Fire Power: Nostromo

In the 1970s and 1980s, action movies were all about big buff men showing huge biceps holding an unlimited supply of ammo, charging towards enemies as if they were just target practice... you know, the Rambo stereotype. But not all action movies were like that before, some were slow and creepy, capitalizing on the atmosphere that makes the action scenes in the movie all the more satisfying. Another thing is that not all action movies starred muscular men, some of them, like the one I am featuring here, puts a seemingly weak female officer on board a big spacecraft with an unstoppable alien.

A long time in the future, in a solar system far far away..... There was a spaceship on its way home that gets ordered to answer a distress call on an uncharted planet when all hell breaks loose. Sound familiar? It's like a typical Star Trek episode from the 1960s. But director Ridley Scott created a visually stunning horror action movie out of that simple premise, amplifying the claustrophobic environment of a spacecraft since "In space no one can hear you scream". Most women in horror movies would be portrayed as the stereotypical damsel in distress, and would normally be the first few to get killed off, but Sigourney Weaver who played Ellen Ripley was different. *Spoiler alert: like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the female protagonist survives.*

Sigourney Weaver is 5 ft 11.5 in and as Ridley Scott mentioned, she is masculine but very female, has the authority of a male and not just a junior officer. As the movie progresses, her character evolves not only on her own but affecting all the other characters around her. Therefore it makes perfect sense that her character would have the courage and strength to face the Xenomorph at the end. Nowadays we see strong female characters in an action movies all the time, but back in 1979 this was ground breaking.

7 years later, she played her character again in the sequel Aliens (1986). That movie further cemented her status as a strong heroine when she is faced with not one but a nest of Xenomorphs. She really made an impact at the final showdown with the alien queen, one of the most iconic battle scenes in film history. Weaver starred in 2 more Alien sequels and a variety of roles in other movies like Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest and recently Avatar. But for me, she will always be the strong pilot of the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley.

This is a tribute to Ellen Ripley, the great Sigourney Weaver.

lalanandaFRY

4/11/14

Fire Power: 三毛 (Three Hairs)

In certain cases, fire power could come just from brute force, no guns, no tanks, just the power of the fist. During the 1970s, martial artists like the late Bruce Lee brought Chinese martial arts to the world. But after his passing in 1973, many others tried to ride on the success and continue making Kung Fu action films till the late 1970s when things started to get stale. A new wave of Hong Kong action stars made their entrance to the big screen, among them was Sammo Hung 洪金宝.

Based on physical appearance, nobody would expect him to be a martial arts expert. However despite being plump unlike most other martial artists, he exhibits superior agility, strength and creativity in mixing humor with martial arts. Sammo Hung is the eldest member of the Seven Little Fortunes 七小福, a performance group of the best students from the China Drama Academy guided and selected by martial arts master trainer Yu Jim-Yuen 于占元 in the 1960s. Among other members of the group are actors Jackie Chan 成龙, Yuen Biao 元彪 and action choreographer Corey Yuen 元奎.

Hung (right) in his directorial debut, 三德和尚与舂米六 (1977)

Since the 1970s, Sammo Hung has been making many martial arts comedies under his and actor Karl Maka 麦嘉's production company Gar-Bo 嘉宝 (subsidiary of Golden Harvest 嘉禾) until 1980 when he decided to start his own company Bo Ho 寶禾, co-founded Duk-Bo 德寶 in 1983 and founded another company BoJon 寶祥 for movies that he acted in. Thus far he has produced a total of 124 films in Hong Kong, many of which are action comedies he also acted and directed.

Winners and Sinners 奇謀妙計五福星 1983, directed and starred Sammo Hung (third from right).

Over the years, he has participated in many films as an actor, director, producer and most notably action choreographer. When his fellow martial arts colleagues Jackie Chan and Jet Li gained popularity in the western world during the late 1990s, US network CBS approached him to make a Saturday night TV series with Sammo as the lead role playing a Chinese police in LA. That series was called Martial Law and aired from 1998 to 2000 for two seasons. The series was successful as a prime time series but Sammo chose to leave after the second season because he felt that he was made into a fighting machine with little else to do. I remember watching this series on TV after dinner and it was so awesome. I think it was facinating to see my favourite action star back then speaking English on an American show and defeating all those bad guys with martial arts instead of guns.

