Bruce Lee against Supermen (1975)

Any film with a title that great is only going to be a disappointment, and in this respect, Bruce Lee against Superman does not disappoint. It's part of an odd and crass sub genre of martial arts films cashing in on Lee's death with a similarly named star and little in the way of talent or story.

There's a half-hearted attempt at a plot, something involving a scientist who has worked out how to make food from petrol, but it feels more like a cheese induced fever dream. Bruce Li, aka Ho Tsung-Tao starts off playing a version of Cato from The Green Hornet, then seems to turn into somebody called Carter, who occasionally wears red pyjamas along with a bearded man who seems to be his boss or something. The Supermen wear black with little napkins for capes. One of them is the leader and the other two fall out with him for some reason.

While there are brief flashes of entertainingly unhinged nuttiness akin to Ed Wood or Ray Dennis Steckler (especially Rat Fink a Boo Boo) the real sin of this movie is to be mostly dull and boring.

Drunken Wu Tang (1984)

Relentlessly kinetic, largely incomprehensible, and great fun, Drunken Wu Tang feels like fifty different films edited together at random.

There is a plot buried in there somewhere, something about a lecherous old drunk Kung-Fu master trying to find an adolescent boy who is a virgin (or "Cherry Boy") for a religious ceremony, probably best not to dwell too much on it.

Instead, focus on the insane stream-of-consciousness that assaults your senses for ninety-odd minutes, with the drunk Kung-Fu master tearing around on a buck toothed Go-Kart, the same actor in drag playing the "Cherry Boy's" pipe smoking Grandmother, and the infamous Watermelon monster, a giant black ball with big red lips, sharp teeth and a nipple fetish

The tone is relentlessly shrill and the comedy very broad indeed, but this is not a film where the entertainment comes from sneering at the incompetence behind the camera. The well choreographed fight scenes and breakneck speed editing sets belie any such claims. So many shots involve people leaping into or out of the frame, which help underlie the feeling of perpetual motion, even if you have no idea where this is leading. Don't go in looking for plot, characters or logic, instead just enjoy the energy and adrenaline rush of a truly original piece of unhinged cinema.

One Armed Swordsman (1967)

Possessing many of the virtues and faults of the genre, One Armed Swordsman is a success, despite uneven pacing and overlength, largely due to it’s charismatic star and some well-directed gory fight scenes.

Fang Kang (played by Jimmy Wang), has been raised as a disciple of master swordsman Qi Ru Er, after Fang's father died saving Qi's life. A violent fight with a group of fellow disciples leaves Fang minus an arm and left for dead. After being found and nursed back to health by the peace-loving Xiao Man, he lives out a tranquil existence of farming and fishing, until the day he finds out that his former master’s old enemies, Smiling Tiger and Long Armed Devil are planning to attack and murder Qi on his 55th birthday. Kang is forced back to his warrior ways but can he adapt his two armed fighting style to his one armed circumstances?

Like many films in the martial arts genre, when the action is in full swing, it is an exhilarating ride, with stylishly choreographed and bloody (even if it is bright red paint like blood typical if the era) fight sequences. It might be one thing accidentally getting a fist or a foot in your face, a sword could do something more permanent, as it did to Fang. However, once the fighting stop, things get too talky, and any momentum is soon dissipated. Jimmy Wang is an excellent leading man, who gets tp showcase his fighting skills and a sense of menace and danger.

The script does have some intriguing and loopy ideas, such as the half burnt instruction manual, useless to most fighters, but perfect for a man with only half the number of arms of most people. Wang would reprise a similar role in two films that he both wrote and directed, One Armed Boxer and Master of the Flying Guillotine, where this dreamlike lack of logic would be taken to even more satisfying extremes.

Many of the tropes that I always associate with martial arts films are here throughout the film, such as melodrama, crash zooms, and loud bombastic music. However, one cliché that was noticeable by its absence during my last viewing of this film was bad dubbing. This had always been an essential part of the viewing experience for Westerners, but now it seems the pendulum has swung the other way and many of these films have been reissued with original dialogue soundtracks and subtitles. This certainly makes One Armed Swordsman feel a little less goofy and a bit closer to being a straight action and drama film.

There are also some interesting themes in the script as illustrated by the two important lessons that Fang learns. The other warriors, both good and bad, are locked into their own rigid systems of fighting, unable or unwilling to change, which will ultimately lead to defeat for them. By being forced to adapt his style, Fang finds a third way, that allows him to become victorious. However, he also realises that ultimately revenge only leads to more revenge and eventually someone needs to walk away in order for the cycle to be broken, or as the Buddha himself said "Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world, only by non-hatred."

** ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN ** (TRAILER * ENGLISH... by filmow

The Raid (2011)

The Raid is one of the most compellingly relentless action films of recent times.

Rama (martial arts star Iko Uwais) is a rookie officer in an elite Indonesian police paramilitary unit. His team's first mission is to infiltrate the high-rise slum fortress of ruthless gang boss Tama, previously considered untouchable by the police. However, things very quickly go wrong The problem? The apartment complex the cops are invading is occupied by tenants who range from assassins to thugs to certifiable psychopaths – and all the other scum the slums have to offer. The cops barely make it through the door before they’re spotted by the crooks, and from there it is an all-out war, floor by floor, as Rama and his teammates try to brave a nightmare of violence and destruction in order to make their arrest.

Writer and director Gareth Evans takes a simple concept and wisely avoids overcomplicating it, keeping the story moving forward at all times and also steers clear of modern cliches such as smirking one-liners, and “bromance”. The characters are far from invulnerable, giving a real sense of uncertainty to the outcome at times.

The action is shot and edited for maximum impact, with hardly a wasted shot or scene, leaving the viewer breathless. Granted, this does not leave much time to introduce the characters, many of whom, good and bad, get bumped off before we've barely had time to learn their names. This does have two justifiable outcomes however, as the scale of the carnage sets the tone of the threat, and the diminished cast keeps the story focussed.

While The Raid is ostensibly an action film, the gore, confined spaces and overwhelming tension at times make it feel like a horror film. There is also one other disconcerting element that links it to that genre - the building itself. The exterior has a slightly unreal feel, the overwhelming height giving the feel of a fairy tale castle. The interiors are nightmarish, dark, dingy, more like an insane asylum than a residential tower block.

The Raid Redemption (2011) - Trailer by geekpkcom

Gymkata (1985)

Martial arts films are tough to do well, and the best ones usually have a charismatic star with a unique style, who can overcome any deficiencies in the script, direction or cast. Gymkata, an 80s oddity starring Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas, does not have this, but fortunately it manages to compensate by being as deliciously silly and unhinged as it is incompetent.

Thomas plays Jonathan Cabot, a champion gymnast recruited by the US government to infiltrate the tiny but brutally primitive country of Parmistan. They need the permission of the King of Parmistan to build a missile defence site, and, for some reason, the only way they can get this is by having Cabot compete in a brutal “Most Dangerous Game” style contest, called where losers are hunted to their deaths - but if anyone were to win, they would be granted one wish.

Gymkata is directed by Robert Clouse, who, more than a decade earlier, had made the bona fide genre classic Enter the Dragon, and with a similar plot (athlete hired by government for secret mission), it feels like he is trying to recreate the same magic with Gymkata. However there are several elements that make the earlier film a classic, namely the star Bruce Lee and his unique fighting style, the excellent supporting cast (Jim Kelly, John Saxon, and the villainous Kien Shih and Bolo Yeung), as well as the superb brassy, funky soundtrack from Lalo Schifrin. Gymkata, unfortunately, has nothing to compete with any of these.

It is common for martial arts films to have a unique selling point about the star or their fighting style. In the case of Gymkata, it is the supposed mix of Cabot's gymnastics skills with more traditional eastern fighting styles. This is a mix that certainly has potential, and Thomas isn't a bad fighter, athletic and nimble on his feet, and let's not forget that Bruce Lee was an excellent dancer in his youth, something clearly evident in the graceful sometimes almost balletic look of his on-screen fighting.

But Lee also had bags of on-screen charisma and as well as a deep understanding of how to make fighting look good on screen, projected a real sense of danger, something completely lacking in Thomas. Thankfully, the dull lead actor is more than compensated for by the gloriously silly, albeit also slightly baffling, screenplay.

Right from the start, we get a training montage, a staple of films such as this, and this really sets the tone for the film : equal parts  unpredictable and inexplicable. In keeping with the blend of East and West used in the fighting style, one of his trainers is a huge muscular man who yells at our hero while seemingly trying to kill him. The other is an Asian guy with a hawk, who spouts sound-bites of wisdom and makes Cabot walk up the stairs on his hands, over and over again. This is not accompanied by any “Eye of the Tiger” type music, but simply lots of slightly incongruous cartoon sound effects

Quite why anyone would volunteer to play "The Game" is hard to tell, as nobody has come out of it alive in hundreds of years. However, the King of Parmistan is to be admired for his optimistic boast that he can grant any wish, given that he rules a country that seemingly lacks both electricity and indoor plumbing.

Still, the approach to mental health is something I haven't seen anywhere else. The mentally ill are all sealed up in their own walled city, complete with livestock and a huge array of sharp knives. Oh, and a courtyard containing nothing but a Pommel Horse, which our hero conveniently takes full advantage of to take on an army of attackers, who, conveniently, attack him one at a time.

Any film this relentlessly silly and botched is eventually going to amass a cult following, so it came as no surprise to read that in 2006 Gymkata won an online poll conducted by Amazon and consequently won a DVD release. While Gymkata may lack slickness and competence in front of and behind the camera, it has a cheerful silliness and energy that means things rarely get boring, and while it never reaches the truly unhinged heights of the likes of Plan 9 from Outer Space or Troll 2, this is highly recommended for fans of entertainingly bad films.