4 Shots From 4 Films (Pierre Kirby): Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988), Dressed to Fire (1988), Hunting Express (1988), Zombie vs. Ninja (1989)


Maybe one of these days I’ll actually get around to reviewing all the films of Pierre Kirby. But for now, here’s four iconic and varied examples of his work as the world’s most obscure action star whose career was cut very short.

Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988, dir. Godfrey Ho)

We remember Kirby one-liners like, “What a useless guy,” but usually not the names of the characters he played. Realistically, there is only one character’s name that people consistently remember. That’s because of his James Bond introduction in that shot above: Fast, Ted Fast.

Dressed to Fire (1988, dir. Phillip Ko)

Dressed to Fire (1988, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Pierre Kirby crying. There’s nothing else that needs to be said. Even in his 9 movie career, Kirby showed that he could probably have played just about any role.

Hunting Express (1988, dir. Phillip Ko)

Hunting Express (1988, dir. Phillip Ko)

Pierre Kirby as the villain. It’s the one and only time he did this, but he did it well. Those good looks and smile could just as easily be paired with evil as Sergio Leone did with Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Little bit of additional trivia. The film that Thunder of Gigantic Serpent spliced Pierre Kirby into actual used not only the theme from The Terminator (1984), but Morricone’s main theme to Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) for its’ tragic end.

Zombie vs. Ninja (1989, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Zombie vs. Ninja (1989, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Despite the fact that Kirby certainly played other roles, he is most remembered as the ninja who wanders the endless forest battling other multi-colored ninjas.