THE MAGIC CRANE

In old China, shrouded in a mist that seems mythical, the world of martial arts is in chaos. The sudden appearance of the mighty and brutal Clan of the Celestial Dragon is the talk of the town. These perfidious baddies unleash hordes of poisoned bats on anything even remotely capable of doing a triple somersault and death kick. Official Chung Ho convenes a conference of all existing martial arts schools and societies to attempt to devise a global plan to combat this crisis. Naturally, all these battle wizards disagree on everything and go at each other’s throats. Until, like a deus ex machina, the beautiful and deadly Flying Cloud descends from the heavens on a crane. This unworldly fighting wonder seems the right person to go and find the magical antidote to the Heavenly Dragons. This extremely rare substance can only be found in the gall bladder of a 1000-year-old turtle (yuck!). But Flying Cloud must deal with an opponent in her path, the equally beautiful and life-threatening Blue Butterfly, who has her own reasons for being unfriendly to our heroine.

From the House of Trust of Tsui Hark, the Hong Kong producer of Chinese Ghost Stories, comes yet another oriental whirlwind of dizzying fights, joint-disturbing duels and special effects bursting in all directions. Festival goers know what to expect.