Welcome to the very first edition of 'The Postman Cometh', a mailbag that offers you the opportunity to get your questions answered by the team or perhaps just vent on a particular topic.  We hope it will be a welcome (and regular) addition to the site that will also allow us to keep up with the growing amount of of emails dropping into the DDUK inbox.  If you have a question or an opinion you would like printed on these very pages, head on over to our Contact Us page.

MARCH 2007

This month your questions will be answered by : Mike "The Shaolin Avenger" Banner

Q.  Could you tell me the actors name that plays the Iron Flags leader that is killed in the movie Flag of Iron - Brad D

A.  I believe the man you are looking for is Liang Yao Wen (AKA Leung Yiu Man). Apart from 'Flag of Iron', Liang has also appeared in such Shaw Brothers classics as 'Two Champions of Shaolin', 'Ten Tigers of Kwantung' and 'Sword Stained with Royal Blood'. He seems to be a little bit like human wallpaper, as I've seen the films he's appeared in listed above but I don't actually remember seeing him in them.

Q.  hello.....I wanna ask about a movie...the name is SO CLOSE....star by shu qi, karen mok n etc...I wanna ask where to get free mp3 download this movie OST....the title is close to you...I hope u reply as soon as possible...thank you - Guntur

A.  I hope you're not suggesting I help you commit a crime by pointing you to a site where you can illegally download some music? I'm disappointed with you, Guntur. As penance you must say 50 'hail Marys' and watch 'Shira: The Vampire Samurai' twice.  If you wish to have a legal copy of the 'So Close - OST' then your best bet is to keep an eye on Ebay and Yahoo Auctions (I saw it in a Yahoo auction recently), as it is currently out of print.

Q.  In regards to Bey Logan's comment on "The Protector" DVD extras about Americans not having a clue about Kung-Fu movies without Wu-Tang clan recording music?!..DO WHAT??!! I thought he was an "expert". No offense to Mr. Logan. He doesn't understand American martial arts fans if this is what he thinks. Yes, Wu-Tang wouldn't have material for their rapping without Kung-Fu, much less a name. But for him to say what he said is very sad and really baffles me. P.S. I'd like to give thanks to the Weinsteins for screwing up another cool Asian film. The original Protector (excuse me Tom Yum Goong) was awesome. Thanks for listening..Later - Chris

A.  I haven't listened to Mr Logan's commentary but I am assuming that you're referring to him describing Wu-Tang Clan member RZA as "one of the foremost individuals who single handedly made Asian cinema accessible to mainstream American audiences.". While there is definitely a sense of hyperbole from that statement, it would be hard to deny that the Wu-Tang Clan, through their multi-million selling records (featuring many kung fu movie samples) and their own line of kung fu movie DVDs, haven't had a hand in increasing the popularity of martial arts films in the USA. I've read rumours that stores in America had sales of '3 Evil Masters' increase dramatically after it was used in the making of one of the Clan's albums. The patronising treatment of 'Tom Yum Goong' and other Asian films by the Weinsteins is a whole different subject.

Q.  I'm looking for a old Kung Fu in which their are 3 fighters who have invincible body parts. One has invincible arms in which he trained by holding up very big & hot pots (the kind that we see witches stirring their brew in) with his arms. Another one has an invincible stomach in which I believe he dies @ the end when he gets shot with a lot of arrows in his stomach. And the last one I believe has invincible legs. Its all 3 of them against a whole army & I think only one of them lives. I remember this movie when I was kid & it was my all time favorites next to 5 Deadly Venoms & The Kid With The Golden Arms and I have those 2 on DVD. So I REALLY need your help in finding this lost treasure I seek. Any way you can help me would be GREATLY appreciated. - Ray C

A.  Are you sure you didn't dream this? I've been asking around and I can't seem to find any info on this film. I'll have to admit defeat and open this one up to our readers. First person to tell us the title of this movie and send in some screencaps gets themselves a couple of DVDs that are lying around the DDUK office as a reward.

Q.  Can you snd me list of Shaolin Movies DVD/VCD. Dirty Ho, Executioner from shaolin, Challenge of the master, Mad monkey Kungfu, Drunken boxing etc I am interested in all those movies which exhibits shaolin kung fu - gajanan

A.  There are a lot of movies that feature Shaolin kung fu in various forms and with various levels of authenticity. I'm not about to list them all here because I am a busy man (not really but I am a lazy man). What you probably should look out for is the 'Shaolin cycle' of films made by Chang Cheh. These are a group of films directed by Chang for the Shaw Brothers studio that have stories, characters and kung fu styles related to the history of the Shaolin Temple. These films are 'Shaolin Temple', 'Heroes Two', 'Men from the Monastery', 'Five Shaolin Masters', 'Disciples of Shaolin', 'Shaolin Avengers', 'Shaolin Martial Arts' and 'New Shaolin Boxers'.

