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Estraven
Reviews
Shen long xiao hu chuang jiang hu (1974)
Kick-ass!
I got the movie out for Yasuaki Kurata (great opposite Jet Li in Fist of Legend) and was pleasantly surprised by Bruce Liang. There are great fight sequences in the film, including an extended one between Bruce and Kurata towards the end. It's a fun movie, with some humourous scenes, though unfortunately one has to suffer through Dean Shek's painfully unfunny camp waiter act. Definitely worth catching for both Bruce and Kurata. Boy, can they move!
Recoil (1998)
Every kind of fu
Great action movie with cool car/bike/truck chases. Gary plays a cop whose family is wiped out by a drug boss. After he recuperates he sets out for revenge and some great martial arts sequences ensue. Gary seems to be going from strength to strength. Definitely check this out. As Joe Bob Briggs would say, gun fu, car fu, kung fu galore.
White Tiger (1996)
Great stuff
Gary got to choreograph his own fight scenes this time and the results are spectacular. Also because he has dependable genre stalwart Cary Hiroyaki-Tagawa, who just seems to get better as he gets older, as his enemy. The latter gives a chilling performance as a perverted drug king who, against the orders of the Triad elders, introduces a deadly designer drug to the market. The fight sequences between the two in the drug lord's house and on his ship are riveting. This is the best Gary Daniels movie I have seen (along with Gedo), with a solid plot, a great villain and, best of all, the opportunity for Gary to really strut his stuff. Hugely entertaining - a must-see.
Hawk's Vengeance (1996)
Talk about uninspired
Daniels plays a Special Forces Royal Marine, Hawk, whose stepbrother has been murdered, and who comes to the US exact vengeance. His opponent is played by martial arts choreographer and JKD practitioner Cass Magda. Daniels had no control over the fight scenes and they, like the film, are no great shakes. The plot is completely unbelievable - he goes on the rampage with impunity and no-one, not even the law intervenes. His character simply murders in cold blood and gets away with it. Didn't enjoy it.
Fist of the North Star (1995)
Love or hate film
Gary plays the dark-haired Kenshiro, the Fist of the North Star, opposite Costas Mandylor as Kenshiro's evil bro Lord Shin of the Southern Star school. The film is based on an extremely violent Japanese manga/anime. And extremely violent describes the film well. It is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, so beware. If you're not into exploding heads avoid the film - though you'll be missing out on feasting your eyes on Gary's stunning physique! There is plenty of action, and I enjoyed it, but this is a film people either love or hate. It isn't a great film by a long shot, though the Mad Max milieu of the post-apocalyptic world the story is set in is well realised. The inevitable climactic showdown between Gary and Mandylor is a bit of a let-down since the latter is simply no match for Gary physically. Watching Gary despatch the main villain's soldiers is a lot more fun. The fight choreography was handled by Gary's trainer Winston Omega. The character of Kenshiro embodies values which Gary upholds as well, and which endeared Kenshiro to him so much that he named his son after him.