A soccer movie - of sorts!
Set sometime in the 1960s the film opens with a young peasant boy on the farm, tending ducks. The lad, Lee Tong (Yuen Biao), falls foul of the local bully boys when he bests their hero in a competition held to honour the village god's feast day. He has to leave the farm, where he lives with his crippled uncle (Eddie Ko), and head for the big city - Hong Kong.
Here he makes some friends - a football mad youngster called Suen (Cheung Kwok-keung) and his sister, Fanny (Moon Lee) - and discovers a talent for football. He also manages to make an enemy of the major soccer idol in town - King (Dick Wei) - and the triads involved in fixing matches. After a misunderstanding Tong becomes ball-boy with King's team (Lung Wah) and in best schoolboy-comic tradition ends up winning the big match for them. Unfortunately King and Lung Wah had been paid to lose the match and had only fielded Lee Tong because they thought he couldn't play! They try to beat up Tong who escapes, vowing never to play football again. However, he is persuaded to join the rival football club (Hsin Seng) when their boss assures him they don't fix matches.
Tong's footballing talent, and his honesty, lead him and Suen into further conflict with King and the triads. A certain amount of one-upmanship is practiced both on and off the pitch (including a kung-fu tango between King and partner and Suen and his partner!) This culminates in a grudge match between the Lung Wah and Hsin Seng clubs.
The football we see is definitely not FIFA approved but the matches (and practice sessions) provide excellent showcases for both Yuen Biao and Dick Wei to demonstrate their prowess. (Not to mention magnificent physiques.) Soccer as a martial art? Definitely. And as this is the Dick Wei fan site I just have to mention DW in maroon and black Speedos...sigh!
This is a fun film and a good platform for both stars to showcase. Unfortunately there are some fight scenes which have (rather obviously) been cut from the Tai seng tape but are in the VCD and DVD versions. Yes, the plot is lightweight but you don't need to know anything about soccer to enjoy it. Get hold of it if you can.
MJS
Starring Dick Wei, Ken Lo, Carina Lau
Mainland Chinese army officer, Lok Han (Dick Wei), takes a 4 day tour to Hong Kong. No ordinary tourist, he is looking for his sister who went to live there and who he hasn't heard from in over a year.
She, meanwhile, is married to Tang Sai Kit (Ken Lo) who is an ex-cop turned hitman for a local triad and is pimping his wife (just one of his nasty characteristics). The boss of the triad is a 'respectable' business man who is standing for Council and needs to protect his position. When one of the gang's whores is killed by a visiting Yakuza the body is thrown into HK harbour and is subsequently found by the police.
The case is given to an elderly policeman - Sergeant Mak - who is on the verge of retiring...and whose niece is the tour guide on the 4 day tour of Hong Kong.
The film is an obvious bridge builder. Lok Han comes to Hong Kong with preconceived ideas about decadence and spiritual poverty. Sergeant Mak believes all mainland Chinese (especially the men) are stupid, helpless and corrupt. As the action unfolds they get to know, respect and like each other.
It is a fabulous vehicle for Dick Wei. He gets to showcase both his physical and acting skills. He is, for once, the hero and even gets to build a relationship/friendship/maybe more with the tour guide - Mak Ying-ying. Though it is characteristically understated, no embracing - just long, meaningful looks.
Ken Lo is wonderfully sinister as the hit man and his end fight with Dick Wei is fitting if not particularly stylish.
This film makes it obvious what a talented actor Dick Wei is. It emphasizes how underused he is when only getting to play 'first hench on the right'.
High points in a superb film:
* The flashback to Lok Han training with his men in the PRC. This is one for the girls as it is a totally gratuitous shirt-off sequence. There are two versions around - the flashback sequence is different in the Cat III cut (Tai Seng tape) and the Cat IIb edit (VCD)!
* The scene where he saves the kid on the Ferris wheel. Cool and efficient. I was impressed with the way the kid just hung on to him with absolute trust. (mind you so would I...)
* The scene where he is sitting with his sister in the police station. She is begging for his forgiveness and he appears to be totally impassive. He isn't though. You can tell from the twitch of his cheek and the agony in his eyes that he is hurting like hell. Sure enough, when she throws herself at him and sobs on his knees he pulls her into a tight embrace (lucky woman!)
* Both his fight scenes with Ken Lo.
A superb and charming film. A 'must see' for Dick Wei fans. Go out and find it at once.
MJS
Warning - these reviews are heavily Dick Wei oriented - and it's a female viewpoint so shut your eyes, guys!
Well known to Jackie Chan fans, this fabulous film has it all. For me it sums up what I love about Hong Kong movies, the action, the fun, the moral integrity and the breath-catching stunts. Of course, once Dick Wei appeared I stopped cheering for the good guys!
