One of my favorite Chow Yun-Fat action films is Ringo Lam’s FULL CONTACT. Up until FULL CONTACT, Chow Yun-Fat was mostly the suave hitman or tough cop in his action films. Here, he’s a man content with operating on the wrong side of the law to try to get ahead. Unfortunately, he is betrayed by his best friend and criminal cohorts and left for dead in a foreign country. This rock-fueled montage sequence shows him healing up and then preparing to take his revenge, while his best friend / betrayer tries to “be there” for his girlfriend who thinks he’s dead. It’s a badass, multi-fingerless, Chow Yun-Fat who wears bandanas, rides a motorcycle, hangs with a cute dog, and ultimately takes no prisoners. My guess is this scene will make you want to watch FULL CONTACT!
(Note: The video is frozen for the first 8 seconds. After that, the fun begins)
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today is Harvey Keitel’s 86th birthday! Harvey Keitel is one of the great, fearless actors of our time (BAD LIEUTENANT, anyone). He has been working hard since 1965, and he’s still going strong today, adding up to a career that spans 60 years and counting. His work for great directors like Scorsese and Tarantino has been vital to the quality and success of those films. I really came to appreciate Keitel when he had somewhat of a career resurgence in the early 90’s when I was in my late teens. He’s just a great actor who makes everything he appears in better.
Today, in honor of Harvey Keitel’s 86th birthday, here are 4 Shots from 4 Films!
I remember being so excited when it was announced that John Woo was making a sequel to HARD-BOILED, and that Chow Yun-Fat would be the star. Of course, the sequel was a video game, but I’ll take what I can get. I’m not much of a gamer myself (my prowess reached its peak with Mario Cart: Double Dash), but I proudly bought “Stranglehold” for my son so I could watch him play. It was pretty darn cool to be honest with you! I can’t believe it’s been 18 years since the game came out in 2007. Enjoy this blast from the past my friends!
Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday May 12th, we are showing STRATEGIC COMMAND (1997) starring Michael Dudikoff, Paul Winfield, Richard Norton, Amanda Wyss, Bryan Cranston, and Michael Cavanaugh.
This movie focuses on Rick Harding (Michael Dudikoff), a former Marines officer, who’s now working in the FBI as a chemical weapons designer. While packing up one night, a group of armed soldiers break into the FBI research lab. Interestingly, these soldiers are led by a man named Carlos Gruber (Richard Norton).
So, join us tonight for #MondayMuggers and watch STRATEGIC COMMAND! It’s on Amazon Prime. The trailer is included below:
Chow Yun-Fat was such a big Hong Kong movie star, and he couldn’t do anything wrong in the late 80’s. While he’s most well known for his action films, he also starred in a lot of comedies. He was often goofy and over the top and the audiences loved it. In the hit film, THE DIARY OF A BIG MAN (1988), Chow plays a man married to two of the most beautiful women of Hong Kong cinema, Sally Yeh (THE KILLER) and Joey Wong (GOD OF GAMBLERS)… at the same time. Needless to say, it’s not an easy situation. Fair warning, if you’ve never seen a Chow Yun-Fat comedy, this may take some getting used to. I personally love it and can’t help but smile as big as Chow when I watch it. I present Chow Yun-Fat singing “Oh Very Nice” from THE DIARY OF A BIG MAN. Enjoy my friends!
Chow Yun-Fat has been in so many interesting movies, from underrated Hong Kong Films, to multiple Oscar Winners, to big budget Hollywood fluff! As we continue to move forward to his 70th birthday on May 18th, 2025, I celebrate some of his performances that I find quite interesting!
As I continue to celebrate Chow Yun-Fat, as he gets ready to turn 70 on May 18th, 2025, I thought I’d highlight his performance as the evil Emperor Ping in CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. Chow doesn’t often play a bad guy, but he can do it extremely well, and he’s still the ultimate badass. Enjoy this scene between Chow Yun-Fat and Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou as Prince Jai.
