Martial-arts champion Gina Carano is convincing as lethal Mallory, a black ops commando who is assigned by her slimy boss (Ewan McGregor) to “babysit” Michael Fassbender's agent in Dublin.

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DVD: The Karate Kid (PG)

The original Karate Kid (1984), with a bright-eyed Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita's shrewd Mr Miyagi, had an awful lot of wit and charm and appealed to bullied teenagers everywhere.

Why can't we have arthouse films on TV?

The uninspiring choice of movies on television leaves Ben Walsh yearning for the indie treats of the Eighties

The Karate Kid (PG)

Ain't that a kick in the head

John Walsh: We all got a kick out of the Kung Fu master

David Carradine's finest hours were probably those spent inhabiting the character of Kwai Chang Caine in the early-1970s TV series, Kung Fu. In concept, Kung Fu was a masterly conflation of two wildly different genres: the old-style Western and the new martial arts movies, starring Bruce Lee. My teen generation, raised on both late-Sixties hippie mysticism and the suave violence of the James Bond/ Man from UNCLE franchises, admired this peculiar hybrid of saintliness and savagery, toughness and transcendentalism.

JCVD (15)

JCVD? What's this – a sexual superbug?

The Bruce Lee legend

The iconic Kung Fu star's films were banned from Communist China by Chairman Mao. But now his legacy is being reclaimed with an epic 50-part documentary on state TV. By Clifford Coonan

The Forbidden Kingdom (12A)

The producers seem to have reckoned that, given their USP, trivial things like a story hardly mattered.

Bollywood: 'Movies from the soul' that will rule the world

Can Bollywood really be box office? The head of London-listed Eros International insists to James Moore that it can – with no moral compromises

TALES OF THE DRAGON

For millions, he was bigger than Muhammad Ali, bigger than the Beatles. For Davis Miller, though, Bruce Lee was more than just an icon. In this excerpt from his new biography, Miller explains Lee's impact on his life and asks two crucial questions: what killed the king of martial arts and was he really the greatest fighter ever?

The Information on: `The Matrix'

What Is It?

The Critics: Cinema: Travels in cyber-reality

The Matrix Director: The Wachowski Brothers Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss (89 mins; 18)

Film Studies: `The Matrix': great if it lasted only 10 minutes

I know my limits - if not as well as readers have learnt them. So I knew I could not see The Matrix, which has just opened in America, on my own. More than likely, I would fall asleep and be stoned for snoring through the one dialogue scene the picture might yield to. It was essential that I go with a nine-year-old who would spill cherry Coke on me to keep me awake and school me in the rollercoaster rhythms.

Cinema: Let's have lots more Mr Nice Guy

Mr Nice Guy 15

Young guns fan the flames of revolt

Albania: teenagers relish the power of weapons as insurgents consolidat e their gains and reject peace overtures by Tirana
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Day In a Page

David Rodigan: An MBE for reggae

David Rodigan on an MBE for reggae

The DJ from Oxfordshire and his obsession with the sound of Jamaica which is shared by Prince Charles
An artist who maps the human body

Mapping the human body

Angela Palmer: Life Lines picture preview
Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport

Jubilant Crossrail

Celebrating 60 years in transport
Grace Dent: If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?

Grace Dent

If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?
Ireland's austerity D-Day: How much pain can it take?

Ireland's austerity D-Day: How much pain can it take?

After years of savage cuts, the Irish now face a stark choice: do they hand over control of their economy to Europe – or go it alone without the safety net of future bailouts?
Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?

Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?

Advances in medicine have made the impossible, possible. But an over-reliance on healthcare threatens to bankrupt the world – and make all of us sick
The most complained-about advertisements of all time

The most complained-about advertisements of all time

The ASA has received 430,000 complaints during its existence, with a record 31,548 in 2011
Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it

Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it

From Tom Daley's six-pack to scantily clad volleyball players, Olympic athletes are being sold on their sex appeal. Why can't we appreciate talent, not totty?
Return of the unacceptable face of capitalism?

Return of the unacceptable face of capitalism?

Sir Richard Needham's resignation from the board of Lonrho brings back bad memories of the group's controversial past
Off the rails in Bermuda

Off the rails in Bermuda

Best known for beaches, it's also home to a stunning hiking trail that follows the route of an old railway line
Get ready for a royal good time

Get ready for a royal good time

There are plenty of events to help you fly the flag during the Diamond Jubilee long weekend and half term
Spain: World football's marathon men

Marathon men: Are Spain running out of puff?

They have every right to be exhausted after four taxing years of almost non-stop action but the chance to claim a unique treble is spurring them on
Usain Bolt: The Bolt show runs on

Usain Bolt: The Bolt show runs on

Friday's 'slow' 100m has done nothing to dent Jamaican's supreme confidence he will triumph in London
The weirdest and most wonderful Diamond Jubilee memorabilia

Weird and wonderful Jubilee memorabilia

Coronation Chicken ice cream and Jubilee jelly moulds
'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'

'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'

Being a teenager is hard enough – for those with hearing loss, it can be even more complicated