Plays Lo San Po, the pirate king. Bare chested throughout (okay so he covers up with a jacket sometimes!) - all those magnificent muscles and intriguing tattoos. Notice how the limp and twisted shoulder disappear as soon as he goes into action. Takes on Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung - at the same time - in the end fight sequence.
Plays Georgie - a cool and honourable villain. A hitman who is a ruthless killer but loyal to his boss. Makes La Rothrock look good in fight sequences against him in what is one of her earlier films.
A revenge movie. Plays Dennis, one half of a team of assassins. When his partner, Larry (Phillip Kao Fei) is killed, Dennis goes all out for revenge against the policewoman who did it. Lot's of angst at his partner's grave, tortured grief and plenty of action.
Plays Barry Lee who joins the triads in order to rescue his sister. A cut and paste also starring Yokari Oshima as a cop. They are, unfortunately, only in one scene together. It isn't a great film but both Dick Wei and the Osh do a lot to lift it from the mire - it ends up as quite a decent film. And DW does get to show off both his martial arts and his acting ability.
Billed as a Chow Yun Fat/Danny Lee film it is more of a vehicle for Dick Wei and Lam Wai. Dick Wei plays Inspector Mak of the RHKP - on the side of the law, for once, but a bit of a maverick. His overwhelming motivation is to avenge his father's murder and is prepared to do anything to get the Triad leader he believes responsible. Unfortunately the same Triad boss is friend and mentor to Lam Wai...
Plays, Wong Wai, a defector from a PRC Wushu troupe who have been touring the USA. Jet Li - his friend - tries to stop him and gets left behind by accident. Wai kills a policeman and becomes involved with the local triads - rising in rank quickly. Jet Li, mistakenly accused of the policeman's murder, escapes and is befriended by the nephew of a local Chinese shopkeeper (played by Stephen Chow Sing Chi). All goes well until Chow Sing Chi becomes involved in a drugs deal which goes sour and is chased by the triads - who also blame Wai for fouling up the deal. It ends in a big fight scene with Jet Li and Dick Wei fighting each other and the triad thugs. Dick Wei acts Jet Li off the screen... Also watch out for the scene where Jet Li supposedly jumps off a bridge - the body shape looks suspiciously like Dick Wei's...
Main fight sequence at the end with Sammo, Yuen Biao and Joyce Godenzi (who he trained on this movie and manages to make look quite good as she defeats him...) Is playing right-hand to Yuen Wah's psychotic villain.
This one is silly. The female snake spirits are rushing around having sex (stealing yang energy) from a number of male characters. They are pursued in their turn by 'Yinsang Monster' who is our very own Dick Wei. He appears throughout in full Peking Opera makeup and costume - which he looks pretty good in but... Not a high point in his career! Even if it proves he can work well on wires too.
Has a lovely (Biao choreographed, from the look of it) fight scene with Jackie. Gets to use a lot of his fabulous swing-kicks. Wow!
A very famous Shaw Brothers film this. You still hear people going on about 'the Venoms' - meaning the actors that played said characters. Unfortunately DW isn't one of them. I watched my print several times before I realised I should be ignoring the lithe bodies of the Venoms' fight opponents and concentrating on the dying sifu of the opening scenes. Sure enough there is DW hiding behind fake, white whiskers! Only in the first few minutes...and I sat though the film at least three times before I twigged... I was a very new DW fan in those days...
A small role. I have to admit I've only seen the 5 minutes DW is in this film. We spot him first on the disco dance floor. He has a good sense of rhythm and an appalling Hawaiian shirt - even he is hard put to look cool. He is lured through to the snooker room by a female assassin. Here a fight ensues but DW is shot. End of role.
A compelling character - gadget man for a small team of Japanese red terrorists. He's obviously in love with Michiko Nishiwaki's character - he will do anything for her. Even against his better judgement. There is an extremely powerful scene where he swears blood-brotherhood to her after her lover is killed. This man is not just decorative - he can act!
Another blink-and-you-miss-him role. I watched this film several times and was beginning think that either someone was mistaken about him being in this or that he'd been cut from the English dub... But something about the eyes, and the hands and the sweep of forehead of one of the ninja assassins in the opening sequences made me look again... sure enough, there he is attempting to kill Sibelle Hu and getting kicked in the balls for his trouble. Ouch!
Plays a Yakuza henchman - wearing tradional high-collared jacket and a small pigtail he has a spectacular fight with Jackie Chan. Up and down stairs and over bannisters. Finishes with Jackie kicking DW in the jaw. DW then does a spectacular dive off the balcony and hits the floor below... nice stunt!
Another vengeance movie. He plays a member of a gang planning a robbery but his brother is killed by Michelle Yeoh...and off he goes after her.
A three minute cameo where he is beaten up and killed while his wife gives birth in the room next door... A blink-and-you-miss-him role. It's a good film despite that.
