He was already credited on Aloha Little Vampire Story [1988] and Love To Kill [1991] under the Chinese name of Lau Cheung-kwok. He'd been ID'd in Aloha, but not yet in Love To Kill, understandable a single pic of a guy in heavy make-up isn't that much to work with
I've him listed as Yoo chang-guk (2) as there's another Yoo Chang-guk who actually has a page on the HKMDB already, a sound recordist that's worked on over 320 Korean films, busy man!
Yoo Chang-guk (2) was a very talented martial arts performer and action director from Korea, skilled with weapons and acrobatic, but also had incredible kicking skills, which is probably no surprise, considering that he's was a top student of Hapkido legend Hwang In-shik. He was a highly skilled gymnast, one one of the best of his generation, a talent he put to great use when doubling stars such as Wang Ho (aka Casanova Wong) and Shim Hyung-rae. In fact it was considered a bit of a debate among Korean action industry members as to who was the best, him or Won Jin. Perhaps this is what led to them co-starring in the film Doofus Detective And The Twin Light Brothers, the end fight of which has the two of them teaming up against Korea's top action actors of the time, featuring many familiar faces and also newcomers that would continue to push the boundaries of Korean acrobatic action such as Kadet Lee Seung-hoon and Oh Se-yeong. Both Yoo and WJ got a great opportunity to show off their amazing kicking and acrobatic skills here, both of them also being the assistant action directors probably helped with that too. It's a shame that they only had a few chances to work together.
I did actually try to contact him, but unbeknownst to me at the time, he had already passed away. I only discovered this unfortunate fact early this year.
On another sad note, I have not been able to get a full copy of, Sword Of Evil Power [1985] and the clips I have are very LQ. Unfortunately, I was close (maybe) to trading for a copy of Sword with someone who shared a clip online, but they stopped responding once I listed some films I could trade, so that looks like a dead end.
But all is not lost, as I do have a very small production still that shows Wang Ho (aka Casanova Wong) being held by some henchmen, one of whom I believe is Yoo. Even though the production still is tiny I'm certain that it is Yoo (and some others I'm sure I recognise
), I also managed to find some bts pics which although still not ideal for this matter (as he's in the background), still look like him to me. Also his casting would make sense as he also appeared in South Shaolin Vs North Shaolin which was also directed by Wang Ho (and featured several of the same cast) and The Uninvited Guest Of Star Ferry which featured several of the same cast too. So I'm convinced it's him.So I've added the usual info: Name and aliases; country of origin; DOB and death; and added pics for all the films possible.
The Legend Of Peach Blossom [1983] --- 6 roles
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=19523&display_set=eng
South Shaolin Vs North Shaolin [1984] --- 7 roles
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=10344&display_set=eng
Ninja Terminator [1985]
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=15089&display_set=eng
Sword Of Evil Power [1985]
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=14880&display_set=eng
Ninja Operation 5: Godfather The Master [1986]
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=15145&display_set=eng
Aloha Little Vampire Story [1988]
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=11808&display_set=eng
Year Of The King Boxer [1990] --- 2 roles
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=15893&display_set=eng
Love To Kill [1991]
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=12200&display_set=eng
As you can probably tell, he's someone I've done a good amount of research on and there's a lot more I have to say about him. A bio will be coming somewhere down the line and at least one two more films eventually when I add them to the database, so look forward to that.
Also, while I was getting pics from Love To Kill, I scoured it for other Koreans as I knew Choe Jeong-il and Jeong Doo-hong were in it, so there was a chance there might be more. But it seems that it was just those three in the end, so I took some new pics of Choe and Jeong to accompany Michael Kistner's pic.
Choe Jeong-il
https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=8549&display_set=eng
Jeong Doo-hong
https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=32471&display_set=eng
PS: Thanks to the mate who helped me track down a rare film. Cheers
