Deadend of Besiegers

Rating:
Summary: Cynthia Khan excels in superb historical kung fu adventure
Review: DEADEND OF BESIEGERS is a 1992 kung fu film starring Yu Rong Guang (the "Iron Monkey" himself) and Cynthia Khan (IN THE LINE OF DUTY 3, 4 & 5), two fine fighting stars who are in peak form here. Yu stars as a Japanese martial artist visiting China to learn Chinese kung fu. Cynthia plays a village girl and expert in Dog Fist style, who, with the other villagers, mistakes Yu for one of the Japanese pirates who have raided their village. Only when Cynthia's adolescent sister intervenes on behalf of Yu, who saved her life, does Cynthia gradually accept the idea of his innocence. Eventually, he joins Cynthia and the other villagers in fending off a renewed attack by the pirates.

It's a well-told, refreshingly original story, backed up by frequent, expertly staged fighting, all shot amidst picturesque locales and settings in Mainland China. The actors are all excellent, especially the girl who plays the younger sister, a character who spends all her free time caring for and feeding the Japanese outcast, even going so far as to teach him enough of her language to get by.

The DVD includes three language tracks: Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. The Japanese-speaking characters speak Japanese on both the Cantonese and Mandarin tracks. This reviewer prefers the Cantonese track because the Cantonese voice actors are livelier and more expressive, particularly the actress who voices the young girl.