I'm ashamed to admit that the first time I saw this film I failed to realise how much DW is in it. I say in my defence that it is a great film and I was hard put watching, Lam Ching-Ying, Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung - as well as following the story on subtitles... However, on rewatching I was rewarded with a particularly beautiful DW (High cheekbones, half-shaved head...waah!) in traditional Chinese garb. He plays one of Frankie Chan's minder/henchmen and has some good fight scenes with both Biao and Lam Ching-ying, including a very fine one in a burning Opera house. Looks good in traditional garb and pigtail.
Plays Bandit 5 (or was it 6?) - you know, the cool one with the pigtail and the red scarf. Most people have noticed him in this film without knowing it is Dick Wei! He gets to beat the crap out of Richard Norton and to strut his stuff against Yuen Biao in a fabulously choreographed fight on a balcony. Exciting stuff!
Not a particularly good film and not a big part for our man. But, hey, it's quality not quantity that counts! The warehouse fight is definitely worth the price of the film. What can I say? It's one for the ladies! On one side you have Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Andy Lau Tak-Wah looking cute in skin-hugging vests. On the other you have assorted disposable villains, Kao Fei and other gangsters. However, the eye is drawn to the one 'baddy' in a skin tight (red) vest - our very own, Dick Wei. DW has a superb fight against Jackie. Is it any wonder this portion of my tape is wearing thin?
Looking lean and sinister as chief henchman. Fights Sammo in what looks to be a Biao choreographed fight. Sammo is the hero but in his red track suit (they do nothing for you, Sammo!) cannot compete with the cool, good looks of A-Wei! DW later sports a cheekbone bruise that only makes him look lovlier!
Plays a nasty piece of triad work who escapes from police custody. This puts the young policeman in charge under suspicion of collusion (his family have triad connections) . The cop's step brother (Sing Fu Ann) goes after DW and gets killed this starts a chain of events which end in a spectacular fight scene with DW finally getting killed by Joey Wong!
A made for TV movie - from Taiwan. Dick Wei and Wu Ma. Plays Ah-Lung, a drug dealer and hitman who is under investigation by young cops from both Beijing and Hong Kong. Very low budget but DW is good in it. He is still looking good too despite the overlighting. One scene where he is woken by Wu Ma coming to call late at night has him sitting around in a tight, black vest - the man's still got it! No English subs, unfortunately, but a nice interview with the man tagged on the end of it.
Another made-for-tv movie from the looks of it. DW plays a very senior cop and looks superb in some lovely clothes. We do get a sequence where he is singing in a karaoke bar - and as this bit is in Mandarin (the rest of my copy is dubbed in Cantonese) there is the possibility that it really is him singing. In which case he has a pleasant tenor voice - not great but he can carry a tune... Again no subs... but we got the gist of it.
Plays the big boss to Simon Yam Tat-Wah and Jacky Cheung. He is suitably ruthless and has a spectacular end fight scene against his two former henchmen. Sports a beard, glasses and a succession of wonderful dressing gowns.
Once more with Yuen Biao. Not in it much but is a very cool villain. Even cooler once he and Biao get locked in a freezer together. Their fight sequence turns comedic once the temperature drops and Biao starts to tear clothing off Dick Wei and wrap it round himself... When they are finally released and carried forth by the police (covered in 'spray-on' frost) Dick Wei is rigid and impassive but Biao is visibly shaking. Is this Biao's well known low tolerance to the cold making him shiver or has Dick Wei managed to give 'Mr Poker Face' the giggles? Best bit, though, has to be the fabulous flying spin-kick from the top of a table, via Lowell Lo's jaw, to land on his feet. Wow!
Sammo Hung and Frankie Chan as lovable pickpockets. Dick Wei is a stylish henchman who fights Sammo on a ship. There are one or two places where DW is obviously being stunt doubled (by Yuen Biao who is not otherwise in the movie) at least one of the moves is well within his capabilities which implies it was before Sammo was used to working with him...
A charming supernatural romance. Chow Yun Fat plays a happy-go-lucky and hapless hero who inherits supernatural powers. He has an affair with the girl who is sent to teach him about his inheritance...despite still being in love with his girlfriend. As if his love life wasn't complication enough he has to cope with his new telekinetic powers and an evil, unhuman, panther spirit (Dick Wei) who pursues him from Nepal to Hong Kong. DW looks totally inhuman and delivers his one line (a panther-like scream) to chilling effect. DW also has some very nice sequences on horseback - looks lovely (of course!) Great stuff!
A small role - he plays the bounty hunter who ambushes Ti Lung at the start of the film - just after the titles. It is a good fight sequence - DW using large sword versus Ti Lung's eponimous iron chain. Wonderful sequence but far too short - those two worked well together, not bad considering how inexperienced Dick Wei must have been at the time.
