cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Asia-Pol | aka Asiapol Secret Service (1967) Review
- 1st trailer for Scott Adkins new martial arts flick ‘Close Range’
- Cityonfire.com’s ‘Z Storm’ Blu-ray Giveaway!
- Song Kang-ho is Kim Jee-woon’s ‘Secret Agent’
| Asia-Pol | aka Asiapol Secret Service (1967) Review Posted: 04 Aug 2015 05:22 AM PDT  "Asia-Pol" Chinese DVD Cover AKA: Asiapol By Matthew Le-feuvre When Sean Connery announced of his unexpected departure from the James Bond franchise in early ’67, and that You Only Live Twice would be his final entry, disbelief shook the film world. Financiers, investors and fans of Ian Fleming’s popular literary creation fretted, pondered, and even obsessed what direction Britain’s superspy was to recommence from. Understandable, Connery – at this point – had become totally disenchanted with not only the legalities of his contract, but furthermore his artistic constrictions as an actor; despite the fact (away from Bond) he’d sucessfully garnered lead roles in Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Marnie (1964) and the brutal stockade drama The Hill (1965). Although former model/TV advert star, George Lazenby, had been furtively engaged too replace, even supersede, Connery before eventually sucumbing to the igmony of Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman’s alleged “black listing” tactics, numerous powerful studios – including the Shaw Brothers – regarded Connery’s temporary absence (he subsequently returned to the role in 1971 for Diamonds Are Forever and unofficially in 1983 for Never Say Never Again) as as an opportunity to muscle in on the proceedings with their own variations, interpretations and debatable cash-ins: The Man From Uncle (1964-68) and Our Man Flint/In Like Flint (1965/67). Surprisingly, even Connery’s own younger sibling, Neil, starred in Operation Kid Brother (1968), a forgettable slice of hokum, which included the exploitation of the original Bond-essemble (Lois Maxwell, Bernard Lee, etc.) to audaciously re-casting Anthony Dawson and Adolpho Celi in similar antagonist roles as presented under Terence Young’s direction for Dr No (1962) and Thunderball (1965) respectively. While George Lazenby was being conditioned, groomed and moulded into 007, albeit one-time only; fresh from his groundbreaking performance as the mono-limbed Feng, Jimmy Wang Yu briefly traded in his half-sword for gadgetry of an alternative kind as the modern world of espionage is transported from the gritty industrialism of Japan to the obstreperous back streets, and costal ports of both Hong Kong and Macao. However budget-wise Asiapol fails dramatically from the outset to capture or take advantage of the exotic splendors on offer, unlike its international counterpart You Only Live Twice (also ’67). Clocking in at just 92 minutes, Asiapol explosively begins with top agent, Chen Ming Xuan (Wang Yu) trailing a gold smuggling organization – headed by a shady character singularly known as ‘George’ – who he suspects are concealing their loads in transport trucks. In a dizzy sequence virtually lifted from the finale of From Russia With Love (1963), a helicopter aerial attack leaves Ming Xuan’s partner, Chen Loong-Seng, fatally wounded while Ming himself narrowly escapes a falling barrage of hand grenades. From there on the potentiality of much eye-brow raising is sadly dampened by obvious femme-fatales, protracted foot pursuits, as well as an obligatory-wining air hostess with a secret – all await Ming as he meanders from one encounter to another avoiding incendiary golf balls (of all things!), a novelty in-car bomb made all too apparent by a “tick-tock” acoustics and an enigmatic assassin named Lai Yu-Tien (Wang Hsia), whose actions appear contradictory on both sides. It goes without saying that despite these standard plot elements or budgetary reasons for downplaying travelogue landscapes/production values. Rough fistfights are few and far between Ming’s less-than-tense confrontation with nemesis ‘George’ – revealing a trite, almost immature confessional; and a strained ‘would-be’ relationship with Monneypenny-type contact, Miss Sachiko (Ryoriko Asaoka), is repeatedly marred by stale dialogue in addition too tiresome interactions devised in (either) a telephone box, melancholic bars or claustrophobic hotel rooms: yet, all are favourable for expeditious departures. Verdict: Not in the usual Wang Yu cannon, having begun his career mostly in traditional features. However, over the years Asiapol has been critically deemed as one of the Shaws’ more obscure co-productions (in association with Nikkatsu Films, Japan), eventhough genre-wise, they’d previously bank rolled independent spy thrillers: Operation Macao (1966) and the rather libel James Bond Chinese Style (1967) with varying degrees of commerciality. As for this picture, structurally, Asiapol is (A): disappointingly episodic; (B): convoluted script-wise to being (C): utterly banal. Indeed a little humour would’ve sufficed! Nevertheless, whether or not (?) Wang Yu was conciously aware of these shortcomings, unarguably he returned on better form – not just in physical terms – for Golden Harvest’s vastly superior The Man From Hong Kong (1974). Matthew Le-feuvre’s Rating: 5/10 |
| 1st trailer for Scott Adkins new martial arts flick ‘Close Range’ Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:21 AM PDT
Adkins (Assassination Games) stars as Colton MacReady, a man left vulnerable by a corrupt sheriff and his men while cornered in his own ranch and forced to protect his family from a blood-thirsty drug cartel after rescuing his niece from their capture. The pair is also expected to make Undisputed 4, where Adkins will reprise his Yuri Boyka character. There are currently no other casting details for either projects, but we'll keep you in the loop as we hear more. Updates: Close Range, which just wrapped up production last week, will be getting its US distribution handled by XLrator Media (Dead Mine, Found). Stay tuned for the film’s release date! | Watch a teaser (fight clip) from Close Range, courtesy of Ed Bailey. BREAKING NEWS: Watch the film’s 1st trailer (courtesy of FCS). |
| Cityonfire.com’s ‘Z Storm’ Blu-ray Giveaway! Posted: 04 Aug 2015 03:20 AM PDT  Z Storm | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA) Cityonfire.com and Well Go USA are giving away 3 Blu-ray copies of Z Storm to three lucky Cityonfire visitors. To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, this clip. We will be selecting a winner at random. Be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field so we can contact you for your home address. Additionally, you must 'Like Us' on cityonfire.com's Facebook by clicking here. The Blu-ray & DVD for Z Storm will be officially released on August 18, 2015. We will announce the 3 winners on August 19, 2015 and ship out the prizes immediately. CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by August 19, 2015 to qualify. U.S. residents only please. We sincerely apologize to our non-U.S. visitors. Winners must respond with their mailing address within 48 hours, otherwise you will automatically be disqualified. No exceptions. Contest is subject to change without notice. |
| Song Kang-ho is Kim Jee-woon’s ‘Secret Agent’ Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:54 AM PDT  "Snowpiercer" Teaser Poster Kim Jee-woon (I Saw the Devil) is set to direct Song Kang-Ho (Snowpiercer) in Secret Agent, a period drama set in Korea during the 20th century Japanese colonial era. According to Variety, the film (also known as Mil-jeong) will be the first Korean-language movie financed and distributed by Warner Bros. Secret Agent will mark the 4th collaboration between Song (Snowpiercer) and Kim. The two previously worked together in The Foul King (2000), The Quiet Family (2002) and The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008). Gong Yoo (The Suspect) also stars. Secret Agent is currently in script-stage with a scheduled production launch in October. Stay tuned! |
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