Best movies like The Warlord and the Actress

Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries. NJ is morose: his brother owes him money, his mother is in a coma, his wife suffers a spiritual crisis when she finds her life a blank and his business partners make bad decisions.

Lei Li lost his right-arm in a sword duel with the master of a martial arts school, long ago. Now, he is able to defend himself well with just his left arm, and kung fu techniques. That he proves with just the help of his friend Chung-Chieng, when he crosses his path with a beautiful girl in need, Pao Chiao. Even against impossible odds, he will prove a great warrior.

Chiao Tzu Wei hires a killer under the premise that the local government (run by the local kung fu school) is corrupt and extorting the people of the town. The killer happens to be Hsieh Chun (aka Hsiao Hu) who left town ten years ago. (When Hsieh Chun opens up a suitcase full of knives, you know that there is going to be tons of killing!). Thinking that the local kung fu school is bad, he goes over there to fight them. There is some reuniting of lost friends and some love between two of them. The bad guys are constantly double crossing everyone and this leads to total mayhem and carnage. The final fight scene (which is actually several fight scenes going from one to the next) is incredible, especially the blood soaked finale between the evil Japanese leader of the opium ring and the two brothers.

Spy thriller set in occupied Shanghai. Li Lihua stars as the woman who is thrust into the role of nationalist freedom fighter when she discovers that her husband is a collaborator with the Japanese.

A provincial detective seeks to take down a local gambling syndicate with the help of two convicts.

The Emperor's armies have developed a new weapon: a thrown blade that can remove someone's head from long distance. As the paranoid Emperor begins decapitating anyone he fears might be a threat, his guard Mau Tang becomes disillusioned with the excesses of his master. He leaves his post and takes up the quiet life of farming and raising a family. Eventually, though, his past catches up with him, and he must find a way to fight the flying guillotine if he is to save his head.

The Yang family, men and women, have served their country loyally for generations. During the war General Yang is ambushed and killed. His widow and the entire family set out to avenge his death and defend the country.

Tan Jen-chieh's life spins out of control when he’s forced into exile to clear his name following the murder of his adopted father. He's hunted in the streets. His lover, Butterfly, turns to prostitution. And his father's likely killer – a smooth operator known as the Rambler – is always lingering nearby. But before Tan and the Rambler can slit each other's throats, they learn they've been double-crossed and go two against everyone in a rage of double-edged vengeance.

The emperor's reign of terror expands. Heroic outlaw Ma Teng joins a squad of female rebels, whose leader is torn between family loyalties.

China is ripped apart by a civil war, and thousands of displaced refugees swarm into towns not yet ravaged by war. Three such refugees arrive in one town. They join forces with local rebel leaders to escape to the south before getting into trouble with Lu Feng who is out to exterminate all rebels.

A marriage between nobles in Ancient China sets the stage for murder, monsters, and mutilation as the invited guests search for a secret hidden treasure. A search that leads them through dark evil forests, opulent palaces, and each other! When two sick and twisted killers enter the fray it is up to our hat wearing hero to straighten things out and put the warlords, henchmen, and evil ninja six feet under! But is he working for the law, or himself?

A perennial Chang Cheh favorite, Anonymous Heroes focuses on two vagabond brothers, Meng Kang and Tieh who, in the search for fame and fortune, join in a rebellion against a provincial general. Used to shaking down local vendors for food and gambling away their limited funds, they are recruited by a local rebel leader who promises them a glorious adventure. The rebels plan is to steal a huge cache of new rifles set to be delivered to the barracks of the local army. With the help of an officer's daughter, their plan starts out well, but inevitably slips toward a heroic but tragic finale.

A fearsome swordswoman known as The Jade Raksha appears in the martial arts world and begins killing people whose surname is Yan. A swordsman figures out who she is, and asks her why - the answer being that a Yan killed her family 18 years ago... but she's not sure exactly which Yan it was. He suggests that killing the innocent is wrong, but she only has vengeance on her mind and is not to be convinced.

A Wuxia mystery adventure from Cathay films.

Director Chu Yuan was one of the new breed of directors at Shaw who raised the bar of martial arts films, by adding compelling storylines and a good dose of drama. Despite being without his regular cohorts Ku Lung and Ti Lung here, Chu shows his master stroke as he delves into the dastardly ways of evil warlords in China back in the 1910’s. Drama and action both take centre-stage as Tsung Hua and Ching Li fall prey to a lecherous general (Stanley Feng Tsui-fan) who rapes and forces the latter to become his concubine. With the help of two street performers (the deft and agile Chen Kuan-tai and Shih Szu) he once helped, Tsung hatches a plot to save his beloved – with deadly consequences.

