Shaw Brothers Presents: Four Films By Lau Kar-Leung

Description

Collection of four Shaw Brothers’ martial arts action thrillers directed by Lau Kar-Leung. ‘Challenge of the Masters’ (1976) explores the conflict between two rival schools. Wong Fei Hung (Gordon Liu) desperately wants kung fu lessons so that he can avenge his school’s humiliation at the hands of its ruthless rival. When his father refuses, Master Lu (Chen Kuan-Tai) agrees to train the young man and soon, he is ready to take on his enemies. In ‘Executioners from Shaolin’ (1977), Pai Mei (Lo Lieh) launches a devastating attack on the Shaolin temple. Hung Hsi Kwan (Kuan-Tai) leads the few survivors to safety and vows to one day have his revenge, working to become a master of the Tiger style of kung fu. He falls in love with Wing Chun (Lily Li), who has mastered the Crane style. When they have a son, they both train him in their respective styles, until it is time for Hung Hsi Kwan to face Pai Mei again… In ‘Heroes of the East’ (1978) Ho Tao (Liu) marries a Japanese woman, Yumiko Koda (Yuka Mizuno), but when they argue about which country has the superior martial arts styles, she returns to Japan. Ho Tao’s efforts to reconcile with her backfire when he inadvertantly offends her sensei Takeno (Kurata Yasuaki), who brings a host of Japanese martial arts masters to China to face him one by one. Finally, in ‘Dirty Ho’ (1979), Master Wang (Liu), who is actually the eleventh son of the Emperor, is travelling incognito to his father’s palace for the naming of the Emperor’s successor when he crosses paths with jewel thief Dirty Ho (Wong Yue). He protects Ho from the police and begins to train him as his disciple and bodyguard. As they journey to the capital together, they face multiple assassination attempts and must uncover who wants the prince dead.