Deadly Strike!

Here's an illustration I did for a cover of a publication featuring Taiwanese actor/director Lu Feng, star of the 1978 Shaw Brothers film FIVE DEADLY VENOMS. (It might be fun to do a full series of these sometime.)

Lu is the deadly centipede coiled and ready to strike. Do centipedes actually coil? And are they even deadly? Well, I'm not going to find out. His blade looks pretty sharp to me.

And this is piece I did for a friend. Karen Campbell and Cynthia Rothrock getting their kicks. (The Welsh and Chinese dragons approve.)

The butt kicking continues... nex ttime. 

The Fury of Rothrock

Cynthia Rothrock has the unique distinction of being possibly the only American actor to get her cinematic start in Hong Kong action films. A superior athlete, Rothrock segued her status as the undefeated World Champion in Martial Arts Forms and Weapons into a equally successful career in the world of action filmmaking. After several popular martial arts action films in Hong Kong she now primarily works on US productions as an actor, writer and producer.

In 1989 after appearing in various supporting action roles, HK juggernaut studio Golden Harvest gave Cynthia the lead role in an action comedy called THE BLONDE FURY (retitled LADY REPORTER for the export market). I won't go into details of the fragmented production schedule, but the final result is a thoroughly pleasing romp full of exciting set pieces and ernest performances. These Hong Kong performers truly risk life and limb for our "popcorn entertainment".

Commissioned to do the remastered Blu-ray package, I endeavored to capture that late 80's visual aethestic (right down to the "VHS sticker") while still making the art feel vibrant and fresh. The movie is a bit "all over the place", and so is the cover art. Her name above the title is sharpie marker on masking tape. Perhaps a little bit "punk". The film did not have a strong marketing campaign upon it's initial release so I was free to come up with my own vibe.

 The booklet cover art carries forward the same visual theme.

We'll continue the "ladies kickin' ass" theme next time with another popular film in the Hong kong girls with guns action subgenre.

Duty Calls

Taiwanese actress Cynthia Khan (a stage name amalgamation of Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Khan) takes over for a retiring Michelle Yeoh in this hard-hitting installment in the very loosely connected Hong Kong "girls with guns" film series. For the IN THE LINE DUTY III cover art I continued the graphic theme established previously, this time with a yellow tone as seen on the original HK lobby cards.  

The booklet cover spread continues the visual theme. (The Thai poster is featured on the back.)

As does the menu featuring that iconic shot.

Next up... the fourth time's the charm.

Madam Yeoh Meets Miss Rothrock

The Hong Kong "girls with guns" subgenre of action films is generally considered to have started in 1985 with the release of  the action-comedy YES, MADAM! Due to it's commercial success, production company D&B Films was quick to produce more movies with a similar theme. Some starring their new starlet, Michelle Yeoh. Retroactively these loosely-connected films were marketed as a "series" called IN THE LINE OF DUTY — with YES, MADAM! being marketed as the first film in the series in some regions, and the second in other markets. 

Regardless of the order of the films, YES, MADAM! remains a highlight of female-lead action cinema, and it was a pleasure to design the packaging for the first 4 films in the series. (Their success slowly dwindled after the wonderful fourth installment, and the rights holder has yet to make the remaining 3 films available in HD, but who knows what the future may hold.) 

I decided to give each film a consistent bold compositional design, with a unique color theme. YES, MADAM! demanded a minty 'Miami Vice' mid-80s palette. With a splash of hot pink paint to pop the title and mimic the original HK poster art. I also decided to choose a simple title font that could work with all the film titles in the series (long or short), to further connect them visually.

I was able to illustrate the leads in representative poses exploding from the title, and give Michelle and Cynthia the emphasis they deserve. Monochromatic background elements in the upper corners are architectural details seen in the final act's big action set piece (soon to be painfully smashed by falling stuntmen).

   

For the booklet cover I went with a minimal black background with the leads in a tinted monochrome under the title text. 

I carried this over to the Blu-ray menu, with the background design element from the cover behind the title and a color photo of the leads. This left plenty of room for a single-page layout of all the menu options. 

Next time, WARRIORS get the ROYAL treatment.