After Martial Law, he returned to Hong Kong and had on and off successes throughout the years. He had another breakthrough in Ip Man (2008) as the action director and in its sequel Ip Man 2 (2010) where he also stars as the opponent to the title character.

Bonus trivia: Hung was nicknamed "Sammo" due to his resemblance to a famous Chinese comic character 三毛 (cantonese: Sam Mou).

This is a tribute to the Fat Dragon, the great Sammo Hung.

lalanandaFRY
13/10/14

Fire Power: The Third Fist

This superstar does not need a gun to have fire power, he makes fire by rubbing to ice cubes together! He is Colt, McQuade and Walker, and he is one of the most famous martial artist alive. Just how did a man who won Black Belt Magazine's Fighter of the Year award in 1969 and black belts in 5 different martial art styles not be immortal?

The first time I ever seen Mr Carlos Ray Norris was in one of his first few movies, the Bruce Lee film Way of the Dragon 猛龙过江(1972). Most people may not have seen the movie in its entirety but definitely know the most famous scene in the movie, the final showdown between Bruce Lee's character 唐龍 and Chuck Norris's character 柯尔特 (Colt), a hired Karate fighter at the Colosseum.

Although Colt was not the main villain of the movie, his fight with Bruce Lee was the highlight of the movie, showing off both their talents in the classic setting of a typical Golden Harvest style duel. At least we know one of Chuck Norris's weakness after watching this scene, chest hair!

In the 80's, Norris gained prominence as Cannon Film's top action star in many Rambo-styled films. He also starred in a long running TV series Walker, Texas Ranger which put him in the spotlight as one of the greatest martial artist turn actor alongside Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme. In recent years, he gained popularity with Conan O'Brien showing Walker clips on his show, spawning the Chuck Norris Facts craze.

How can I write a Chuck Norris without featuring a few famous facts... hahaha!

Chuck Norris was bitten by a cobra, and after five days of excruciating pain... the cobra died (Norris said it himself in The Expendables 2).

This is a tribute to the Lone Wolf, the great Chuck Norris.

lalanandaFRY
4/10/14

Fire Power: Make My Day!

Fire power is not just about bullet size, nor is it even about shooting, it is about the person holding the gun. In this case, a Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver loaded with .44 Magnum that could blow anyone's head 'clean off'. So you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?

Remember this old man? When he was much younger, he had a thing for guns, starring in many famous spaghetti westerns in the 1960s, making a name for himself without an actual name in those movies. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, he played one of his most famous roles, a character nobody has ever seen before in films that has since been imitated so many times we forget how iconic it was at that time. Harry Callahan, more fondly known as Dirty Harry is now a term to describe reckless police officer who disregards conventional practices and policies, and it all started in Dirty Harry (1971), the first of five films in the series.

Harry and his friends Smith and Wesson doing what they do best in a diner

This character is at his best when he is faced with criminals who seem to get away from typical law enforcement. That's the main reason he is known as Dirty Harry, the guy who gets all the dirty job nobody else wants to do. However as reckless and crazy as he may seem, Harry has his principles. As seen in Magnum Force, he refuses to join the death squad when recruited by its leader because as he says "I hate the goddamn system, but until someone comes along with some changes that make sense I'll stick with it".

Over his film career, he has been nominated for many Oscars and won 5. This man is incredible in front as well as behind the camera and we should be glad that he just doesn't seem to stop making movies even in his 80s. Some say that even if he makes another Dirty Harry movie now, robbers and murderers won't stand a chance... he could deal with them with a walking frame if he has to.

This is a tribute to Inspector Harry Callahan, the great Clint Eastwood.

lalanandaFRY
28/9/2014