New York movie lovers looking for a respite from Hollywood summer blockbusters have their prayers answered this week when Asia Society and the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) join forces to present three cult classics that define what action cinema is all about.

The three films — The Delinquent (1973), The Magic Blade (1976), and Killer Constable (1980) — represent the golden age of Hong Kong's legendary Shaw Brothers, the iconic studio run by the media mogul Sir Run Run Shaw, who died earlier this year at the age of 106. Founded in 1958, Shaw Brothers produced more than 1,000 films over the next several decades, the most famous of which were the martial arts movies that became a worldwide phenomenon in the studio's 1960s and '70s heyday and, in the eyes of fans around the world, made the genre all but synonymous with Hong Kong filmmaking.

Asia Society's three features range from the social realism and formal experimentation of The Delinquent to the bleak, revisionist worldview of Killer Constable as well as the over-the-top mayhem and sheer storytelling brio of The Magic Blade.

All screenings take place on Sunday, July 13 and Monday, July 14. Tickets are $8 for Asia Society members, $10 for seniors and students with valid ID, and $12 for nonmembers, with a package discount also available. Click here for complete information and a list of all the films screening at Asia Society as part of this year's NYAFF.

The Delinquent
Sunday, July 13, 3:00 pm
Details and tickets

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Killer Constable
Sunday, July 13, 5;10 pm
Details and tickets

Watch the trailer:

The Magic Blade
Monday, July 14, 6:00 pm
Details and tickets

Watch the trailer: