Asian Action Cast

The Magic Crystal is Wong Jing’s 1986 first collaboration with Hong Kong Heartthrob Andy Lau, in his most fetching, handsome Puma activewear. This is a globetrotting adventure quest movie equal parts Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, Armour of God, E.T., the list goes on - the amazing thing is, its actually pretty good and unequivocally Wong Jing in style. Also, Cynthia Rothrock and the enigmatic Richard Norton share about 20-30% of the screen time, every moment to be relished.
If you know Wong Jing and/or his work, you know what to expect here, puerile humour, good production values and effects and some actually genuine surprising and rousing moments (looking at you Wei-Wei Huang). It also has every Wong Jing issue with it, pacing, 2D characters, juvenile…but it stays entertaining.
Come for the Cynth-ard Nort-rock, stay for the amazing action set pieces and stuntman (and women) action! Listen in with us!

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is Netflix’s latest 2023 foray into live-action-ime, adapting Haro Aso’s Manga and anime of the same name. We at the Asian Action Cast could not help but compare it to the (better) anime but still found sparks of joy to warm our zombie hearts.
The perpetually optimistic and effervescent Akira Tendo (played by an equally diabetically sweet Eiji Akaso) revels in a zombie apocalypse, giving him a much needed break from his toxic workplace. We discuss everything from how muscular he is (and should be as a gridiron player), how sexy (or lack thereof) of his best mate himbo Kencho to the presence of b00bs and absence of nippl3s.
Join us in our meander across the zombie wastelands of future-tokyo and compare your thoughts, feelings and zombie infected saliva with us on this episode.

The Crippled Avengers (also known as Return of the Five Deadly Venoms and Mortal Combat!)  smashes its iron limbs into your brain this week on the Asian Action Cast, ironically spreading the crippling they received. This 1978 Shaw Brothers. martial arts schlock action fest is exactly what the Kung Fu movie genre needed to get it back on its legs.

Bastard Swordsman! This Shaw Bro’s 1983 Wuxia extravaganza packs it all in, epic sword fights, trademark jaw dropping sets, costumes and unforgettable cast of characters. But this is not a drill, this is a movie imbued with love, care and the iron will to deliver a fatal fist of wonder straight into your cerebral cortex.
Rarely well-paced for a Wuxia epic ‘Bastard’ has truly wondrous and plentiful choreography. Norman Chiu storms his way onto the screen and secretly into your hearts as the accessible and admirable Everyman, Yun Fei Yang and Leanne Liu’s Lun Wan Er is everyone’s dream crush and heartbreaker.
Alex Man’s over-camp, over-charismatic and supremely impotent Chief Dugu Wu Di warns against the sexual perils of over-training, and [SPOILERS] Tony Liu’s voyeuristic schemer Fu Yu Shu is a man you love to hate. Treat yourself to this martial arts morsel and tune into our podcast below to relive the flying high-fives of this masterpiece.

Grasshopper Power – Activate! The Shin Kamen Rider returns in Hideaki Anno’s 2023 love letter to the original Kamen/Masked Rider, starring pouty Sosuke Ikematsu as titular rider, Takeshi Hongo. Take a journey through visceral action and ambiguous self loathing as the Grasshopper

What happens when Triads and Organised Crime run rampant on the mean streets of 90’s Hong Kong? You call the ORGANISED CRIME AND TRIAD BUREAU! No nonsense hard-boiled, grizzled cliché tough-as-nails Cop-Man Danny Lee leads a semi-shirtless Fan Siu-Wong on a crusade to catch…an even harder, wily, ice-cold Anthony Wong!
Kirk Wong’s cat-and-mouse caper is hardly cerebral with contrived stand-offs, convenient escapes and manufactured machismo in almost every frame. But damn me if Anthony Wong can’t inject unhinged charisma into any role he inhabits. Sympathy for the devil? If its Anthony Wong hell yeah.
Danny Lee has the thankless task of being an under developed psychotic cop, unclear why he’s driving to break the laws he’s sworn to uphold to catch a guy he has no clear history or connection with.  But as always, Danny Lee cannot NOT look good as a cop.
Pure cop thriller junk food, and Heat before Heat! Asian Action Cast votes - Check it out.

The Asian Action Cast Punishes Evil with Colin Chou’s 2022 crime thriller from director Jiang Xiaotong. A violent cat and mouse with Chou’s unhinged thief leading Zhao Da’s Detective Song Hai on an increasingly frustrating and violent goose chase.

The tension builds but the action is sparse and spaced out, don’t expect Colin Chou’s trademark crisp martial arts choreography here. Where fists fly it is a drawn out dog fight between ragged breaths, with tired arms and swollen ankles. The star of the show is the incredibly well shot visuals, stylish and sometimes even breathtaking, fantastic cinema to occupy your eyeballs when the plot wanes, which it does. Strap some icepacks to those knees and join us for a revap of this curiosity of a movie.

Sonny “The StreetFighter” Chiba? Hiroyuki “Duke” Sanada? Ninja’s, swords, magic, samurais and exploitations? AN EYEPATCH?!?!! Yes folks, take our money indeed. We revelled in this gem from the 1981 SHOUT! Sonny Chiba Collection from Director Kinji Fukasaku starring an impossibly young Duke Sanada and his mentor Sonny Chiba, grizzled one eyed samurai Jubei.
No question this film was ‘homaged’ almost wholesale in modern samurai and ninja cinema and anime with more than one scene being recreated in films like Ninja Scroll – with good reason. This movie is balls out crazy and incredibly memorable, amazing set design steals the show and legendary performances by Sonny Chiba and Kenji Sawada’s villain Shiro absolutely seal the deal. Unsheathe your swords and help us vanquish rapey zombie monks in Samurai Reincarnation!

Mang Hoi’s 1989 Action Adventure Thriller BLONDE FURY (plenty blonde, not so much fury) kicks a lot of ass, and with style! Cynthia Rothrock’s she-devil (sporting hilariously unflattering nicknames throughout the movie) demonstrates why she is the foreign queen of the Hong Kong Action Box Office.
Rounding out her F.R.I.E.N.D’s are Chin Siu Ho’s less capable sex pest, Elizabeth Lee’s sweet but window dressing Judy and the director Mang Hoi’s bumbling comic relief journalist. Together they take on Ronny Yu’s bombastic and immensely fun villain Ronny Dak.
It’s not perfect, everyone’s an undercover cop, hairstyles improbably change between scenes, the plot is almost incoherent BUT the fashion is cute and on point, Jeffrey Falcon’s ‘Thug’ and his double dragon buddy Vincent Lyn put on a fantastic sub boss fight and Billy Chau has a sexual innuendo laden banter with Cynthia! On second thought, it IS perfect! Watch it, then listen to our podcast and relive it again!
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2EFsjsabrziBMvy3kPAJ9a
iTunes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/asian-action-cast/id1230934045

The criminally unknown film, Dreadnaught, is one of Master Yuen Woo Ping’s most underrated films. An ensemble cast with a young Yuen Biao taking the everyman role, everyone from Bryan Leung’s Foon to Yuen Shun-Yi’s truly unhinged villain White Tiger just chew up every scene they’re in.
The legendary Kwan Tak-Hing’s Wong Fei Hung delights in all the right ways and very wisely and sparingly used for great effect, around which the simmering slasher type thriller on the loose story revolves.
The film is liberally sprinkled with incredible fight scenes from fun to life threatening and characters who are genuinely funny, loveable and loathsome. If you’ve seen it you already know, if you’re a fan of golden age martial arts cinema and you haven’t then do yourself a favour and treat yourself to this film, epic romp!