Dragons Den is the premiere UK website dedicated to martial arts movies that recently held their first Kung Fu UK Film Festival. The impressive line up included two old school (Invincible Armour and The Mystery of Chess Boxing), two new school (Kampfansage and Contour) and one bona fide classic (Drunken Master 2). Fans were able to revel in the mix of martial arts styles the films presented, from the complicated and sustained (and sometimes humorous) fight sequences in Invincible Armour and Chess Boxing to the to the break-neck, stunt filled fights of Contour and Kampfansage.

A veteran of numerous film festivals , co-organizer Mike Banner, wanted to give it a try himself and get fans together. Talking about what it is that makes Kung Fu so appealing to fans, Mike says, í¢â‚¬Å“The well choreographed fight scenes are always exciting, and there is the heroic side of it all as well. The revenge stories of the good guy going up against an army of bad guys: it always gets the juices flowing.í¢â‚¬ 

Well the action was certainly flowing in the films on show. Invincible Armour and The Mystery of Chess Boxing, are two great old school martial arts films, with Armour still holding up well after thirty years with its never ending display of impressive combat. Directed by Ng See-Yuen (The Bloody Fists), it features a host of familiar faces including Hwang Jang Lee, John Liu and appearances from Cory Yuen and Yuen Biao. Chess Boxing comes from Joseph Kuo (Born Invincible) and though it contains more knockabout comedy than Armour, features a 20 minute finale which is still amazing to watch as Mark Long, John Long and Li Yi Min go toe to toe.

Kamfansage, the German futuristic, martial arts epic, was a perfectly adequate action film which despite relying on over-stylized MTV style editing, gets by on its sheer innovation and fast pacing. However, kudos must go to the makers of Contour, one of the best kung fu flicks to come from either the East or West in sometime and an absolute breath of fresh air for the genre. Produced by the San Francisco collective, The Stunt People, and shot on a reported budget of $5000, Contour is a marvel with its no holds barred action and comedy. Eschewing wires and CGI, the film features down and dirty fighting par excellence, bringing back memories of the Sammo Hung and co. glory days. The film is also a hoot, featuring as many belly laughs as fist fights and the last half hour will have even the most jaded of fight fans a gasp with the sheer ferocity of the fights. Seek it out.

Drunken Master 2 closed the fest and what a joy it was to see the Jackie Chan classic on the big screen. Still unreleased in this country, Drunken Master 2 is the epitome of Hong Kong Kung Fu cinema: funny, touching and packed with great martial arts.

For more reviews, coverage and upcoming events dealing with martial arts movies log onto www.dragonsdenuk.com. Contour, Kamfansage and assorted goodies can be found at their respective sites, www.thestuntpeople.com and www.kamfansage.com while Invincible Armour and Mystery of Chess Boxing are available on Region 2 DVD and from all good stockists.