China O'Brien's movies have a distinctly early 90's video store smell to me. Just the mention of her two obscure martial arts epics is enough to draw me back to the well-stocked shelves at my local rental store. There, for reasons I've never really considered, dangerous kung fu “classics” often outnumbered big-screen blockbusters. – Just thinking about it makes me smell the cheap plastic box the tape came in.
Thrillingly, Eureka Classics has just released Volumes 1 and 2 of The China O'Brien Experience in a new remastered Blu-ray set, and I'm excited to relive my childhood all over again, including the smells of exciting B-movies. It's done.
Both films star Cynthia Rothrock. Cynthia Rothrock is a diminutive but extremely talented martial arts enthusiast who rose to fame during the waning years of the '80s with Hong Kong productions such as Yes, Madam and Lady Reporter. takes us back to the days of mullets and high-tops. Trainers made easy.
The fact that it comes with a range of period-appropriate perks only makes the deal even sweeter.
The powers that be in the martial arts world are clearly calling Rothrock the next big crossover star for their movies, the elusive star everyone has been searching for since Enter the Dragon made the genre available to Western audiences. I saw him as “the next Bruce Lee.'' 1973.
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Attempts to make the great Jackie Chan a hit in America failed until 1995's Rumble in the Bronx. So the idea of a good-looking white lead actress based in the United States but known to Asian film fans to win box office success is a must-come-true. It seemed very appealing at the time.
They lined her up with American director Robert Close, and China O'Brien was born. It mattered little that this film and its carbon-copy sequel failed to set the world on fire, and that the film never even hit Western cinema screens, instead making its way to audiences through home video. It didn't matter that I collected them.
These are beautiful little time capsules that reflect a vibrant era of martial arts movies. Shot in the United States in English and starring a primarily American crew, it can sometimes seem like a very Western-flavored film, but that only adds to its nostalgic appeal today.
The first film introduces Lori 'China' O'Brien (Rothrock), a police officer who excels in martial arts. She resigns from her unit after a tragic accident and retreats to her hometown Beaver Creek. There, she confronts a ruthless crime lord called Somers (Stephen Kirby), with predictable action-packed results.
In Part 2, filmed at the same time, the peace and quiet of her home town is disrupted by a visiting drug lord (Harlow Marks), resulting in, you guessed it, action-packed chaos.
However, the story is of little importance here. It's all about action, and both movies certainly deliver on that front. As a Golden Harvest co-production, it offers a sometimes messy mix of Western and Eastern fighting styles, but Rothrock is great throughout, high-kicking his way to martial arts heaven.
Hardcore Hong Kong action fans may be a little disappointed, but for those of us who remember it being released on VHS, it's pure time-travel thrills.