In a rare reversal of typecasting, Shaw Brothers' perennial bad guy Lo Lieh breaks tradition to play the honorable and noble swordsman in The Swift Knight. It's a tale of brave knights, chivalry and fair maidens where the Swift Knight (Lo Lieh) finds himself involved in romance, court intrigue and deadly jousts while trying to protect the lives of a pair of siblings as the fate of the throne depends on them.

Hu Te et al. escape the burning Shaolin temple after the Qing soldiers destroyed it in Shaolin Temple. The group of 5 decide to develop secret codes to identify fellow patriots, enlist those patriots and eventually meet up again to escape to the south away from the Qings, and also identify the traitor who sold out Shaolin temple. Ma Fu Yi, joins the Qing top fighters to eliminate the rebels but is exposed by Ma Chao-Tsing who gets captured by Ma Fu Yi. Hu meets up with a group of Shaolin men secretly posing as bandits to rescue Ma as their leader is killed in the process, thus the bandits join the rest of the Shaolin patriots.

Eight demon swordsmen and their gang have spread menace across many sword teaching schools. The students seek the help of Fang who alone can combat them. Will Fang take up the challenge.

They brutally killed his wife, wiped out dozens of his innocent people, and burnt his entire village down to a charbroiled crisp. Now, master Liou Wen-lung is out for revenge. Armed with a near-invincible sword style and a pack of killer darts, he heads out to settle a 10-year old grudge with the cold-blooded evildoers. Joining him is his son, an orphan named Yu Sien and his trusty servant.

Shaw Brothers Action Drama.

War film set during the second Sino-Japanese war.

Clad in white and wielding the deadly Ringing Sword, the beautiful Yeh Chiu Lu wanders the countryside righting the wrongs perpetrated by the White-Haired Warlord, Tsao Tan (Law Bun, "King Of Kings"). Determined to wipe out the Chiang Clan, Tsao Tan sets his swordsman to capture Master Chiang (Kong Ban, "Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue"), the last of the clan. Only the Ringing Sword and a mysterious ninja, with his own vendetta against Tsao Tan, stand in his way.

Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).

Hong Kong cinemas had a wide range of glamorous female stars during the golden age of the 60's and 70's. The series will take the audience on a sentimental journey to the good old days and once again look at the expansive epic costume dramas and huangmei operas in which actresses played both the male and female roles. Rare interviews with Sir Run Run Shaw, stars Ivy Ling Po, Shaw Yin Yin, Tanny Tie Ni and Cheng Pei Pei are also featured.

Pao-yu is in love with his cousin, Lin Tai-yu, but his family has other marital plans for him that will leave both broken-hearted.

A musical about 3 sisters, singers and dancers, and their dad, a magician performing in nightclubs until they make their own life.

It's a powerful melodrama about a thwarted romance in 1930s Tientsin, China, during the Japanese occupation, and it stars Linda Lin Dai, one of the era's most popular stars. It was part of Golden Horse's 100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films.

Li Bing, a nightclub entertainer and a reformed thief was caught up in a fight against a criminal syndicate after forcing a cohort to return the wallet he previously stole from an assistant of a scientist who has just recently completed a doomsday device.

Spring Blossoms is a parable about the Chinese youth culture and what's important to the younger generation when it comes to romance. It starred a new wave of seventies, Shaw's beauties, Lily Li, Shu Pei-pei and Essie Lin-chia as single women looking for love. It's a triple-decker romantic bus ride on a road to nowhere speeding toward a low bridge. Only Lily Li became successful via her martial-arts abilities, so awesomely featured in Jackie Chan's The Young Master.

Accredited director of erotica and kung-fu films Chu Yuan, combines stars from both genres in Sex, Love And Hate, a masterpiece about Hong Kong society's differing emotional views on love and what women want when it comes to happiness in love. The provocative Ching Li (Chu Tai), the exotic Lily Ho (Pai Mei) and the princess of kung-fu films Hsu Feng (Yao Yao), play three women who live together and compare notes as to what would make them happy in love, in life, then go out to find it. Pai Mei wants money at all costs, Chu Tai will marry as soon as the opportunity arises and Yao Yao is saving her virginity for Mr. Right.

The Unforgettable Character is a 1975 Taiwanese romantic drama film directed by Chang Mei-chun and written by Chiung Yao.

Ivy Ling Po gives a startling performance as an abused wife who suffers through all his adulterous and treacherous ways in The Silent Love, which became an allegorical, tragic love story that reflected the unspoken truths inherent in Chinese society. Lead actor Chin Feng received the 1971 Golden Horse Outstanding Performance award for his portrayal as The Mute, a man that secretly loves Ivy and does all he can to make her life better, except that it backfires on him.

The socialite Pai Li-Lan's life is disrupted when she contracts tuberculosis.

Comedy/romance film from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The tragic love triangle of early 20th century Peking Opera star Chiu Hai-tang, his beautiful stage partner, and the warlord who forces himself between them, has been a favorite with Chinese audiences for decades.