Q.  I am trying to purches a dvd called Tom Yum Goong a.k.a Warrior King. The thing is I want the version that is hard to get. The director of the movie re-edited and made few cuts to the movie before it was release outside Thailand. Most versions I have seen of Tom Yum Goong are the same. If you want to know what has been cut I have listed below:

1:Extended first fight before the speed boat sequence.

2:Tony Jaa doing high flying elbow hit at Sydney bridge.

3:Extended temple fight scene in which Tony Jaa fights two fighters at the same time (You see them lying unconsious on the floor).

4:Extended bone breaking scene.1 vs 70.

5:Extended second fight between Tony Jaa and Nathan Jones a.k.a T.K.

Could you kindly e-mail me to let me know which version is the full uncut extended edition? Thank You - Yasar


A.  The US and UK releases are both as 'uncut' as the Thai version is. There are apparently about 6 minutes of the fight scenes that was cut out prior to the Thai release and have not been re-instated. For example the 'flying elbow on the bridge' move that can been seen in the trailer is not in any current version of the film and can only be seen in the trailer. I'm sure someone will release the Uncut Ultra Platinum Special Anniversary Limited Super 15-disc Kingbiscuit Edition with the extra footage included one day.

Q.  How to buy "Fist of Fury" DVD Please send to E-mail will be contact. Thank you - THOMSON LAW

A.  Ok, you're going to need money and either the ability to move your body or the ability to click a mouse button. You can then either take yourself to HMV (or some similar shop) or, better still, you can click on one of the Yesasia or HK Flix banners on our site and type 'Fist of Fury' into their search engine. Then you'll only be a few clicks away from owning a slice of classic Jap-bashing pie.

Q.  Hi haven't been on for a while but came on hunting for an answer and YOU confirmed my suspicions :D re: RAC and a sneaky spot of Richard Ng I kept saying to my pals that I am 1000000000000000% sure it is he, they're all like nah! HA HA HA I have the last laugh - Angie

A.  That's a lot of percent. There's no need get all smug though, it's very unladylike. Having said that, if I was doing a pub quiz and there was a 'Name the ageing Asian actors in these UK television commercials round' then I know whose team I'd want to be on.

Q.  Hi, I'm a huge fan of Stephen Chow and I just read your movie review for his old movie, God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai. I was just wondering whether you can find out the title of the theme song sung by a female singer in the movie? I hope you could answer my question, thanks.- Agustinus

A.  This took a surprisingly long time to find the answer to. The song you are looking for is 'Yuan Cang Tian Bian Le Xing' and it's sung by a little known Taiwanese popstar called Fang Ji Wei. Incidentally, rumour has it that there are two versions of 'God of gamblers 3: Back to Shanghai'. There's a Hong Kong version featuring Gong Li and a Taiwanese version that has Fang Ji Wei replacing her.

Special thanks must go to my girlfriend (because if I didn't I'd be getting a slap) who helped me research this question.

Q.  can you guys please send me biao yuens address for me i really want to contact him. - george

A.  Hmmmm....Let me have a look. *flicks through his celebrity Rolodex.* Who have we got here then? Sammo Hung, Max Mok, Amy Yip, Dean Shek *Throws Shek's card in the bin*, Sammi Cheng, Wong Jing...*pauses* Ooh, I haven't seen the Jingster for ages. I really should give him a call. I remember the last time we went out for a meal, he grabbed a carrot, held it over his groin and waved it around like it was his penis......Hahahahahahaha...he's such a joker. Jingy then reached across to the next table and slapped Charlene Twin on the bum. This probably wasn't a good thing as she was already annoyed because Gillian Twin had just said she felt that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle was more of an epistemic limitation than an indication of ontological indeterminacy. Those girls can get real nasty when discussing Quantum Mechanics. Things got even more heated when a livid Aaron Kwok stormed in, swearing his head off because he'd seen Charlene on the telly earlier wearing the exact same outfit that he had been wearing while on a different show. Jing tried to lighten the mood by holding a pair of buns over his chest, pretending they were boobs but, unfortunately, it didn't calm things down as the girls had already had a few Malibu and Coke's and were ready for a rumble. Ahhh, those were some crazy, crazy nights. *Stares out of the window*

Anyway, where was I? *Resumes looking through his Rolodex*. Here we go, Yuen Biao's address. Wait, there's something written at the bottom of the card. "Never, ever give my address to a stranger or I will backflip into your house and snap you like a bread stick. Love, Yuen Biao." Sorry George, can't help you.