Karaté à mort pour une poignée de soja

In the last few months, I've become reacquainted with Jimmy Wang-Yu, whose movies I hadn't seen since Friday nights at the drive in back in the 70's. An authentic Asian superstar, Wang-Yu's movies usually have a simple plot familiar to any chop-socky fan. What sets him apart is that he had an appreciation of fighting styles from other countries that really liven up the fight scenes. (A great example of this is the movie "The Chinese Professionals".) This movie is one of the few to explain why karate fighters had an easy time with kung fu students but would always fall to the masters. If you're looking for a representative kung fu movie, this is the one. The plot is a template for most every kung fu flick that came after. Not as spectacular as his later films, but the climactic battle with Lo Lieh (star of another classic, "Five Fingers of Death") is well worth the price of the movie. Recommended.

Jimmy Wang Yu, an authentic Asian superstar, directed and wrote this film which I have only seen in a dubbed videotape version. The widescreen (Shaw Scope!)shape was lost and the original actor's voices absent but this is still good to watch. The story is the usual martial arts school fights villains from Japan plot with our young hero winning out in the end by beating up loads of assorted thugs.

The combat gets better as the film unravels. Early in the film it looks stiff and dull but later there is a great scene where Wang Yu fights hordes in a gambling joint then walks out into a snowy scene and takes some more villains on with knives, sword and fists. That part is very exciting.

Quite good then but it would be interesting to see a non dubbed widescreen version if there is one.

Chinese Boxer is one of the best kung-fu movies,In Chinese Boxer the Japanese with the help of a kung-fu master beat the hero's village,school and throw him out so he trains and learns new amazing techiniques such as the Iron Palm and the Weightleness and then takes revenge

The Chinese Boxer, unsurprisingly bears some similarity to Jimmy Wang Yu's other popular franchises- The One Armed Swordsman and the One Armed Boxer. This time Jimmy takes on the baddies with both arms. It's a simple morality play, he's good, they're bad and after inflicting pain upon him, his family and his village, they're going to have to pay. What makes it so damn entertaining, is the style, and dare I say it, the passion that has gone into it. Ignore the bad dubbing (the Australian version has an atrocious British accented soundtrack) the panning and acanning, and sit back and enjoy a true classic of HK cinema. You'll also enjoy learning traditional Chinese medicine and philospohy in the manner with which it was intended. Take note of the traditional themes of Chinese cinema- Honour, family values, retribution. Listen for the quick sample of one of John Barry's Bond themes in some of the action sequences.

Just watched it on Prime Video. At a time when Jimmy Wang-Yu, David Chiang, Ti Lung and Lo Lieh were superstars, tons of more or less similar movies were made based on more or less the same plot, with two arms, one arm, two fists, one fist, one guillotine and so on... This one is another vehicle of the superstar of that beloved era. You got some dude and in particular our hero, pupils in a kung-fu school, that is threatened by bad guys. Japanese bad guys, yeah!

What happens next leaves no place for surprise but let's admit it: it's still fun and efficient.

The cinematography, as usual for a Shaw Brothers, is beautiful, with nice snow, beautiful scenery, cool casinos... The thing is there are some flaws. When Jackie Chan seeks revenge, he finds a funny old master to train with and it occupies the second act almost entirely. Here, Jimmy's training is on his own, and lasts for way too short. It looks too easy.

Anyway, what bothers me the most, is I can't stop thinking about the uber-superstar that will shatter the world a couple years later. No wonder, sadly or not, that all the superstars of that time were sent to the closet.

Jimmy hadly can rise his legs very high. His blows don't look very powerful. He is more like a dancer rather than an invicible fighter.

Don't misunderstand me, he likes him very much and his fellows as well.

Trouble is, well, there is a unbeatable master who is the only one martial artist in history. Jimmy, here, looks like an artist only. A very good one though, capable of the best, see for instance GOD OF WAR: