Frederick Dannen & Barry Long: Hong Kong Babylon: An Insider's Guide To The Hollywood Of The East

Hong Kong theater is a big deal in America at last, with Jackie Chan, John Woo and Chow Yun Fat finally earning the respect they have long deserved. But as Frederick Dannen and Barry Long have deftly illustrated, these men and their films are the products of a long, vital film tradition which is still being overlooked in our part of the globe. Dannen's interviews with such Eastern greats as Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and more are as interesting as they are strange; making a movie in Hong Kong involves much less time, just as much money, and a much more casual attitude toward criminal involvement than making a movie in Hollywood. But the movies themselves are the point, and Hong Kong Babylon provides hundreds of complete plot synopses and top critics' lists of recommendations for some of the world's most exuberant and enthusiastic films. The authors have even included the Chinese ideogrammatic titles to every single movie, so buffs with access to local Chinatowns can point out untranslated titles to non-English-speaking video-store clerks. This is an admirably complete book, and one of the best general cinema guides around.