As a fan of Asian cinema, especially martial arts films, I enjoy watching old ‘kung fu’ movies that I have never seen, or well, I at least like the idea of doing so. As with any form of entertainment, there are some gems and some duds in the genre, with 70s martial arts films from Asia being no exception. And what you will find in the first Martial Arts Movie Marathon is a bit of a mixed offering, although one film in the set is worth the cost of admission alone.
This is a two disc set, with the first disc containing two movies from 1974. First up is The Manchu Boxer, starring Anthony Lau Wing, Chi Chu Chin, Piao Ho, and Sammo Hung, who also was the fight instructor. The artwork and premise seem promising enough, but ultimately this film has a boorish pace and the fights aren’t interesting except some parts of the final battles. Interestingly, this a Golden Harvest film and it was directed by Raymond Chow, but it’s too dramatic and deliberate in its pacing to be worth watching again. The story sees a skilled martial artist banished from his home for accidentally killing two attackers. His father is so upset he essentially disowns him, sending Chi Chu out to fend for himself. He vows to never fight again, but he finally comes around after his newfound friends are effected by the wrath of another skilled martial artist who has organized the Seven Provinces Tournament and has it rigged so that he wins. There are aspects of the story that work, but as a viewer you’re asked for a bit too much for it to hold your interest. Plus, seeing Sammo Hung as a bad guy was a bit of a shock to me.
Easily the best film in this set and the one that is worth the cost of admission alone is The Skyhawk. Starring Kwan Tak Hing as the famous Wong Fei Hung that later Jet Li would portray, The Skyhawk shares some themes with The Big Boss but you could argue it’s a better film. The Skyhawk is what I would call a textbook classic martial arts film that has a good story, great fights, and a replay value that really sets it apart from the other movies not only in this release but also many kung fu movies in general. Nora Miao, Hsiung Chao, and Sammo Hung co-star, with Sammo also working as the Action Director. Raymond Chow acts as Producer. The story sees the peaceful, yet masterfully skilled Fei Hung reluctantly get involved in the struggle between a small town’s workers and the local crime boss who demands they do things his way. Fei Hung and his student Fei Fei (played by Sammo Hung) encounter a young man, Ku (Hsiung Chao), along a walking path. Ku is jumped by members of a nearby school that he embarrassed. After defending himself the master of the school tracks him down and hurts him. Meanwhile the local workers at a factory are having issues with the crime boss, and eventually it’s a classic battle of good versus bad with plenty of well choreographed and placed fights.
Disc two has The Dragon Tamers and The Association, both from 1975. The Dragon Tamers stars Hsiung Chao and is John Woo’s second film as director. Hsiung Chao is a skilled martial artist who travels to Korea with the sole intention of fighting Shen Rongzheng, a Tae Kwon Do master. The intent is malicious as much as it is for practice. This results in some entertaining fight scenes, but the crux of the story comes from the recent attacks and threats against local dojos by a gang who is intent on taking control over the area. The Association is more of a crime film than a traditional martial arts one. Sammo Hung is a detective along with the main star, Yu Byong, as they attempt to shutdown a prostitution ring while dealing with police corruption, too. For my taste, there is just a little bit too much emphasis placed on nudity to make this movie have much replay value, a complaint I would also have with The Dragon Tamers, although to less of a degree.
Each film is presented in 2:35:1 widescreen and has the mono original Mandarin and English dub tracks with English subtitle support. Image quality varies, with The Manchu Boxer suffering from constant speckling and a general rough appearance, while The Skyhawk looks pretty damn good. The Dragon Tamers and The Association fall somewhere inbetween. Unfortunately, other than the trailers, there are no extra features for these films.
And with that, on to the summary…