Programmed August 2025

Sammo Hung Kicks Ass

Featuring a new interview with Hung, part of Criterion’s Meet the Filmmakers series A one-of-a-kind performer, choreographer, and director, Hong Kong superstar Sammo Hung reinvented action cinema as a space of exuberant physicality and unexpected grace. Trained at the same Beijing-opera academy as Jackie Chan (with whom he costarred in films like My Lucky Stars ), Hung deployed the skills he learned there in cinema, combining athleticism with impish humor. In full-throttle martial-arts extravaganzas like the off-the-wall horror comedy Encounters of the Spooky Kind ; the thrillingly kinetic, tonally audacious action melodrama Pedicab Driver ; and the absolutely jaw-dropping jungle adventure Eastern Condors , Hung reaches heights of acrobatic transcendence while keeping the spectacle grounded via his down-to-earth screen presence.