Angela Mao Ying Collection

Angela Mao Ling's incredible talent was wasted in the early 1970s, when production, direction, and screen writing of Chinese martial arts movies were so appallingly primitive. If she had been born and discovered fifteen years later, she might have eclipsed even Michelle Yeoh, whose graceful moves lacked the amazing power and intensity of Mao, a third-dan black belt.This collection contains a couple of really abysmally stupid movies ("Stoner," in particular, being a "suspense" drama about drug smuggling, in which Mao is the victim of poor direction, an absurd script, and she barely gets to fight at all). But "The Himalayan" is a classic period-kung-fu drama with a complicated plot, a lot of dead bodies, and one of the most despicable villains of all time, and "When Taekwondo Strikes" has an epic climactic fight sequence in which Mao's skill is breathtaking. This also appears to be the most cheaply made picture, with a single set doing dual duty as a street in Korea and Hong Kong, the only significant difference being the language on the street signs.Much of the fight choreography in these six movies seems to be the work of Sammo Hung, who also appears in most of them, although not in any major roles. So the choreography is excellent, and the digital transfer is good, bearing in mind the age of the original prints. You can watch with a finger on the fast-forward button, looking for the fights and appreciating the incredible skill of this petite, beautiful woman who was arguably the first Asian female martial-arts protagonist to beat up male antagonists (while alas being forced to costar with men, presumably out of anxiety that a solo woman wouldn't satisfy the audience for kung-fu drama).If only she had just come along a little later . . . we can imagine her costaring with Jet Li. Or displaying her skills in a serious movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If only.

I bought this for my dad. Fans of "old school" Hong Kong cinema should enjoy this. The quality of the DVD packaging and the movie(s) are good. So glad Dragon Dynasty picked these up, dusted them off and presented them to HK cinema fans!

Came on time. And definitely like watching these Kung Fu classics. Takes me back to my youth

I chose this collection because it had the Himalayan on it, which was chosen by Angela Mao Ying herself in an interview on a previous dvd. Will be nice to see more selections, but do find some of these old martial arts films fairly poor production and very formulatic.

Got it for my dad who is a movie freak and he loved it

Classic martial arts ... Anglea Mao performs magnificently!

ok

Only enjoyed Broken Oath not the others.

Nicht nur für Angela Mao - Fans ist diese Box eine Offenbarung. Da kommen Easternfans einfach nicht dran vorbei. Eine lang ersehnte DVD-Box, die in jede gut sortierte Easternsammlung gehört.

