Operation Scorpio (1990)

Operation Scorpio suffers a little from an overly cheesy and naive script and some embarrassing cinematography, but brings to the table sufficient strengths to make bearing its weaknesses worthwhile. It's chief strengths are two:

Lau Kar-Leung
Kim Won-Jin

... because these are simply two of the most accomplished martial artists out there. Lau Kar-Leung is one of the greatest choreographers Hong Kong has ever known, and a profound influence on the development of HK martial arts cinema. Even at his relatively advanced age here, he still has incredible skills.

Kim Won-Jin is several generations younger, but one of the most physically incredible martial artists I've ever seen. His speed, precision, flexibility and power are all jaw dropping. I'm really surprised we didn't see a lot more of him in HK movies after Operation Scorpio*.

The plot for the movie is largely forgettable, though it does at least try to have some depth and feeling. The action scenes, however, are fantastic - the movie must be seen for these alone.

* He did eventually become one of South Korea's top fight choreographers though.