The Shaw Film Company is arguably the premier film company in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, founded in Hong Kong in 1958 by the Shaw brothers Run Run Shaw and Shaw Jen-Mei. Unlike other Cantonese-based films, Shaw Films has been deeply involved in the field of Chinese films since its inception, and has created amazing performance in Chinese films.
In the 1960s, Shaw was known for its Huangmei-tuned films, and the literary and art films and romance films he shot were also classic hits, among which a large number of excellent directors and actors were recruited, and high-quality films such as "No Love", "Sable Cicada", "Yang Guifei", "Liang Zhu" and so on, made Shao's fame and fortune both, of which Luo Zhen, Tao Qin, Li Hanxiang and Yue Feng became the four kings of Shaw. Thanks to Zou Wenhuai and Fang Yihua's assistance to Run Shaw, Shaw has become one of the biggest film giants of the 1960s.
In terms of film output, Shaw has always maintained a high level of prolific quality, and is especially good at martial arts films. The most famous are Zhang Che's "One-Armed Knife", Hu Jinquan's "The Drunken Man", Yue Feng's "Soul Hunting Bell", and Chu Yuan's "Meteor Butterfly Sword". In addition, with the prosperity of martial arts films, many directors have also joined the production of martial arts films, the more famous directors He Menghua, Yue Feng, Zheng Changhe, Zhang Zengze, Xu Zenghong, Cheng Gang, Luo Wei, Yan Jun and Shen Jiang, of which Yue Feng's western martial arts films have created a new style of Shaw films.
To say that Shaw is a relatively lesser-known but high-quality movie, this can be said to be a matter of opinion. As far as I am concerned, I still recommend the following films.
"Wen Su Chen": A classic Shaw martial arts film from the 60s, this movie is a masterpiece of Huang Mei's drama to martial arts, based on ancient legends. In addition to retaining the exquisite set of Huangmei opera, it is full of chivalrous spirit, and the film martial arts display is very peculiar, and the movie plot is also particularly attractive.
"Black Spirit Official": He Menghua's classic martial arts film of the 70s. "Black Spirit Officer" combines elements of Japanese samurai films and detective films, and the main actors use the old drama bones Tang Qing and Tian Feng, the film is sad on the set, the dramatic conflict is full of intestines, and the story ends in tragedy, which is very intriguing.
"Strange Man": The representative of Yue Feng's western martial arts films, the film absorbs many elements of American Westerns and Japanese samurai films, and can be called a model of the combination of Japanese and American chivalrous films in Hong Kong. Starring as Shaw's well-known antagonist Huang Zongxun, and Tian Feng's acting skills are also a major highlight of the movie, and the fight also continues the fierce cruelty of masculine martial arts films, which is worth watching.
"Five Tigers Slaying the Dragon": Luo Wei's pinnacle work in Shaw's. The film is home to a large number of Shaw stars, and the fight scenes are spectacular. The storyline of "Five Tigers Slaying Dragons" is simple and violent, starting from revenge, and then all kinds of heroes vs bosses. It is worth mentioning that although the movie is only 100 minutes, the fight scene is more than 60 minutes, and it will not be addictive after watching.