webhamster Reviews

Shogun Assassin (1980)

this is a must see

[1 November 2001]

This film is cut together out of pieces of the first two films from the OKAMI (LONE WOLF AND CUB) series. If you're looking for samurai action only, this one's for you - if you prefer an indepth understanding of the whole story, I recommend to start with the series mentioned above.

Apart from all that: GREAT CINEMA - GO FOR IT.

Some trivia: All inserts on the hiphop album GENIUS (of the Wu Tang Clan) "Liquid Swords" are sampled from the english dubbed version of SHOGUN ASSASSIN, which is interesting because all samples from other Wu Tang Projects are taken from Chinese, not Japanese movies (as the band's name already says... mostly old school kung fu stuff with Wu Tang reference).

Ringu (1998)

A MUST SEE HORROR MOVIE

[8/10 · 2 April 2001]

This is not your slice-up-cheapo, this is the most atmospheric chiller in years. Though the story is rather simple, this one catches you from the first to the last minute - for the simple reason that it IS really scary. And - since this was the tagline - yes, I do think it's not only better, but also more scary than THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. As I said before, REALLY scary. And - no, it's not a rip-off of that teenie movie mentioned above. I saw a subtitled DVD from the UK, which appeared to be uncut (since the movie is not gory, I doubt that any censorship board elsewhere will demand any cuts). And don't worry about language - RING isn't too talky, so this shouldn't be a problem even if you're not used to subtitled versions. Believe the hype. And... don't watch it alone ;-)

American Kickboxer 2 (1993)

waste of time

[1/10 · 2 April 2001]

If this is your first kickbox flick, you might not be too bored. If otherwise - DON'T WATCH THIS. No story, no actors, no budget. And - worst of all - even the fight sequences are much less than standard. After 45 minutes I got angry at myself for having spent 5 bucks for the tape. Watch CYBORG or BLOODSPORT if you want the real thing - and if you've already seen them - do it again rather than watching this uninspired one. the webhamster's rating is 0/10.

The Red Wolf (1995)

nice - but Woo Ping did already better

[2 April 2001]

Don't expect too much - the action is good, but hongkie buffs have seen it all before. Also, the story is a UNDER SIEGE rip-off (rather than DIE HARD, as mentioned in another review above). If you want me to compare it with others of this kind - I personally prefer HIGH RISK (this! was the DIE HARD rip-off, fella). the webhamster sez 4/10.

Mountain Warriors (1992)

pointless but entertaining

[3/10 · 2 April 2001]

Went to the videoshop and was really bored from what I was seeing there, so I picked up this one. The version I saw is an unsubtitled HK ex-rental tape, so I didn't understand a single word. Every 5 minutes someone gets beaten up, shot, stabbed or whatever. In midst of all that carnage Eddy Ko from John Woo's HEROES SHED NO TEARS (aka THE SUNSET HERO). See, this is exactly the kind of stuff you'll end up watching if you do to much of that weird flicks all the time - don't blame me ;-)

Tiger on the Beat 2 (1990)

entertaining

[5/10 · 2 April 2001]

If you liked the first one, go for it. It lacks the presence of Chow Yun Fat, but Conan Lee and Danny Lee are still do kick it. Again Liu Chia Liang's fight choreographies are brilliant, though there is no really awesome idea such as the chainsaw sequence in it's predecessor. the webhamster sez 5/10.