He's a real artist at delivering this kind of film.".
In the earlier era of Hong Kong kung fu cinema it was Chang Cheh who defined the style of the Shaw Brothers martial arts movies. He made kung fu cinema in the early colour era, painting screen red with blood. Chang's finest work was that undertaken in collaboration with some of the greatest martial arts choreographers Lau Kar Leung and Tang Chia. The One-Armed Boxer launched a whole sub-genre of structurally challenged martial arts heroes, while Shaolin Martial Arts and Men From The Monastery introduced a new style for on-screen kung fu combat. Chang Cheh's influence on modern action cinema is still evident, even in Hollywood, with John Woo readily acknowledging the influence he owes his former mentor. .
Wong Fei Hong was a famous martial artist and doctor of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican China. Although Wong died in 1924, he is remembered as a legendary folk hero mostly because of the many Hong Kong films that have maintained the legend.
Between 1949 and 1959, at least 62 Wong Fei Hong films were produced. They rejected the stage-driven elements of the earlier martial arts films in favour of proper martial arts forms, genuine weapons, and authentic Chinese styles. The Wong Fei Hong films" use of true martial arts established the role of the martial arts instructor as a member of the production team. These films began to gain the appreciation of Martial artists as high art because of the trueness to the form of martial arts .
The 1970s changed its emphasis from bloody swordplay to unarmed combat. Fighting styles depended less on cinematic technique and more on plausibility. While this represented a return to more credible, authentic martial arts.
Training, victory, and revenge were themes. In The Chinese Boxer (1970), directed by and starring Wang Yu, training leads the hero to a victory over judo and karate experts. Lo Wei's 1971 The Big Boss made great changes to the genre set in the present rather than the past.