It is not an overstatement to say that without the Shaw Brothers there would not have been a kung fu movie industry, such was the importance of their contribution.

Before the Shaws machine cranked into action, Hong Kong martial arts and swordfight films were strictly low-budget and usually about Wong Fei Hung.

The brothers began buying up cinemas all over south-east Asia, creating an almost monopoly situation whereby THEY controlled what was shown in those cinemas. Their profits were re-invested back into the company in the form of finance for their own movies, Shaw Brothers Films. These films found a 'captive' audience, but as the money poured in from all over Asia it was the increasing quality of the films produced that 'sustained' their success.

The first kung fu film to get a general release in the west was "King Boxer"(Aka: Five Fingers Of Death) directed by Chang Cheh and starring Lo lieh.

Chang Cheh developed a 'first team' of top kung fu stars who starred together in some of the genre's finest films. This team initially consisted of David Chiang and the magnificent Ti Lung and later Chen Kuan Tai. The trio starred seperately and together in films such as 'Blood Brothers', 'The New One-Armed Swordsman' and 'All Men Are Brothers'. They were later joined by Alexander Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun.

A younger 'first team' appeared as the 70's came to an end. They were known collectively as 'The Venoms' after their hit film 'Five Deadly Venoms'.

In recognition of his contribution to the success of Hong Kong, Run Run was knighted by the Queen, becoming 'Sir' Run Run Shaw.

As the 80's progressed and US produced films and Ninja movies replaced kung-fu in the hearts of their traditional audience, Shaws decided to change their game plan. They sold one of their greatest physical assets, their huge village of historical sets, the Hong Kong equivalent of the Hollywood backlots, and started to move into TV. Shaw Brothers is now Shaw Media, a part of the TVB group and is involved in producing TV shows which are shown on Chinese cable and satellite channels all over the world.

Shaw Brothers just beat Golden Harvest for the right to run the new 'Cinema City' which is being backed by the new government. Meanwhile, thousands of 'kung-fu movies' are believed to be locked away in Shaws archives, many of which have never been released on video.

We live in hope!