Once upon a time there was a petite Chinese girl, who someone taught kung fu... and then she went on the warpath and all hell broke loose!Contained in this collection are 6 Angela Mao Ying movies from the 1970s (The Himalayan, When Tae~Kwon~Do Strikes, Stoner, Broken Oath, The Tournament and The Queen's Ransom.), featuring Angela fighting for justice or revenge. Films which I will reviewin the order of watching... So if a particular film's review is not on here yet I will be editing this review as I go..Broken Oath ('77)When a General's elite bodyguard turn on him, his pregnant wife is left imprisoned and seeking vengeance for the callous slaughter of her husband... Months pass, and when the time comes, she gives birth to a daughter, sadly dying during the delivery, cursing her hubby's killers as she snuffs it... But just before the child is discarded in the dustbin outside to die, she is smuggled out to a Shaolin temple/convent where they agree to bring 'Little Lotus' up...Years pass and 'Little Lotus' grows up to be a skilled fighter, under the watchful tuition of her matriarchal teachers; but deep down, despite her training, she harbours an aggressive mean streak which makes her almost uncontrollable at times, and they are forced to expel her...A mean streak, which once unleashed unto the unwitting population of mainland China, sees her realise her true destiny, and go hunting for her father's murderers where ever they may be.. So from the seediest brothels in Shanghai, to the Magistrate's own palace. Revenge must be achieved irrespective of the cost...!What a great opportunity for Angela Mao Ying to really showcase her facial expressions of total brassed off-ed-ness, whilst round housing her adversaries into chop socky movie oblivion! Which in a nutshell is about the size of this Golden Harvest production..Admittedly this isn't her best fight flick, but nonetheless, it still delivers everything you'll want to see, from a film who's central premise, requires the viewer to get on board with the idea of twisted original sin and a Shoalin girl, who has a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.But vengeance is almost always the order of the day in these right?So personally I thought it was very cool, and really enjoyed it.. Sporting some decent fight choreography (Yuen Woo Ping and Hsu Hsia), with the stunning Mao Ying really unleashing some scorpion styled fury!Sure, one could argue that character reasoning goes flying out of the window about 10m in, but don't worry about all that, because once again, when Angie gets her grump on, she really kicks some poor fellas' backsides!The print on this one looks great, it's dubbed and subbed (I alternated between the two, before opting for subbed about 5mins in, which seemed to give the story a keener edge some how..) and widescreen. As with the rest of the set, it's two movies per disc. So no extras.4.25/5The Tournament ('74)When gangsters force a student of Chinese martial arts into owing them money, he talks his master into letting him and a fellow student (Carter Wong) go to Thailand, where they can compete in some muay thai events, so that they might win and earn the money needed to cover the debt he has inherited.Extremely reluctant, their master eventually agrees, and goes with them. But of course when they get there, the format is not designed for Chinese kung fu, and to say that they get a hiding.. is somewhat of an understatement!So with one pupil dead, the other beaten to a pulp, and China's martial arts reputation in tatters, the kung fu master returns home to a barrage of criticism and abuse from his fellow colleagues at the Chinese Martial Arts Council.Unable to cope with this kind of verbal battering and shame, the old man hangs himself, leaving his son and daughter the laughing stock of the town, in a now pupil~less school, with both the Chinese Martial Arts Council and a rival Japanese karate school all trying to take over their gymnasium.But like Confucius say: 'hell hath no fury like diminutive Chinese girl with well hung father', and so the stage is set for the dead master's daughter to convince everyone that, not only does her family actually have some skillz, but also that the Chinese must learn techniques from the Thai fighters, if they are to stand any chance of beating them at their own game and restoring some Chinese pride...This is a really good movie that fight fans are bound to enjoy. Angela really shows off some moves in this one, balancing on a pole and then beating up action director Sammo Hung (also action directed by Chan Chuen) with some traditional styles, hapkido and even a bit of Eagle Claw!!Half way through Angela cuts her hair short and goes to Thailand to learn what she can before the final showdown with some Thai gangsters and, rather inevitably, everyone's favourite bad guys in these... The Japanese!Her fight with the Karate teacher played by Whang In Sik, possibly being the highlight of the film.This is very similar to Angela's earlier Hapkido ('72), and though maybe not quite as good, is still an extremely entertaining 1970s fu flick.Dubbed or subbed, widescreen, good picture quality. A highpoint of the set.4.75/5The Himilayan ('76)A wealthy Chinese family marry off their daughter to a Himilayan man, however he is an imposter and soon it transpires that his evil brother (well, brother of the real suitor), has hatched a dastardly plot to gain total domination over the rich family and all it's business!This is achieved by unscrupulous lying, wanton murder and many other naughtinesses of the highest order, eventually disgracing the daughter and leaving her for dead, when she is forced to go white water rafting whilst nailed to a door!Will the local farm boy save her? And if so, will they be able to defeat the bad guys and get her family estate back..?This starts off a little slowly but as it moves on picks up the pace to such a standard that it becomes very entertaining indeed by the end.I saw an interview wherein Angela Mao Ying stated this was one of her favourite starring roles, and it shows, because not once (unfortunately) does she bear her trademark 'war face' during the proceeding fights.. Even though Chan Sing ~ who must have had a 'strip down to waist for every fight' clause in this ~ behaves like a complete and utter b****** throughout.. Murdering just about everyone he comes into contact with (apart from only a few of his cronies) with his deadly Shaolin Tiger Claw technique ~ fitting behaviour indeed for a rascal named Kao Chu!With Flash-legs Tan the other hero, providing us with a marginally less dweeby haircut than usual, and all the fantastic kicking (by the end) that you would expect!Sammo Hung & Han Ying Chieh doing the action direction, as well as starring, along with regular Angela Mao Ying director, Wong Fung, also showing up as the Mi Abbott.. Although I don't think it's any of their finest hours.There's also a couple of unexpected 'rude' moments in this (not Angela!), that although not unwelcome, seemed rather out of place somehow!Subbed or Dubbed, the picture quality