Burning Ambition

Sammo Hung’s 1997 film, Once Upon a Time in China and America, takes Tsui Hark’s beloved franchise off shore with Jet Li in his last outing as the legendary Wong Fei Hung.A surprisingly clumsy handling of triple A property, and with less than half a year production time, it shows. This cobbled together affair is a pale shadow of the far better (produced, acted, plotted) Shanghai Noon which Sammo allegedly stole from Yuen Academy Brother Jackie Chan.Despite the rushed production and your typical neglect of Western performances in HK films (poor Jeff Wolfe), there are glimmers of joy with Hung Yan-Yan (7/club foot/Jet’s stunt double) getting more canvass to showcase his amazing fighting talent, but sadly not much more.

Frankie Chan takes us on a moustachioed journey through the trials, tribulations and twists of a crime family full of backstabbing, plots, and melodrama in this Hong Kong game of thrones.Our hairy hero doesn't even show up until at least halfway but his presence is felt both in the writing and as the director in his 1989 vanity project, barely resembling the Shoguns' Samurai from which it was inspired.Despite it's dramatic set up, it has incredible action fight scenes with kinetic choreography that holds up to anything golden age Golden Harvest can produce, with the most Jeff Falcon that ever Falconed, and criminally underused Yukari Oshima and Kara Hui.

Jimmy Wang Yu’s 1970 trailblazer Chinese Boxer, AKA Hammer of God, may seem quaint now but don’t be fooled. This movie introduced the righteous revenge formula taken to even greater heights by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury and a myriad other homages.  Unique for being the first film to focus primarily on unarmed combat we have a two armed Jimmy Wang Yu who plays a vengeful student who powers up from a training montage to take on a fantastically campy (and unmoustached) Lo Lieh as the brutally deadly Japanese Karateka. This Shaw Bro.’s film is a real epic eschewing their typical set based scenes for wide sprawling vista’s, location shots and environmental scenes. A romping good time with shocking and visceral violence even by today’s standards (eye gouging!) this is a great one to watch and have in your collection.  Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/2EFsjsabrziBMvy3kPAJ9a iTunes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/asian-action-cast/id1230934045

Johnny To’s dark, brooding 2006 crime thriller Exiled explores the complex relationship of a group of best friends turned gangsters and killers on opposing sides.A novel take on the blood is thicker than water tale, it is one part Sleepers and one part Reservoir Dogs, but comparisons are reductive to Johnny’s unique flair, humor and pathos.The characters will capture you, from Anthony Wongs conflicted assassin, Nick Cheungs’s stoic but tragic hero and Simon Yam’ing it up as boss Fay. Unanimously approved by AAC, check it out.

Sabu’s 1996 Directorial debut, Dangan Runner is an absurdist gang caper comedy that has a lot of humor and heart.Coming out a full two years before Run Lola Run, and Lock Stock, it blazed the trail of nailing cinematic serendipity amidst our heroes’ journey (literally) across Tokyo.Tomoro Taguchi, Diamond Yukai and Shinichi Tsutsumi are our running leads, the loser, the drug addict and the yakuza - who discover themselves in the chase of a lifetime. 

Bruce Lee’s 1972 directorial debut, The Way of the Dragon, not only teases the beginning of what could have been, but also introduces the world to the indomitable beast, the late great Chuck Norris.With only one line of dialogue Chuck chews almost as much scenery as Little Dragon Lee himself, mugging and slugging their way across the silver screen.A patchy film at best but shines evermore as a time capsule of cult treasure. Chuck Norris  does not die at the end, he simply waits.

On this episode of the AAC the gang tackle the classic 1987 Hong Kong crime thriller CITY ON FIRE.A direct inspiration for the 1992 smash 'Reservoir Dogs' CITY ON FIRE features an effortlessly cool and fresh faced Chow Yun Fat. Chow is an undercover cop trying to bring down a violent gang, but juggling police infighting, trying to earn the trust of the ganghes infiltrating and keeping his personal life afloat is pushing him to boiling point. Whats gonna give first? Why is Officer John such a jerk? And will that fruit cart get bowled over? Join us and find out!

Re:born is a 2016 military action thriller starring Tak Sakaguchi as the impassively stone faced killer, Ghost, who seems incapable of showing emotion whether on the surface, inside, on or off camera.Featuring a very healthy dose of kinetic and frenetic action with amazing stuntwork, great choreography and visceral kills, the lack of plot barely gets in the way of an entertaining watch. You might not care about anyone you’re watching but they’re doing cool stuff.In fact, the movie takes no effort to tell you who these people are what any of them actually wants, other than dramatically declaring they want to bleed, or their blood is dry, or vaguely and suggestively ‘I want you’, but if you can withstand the barren waste of emotion its not a bad sizzle real of good fights.

This 1997 hidden gem 'Too Many Ways to Be No. 1' from Johnnie To's Milky Way galaxy of genre films comes not just with Golden Harvest's classic Bong Bong but the incredible mind melting enhanced reality of a criminal satire.Featuring a typical Johnnie To understated protagonist Sean Lau as directed by Wai Ka-Fai, what follows is an uneven but incredible intriguing sliding doors story of choosing or controlling our fate through our choices.A lovely blend of comedy, satire and absurdity this is a charming entry into the Asian Action Casts' hall of movies that sparks great memorable moments that linger longer than the run-time.

Jackie Chan’s 2025 thriller, The Shadows Edge brings our hero firmly into the world of spy vs spy counter espionage genre facing off against the masterful Tony Leung Ka-Fai.Not without its flaws, with incomprehensible 1 second smash cuts, pacing and bloat, what shines though is a genuinely tense mental chess game with real stakes.With an actor (Ci Sha) so handsome he had to be more than one character, his resemblance had us wondering if he was related to Takeshi Kaneshiro! This has tons of style, some real heart and a good dose of adrenaline - check it out!