5 Star

Cream Always Rises to the Top.

Written and directed by Feng Huang (The Angry River, Lady Whirlwind), who brings us the controversial time of occupation of Korea by Japan in the nineteen-thirties. By this time, the ‘Korean independence movement’ was fighting back at the Japanese oppression, and Japans search for their fabled leader. When Taekwondo Strikes is a martial arts fight-fest, with the ladies taking the lead, also the first Caucasian female martial artist to star in an Asian film production, with Anne Winton (Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story).

Korea is under the iron grip of Japanese rule, and anybody out of place is under immediate suspicion of sedition. Jin Zheng Zhi (Carter Wong, THE SKYHAWK, Angela Mao: Hapkido & Lady Whirlwind) has been hanging around the Yokoyama Karate School, and that is not what a Korean does. He is chased, and when cornered he shows off his Taekwondo skills, which means he is anti-Japanese. The fight leads into another chase, we see Jin enter a church. It is run by the French missionary Father Louis (Andre Morgan, The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss, The Man From Hong Kong) and his daughter Mary (Anne Winton). The aggressors turn their attention to Father Louis’ gardener, Li Jundong (Jhoon Rhee, Fist of Fury) the feared leader of the anti-Japanese criminals.

This leads to Father Louis to be taken into custody, despite being a foreigner, and the protection that a consulate should provide. While Mary, Jin and Li flee to the hills to Li’s Taekwondo school in the mountains.

I will always stand on the side of justice.

With a price on his head, Li hears from Jin that more women have been taken to the Karate School, to be shipped to Japan as ‘Comfort Women‘. This injustice must be put right. Li tells them that the School is a front for the Secret Service Organization for the Japanese, and Louis is also being tortured there.

They employ the skills of Huang Li Chen (Angela Mao, Angela Mao: Hapkido & Lady Whirlwind, Enter the Dragon), whose Hapkido skills are impressive.

No mercy for the Japanese.

We have a stand-off, they have Father Louis, and they want Li Jundong, the fight is on, honour versus tyranny, and with Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (The Millionaires Express, Three Films With Sammo Hung) being a bad guy with his impressive skills is a bit of fresh air. But it is the girls that steal the show, with the backing of Jhoon Rhee. Awesome stuff. Highly recommended for the new fans of martial arts and for the stalwart fans.

WHEN TAEKWONDO STRIKES (Eureka Classics) Special Edition is available on Blu-ray

SPECIAL BLU-RAY EDITION FEATURES*:

Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration | Original Mandarin mono audio | “Classic” English dubbed mono audio | Optional alternate English audio track with different music cues | Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release | Brand-new feature length audio commentary by film historian and author Samm Deighan | The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990, dir. Sandra Weintraub. 91 mins) – feature-length documentary presented by John Saxon | Trailers | PLUS: A Limited Edition Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver