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FEATURING ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS 
(1971) Directed by Terence Young Cast: Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Ursula Andress
For those who prefer their Asian heroes of the Old West to be played by actual Asians, there's always this enjoyable alternative to "Kung Fu" (see below). This Italian-French-Spanish co-production features Japanese legend Toshiro Mifune ("
The Seven Samurai,"
Yojimbo") in one of his few heroic roles set on American soil (albeit shot in Spain).
This Euro-Western teams samurai Mifune with cowboy Bronson as they race to recover a precious sword stolen from visiting Japanese dignitaries.
Thankfully, Mifune comes off, as Bronson's equal, not his sidekick. James Bond-veteran Young keeps the action so brisk that you'll never notice how trite the story is. (Infinitely superior to that other Asian-theme Euro-Western, 1973's "The Stranger and the Gunfighter," starring Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh--an appalling waste of talent.) (Video Gems) 
Not everybody is going to agree with including this title in the list. After all, Carradine was cast in the lead role of Kwai-Chang Caine, the role that Bruce Lee had developed as his own Hollywood-starring vehicle. Bruce was robbed of the role. However, as a 1970s TV pilot, this story of Asian struggle in the Old West is quite well done. Besides, the film does give its supporting Asian cast--Keye Luke, Philip Ahn, Robert Ito, James Hong--their moments in the sun. More importantly, the enormous success of the "Kung Fu" TV show (1972-75) did as much as any of Bruce's movies to popularize Asian culture and martial arts in '70s America (including making "kung fu" a household word). Each week, the TV series brought a positive awareness of Asian American history into homes throughout the country--albeit in a highly stylized and compromised manner. Ironically, "Kung Fu" also helped to bring about "Enter the Dragon": both produced by Warner Brothers. The updated 1990s series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" was a wretched knock-off, not worthy of its predecessor. (Warner Home Video)  (1973) Directed by Robert Clouse Cast: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly The story is ridiculous and the drama is contrived. The outcome could have been anticipated from the beginning of the movie, even though is illogical - but who cares?! This cult classic features the martial artist and Asian American superstar Bruce Lee gracefully beating the living daylights out of all the bad guys! After years of obscurity in the U.S., Bruce triumphantly punched and kicked his way into the Hollywood spotlight (via Hong Kong). But in a bitter twist of fate, Bruce Lee died only a month before the movie was released to great success. One can only imagine what Hollywood's image of Asian/Asian Pacific American actors would have been if Bruce had lived and persevered. Only in the year of 2000 are we seeing success in films such as Jackie Chan's Shanghai Noon, Jet Li's Romeo Must Die and John Woo's Mission Impossible 2. (1974) Directed by Roman Polanski Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Richard Bakalyan, Roman Polanski, Joe Mantell, Bruce Glover, Nandu Hinds, James O'Rear, James Hong, Beulah Quo, Jerry Fujikawa, Belinda Palmer, Roy Roberts, George Justin, Noble Willingham, Elliott Montgomery, Rance Howard, Doc Erickson, Fritzie Burr, Charles Knapp, Claudio Martínez, Federico Roberto, Allan Warnick, John Holland, Jesse Vint, Jim Burke, Denny Arnold, Burt Young, Elizabeth Harding, John Rogers, Cecil Elliott, Bob Golden, Paul Jenkins, Lee de Broux 
Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography gives the goings-on both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley (note: there are also various hard-working Asian Pacific American actors in this historic film - shouldn't there be some!?! Asians in a film called "Chinatown!?!?" 
(1975) Directed by Sydney Pollack Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Brian Keith Although this is mainly Mitchum's movie, Takakura's empathic portrayal of a Japanese hit man--who turns against his employers to avenge his family--is so full of intensity and integrity that it transcends the "sidekick" label. This is an above-average action film. Director Pollack ("The Way We Were," "Tootsie") treats his martial-arts material with unusual seriousness and believability. This respectful presentation of a prominent Asian male character is rare for a Hollywood crowd-pleaser of the '70s. (Warner Home Video) 
(1975) Directed by Peter Greenaway Cast: Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Aoi Nakajima, Yasuko Matsui, Meika Seri, Kanae Kobyashi, Taiji Tonoyama, Kyoji Kokonae, Naomi Shiraishi, Shinkichi Noda, Komikichi Hari, Kikuhei Matsunoya, Akiko Koyama, Yuriko Azuma, Rei Minami, Machiko Aoki, Mariko Abe, Kyôko Okada, Kiyami Yasuda, Hiroko Fuji, Tami Mitsubashi, Kumiko Ishii, Katsue Tamiyama, Hitomi Tukuhara Nagisa Oshima's sensational, 1976 film concerns a woman (Eiko Matsuda) whose obsessive sexual relationship with her husband (Tatsuya Fuji) crosses the line from passion into the territory of life and death. One of the most sexually explicit films ever to play in mainstream theaters (though it did run into legal trouble both in the U.S. and Japan), it has an air of palpable doom, suggesting that sex can be a doorway to suicide. Lest this sound like grunge-era noodling over dreams of self-destruction, be assured that the Kyoto-born Oshima (Max Mon Amour, In the Realm of Passion, Violence at Noon, The Cruel Story of Youth and The Sun's Burial) takes a somewhat formal, middle-aged perspective on the conjunction of various mysteries of existence. --Tom Keogh TRIVIA: After the German premiere at the "Berlinale" the movie was confiscated as suspected pornography. However, 18 months later a German federal court permitted release in cinemas without any cuts. This film's photography, despite the erotica, is magnificent and has inspiried other films such as Last Tango in Paris, The Lover and Hiroshima Mon Amour.
MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE
This film has been called the "Holy Grail of the Hong Kong" martial arts movies of the 1970's and a template of how martial art films are patterned after. In addition to various awesome leaps, this action-packed thriller celebrates the combatants' mastery of style and technique and endless ingenuity rather than the razzle-dazzle special effects seen in the latest films on the big screen.
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