After the runaway success of A BETTER TOMORROW, John Woo quickly released a sequel. A BETTER TOMORROW II isn’t as good as the original, but the emotions and action are ramped up dramatically. Check out this trailer from the Hong Kong Legends DVD release!
Episode 16 opens with Shane (David Carradine) back in Cheyenne, WY. He has joined up with Major Hackett’s (Bradford Dillman) outfit to try to find out the Major’s plans for attacking the homesteaders. The first thing he has to do is have it out with Jed (Charles Grodin) who is still smarting from the ass-whoopin’ he took in the last episode. The two men get into another brawl that ends when Major Hackett shoots Jed in the knee and discharges him from his service for good. The next day, Major Hackett, Shane, the men, and the Gatling Gun head towards the valley after rustlers and homesteaders. Major Hackett assigns Shane to advance scout their next target, Bull O’Reilly. Shane heads out and forces O’Reilly to leave his home before the other men arrive. Shane tells them O’Reilly was gone before he got there, but Major Hackett doesn’t appear to be buying what Shane is selling and tells his men to keep an eye on him. When Shane finds out they are headed for the valley the next day, he beats up the guy he’s on night watch duty with and rides all night back to the Starett ranch. With Tom (Tom Tully) and Marian’s (Jill Ireland) help, he is finally able to convince the homesteaders and the cattlemen, led by Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed), to stand together and take on Major Hackett and his men. But do they have any chance against that gun?
Part 1 of the Great Invasion spent most of its running time setting up the backstory for Major Hackett’s invasion of the valley in order to get rid of all the rustlers and homesteaders. With all of that out of the way, Part 2 mainly focuses on the actions Shane takes in trying to stop Major Hackett from within. He engages in two fistfights. He convinces an old man to leave his home as soon as possible, giving him time to put on his boots but not time to put on his pants, which gave me a chuckle. And he stands with the homesteaders and the cattlemen as they trick Major Hackett into thinking the Ryker ranch is abandoned so they can attack with an element of surprise. David Carradine, of course, handles all of the action and drama very well. Part 2 is a pretty solid episode, but after the setup from Part 1, I was hoping for a little more. I can’t help but question Major Hackett’s judgement when it comes to Shane. There were plenty of red flags that would indicate Shane wasn’t very trustworthy when it came to executing the plan, but Hackett seemed willing to give him the benefit of the doubt anyway. His cockiness and over confidence in his ability to control the Gatling Gun also knocked him down a notch or two. Major Hackett turned out not to be as smart as we originally thought him to be, which was a little disappointing, especially with Bradford Dillman’s interesting performance. On a positive note, I was glad that Little Joey (Christopher Shea) gets a sweet moment in this episode. He’s mostly a background piece in the series but his childlike wisdom comes in handy at one point. He overhears the adults questioning whether or not Shane has really joined the invaders. Joey tells them matter of factly that he knows that Shane has a plan that will help everyone and finishes his statement with, “Y’all just don’t know him as well as I do.” Tom and Marian can’t help but smile with that innocent truth-bomb, and from that point never doubt Shane again. Tom Tully gets another opportunity to shine as well, as his Tom Starett gives an impassioned speech to his fellow homesteaders asking them join together and fight the invaders. It was a good moment for him.
Overall, “The Great Invasion” is an episode that builds a solid foundation in the first part that it doesn’t completely capitalize on in the second. It has its moments, though, especially with some good character moments from both the main cast and its guest stars. I also found the very final shootout to be exciting. The relationship between Shane and Marian does seem to be reaching a breaking point as her patience is wearing thin with his inability to share his true feelings with her. We only have one episode to go, so I’m expecting some sort of action in that department as the series reaches its conclusion.
