Breakout From Oppression (1973, HK)

Starring: Liu Chia Hui (Gordon Liu),Paul Chun, Dean Shek, Fung Hak-On, Li Lin-Lin. Directed by: Liu Chia Hui (Gordon Liu), Liu Chia-Liang, Yang Fan

This is one of Gordon Liu's earliest movies, and one that was directed by Gordon, his brother Liu Chia-Liang, and Yang Fan.

In "Breakout...", Gordon plays Tsao Chan, a postman who, at the beginning of the movie, is captured by several (presumably) Japanese policemen and is rounded up with some other people for execution. Without blinking an eye he kills all 3-4 of these policemen and escapes with all the other captives.

He then makes his way to East Village, where he has to break the bad news to the villagers that their mail is lost due to his capture. He makes his way to a local house where a murder of several family members has just taken place and the "killers" are fleeing the scene.

Tsao Chan takes the task of tracking these killers down and bringing them to justice all by himself. He traces them to a neighboring village, where they are working for a local packing/shipping company that's managed by a heavy-handed boss and his son. During their spare time the workers all practice kung fu and are very efficient fighters. Tsao must infiltrate the company by becoming the boss's top enforcer while gradually exposing the killers and waiting for the right moment to enforce justice on them. However, are they the true killers? Furthermore, is Tsao Chan's kung fu a match for the workers at this factory?

This movie was obviously shot on an extremely low budget and suffers from some horrible film quality in places, as well as a storyline that can be confusing at times. Also, did the Liu brothers have permission to use the themes from "The Big Boss" and Sergio Leone's "Man With No Name" trilogy in this movie??

Despite these flaws, "Breakout From Oppression" is a notch above most other low-budget kung fu movies from the '70s. The storyline seems to be inspired by, but does not directly use the "Yojimbo" storyline. The fight scenes are excellent, particularly the scene where Gordon Liu covers himself in oil and proceeds to whip the factory's fighters. Also, there are some creative uses of dynamite in two of the movie's big fight scenes! This movie also has the main characters thinking aloud to themselves at times, a couple of creative camera angles, and flashbacks with red camera filters used to enhance the flashback. These are somewhat unusual for martial arts movies of that time.

If you're a fan of Gordon Liu or want to see some of his early stuff, be sure to check this movie out! Also, if you just want to see a good old kung fu movie or one that runs under 80 minutes, you might want to give this one a watch!

Also known as: 最佳搏殺/Sha chu chong wei (Original Mandarin title-HK)

Shaolin and Wu Tang (1985, HK)

Starring: Gordon Liu, Adam Cheng, Idy Chan. Directed by: Gordon Liu

Those of you who are fans of the band The Wu-Tang Clan have no doubt heard sound clips from this movie in their debut CD, "Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)."

The movie starts out with one of the most amazing kung-fu fight scenes you'll ever see when a lone Wu Tang monk takes on an entire squad of Shaolin monks. This fight scene alone is reason enough to track this movie down!

Now to the storyline. In "Shaolin and Wu Tang," Gordon Liu plays Shaolin fighter Hung Jun-kit and Adam Cheng plays Wu Tang fighter Chao Fung-wu. Both are students in the same town, and both are friends despite the rivalry between the two schools. Jun-kit's sister Yan-ling happens to have a crush on Fung-wu.

When the local Qing lord finds out that both students are experts at Shaolin kung-fu and Wu Tang sword styles, he decides that they are a threat and he must learn their respective styles. He also kills the abbot of the Wu Tang school, as well as Yan-ling.

Does the Qing lord turn these two friends against each other, and can he stir up the traditional rivalry between the two schools for his own benefit? Also, can he master the Shaolin Chin Kang Fist technique and the Wu Tang Sword style? Watch and see!

This movie is a true kung-fu classic and is one you'll most certainly want to watch again and again!

Also known as: 少林與武當/Shao Lin yu Wu Dang (Mandarin-original HK title), 少林与武当 (simplified Chinese characters), Shaolin Temple, Part II (unknown), Shaolin contre Wu Tong (France)