extravaganza brings you eye popping martial arts with the colour and flare that only an SB production can bring.
Norman Chiu and Tony Liu headline this epic showdown against the magnificent Alex Man’s charismatically evil Dugu Wu Di, only to find there is a sinister evil lurking in Chen Kuan-Tai’s underhanded Japanese Ega Clan chief.
Spectacular Wuxia sorcery fights the forces of mystical ninja magic, it really is a battle between mighty forces. We have no idea who’s good, evil, wrong or righteous but it was fun trying to figure it out and seeing fortune teller fights, doctor duke outs and whacky attacks!

You want 90’s Hong Kong action cinema choreographed by Jackie Chan? You got it! 1990’s Outlaw Brothers has some of the best action choreography and stunt work you’ll find in a golden age blockbuster, just no Jackie Chan!
Haha, Sike! But you do get a skinnier, moustachier Frankie Chan, Actor, Composer, Martial Artis, Womaniser, Car Thief with a heart of gold. His outlaw bro from another ho, Max Mok with full moon eyes also brings the swoon.
This movie was a bodacious amount of fun with Yukari Oshima tearing guys up and a criminally underused Michiko Nishiwaki camping up the joint. The gwei lo bros Jeff Falcon, Vincent Lyn and Mark Houghton make awesome mini-boss fights look electric and fun, definitely worth your time!

The 2004 adaptation of the classic Go Nagai manga 'Devilman' has been widely called 'The worst movie to come out of Japan' by many, but is it really that bad?

Twin boy band actors, random slow motion, motorcycles on the beach and Bob Sapp!? What's not to love? Let the AAC guide you through the highs (?) and many, many lows of Devilman!

Sonny Chiba broods his way through the 1972 yakuza gunslinging romp, Yakuza Wolf! Legendary for his piercing eyes, bushy eyebrows and intense characters, this gem is pre-Streetfighter fame and gives you a peek into the formula before it was perfected.

Exploitation at its most gratuitous, as Toei productions go this one is filled with nudity, violence and questionable morales. There are no heroes here, only damaged people with scars and agendas.

Yakuza Wolf is a fun urban western directed by Ryuichi Takamori that gets a bit lost in its own labyrinth of vengeance, but presents some beautiful visuals and psychedelic music. If you have fond memories, or are interested in the genre, watch it and join us in a revap afterwards.

Ryo Saeba returns to the big screen in Netflix’s 2024 adaptation of the City Hunter manga, following a

So good we had to return immediately to John Woo’s sweaty gangster tragi-ballad, A Better Tomorrow II, to revel in the blood soaked ballet that inspired so many films (ahem, reservoir dogs).

Cobbled together a year after Woo’s original 1986 smash hit, A Better Tomorrow II brings back Chow Yun Fat (but of course!), Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung, but also presents an uncharacteristically grounded performance from the late great Dean Shek, and pre-Stephen Chow villainous Ng Man Tat.
It’s been established that Chow is the thief of our hearts, stealing scenes aplenty, but this instalment has some great performances with multiple nominations and awards with huge shout outs to Leslie’s Cheungs heartbreaking phonebooth scene and Chow’s legendary ‘Apologise to the Rice’ scene. Put on your suits and ties, grab your shotguns and gear up with us.

What happens when you take a Hong Kong comedy director, old, washed up martial arts star and young desperate actor with nothing to lose? A Better Tomorrow, that’s what.
John Woo’s 1986 gangster thriller with Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung reinvented the genre and guaranteed a better tomorrow of heroic bloodshed and tragic bromances for decades to come.
No other movie is so iconic, so fresh and so stylish. Chow’s Mark is the definition of scene stealer, the late great Leslie Cheung plucks up as the young cop. Essential viewing if you’re a fan of Hong Kong cinema, relive it with us.