Lau Kar-leung

Director

July 28, 1934 (78 years)

† June 24, 2013

Xinhui, Guangdong, China

Biography

Lau Kar-leung (Chinese: 劉家良, 28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013), also known as Liu Chia-liang, was a Hong Kong-based Chinese actor, filmmaker, choreographer and martial artist. Lau is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. One of his most famous works is The 36th Chamber of Shaolin which starred Gordon Liu, as well as Drunken Master II which starred Jackie Chan.

Filmography

7.5

The Legend of Drunken Master

Returning home with his father after a shopping expedition, Wong Fei-Hong is unwittingly caught up in the battle between foreigners who wish to export ancient Chinese artifacts and loyalists who don't want the pieces to leave the country. Fei-Hong must fight against the foreigners using his Drunken Boxing style, and overcome his father's antagonism as well.

7.5

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

During the Qing Dynasty, a fishmonger is killed by the reigning Manchu government for supporting the anti-government movement; his son manages to escape to Shaolin Temple, where he plans to learn its secretive brand of martial arts to seek revenge.

6.5

Tiger on the Beat

A seasoned cop and his rookie partner are a pair of mismatched partners as they try to solve the murder of a heroin trafficker.

6.9

Return to the 36th Chamber

The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production. Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu expert from the temple of Shaolin. The factory owner proves the actor a fraud, and punishes all those involved. The young actor feels he has let the workers down, and promises to atone. He sets out for Shaolin, determined to be accepted as a kung-fu pupil at the elite temple.

6.5

Shaolin Mantis

When scholar Wei Fung is forcibly hired by the Manchu Emperor to infiltrate a clan of rebellious Ming Loyalists, his mission goes adrift when he falls in love with the clan's leader's granddaughter. Wei Fung must choose between his new love and his family, who will be put to death if he doesn't return to the palace successfully.

6.4

Disciples of the 36th Chamber

Monk San Te tries to support and protect Shaolin and her Fang Shih-yu who purposely attacks corrupt Ching officials.

5.9

Drunken Master III

Set around the turn of the century in China, the White Lotus Society plots to put the next Emperor on the throne. To do this they want their protege to marry the Princess Sun Yu who possesses an important jade ring. They dispatch Yueng Kwan to fetch her. However, Yueng Kwan is a patriot, working for the revolutionary forces of Sun Yat Sen. He abducts Sun Yu and finds refuge with the father of the future hero Wong Fei Hung.

7.3

Heroes of the East

When a series of martial misunderstandings spirals into an international incident, a Chinese martial arts student struggling to relate to his new Japanese wife is forced to take on seven of Japan's most powerful martial arts masters, each an expert in a different discipline, ranging from karate to samurai to ninjitsu.

6.4

The Lady is the Boss

Wong Hsia Yuan is an old-fashioned martial arts master who's so behind the times that he'd rather his school be destroyed than change its ways. He may get his wish, thanks to the young, beautiful, intelligent Chan Mei Ling, who arrives from the states to open a new branch of the school. Armed with an unfamiliar, modern way of thinking, Mei Ling goes about recruiting new students in strange, and sometimes questionably legal ways. Yuan is furious, but when the local triads enter the picture, the two put their differences aside to take back the neighborhood.

6.4

Martial Arts of Shaolin

In ancient China, Zhi Ming trains at the legendary Northern Shaolin temple to avenge the death of his father at the hands of a nefarious magistrate.

7.0

The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter

The Yangs are betrayed by a government official conspiring with the Mongols. All of the Yang family males except the 5th and 6th brother are killed. Fu Sheng loses his mind after the death of his family, while the other brother takes refuge in a Buddhist temple.

6.7

Executioners from Shaolin

After the destruction of the Temple, a Shaolin disciple devotes years to mastering the Tiger style in order to defeat the martial arts master who killed his teacher. His wife, a Crane style specialist, has a feeling one style won't be enough.

6.2

The Shadow Boxing

Lau Kar-leung returns to the success of his first directed film, "The Spiritual Boxer," which also stars the original film's bumbling ghost controller, Wong Yu. Hoping to make the lightning of success strike in the same place, Lau had his two brothers Lau Kar-Wing and Gordon Liu not only act but also help with the fights. The end result is a martial arts film masterpiece filled with breathtaking action and set pieces.

6.5

Tiger on the Beat 2

Lam, a cop approaching 40 but without much accomplishment, always wants to achieve something memorable before his retirement. He is obliged by his sister to find a decent Chinese girl for his nephew, Baffalo, who is an "American Born Chinese". But Baffalo has an eye for a sweetie, Ellen, who has accidentally witnessed a murder. The incident gets Lam, Baffalo and Ellen being involved in a ruthless underground arms smuggling ring, wich sends the killer to eliminate them.

5.3

Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit

Two friends who own an investment firm turn to a policeman friend for help when they are framed for robbery by a gang of antiquities smugglers.

6.2

Challenge of the Masters

The Wong family kung fu school gets smacked around by a rival school. Wong Fei-hong gets fed up with the abuse and goes to learn from his fathers master. After one of the rival schools members kills some of the towns people Wong Fei-hong becomes enraged trains even more comes back and gets his revenge.

6.7

Mad Monkey Kung Fu

A disgraced former Kung Fu expert makes a living as a merchant with the help of a hot headed friend. When the men are harassed by gangsters, the merchant decided to teach his friend monkey boxing so they can defend their business.

6.4

My Young Auntie

Cheng Tai-nun is a young martial-arts champion. She marries an elderly landowner so that he can keep his estate from falling into the greedy and corrupt hands of his brother, Yu Yung-Sheng.

6.2

Drunken Monkey

China, the early 1930's: martial arts master Wen Biao discovers that his brother has been using their security company for illegal activities. A confrontation between the brothers leaves Web Biao missing and presumed dead.

7.3

Dirty Ho

A prince enlists a thief to serve as his bodyguard to protect him from assassins.