A plot was hatched by Prince Shing to take revenge on Wong Fei Hung for humiliating him. The Prince recruited 8 top martial arts exponents from various countries in Asia, led by a renegade ex-Shaolin priest who was expelled years earlier from that temple.

Wong Fei Hung was forced to fight these challengers after his family’s memorial tablets were taken away. One of the challengers poisoned Wong Fei Hung causing him to lose his sight and could not continue the fight. Wong’s disciples fought in his name and ended up victorious but severely injured.

Fei Hung’s father, Wong Kei Ying came back and reprimanded his son for not understanding priorities and risked their lives for pieces of wooden memorials. He forced them to break all those memorials into pieces to realise the true nature of things.

In the end fight, Fei Hung was able to defeat the over confident renegade priest, who in defeat chose to end his own life.

Starring Vincent Zhao in the titular role.

Confucius the movie starring Chow Yun Fat is a non movie. A huge chunk of screen time just shows him wandering from state to state, unwelcomed by one and all.

In the 6th century BC, China was a patchwork of feudal kingdoms and states, vying with each other for supremacy. Kong Qiu was born in the kingdom of Lu, where the court ruled in name only and the real power was in the hands of 3 major clans of the state. Kong Qiu’s reputation as a social and ethical thinker led the ruler of Lu to appoint him to a ministerial role with the aim of re-channeling the power back to the ruler of Lu.

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As critic Roger Ebert observed in his original review of Ran, this epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the requisite experience and maturity to this stunning interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. It’s a film for the ages–one of the few genuine screen masterpieces–and arguably serves as an artistic summation of the great director’s career. In this version of the Shakespeare tragedy, the king is a 16th-century warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora) who decides to retire and divide his kingdom evenly among his three sons. When one son defiantly objects out of loyalty to his father and warns of inevitable sibling rivalry, he is banished and the kingdom is awarded to his compliant siblings. The loyal son’s fears are valid: a duplicitous power struggle ensues and the aging warlord witnesses a maelstrom of horrifying death and destruction. Although the film is slow to establish its story, it’s clear that Kurosawa, who planned and painstakingly designed the production for 10 years before filming began, was charting a meticulous and tightly formalized dramatic strategy. As familial tensions rise and betrayal sends Lord Hidetora into the throes of escalating madness, Ran (the title is the Japanese character for “chaos” or “rebellion”) reaches a fever pitch through epic battles and a fortress assault that is simply one of the most amazing sequences on film. –Jeff Shannon
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Ran

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This semi-comic 1961 film by legendary director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Ran) was inspired by the American Western genre. Kurosawa mainstay Toshirô Mifune (The Seven Samurai) plays a drifting samurai for hire who plays both ends against the middle with two warring factions, surviving on his wits and his ability to outrun his own bad luck. Eventually the samurai seeks to eliminate both sides for his own gain and to define his own sense of honor. Yojimbo is striking for its unorthodox treatment of violence and morality, reserving judgment on the actions of its main character and instead presenting an entertaining tale with humor and much visual excitement. One of the inspirations for the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone and later surfacing as a remake as Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis, this film offers insight into a director who influenced American films even as he was influenced by them. –Robert Lane
4.5
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Yojimbo

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While corrupt bosses exploit hard-working merchants preparing for a New Year’s celebration, Zatoichi dispenses justice with the edge of his cane sword.
4.5
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Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 9 – Adventures of Zatoichi