Eureka Entertainment, via Arrow in the U.S., released three Shaw Brothers spy movies in this collection. Modern day movies were rarer but not unheard of for the Shaw Brothers. The Golden Buddha, Angel with the Iron Fists and The Singing Thief are not their forte, but hold their own as the JameS Bond series was just beignning.
Those homages include an animated title sequence. Remember the early ones before the dancing silhouettes, and Angel is repectable. They certainly got the convoluted plots righ, but Angel is the most fun for the female agentst.
There are gadgets for hidden cameras, the likes of which we now carry with us in our phones. But armed up vehicles and weapons hidden in unlikely places are still the territory of spy movies.
Fight scene sare clunkier becuase they’re not Kung Fu. They still visit some soundstages that look familiar in the Shaw Brothers Studios, but they do a good evil mastermind lair too. They totally rip off some of the John Barry music cues.
Had they made more, Shaw Brothers might have gotten better at spy movies as it took some time for them to become experts in historical Kung Fu too. The movies do look pristine on Blu-ray.
Mike Leeder and Arne Venema do the commentaries and they still know every actor and fill us in on their careers. They also have enough Bond knowlege to draw comparisons.
Leeder and venema still know every actor and fill us in on their careers. They also have enough Bond knowledge to draw comparisons. They also know the international locations in the ‘60s so can explain the environment in which the films are set.
I didnt realize how much Angel was a Dr. No remake until Venema pointed it out. It’s not the only one with a villain hideout, but the pretitle moments mirror the Fleming plot too.