Episode 15 opens with Shane (David Carradine) at a hotel in Cheyenne, WY. He hears a ruckus in the next room where a guy named Jed (Charles Grodin) is holding court with a group of men and women. Jed, who has clearly been drinking way too much, is going on about the honor of serving with Captain William Quantrill. He asks Shane to have a drink with him and Shane declines. Offended by this, Jed challenges Shane only to get his ass thoroughly kicked in about 10 seconds flat. One of the men in the group recognizes Shane as the great gunfighter. Soon the men force Shane at gunpoint to go see their boss, Major George Hackett (Bradford Dillman). It seems Hackett is putting together a group of men for a project and offers Shane the large sum of $75 per week to join up. Sensing something bad, Shane turns down his offer and leaves. Shane is right to leave as we soon learn that Hackett’s “project” is to eliminate any homesteaders who are not a part of the Cattlemen’s Benevolent Association, a large outfit out of Chicago.
While in Cheyenne, Shane also runs into his old friend Longhorn Jenny (Constance Ford) who is in town selling a herd of cattle. She’s accompanied by her assistant Dan (Archie Moore). The two swap some old stories, with Shane even asking how she came across that herd of cattle. They seem to hint that she didn’t necessarily come across them legally. Shane says goodbye and starts the journey back to the ranch. Before leaving Cheyenne, he reads a story in the paper that specifically mentions Longhorn Jenny, implying that she’s a rustler. The story in the paper, which seems to back the Cattlemen’s Association, plus Major Hackett’s offer convinces Shane that something truly bad is on the way. When he gets back to the ranch, he tells Tom (Tom Tully), Marian (Jill Ireland) and a few other local homesteaders that he’s concerned that they may all be in danger. Unfortunately, everyone he speaks to in the valley about this situation, including cattleman Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed), think he’s overreacting and don’t seem concerned at all. Then Major Hackett and his men ride out to Jenny’s ranch, unveil their Gatling Gun and proceed to kill Jenny and Dan, ultimately hanging her at the gate with a sign that says “Rustler.” Even after Jenny is killed, no one in the valley will listen to Shane and prepare to defend themselves. Marian tells Shane that she’ll prepare to defend their ranch, but she is not leaving. Not knowing what to do to keep those he loves safe, Shane heads back to Cheyenne and accepts Hackett’s offer to work for him. Credits roll for the end of Part 1.
A lot happens in the “The Great Invasion: Part 1.” All the main people are introduced, with Hackett and his plan coming into light. We also spend an inordinate amount of time with Longhorn Jenny as we meet her, learn about her and ultimately see her die. This being the first part of a two part episode, I’ll withhold my larger analysis for the next review, but I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes. I find the characters quite interesting. Bradford Dillman comes off as very odd and extremely dangerous as Major Hackett, a man who seems to relish the opportunity to use his Gatling Gun. Charles Grodin’s Jed appears to be your typical loudmouth killer at this point, but it will be interesting to see what happens to him. And I’m looking forward to seeing what Shane does to stop the madness before it takes out the people in their valley. There’s no way they can compete with Hackett’s Gatling Gun, so Shane will have to figure out a way to stop things from within.
There were a few other interesting things I noted while watching this episode. First, when Shane is heading back to the ranch from Cheyenne, we see the Grand Teton Mountain range behind him for the first time in the series. If you remember, the Tetons are prominently featured in the classic 1953 film SHANE, and it was cool seeing them here. Second, Shane goes on a rant to Marian at one point about how newspapers spin the facts in a way that distorts the truth. Just in case anyone thought that a dishonest media was only a current issue, this should lay that theory to rest. And finally, Marian Starett flat out asks Shane why he continues to stay at the ranch. She’s clearly wanting to know if it’s for her. Once again he won’t give her the satisfaction of confirming her thoughts, and it appears that his reluctance to be honest with her is starting to wear thin. Couple that with a crying Joey who doesn’t understand why Shane left and the interpersonal emotions are running high as the episode fades out. I’m all in for seeing how it plays out.
Through the Shattered Lens 