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By 1982, the martial arts movie in its traditional guise was starting to flounder. The era of the Kung Fu comedy was starting to fade, and the era of Jackie Chan was just starting to hit full gear as “Project A” was to come the next year and the modern action movie would begin to form. “The Postman Strikes Back” consequently falls somewhere in between and as it receives a fresh Blu-ray release from 88 Films, it’s time to step back and revisit a movie that probably deserves a bigger audience.

on Terracotta by clicking on the image below

Errand Horse (Leung Kar-yan) is a postman delivering mail to remote villages. With the impending railway, on the way his work will be obsolete. A chance encounter with a young thief (Yuen Yat Chor) leads to a meeting with Hsu (Eddie Ko), an official who has an offer...

“Nobody wins here but death”. Probably the best summarization of Wu Xia cinema, encapsulated in one line by Damian Lau’s Ching Wan. There are arguments as to when the Hong Kong New Wave started and there is certainly evidence for “Duel to the Death” to be one of the instigators. The directorial debut of legendary action choreographer Ching Siu-Yung, it is one of the defining films in the rich history of the area’s action cinema.

Ching Wan, a student of the Shaolin Temple is the chosen Chinese representative in a one-on-one duel with the Japanese. Prior to his departure he confronts Kenji (Eddie Ko), a Japanese monk visiting the temple who goads the Abbott into a fight. Hashimoto (Norman Chu), the Japanese representative is attacked by a masked individual whom turns out to be his maste; as he lays dying he asks Hashimoto to recite their clan’s mantra.