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Directed by Lin Bing, this kungfu classic features all sorts of various characters and concepts. The pirate Po Ho Nim has gathered 72 fighters to guard him from the Chinese government. However, a band of fighters from various parts of China take a stand and seek out Po to defeat him. This film also is memorable for its 7 foot tall, gold toothed monk who can bite through metal (a reference to James Bond?). The films action starts out slow, but picks up its pace as the heroes take on 4 different branches of Po's army. The ending, however, is a bit disappointing and anti climatic. All in all, classic kungfu action, if you don't take it too seriously.

Rating: 8/10

I decided to review this film after seeing that it has a lower user rating than expected. Also, its re-release is coming down on the heels of Princess Mononoke, so i feel i have to reiterate its importance since many fans have since forgotten it.

First off, i'm reviewing the subtitled film. I feel no film should be appreciated in its dubbed form, for that is not the way the film was intended to be seen. Subtitles offer accurate dialogue and dramatics, not what the english voice actors and scriptors want you to hear.

Akira was one of the greatest undertaking in animation ever. Creating the fluid animation of the film without computer assistance was an achievement alone. This alone makes it one of the greatest animated films ever, at least in a technical aspect.

Alot of people complain about the story. The thing about Akira is that it was originally a 2000 page manga story, which means one second of the film equals about 3 manga pages. To cram all this information in, the story gets complicated and intricate on many occasions. Many anime fans are turned off by this because it means they might actually have to watch the film several times or pay close attention. This isnt Miyazake stuff, this is very complex material, with multifaceted viewpoints and morals, which is common in Katsuhiro Otomo's work. Once one watched it to the point where an understanding is reached, the film can be truly appreciated. And since the manga has been released stateside, fans can now get a better view on the full story, and can see what Otomo's full vision was intended to be.

Frankly, i don't know how Mononoke came to replace this film as greatest anime movie ever. The undertaking for Akira will never be matched again. The only film to come close, at least in complex moral/emotional issues was Hideki Anno's End of Evangelion, but that really is a different kind of film that works on a whole different level than Akira does.

In my mind, Akira will always be the grandaddy of all Anime films, the pinnacle to be reached, the king that has yet to be toppled off of its hill. Rating: 10/10

There's something about the Chinese take on the ninja that has always captured my attention. I think its the way they take the art of invisibilty a bit further than expected. This film, known as Chinese Super Ninja in the US and is probably one of Chang Cheh's best, performs the above beautifully. The featured element of the 5 element ninja is unique and well done. Each ninja clan has its own unique attack setup (gold-shields that fire spires, wood-ninjas posing as trees and using claws, water-ninja frogmen that pull kungfu fighters to the water where they can be easily killed, fire-smoke screens and fire setting traps, earth-underground spearmen). The first 30 minutes are practically non stop action sequences, with the opening showing a tournament between japanese bushidos and kungfu weapons experts. Then we get to the ninja scenes, which are some of the goriest of kungfu films (the stepped on intestines scene is memorable). After this, however, the films slows down until the end where the main character has to use certain techniques to defeat each element. All and all worthy of any collection. If you havent seen it, go!