My first exposure to Cynthia Rothrock was the China O’Brien films growing up. Little did I know that my own discovery of Hong Kong cinema in the mid-nineties would eventually lead me to one of the actress’s most rewatchable films of her heyday, Righting Wrongs, also starring Yuen Biao and Melvin Wong.
By this point, Jackie Chan’s second crossover with Rumble In The Bronx and my subsequent intake of his other work familiarized me enough with his ilk that Biao became another favorite, and with Righting Wrongs eventually becoming a repeat VHS rental for me in the early two-thousandsies. Mom couldn’t pull me out of the Asian video section fast enough.
To this day though, I’ve yet to consume all of Rothrock’s films on both the East and West ends of her career. Suffice it to say that she still remains one of the most potent and celebrated action stars of all time. At 66, and with multiple accolades in the world of martial arts in her wake, Rothrock continues her career pursuits in film, her latest being upcoming Western, Black Creek, which is currently in post-production.
I write this as I was reminded of Rothrock’s birthday in a social media post by Robert Samuels just moments before drafting this article. I’ve yet to meet her myself in person, which is still something I hope to accomplish before long, so if there’s any chance I can make it to another friends’ gathering permeating the Urban Action Showcase events this year and provided the weight lightens around my current obligations going forward, and if she’s in the area, I would love to trade a few words and a handshake at some point.
In the meantime, I thought I’d weigh in on the occasion with the rare birthday article celebrating Rothrock’s ongoing journey around the sun. I look forward to Black Creek and quite possibly any prospects there may be for the long-awaited reboot of the China O’Brien franchise, which is presently on deck for a restored/remaster re-release on Blu-Ray and 4K UHD in the U.S. and U.K. from Eureka and Vinegar Syndrome this Spring.
Beyond that, there’s only one thing left to say: Happy Birthday, Foo Lok Law!