is a little more fragile than some of the others on this boxset, but the Himalayan footage still looks great, especially during the opening 15m.4/5Stoner ('74)Two cops, one from Seattle(?!) via Sydney Australia, the other from Taiwan, go to China in an attempt to bust up a narcotics syndicate, that is taking the world by storm with their newly created, albeit not very inventively named, 'Happy Pills'.One cop has a porn~tasche, the other is Angela Mao Ying, and unknown to one another, they make efforts to infiltrate the bad guys cave of power and put a stop to all this 'happiness'..The bad guys are no clowns though, and are on the good guys' cases from the moment they get off the plane, Lazenby (the Stoner of the title) easy to pinpoint, sticking out like a gargantuan sore thumb, with his western heritage and checkered sports jackets! The baddies making every effort ~ that is when they're not indulging in psychedelic drug orgies ~ to ensure their operations continue to run smoothly...This is a great film it really is, and a lesson in 70s kitsch that you'll never forget if you're that way inclined.One of those East meets West offerings like the Shaw Brothers/Hammer film 'Shatter', or Trenchard~Smith's 'The Man From Hong Kong'.There's sex and violence galore, awful fashions, lollipop fellatio, top kung fu, drug orgies, oriental Bond villains, ludicrous plotting, boobs, the works!!Lazenby strutting around as the worst undercover cop in film history, dressed like the man from C&A, getting into fight after fight, on discovering some girl he knows having become a victim of the narcotic named 'Happy Pills'..Angela Mao Ying providing the fists and feet, whilst managing to keep all her clothes on, when the rest of the female cast seem to be losing theirs.All the Golden Harvest produced 'Angela Mao Ying regulars' are present, both behind and in front of the camera. So you can expect plenty of tight action from Sammo and the gang. Lazenby holding his own against some very skillful talent.Other highlights included here are a fight on a revolving floor, and some ladies serving cocktails in rather revealing dresses. Albeit the main villain doesn't have a menagerie of dangerous animals (a snake pit, shark infested pool, crocodiles on chains etc) which would've been cool..The fact that this is absolute trash aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie (think Enter The Dragon but without a kung fu tournament... errr... or Bruce Lee!), and was kept entertained, one way or another, all the way through.They sure don't make em like this any more.As far as I am aware this seems to be the longer print of the movie (not just the truncated US video dub) and is both dubbed and subbed in order to give you scenes which were only previously found on the Hong Kong release. Good Print.4.5/5A Queen's Ransom ('76)A gang of international super thugs, led by IRA man George Lazenby ~ Yes, you did read that correctly... IRA man George Lazenby! ~ decide they are going to blow up (or is it shoot? They cant decide.) Queen Elizabeth II, during her visit to Hong Kong.But the police know they are up to no good and are watching the bad guys like hawks.Meanwhile escaping the unrest in her native country, the princess of Cambodia (Angela Mao Ying) hides out in someone's potting shed.Somehow all these events manage to tie themselves together, leading to an unexpected but explosive finale...This is a strange little film for sure. The story featuring loads of double crosses, ludicrous character motives and mass general confusion.It isn't really an Angela Mao Ying film, especially when you think that she is barely in the film at all for the first hour. Queen Elizabeth II (who plays herself), probably enjoying more screen time.Jimmy Wang Yu is probably featured the most, or possibly George Lazenby (his dubbed Irish voice is pitiful!), but then both of those guys play baddies!?! So not traditionally characters you'd give leading screen time too..There's not much kung fu in this, one or two moments and that's it, but having said that the ending is fairly action packed and other positives come by way of some of the lousy outfits and decor on display in the houses. Lazenby's 'naked lady' wallpaper, a prime example of the kitsch on display. Not to mention the wakka chikka wakka chikka music that plays over some set pieces, and the 70s porno music that plays over the love scenes.Lazenby's clothed love scene coming across as particularly aggressive!Overall one has to wonder what on earth they were doing when they wrote this tosh.Nice print. Dubbed and subbed.2.75/5When Taekwondo Strikes ('72).During the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1930s, a school of Japanese heavies start pushing around the locals (again!), convinced that there are rebels hiding under of every stone, about to overthrow their power at the drop of hat.As it's a well known fact that the Japanese are portrayed as totally ruthless in these (not exclusively) Golden Harvest productions of the era, here we even discover that they aren't even beneath walking into a catholic church in order to beat up the vicar and his congregation!!The rascals!Eventually they kidnap the priest and torture him until the leader of the Korean rebels (who is a Taekwondo master) gives himself up, meanwhile the school disbands and are sent to the far flung reaches of China awaiting orders, but are soon to regroup in a last ditch attempt to free their master and take down the Nippons..Mostly this is great fun, and I was generally surprised to see some western fighters in here too. The Japs have baddies like Samo Hung and Whang In Sik amongst there ranks, where the goodies have Carter Wong, Angela Mao and real life Taekwondo master Jhoon Rhee in theirs.Of course there's a huge segment of the film where the noble Korean master refuses to fight. Which is rather annoying, and at one point I was getting to thinking that this should have been retitled When Taekwondo Doesn't Strike! But don't let that put you off watching this, because fortunately the rest of the cast don't seem to give a monkey's about there masters wishes and continue to scrap with the Japs regardless.. Which leads up to the final battle where the Taekwondo master finally having had enough unleashes his Taekwondo powers!Vaguely reminiscent of AMY's Hapkido, not to mention Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury and The Big Boss, this is a solid ~ if slightly dated effort that is guaranteed to have fight fans on the edge of their seat by the climax!I actually watched this disc first (a few weeks ago) and then went and reviewed the movie last on here.. I know, I know, no logic whatsoever! But from what I remember of the disc, the print was really good, widescreen and both subbed and dubbed.4.5/5On a final note, this is a great set, and one which will please many Angela Mao Ying fans like myself. I just hope that it sells well enough and that Shout do another one of these incorporating Deadly China Doll, Back Alley Princess, Thunderbolt, The Fate of Lee Khan etc etc..But for now this will have to do!