A real 'blink-and-you-miss-him. He's very young, very beautiful ... and in it for all of 30 seconds! (at least in the version I have.)
Again only in it for five minutes at the very beginning. He is one of the Tigers who cripple the rich man's son - thereby setting the film's plot into motion. It's a Venom's picture and is quite good but it lost it's sparkle for me once Ah Wei was killed.
Yokari Oshima and Mok Sui Ching are the stars but Dick Wei gets to showcase a lot as chief henchman. It is a run of the mill actioner made at about the time DW was obviously becoming self concious about his thinning hair - how else can you explain his silly hat? - Don't worry about it man, it's the action and the acting that make us keep on watching.
Had a weird feeling of deja vu when I first saw this film. Perhaps it had something to do with the obvious cut-and-paste nature of the film... maybe I've seen the other bits elsewhere. Actually DW plays a total scumbag in this. Chief henchman, yes, but definately not honourable. He's good, of course, but I kept expecting him to do the honourable thing because it was Dick Wei - and he doesn't!
A cunning cameo which plays on the audiences' expected familiarity with DW's normal roles! Another five minute characterisation that makes you believe in the man he's supposed to be. DW is a superb actor...what more can I say? (actually Melvin Wong is superb in this finely crafted film and it really is well worth getting you hands on.)
(Dir: Yeun Woo Ping. Cast: Yeun Woo Ping; Donny Yen; Dick Wei)
This film should stand as a warning to all who have ambitions towards, but no talent for, comedy. Donny Yen and Yeun Woo Ping, for all their talents in other directions are not good comics!
This is a Kung-fu/ break-dancing comedy! Donny is the new kid in town - falls foul of the reigning champion etc. etc. However, along the way he encounters a bodybuilder/fighter who, for reasons of his own, decides Donny is the ultimate fighter. So, in order to test himself against the best, decides he must fight Donny... much to Donny's dismay. This character is played, straightfaced and at 90 degrees to the reality of the film, by Dick Wei. He steals the movie.
Early in his career, Donny Yen had a serious injury to his shoulder - I suspect it might have been whilst making this movie. There is one scene where Dick Wei throws Donny Yen out of a boxing ring and he looks as if he falls badly. Other than that... this is a great movie for Dick Wei fans but if you are a fan of Donny Yen - or comedy - avoid it.
This film seems to have an identity crisis - it can't decide whether to be a comedy, a triad movie or mawkishly sentimental drama. However, Dick Wei is superb as the (more-or-less) honourable triad, who goes bad. This movie gives him ample opportunity to showcase his fighting skills beautifully and even to act a little. I've seen this movie described as his best work, I would disagree with that unless you are only interested in his fighting. It is certainly the best showcase of his fighting skills I have come across. It's well worth laying your hands on this movie if you can.
(Dir: Phillip Kao. Cast: Dick Wei, Yukari Oshima, Cheung Kwok-keung and half of the HK film industry!)
A cop (Cheung Kwok-keung ) goes from Hong Kong to Thailand to track down the men who killed his family as revenge for his non-cooperation in a drug deal.
Dick wei plays 'Bull', a retired guerilla turned kickboxer, who becomes involved when his ex-boss' daughter (The Osh) comes to him for help in preventing their ideals being compromised by drug dealers. They team up with the cop from HK and mayhem ensues.
This could be a good little movie, if it wasn't for Phillip Kao's penchant for adding in half a dozen extraneous story lines. It's too muddled - but Dick Wei and the Osh get some nice fight scenes.
Cast: Richard Norton; Dick Wei
Dick Wei plays the imaginatively named 'Bad Brother', an ex- Vietcong soldier, he is busy tracking down and killing the members of a U.S. platoon who stole his gold form a village during the Vietnam war.
Richard Norton, a US Marine investigator (probably the only Australian one in the history of the corps!), gets called in to investigate the killings and ends up playing Rambo to destroy the terrorist training camp (Bad Brother's day job is training terrorists) and killing Bad Brother.
A cheap but unpretentious movie. Don't expect Shakespearian acting but the fights are good - and it's fun.
(Dir: Chang Cheh: Cast: The Venoms; Wei Pai; Ti Lung; Fu Sheng and many other Shaw Brothers stalwarts... oh, and Dick Wei, of course.)
In the usual fashion of these Shaw Brothers films, we are introduced to our heroes, and their martial arts styles, one by one. However, as there are ten eponymous heroes in this offering (not to mention the bad guys) it takesover an hour just to introduce them. Chang Cheh then had to, somehow, deal with the story in half an hour. Which he does by putting in a framing piece where the next generation are being killed in revenge for what the Ten Tigers did... and we get our eplainations in flashback.
It is slow and stagey but (for the girls) the scenery is good. I mean to say, Wei Pai, Ti Lung and Dick Wei in the same scene! Oh, why isn't my copy widescreen?!