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The Hand of Death aka Countdown in Kung Fu (1976) is a vastly underrated early work by director John Woo. The film stars Dorian Tan (Tan Tao-liang) and features Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and James Tien in significant supporting roles. Many people believe, or have been lead to believe by deceptive advertising, that this is a Jackie Chan film. This is not a Jackie Chan film, Dorian Tan is the star but Jackie gives one of his best (most serious) early performances.

The Hand of Death is about a Shaolin disciple named Yunfei (Tan) who is sent on a mission to assassinate a Shaolin traitor named Shih Xiaofeng (Tien) and protect a revolutionary named Zhang Yi (Woo). Along his journey Yunfei meets up with a young woodcutter named Tan (Chan) and a disgraced sword fighter (Chang Chung) known as "the wanderer." Both men have suffered at the hands of Shih and want to take revenge. The three team up to defeat Shih and his eight bodyguards and escort the revolutionary to safety.

The martial arts action is above average under the direction of Sammo Hung. Dorian Tan uses his trademark high kicks very effectively as the "Northern eighteen styles kicks" along with some "Southern five styles boxing." Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan provide excellent martial arts performances as well. James Tien is not the greatest martial artist on the Jade screen but does an acceptable job. Some of the early fights are a bit slow and seem over choreographed but the final showdowns featuring Chan, Tan and Hung are very good.

Director John Woo provides plenty of interesting character development in the film, which is refreshing. The cinematography by Leung Wing Kat is very stylish, unique and beautiful for a kung fu film of this era. Joseph Koo's music: a combination of soft flutes and 70's "Shaft" style orchestral pieces is kung fu cinema at its best. Hand of Death is not Jackie and Sammo's usual kung fu comedy. Hand of Death is a serious, straightforward revenge driven story.

Hand of Death aka Countdown in Kung Fu is an underrated classic in the old school kung fu genre. The film is one of the best artistically of its time and a preview of the great things to come from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Hung's great choreography is put on display here before his directorial debut and Chan's early charisma and talent can be clearly seen.

Hand of Death is a solid, stylish old school kung fu film and a brilliant early work of the legendary John Woo.

Kung Fu Genre Rating 7.5/10

Wanderer to Tan (referring to his new weapon): "The Little Eagle Wing God Lance."

Tan: "Just a knickknack."

Dead Calm (1989) is one of the most underrated suspense films in recent history and one of the best films of the 1980's. It is one of those films like Deliverance (1972) that make you never want to go on a boating trip again.

Dead Calm works as a great suspense film in many of the same ways as Alien (1979) did, and many comparisons can be drawn. Dead Calm's tag-line is "In the middle of nowhere there is nowhere to hide." Alien's tag-line is "In space, no one can hear you scream." The feeling of isolation and helplessness in the vast open ocean, or outer space in Alien, adds to the terror of this film. Also like Alien, Dead Calm is a story about an uninvited guest that wreaks havoc on a cramped ship. On the boat there is a limited amount of space, so there is an element of claustrophobia. Dead Calm is also similar to Alien because the film is centered mainly around a strong and oppressed female character. Sigourney Weaver relied upon her wits and courage to survive, similar to Kidman's role in this film. Also like Alien, Dead Calm features a lot of silence which adds to the drama, reality and tension.

All things considered, Dead Calm is truly a well made and entertaining suspense film. The performances by the then unknown Sam Neill, Nichole Kidman and Billy Zane, are quite impressive. Billy Zane's performance as Hughie Warriner, the charming yet psychotic stowaway, is the best of his career. The direction by Phillip Noyce is quite impressive also. Dead Calm features perhaps some of the best photography on the high seas. The musical score featuring a primal, exhausted and guttural breathing sound is quite chilling and is used very effectively. Though I have made comparisons to Alien, Dead Calm is original and stands well on its own. There is nothing 'Calm' about Dead Calm, it is truly a great suspense film. The story never drags, there is plenty of mystery and heart pounding action.

Highly recommended.

Director Michael Mann (Collateral, Heat) brings his gritty, intense, documentary-style realism to the film version of the TV classic "Miami Vice." The film is not meant to be an exact remake of the popular '80s television series, it is a darker more contemporary version for the new millennium.

Mann's visual style is one of the best in the business and it is well displayed in this film. Like Collateral (2004), "Miami Vice" was filmed on location in HD with digital cameras. The shaky hand-held shots and high definition picture give the film a documentary like realism. Dion Beebe's cinematography was beautiful, artfully filling each frame yet still giving the film an amateurish documentary feel. Like Collateral (2004) Mann used natural light to light each scene and the street lights of Miami provided a subdued orange and blue glow. Collateral (2004) provided one of the most amazing and beautiful visual depictions of LA ever on film, but "Miami Vice" does not do the same for the city of Miami. At times the digital picture can become too grainy (especially when the theater is equipped with DLP) and the hand-held feel of the camera can get annoying. The sound engineering for the film was some of the best you'll hear, very realistic. Audioslave provided much of the film's musical score, which was really quite poor overall.

"Miami Vice" has Mann's great visual style but the rest of the film is disappointing. Colin Farrell and Jamie Fox certainly aren't your mom's Crockett and Tubbs. Both actors played their roles serious and super macho, and there was no real chemistry between them. At times it seemed both actors just spouted out their lines. Colin Farrell's attempt at a southern accent is laughable, I'd rather have him play the role with a full blown Irish accent. His hair and mustache also looked like he came right out of an episode of "My Name is Earl." Jamie Foxx did not have a lot of material to work with and I just don't think he is cut out for serious action films. I think Foxx is better at character work and supporting roles (think "Ray" and "Collateral"). The villains in the film were not scary and were certainly no match for Farrell and Foxx. The bad guy's henchmen and other extras were more realistic and intimidating.

The story unfolds in many different locations: Miami, Cuba and South America, providing many unintelligible accents. It was hard to understand many of the characters due to their accents (I would have liked subtitles for Colin Farrell). Mann's screenplay, sadly, is predictable and a bit thin. There was a lot of riding in boats, looking tough, and not a lot of quality dialog. You would think a movie with no dialog would have some action but this one does not. The action heats up only in the second hour! The film was also filled with 3 or 4 gratuitous sex scenes. The love story between Farrell and Li Gong was boring and brought the flow of the film to a halt.

Does the film have any cool cars at least? Yes: Ferraris, Bentleys, BMWs, Cadillac Escalades and an '06 Dodge Charger SRT-8. The film does have a few homages to the show including the classic scene of Crocket and Tubbs in profile, cruising down the freeway in a Ferrari convertible.

Michael Mann's film version of "Miami Vice" is certainly no campy remake like we see so much of today. The film has some of Mann's great style but I expected much more. If you are expecting pastel suits, '80s rock and lots of car chases beware: Mann's "Vice" is a dark, sluggish, gritty crime drama.