This reference is intended for fans of Hong Kong action films. Fully illustrated, it provides a history of the genre together with selected filmographies and a glossary of unfamiliar terms. Subjects include the legendary Bruce Lee, John Woo, Jackie Chan, Ching Siu Tung, Chow Yun Fat and Tsui Hark.
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This reference is intended for fans of Hong Kong action films. Fully illustrated, it provides a history of the genre together with selected filmographies and a glossary of unfamiliar terms. Subjects include the legendary Bruce Lee, John Woo, Jackie Chan, Ching Siu Tung, Chow Yun Fat and Tsui Hark.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Color and b/w Illustrations. Very Good. 4to-over 9¾"-12" tall. In color pictorial wraps, 4to, 191pp. Illustrated profusely. (sm. smudge to lower edge).
When first published back in the mid nineties, this book was simply essential to any fan of Hong Kong films.
It's worth noting that this was authored before the internet arrived and made information and availabilty of these films easy, and occasionally it shows ( there is, for instance, almost nothing on the legendary Shaw brothers catalogue - now easily obtainable), but this is a minor gripe at most.
Broken down by genre (Kung Fu, Ghost Stories, Swordplay, Action, etc.) and big name stars (Sammo Hung Kam Bo, Jackie Chan and the one and only Bruce Lee Siu Lung), this was the first real attempt by a Western writer to draw a timeline from the Peking Opera films of the 1920's all the way through to the present; a task author Bey Logan pulls off pretty much perfectly.
What's interesting when reading it now, is how good the timing of it's publication was: the book came out just as the HK film industry, reknowned for it's huge output every year, was slowing down, with many of it's big stars leaving Asia for Hollywood. This lends the book an accidental feeling of nostalgia, with Logan unintentionally drawing a line under what was a Golden Age of HK cinema.
Lavishly illustrated with dozens of photos and written in a breezy and accessible style, this is perhaps still the only true look at HK action cinema and even now stands alone in that regard.
Nothing else like it would ever follow (including Logan's own updates), which is a shame (a "ten years on" re-visit would be most welcome); but as a snapshot of a newly burgeoning (in the West) yet slowly dwindling (in the East) industry, this book remains something of an unfairly overlooked treasure.
