Tang ren piao ke

I am proud to say that I am a huge Jimmy Wang Yu fan!

While not the most authentic or graeful of fighters, the man has made some incredible kung fu films in his lifetime, both as an actor and a director. Some are incredible for his performance, some for the sheer violence of his fight scenes, and some, because they are downright outrageous. 10 Fingers Of Steel (also known as Screaming Tiger, and King Of Boxers), is a film that blends all of those descriptions together bringing a kung fu, fight-filled epic that entertains for its complete running time.

Directed by Chien Lung (credited as Kim Lung), the man behind classics such as Wang Yu's Shogun Saints, Tiger, and Kung Fu Mama, this little gem opens with Wang Yu at his utmost racist after arriving in Japan, until we soon learn about the massacre of his family and village back in China by a Nippon gang of martial artists...

Thankfully, with Japan being so tiny, he arrives exactly in the right town as to where these bad guys hold-up, led by Wang Yu film regular and awesome bad guy, Fei Lung (Beach Of The War Gods, One Armed Boxer) who takes no crap from anyone - even his master who he broke off from long ago. It doesn't take a minute for the action to kick-off as Wang Yu shows his skills off to some local hoodlums before catching the eye of a lady called Yoko (Chang Ching Ching), who nicks something from him and runs off. She just happens to be connected to all the people he needs to meet, which is quite handy!

10 Fingers Of Steel has a generic revenge storyline, beefed up by a mad performance by Wang Yu and plenty of crazy characters. The fights come fast and thick, from village throw-downs to fights in the ring with Sumo wrestlers to win money for dinner, anything and everything that moves pretty much gets its ass kicked. The fights are choreographed by Hong Kong movie veteran Wong Fei Lung, and Poon Chuen Ling who bring a hefty dose of fast moving, violent martial arts to the screen with our hero taking on gangs of men in many battles, as well as one-on-one's.

Generic, yes. Flawed, yes. But what brings this classic up to a four star for me is the incredible and long end fight that takes Jimmy Wang Yu and Fei Lung on a bloody battle from the street to a fast moving train, leaping onto a rickety old bridge before falling into a river, then continuing to fight and fall down slippery boulders before the climax at a huge waterfall..!!

It's just insane! This is 1972, and I've seen action films today that don't even offer the same amount of excitement in 90 minutes than this finale does. On its initial release in the UK, the film suffered heavy cuts from the BBFC due to excessive blood in the fights, the strangling of a child, and general violence. And while it may not be recognised as one of his best, I would watch it over again and again, as it was highly entertaining and is classic Jimmy Wang Yu all over...

Overall: Madness, but a kung fu epic that has to be seen to be believed!

This movie begins with a young Chinese man named "Ma Tai Yung" (Jimmy Wang Yu) walking into a small Japanese village in the midst of a festival. Because this festival typically attracts a good number of tourists a small gang of pickpockets have also emerged who are more than willing to separate these visitors from their purses. However, when a few hoodlums try to take the purse belonging to Ma Tai Yung, they get more than they bargained for and are quickly beaten and subdued. Not long afterward, Ma Tai Yung notices that a Komuso monk is following him, and after a while, Ma Tai Yung confronts him. It's at this time that we learn that Ma Tai Yung has come from a small village in China to avenge the death of his family at the hands of some Japanese thugs. It is also disclosed that Ma Tai Yung has developed a hatred for all the people of Japan--for which no amount of reason by this monk can alter. They then go their separate ways with Ma Tai Yung heading back to the village whereupon he bumps into a beautiful woman named "Ying Chu" (Cheung Ching Ching) who skillfully proceeds to snatch his wallet and hand it off to a nearby accomplice before Ma Tai Yung realizes what is going on. When Ma Tai Yung discovers what has happened, he belatedly confronts Ying Chu about it. This results in yet another fight with several more hoodlums which Ma Tai Yung quickly dispatches as well. After this fight, he returns to the task of recovering his wallet--with Ying Chu following him every step of the way. It's then that he realizes that Ying Chu isn't nearly as bad as he once thought, and with her help he also gets closer to finding the people responsible for murdering his family. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting old-style kung fu movie from back in the day which has quite a bit of action yet also manages to convey an underlying message about racism and xenophobia in the process. Additionally, the fact that it had two beautiful actresses in Lan Chi (as "Mao Chi") and the previously mentioned Cheung Ching Chang certainly didn't hurt either. On a separate note, I should probably add that this film goes by several different titles which vary in length, quantity and quality. For example, the VHS tape I bought several years ago under the title of "The Screaming Tiger" is 75 minutes long and leaves out most of the interaction between Ma Tai Yung and Mao Chi. The picture was rather grainy as well. However, there is another version titled "Wang Yu-King of Boxers" which is about 88 minutes long and includes the scenes involving Ma Tai Yung and Mao Chi--but omits the first part of the film explaining the reason Ma Tai Yung is in Japan and his conversation with the Komuso monk. Likewise, it also goes by the titles of "Screaming Ninja" and "Ten Fingers of Steel" which are apparently 101 minutes in length. Be that as it may, while this clearly isn't a top-notch martial arts film in the same category as those starring Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, it wasn't that bad either and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

As a rule, I generally don't like Hong Kong martial arts movies from the 1970s; I prefer those made in the 1980s or later. If you are wondering why I feel this way, a look at this movie will provide a clue. As I said in my summary line, this is for the most part a typical Hong Kong martial arts movie from the 1970s. It's pretty cheap, with little with what could be called "production values", as well as with appalling dubbing. The story makes little sense; I understood that the character played by Wang Yu was out for revenge for his village's massacre, but little else. The biggest fault with the movie, however, is that it's pretty boring. There's endless talk, and when the characters get around to fighting, the fight sequences are choreographed and directed with little vigor. That is, with the exception of the climatic fight sequence, which is pretty well done in all departments, from direction to choreography. Apart from that sequence, the only genuine merit to be found with this movie is one scene where the soundtrack uses (probably without permission) music originally composed by the great Ennio Morricone for a spaghetti western.

Version: RBC Entertainment's 'Kung-Fu Theatre' DVD.

This movie is really just an 85 minute long fight scene. Jimmy Wang Yu stars as 'the Chinese guy', who wanders around beating up bad guys, while these bad guys are beating up good guys, who are also beating up bad guys. This is one of the movies where you just have to assume that everybody knows kung-fu - because they all do. Add the dubbing, and you have near-pure awesomeness.

5/10 - Wow. Nothing much to it, apart from awesomeness. It really is no better than a lot of other cheap kung-fu movies, but it seems like it wants to be more awesomely cool than the rest. It so is.

Final note: Why do these Kung Fu Theatre DVDs smell weird?

I watched this movie under the title Screaming Tiger and is a movie project for the legendary Wang Yu. This is a bit cheaper than his work with Shaw Brothers, but it's still a good watch for kung fu fans. He plays a man returning to his small fishing village that was massacred by Japanese. This leads him to Japan for revenge and once there he learns not all Japanese are bad or responsible for the unfortunate events at his village. The narrative gets a little confusing at times, but makes up for it with lots and lots of great fight sequences. As a whole, this film is pretty entertaining, but has its flaws(which is forgiveable considering it's lower budget).