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SCREEN CAPTURES:
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| Carman Lee and friends |
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STARRING: Willie Chi Tian-Sheng
John Ching Tung
REVIEW:
Darn good ancient costume kung-fu and sword movie from that master of touch-feely films, Ringo Lam. Plot: During the Ching Dynasty, martial arts hero Fong Sai-Yuk (Willie Chi) is chased by Manchu soldiers. He shacks up with a runaway prostitute (Carman Lee), but the two are caught and taken to the Red Lotus Temple, the scariest place since the Temple of Doom. There the head baddie (Wong Kam-Kong) terrorizes everyone by tearing the heads off of women and painting scary looking stuff on the walls. Then lots of fighting occurs.
Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam collaborated to make this dark, well-made kung-fu picture that's a departure from anything Lam has previously done. Ostensibly a coming-out vehicle for new kung-fu star Willie Chi (who went on to become nobody), Burning Paradise is more successful as a pure action-adventure exercise. Despite occasional but unobstrusive wackiness, the film is sure to please a multitude of fans. A minimum of wirework, great choreography, and terrific atmosphere combine to make this one of the more satisfying costume adventure pics of the early nineties. Sadly, it was also a complete and total flop. [REVIEWED BY KOZO 1995] |
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