Period Film Reviews

Superlative - everyone should see this

Great, a must-see if you like the genre

Good, a decent example of the genre

Watchable, but only for serious genre fans

Unwatchable

Half stars could have gone either way depending on mood.

Movie Name / Release Year	Summary	Date	Reviewer
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)	Fine, if a little insubstantial	2022-01-22	Simon
Forbidden City Cop (1996)	One of the best Stephen Chiau films of the 1990's	2021-12-12	Simon
Once Upon A Time In China IV (1993)	The low point of the series	2021-12-04	Simon
The Magnificent Trio (1966)	Deserves more appreciation	2021-11-29	Simon
The Hidden Fortress (1958)	Beautifully filmed	2021-11-14	Simon
Hand Of Death (1976)	Largely forgettable Shaolin story	2021-11-13	Simon
Twelve Gold Medallions (1970)	Not quite as impressive as I remembered	2021-11-07	Simon
Hail The Judge (1994)	A few good scenes but suffers in translation	2021-09-21	Simon
Millionaires' Express (1986)	Sammo really went all-out on this one	2021-09-19	Simon
Punk Samurai Slash Down (2018)	The most bonkers film I've seen in a while	2021-09-18	Simon
Legend Of The Eight Samurai (1983)	Splendidly cheesy swords & sorcery epic	2021-08-20	Simon
Web Of Death (1976)	Goofy but entertaining	2021-08-08	Simon
Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)	Sequel switches onto a different track	2021-08-01	Simon
Golden Swallow (1968)	Chang Cheh brings his own style to Come Drink With Me sequel	2021-08-01	Simon
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)	A strange film to end the series on	2021-07-30	Simon
Ong Bak 3 (2010)	Reduced in scale and ambition, but brings closure	2021-07-26	Simon
Ong Bak 2 (2008)	Due for a reappraisal	2021-07-26	Simon
One-Armed Swordsman (1967)	One of the pillars of martial arts cinema	2021-07-18	Simon
Gemini (1999)	A surreal and sumptuous period horror from Shinya Tsukamoto	2021-07-07	Simon
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)	Ferocious!	2021-07-05	Simon
The Postman Fights Back (1982)	Some good moments but they don't cohere into a strong film	2021-07-02	Simon
Padmaavat (2018)	Looks pretty but weak in most other respects	2021-06-28	Simon
Executioners From Shaolin (1977)	Less obviously a Lau Kar-Leung film than most he directed	2021-06-20	Simon
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)	The legend returns	2021-06-19	Simon
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)	Good if not quite great conclusion	2021-06-17	Simon
The Magic Blade (1976)	One of the best Gu Long adaptations	2021-06-07	Simon
Rurouni Kenshin (2012)	A slick and fresh take on the martial arts genre	2021-06-06	Simon
Bells Of Death (1968)	Simple but effective story of revenge	2021-06-06	Simon
One-Armed Boxer (1972)	Silly but fun	2021-05-29	Simon
Shaolin Vs Evil Dead: Ultimate Power (2006)	Cheap and cheesy sequel/prequel that's fun to watch	2021-05-22	Simon