The best Kao Pao-shu’s movies
We present our ranking of the best Kao Pao-shu’s movies. Do you love cinema? Or are you looking for a movie of your favorite actor to watch tonight? Surely you have some to see or that you did not know yet about Kao Pao-shu.
Trilogy of Swordsmanship
6.5/10
3 martial arts directors united for this unique anthology film. Yueh Feng writes and directs a clever love-and-kung-fu triangle, Cheng Kang both writes and directs kung-fu courtesans battling brigands, and the ""godfather of the kung-fu film,"" Chang Cheh, creates a cliff-hanging, swashbuckling mini-movie with maxi-action.
Empress Wu
6.6/10
The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.
Sons of the Good Earth
6.1/10
War film set during the second Sino-Japanese war.
The Love Eterne
7.1/10
In this dreamy romance set in China during the fourth-century, a young woman convinces her parents to allow her to dress as a boy and attend university.
The Monkey Goes West
6.6/10
THE MONKEY GOES WEST is the first entry in the studio’s epic, four-part screen adaptation of “Journey to the West,” a 16th-century novel recounting the efforts of a Buddhist monk and his magical companions to travel to India and bring back Buddhist sutras.
Vengeance Is a Golden Blade
6.2/10
Li Zhishan is a rich man, but wealth cannot keep the loyalties of his wife, who has been visiting the bed of a rival. She helps plot against him, and the Vicious Long Brothers invade his home and steal the Golden Dragon Blade - a sword that makes its wielder unbeatable. Zhishan, crippled in the attack, and his young daughter are whisked away by a devoted servant, and the trio soon find shelter in the home of an herbalist. Years pass, the daughter grows up to be a lovely young woman and a powerful fighter, and the Long Brothers use the Golden Dragon Blade to gain power in the region. Zhishan's family of sorts has managed to stay well hidden, but a trip into the city - the daughter's first - sets off an old power struggle as Zhishan's wife discovers her daughter is quite alive.
The Dream of the Red Chamber
6.9/10
The Ching Dynasty novel The Dream of The Red Chamber is not only the most widely read, but also the most filmed book in Chinese history. The sprawling love story has proven a challenge to many filmmakers, but this version is acclaimed as the most successful. A sumptuous feature which took three years of planning and another for production, it was a hugely popular and critical hit which still stands out as a classic of both 18th century literature and 1960s moviemaking.
Squadron 77
Spy thriller set in occupied Shanghai. Li Lihua stars as the woman who is thrust into the role of nationalist freedom fighter when she discovers that her husband is a collaborator with the Japanese.
The Twin Swords
6.4/10
Gui Wu happens upon a kidnapping with his wife Gan Lian-zhu at the Red Lotus Temple. Lian-zhu sends Wu to go for reinforcements while she stays to fight the kidnappers. Fortunately, the mysterious Scarlet Maid is surreptitiously helping her.
The Blue and the Black
6.8/10
It's a powerful melodrama about a thwarted romance in 1930s Tientsin, China, during the Japanese occupation, and it stars Linda Lin Dai, one of the era's most popular stars. It was part of Golden Horse's 100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films.
Temple of the Red Lotus
5.9/10
Jimmy Wang Yu plays a young kid who heads off to Dragon Valley to meet the childhood friend who was promised as his bride. When he gets there, he finds that the family of the bride might not be an entirely honest bunch of people though. What is the story behind their feud with the monks at the Temple Of The Red Lotus, for a start?
The Dancing Millionairess
5.8/10
Chen Hou is a chauffeur who gets caught in a mistaken identity scandal linking him to businesswoman Lok Dai. Chen was supposed to audition for a job as her chauffeur, but a proposed musical show is far more attractive to the aspiring dancer. When a rumor gets out that the two are involved in an affair, she's angry and confronts him, but his charms overwhelm her, and it's revealed that she too desires to dance. Soon she's bankrolling the affair, the sets are being built, and the singing and dancing begin!
The Pearl Phoenix
5.9/10
Huangmei Opera movies like The Pearl Phoenix are unique to 1960's Hong Kong culture, a product of the Swinging Sixties but considerably more in touch with their Chinese roots. This one is complete with a gender-bending tale where the male lead is played by female and the female lead poses as a man, plus movie queen Li Ching and the singing voices of Ivy Ling Po and Jing Ting. Sit back and enjoy!
The Lark
6.4/10
A musical staring Carrie Ku Mei as a singer named Xiaoyun Shi, who comes to Hong Kong after a tour of other Asian countries, hoping to develop her career.
King Drummer
6.9/10
Ling Yun plays the replacement hired for a popular band whose egotistic drummer quit to join a rival group. When the new arrival becomes a hit, he earns the jealous wrath of the predecessor. Meanwhile, the young drummer's mother is fervently against his music career. With the gorgeous Lily Ho as the manageress of the band and some terrific drumming set pieces, the whole thing, needless to say, comes off with a bang.
Lost Swordship
6.3/10
A golden-masked clan master, who had killed many top fighters, was determined to acquire an invincible sword manual so as to rule the martial world. Hence, he pursued a swordsman who possessed the manual, but the latter managed to escape and discovered a cave whereby he met two martial arts masters who taught him the invincible sword skills...
The Story of Sue San
7.2/10
This gripping story centers on the romance between Wang Chin Lung and Sue San. Although they may be perfectly matched when it comes to their love for one other, the two come from remarkably different social ranks. While Chin Lung is the son of a respected government official, Su San is a prostitute, albeit a famous one.
Too Late for Love
6.3/10
Su Fen, a young and frail girl, looked forward to her wedding with her fiancé, Li Kuo-liang. The happy couple's bliss was cut short when war broke out. Kuo-liang was summoned to fight at the front lines. In his absence, Su Fen discovered she had tuberculosis.
The Golden Sword
6.3/10
Lo Wei remains internationally famous for directing Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's first major movies. Cheng Pei-pei is now internationally famous for her superlative role in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. But both were superstars in Hong Kong for decades prior, so any teaming of the superlative "swordswoman supreme" and the vaunted director/writer/actor is cause for celebration. Kao Yuen joins them as a noble swordsman, and watch, too, for award-winning actor Ku Feng as the "Frontier Terror" in the evocative and effective "Martial Art World" adventure.
Return of the Phoenix
6.2/10
Return Of The Phoenix is yet another masterpiece from prolific director Li Han-hsiang. An imperial minister Cheng Pu (Ching Miao) is faced with a quandary. He's getting old and his daughters are still not married. Elder daughter Shueh-yeh (Elizabeth Chuang) is so ugly no one wants her. Younger daughter Shueh-wu (Li Hsiang-chun) is beautiful but Mrs Cheng refuses to let her marry before her elder sister. The drama unfolds when Cheng decides to marry Shueh-wu off.
