DVD Pick of the Week: Above the Law

The past couple of weeks have been either feast or famine. Last week offered up a veritable cornucopia of DVDs to feast your ever loving movie eyes on. This week is the exact opposite, there is a distinct absence of major releases, and not even all that many lower tier titles that are all that intriguing. It would be a good time to catch up on what you missed last week, or you can start getting ready for the weeks to come. Still, while there are very few titles of interest, do not mistake that for nothing worth watching. There is always going to be something worth watching.

This week's pick is a film from 1986 called Above the Law, no, not the Steven Seagal flick. This is a movie from Hong Kong starring Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock. It has a very minor story that concerns a statement on vigilantisim, police corruption, but moreso than that it strings together a number of first rate fight sequences.

The story is very much just window dressing for the martial arts action flick which is what you watch it for. Intermixed with the tale of corruption are some great fights. The fights include one-on-one battles between Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock, Biao and Peter Cunningham (a world champion kickboxer from Canada), Cynthia and Karen Sheperd, and Biao and Melvin Wong. There are a couple of others, but these are the main fights. Now the fight between Rothrock and Shepard is spectacular; the two knew each other from being in martial arts competitions together and worked together to put on a great fight using acrobatics and weapons, particularly a belt that is actually a chain link weapon with a blade on the end. The fights are incredible and really show what Biao and Rothrock can do.

The DVD looks very good considering how it was likely not handled all that well after its initial release. It has a nice selection of extras, including interviews with Yuen Biao, Cynthia Rothrock, and Peter Cunningham, as well as an excellent commentary track with Bey Logan, a Hong Kong cinema expert.

Also out this week:

• Hannibal Rising. I liked this movie, it isn't quite what I would have liked from an early Hannibal tale, but it was entertaining. It struck me more as an alternative history to Batman, if he decided to be a killer rather than a hero.
• The Closer: The Complete Second Season. This Kyra Sedgewick starring crime drama is a very good show, one that is as edgy as it is sweet. I have not seen every episode, but it is well worth seeking out.
• Starhunter: The Complete Series. A sci-fi series that I haven't seen anything from? Sure, plenty of them, but this Michael Pare starring series of an intergalactic bounty hunter looks like fun.
• Shanghai Express. Mediocre period comedy that has its moments, but falls a bit flat in the end. Still worth seeing for Sammo Hung's and Yuen Biao's fights.
• Ichi the Killer: Blood Pack. Twisted Japanese film from Takashi Miike in a new two disk edition that comes complete with its own blood pack.
• Circle of Iron: 2 Disk Special Edition. A story written by Bruce Lee and James Coburn and brought to the screen by David Carradine and director Richard Moore.
• Drive Thru. Fast food and horror converge in this weird looking little film. I have not seen it, but the description is definitely intriguing, involving food and a mascot called Horny the Clown. How can you go wrong?
• Defenceless. Australian revenge flick that looks intriguing. It is a low budget thriller that tells its tale with no spoken dialogue. It may not be entirely successful, but I want to see it.

So what are you watching this week?