Hey pj ! Perhaps you can help myself and Fox, and perhaps anyone else interested in this one.<br><br>I'm at the stage where I'm just starting to be able to detect direction i.e. whether it's L-R or R-L. Of course, many posters/credits are written top to bottom, which makes it so much easier

<br><br>The rule of thumb I use is pre and post 1980, and I've found it generally accurate.<br><br>But I recently had cause to introduce some doubt. The guy who runs a Chinese cinema here in Sydney is a cantonese speaking HKer. This guy has eaten lived and breathed Asian film for over 20 years. Through his wife as interpreter, he stunned me by saying that the David Chiang film The Challenger was definitely made in 1982, not 1979 as the Db says (as well as several other internet sources). He went on to say that the L-R and R-L has political overtones (!), and depended more on the political leaning of the owners of the producers than where it was made or when !!!<br><br>To illustrate, he said The Challenger was Taiwan financed but made in HK, which explains why the poster is written R-L, which explains why it is still R-L in 1982.<br><br>I am prepared to believe that the pre/post 1980 thing may be due to 1978, as around that time Cantonese language took over from M'rin as the dominant language in HK film.<br><br>So, my cinema guy as a source. Is he raving mad, or is he on to something ? I must give him some creedence, if only for being an experienced movie fan and an industry insider.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>