Category Archives: Asian Import Titles

Chow Yun-fat returns to the role that made him famous back in his Hong Kong TV days by portraying Shanghai crime boss Cheng in director Wong Jing’s The Last Tycoon. Also starring Hong Kong acting veterans Sammo Hung and Francis … Continue reading →

It’s fair to say that for Hong Kong action buffs living in the West, Jackie Chan’s CZ12 (AKA Chinese Zodiac) has been one of the most anticipated films of the year. While the film broke opening day box office records … Continue reading →

Coming to Import Blu-ray and DVD this Friday, October 12th, is the Chinese-language espionage thriller The Silent War. And you couldn’t ask for a better pedigree than the team behind this movie. Directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, the filmmaking duo … Continue reading →

Gordon Chan, director of the 90′s martial arts classic Fist of Legend, is back with a special effects-infused Chinese wuxia. The Four stars Anthony Wong, Deng Chao, Ronald Cheng, Collin Chou, and Crystal Liu. A plot to overthrow the Chinese … Continue reading →

Fans of fight flicks know that whatever director Prachya Pinkaew (Ong-bak, Chocolate) touches is typically full of bone-crunching martial arts goodness. In 2011′s The Kick, Pinkaew teamed up with his Chocolate star JeeJa Yanin to tell the story of a Korean … Continue reading →

Actor Nick Cheung famously spent half a year getting into physical shape for director Roy Chow’s dark detective thriller Nightfall. The results apparently paid off, as a slimmed down and toned up Cheung helped Nightfall earn over 40 million yuan … Continue reading →

Mainland China has seen a sudden surge of gruesome horror movies within the last year or so, a renaissance of new fright flicks with high production values and attractive casts. 2012′s Any Other Side continues this trend with an anthology-style … Continue reading →

The Project A series remains one of Jackie Chan’s most beloved cinematic ventures, due in large part to the 1984 original that managed to perfect Chan’s Buster Keaton-esque physical comedy and play off of the chemistry of the Three Brothers … Continue reading →

From Sion Sono, the acclaimed director of Suicide Club and Love Exposure, comes a terrifying new vision of sexual depravity and murder. The Red Light District of Shibuya, Japan, is infamous for offering patrons a window into an underworld of … Continue reading →

Speed Angels may not have been the best reviewed Chinese-language film of 2011, but when when you’ve got good-lookin’ ladies and fast cars who really needs critical acclaim? Certainly not commercial filmmaker Jingle Ma (Tokyo Raiders, Hot War), who wrote … Continue reading →

The poster for the upcoming action-drama Legendary Amazons has been revealed. Director Frankie Chan Fun Kei (who is famous for his endless line of Hong Kong film scores) says that he added the romance involving Mu Guiying (Cecilia Cheung) and … Continue reading →

This is the cinematic event Hong Kong movie fans have been waiting for. Martial arts superstar Jet Li reteams with one of the greatest directors of all time, Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China, Time & Tide), for … Continue reading →

After a limited theatrical run in the States, director Dante Lam’s The Viral Factor is making its way to Hong Kong Blu-ray and DVD. This international action blockbuster stars Nicholas Tse (The Stool Pigeon) and Jay Chou (The Green Hornet) … Continue reading →

The 2009 Hindi-language movie 3 Idiots was a big deal in India. How big? Well, it became the highest-grossing Bollywood movie of all time in that country. It also set a new standard for overseas grosses as it was the … Continue reading →

The Great Magician is a 2011 Chinese language film from director Derek Yee (The Shinjuku Incident, One Nite in Mongkok), starring Hong Kong acting heavyweights Tony Leung Ciu Wau and Lau Ching Wan, as well as the incomparably lovely Zhou … Continue reading →

Is there any greater cinematic crime, in this day in age, than a Donnie Yen action flick not receiving distribution in the West? And yet this remains the case with 2011′s The Lost Bladesman. This is a historical epic based … Continue reading →

Before he wowed international audiences with his blistering Korean War drama The Front Line, director Jung Hun delivered a decidedly modern thriller in Secret Reunion. This 2010 film stars Korea’s most recognizable actor, Song Kang-ho (Thirst, The Host, Memories of … Continue reading →

Ah, who can forget the 1980′s practice of taking popular and long-running anime series and chopping them down, editing them for content, and dubbing them for American children? Cartoons like Robotech and Star Blazers were landmark shows for a generation … Continue reading →

Here at Cityonfire.com, we universally love Peter Chan’s 2011 film Wu Xia. Guest reviewer DiP gave it a 10/10; Mighty Peking Man said that if it was the kind of martial arts film Bruce Lee would make if he were … Continue reading →

It’s not an easy being a monk. You’ve got to abstain from earthly pleasures and stay focused on the holy path. And sometimes you’re called upon to kick demon ass. At least that’s what happens to Jet Li in The … Continue reading →

Monster movie Sector 7 didn’t exactly earn glowing reviews last year but it did go on to become the highest-grossing Korean-language film of all time in China. How can you go wrong with a crew of workers trapped on an … Continue reading →

Back in 2004, the supernatural military thriller R-Point was a hit at both the Korean domestic box office and in the States as part of Tartan’s beloved “Asia Extreme” DVD line. Now the director of that film, Su-chang Kong, is … Continue reading →

Since retiring from the film business, the Shaw Brothers have transformed into a successful television production studio known as TVB. One of their biggest hits was a series called Lives of Omission starring Michael Tse. That show was actually a … Continue reading →

Directed/written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong (“Infernal Affairs Trilogy”); Starring Lau Ching Wan (“A Hero Never Dies”), Louis Koo (“Bullets Over Summer”) and Daniel Wu (“Shinjuku Incident”), and produced by Derek Yee (“One Nite in Mongkok”). The movie will … Continue reading →

Twitch has your first look at the trailer for Fist of Legend director Gordan Chan’s next film, the stylish fantasy-action-romance Mural. The project began as a proposed sequel to 2008′s Painted Skin but soon became its own entity. The story … Continue reading →

Thanks to hit action-thrillers like Fire of Conscience and The Viral Factor, Dante Lam is arguably the biggest director in Hong Kong cinema right now. That might lead you to believe that all of his recent films would be readily … Continue reading →

SIU is a high-octane police thriller from the booming Korean film industry. The plot concerns two cops with differing methods who are tasked with investigating a drug-related murder. It doesn’t take long for the trail of corruption to lead to … Continue reading →

Hong Kong director Wilson Yip may be best known in the West for his martial arts collaborations with Donnie Yen, like Ip Man and Flash Point, but he’s no stranger to special effects-laden blockbusters either. In 2006, he brought a … Continue reading →

Once I saw the trailer for this film, I just had to post about it. From acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Ching Po (Jiang Hu AKA Triad Underworld, Revenge: A Love Story) comes Let’s Go, an over-the-top action yarn about … Continue reading →

Director Daniel Lee (14 Blades) has wrapped up White Vengeance (aka Hong Men Yan), a Chinese historical film that centers on the Feast at Hong Gate/Hongmen Banquet, one of the important events in the Chu–Han Contention. The film stars Leon … Continue reading →