Dynamique Dragon contre Boxers chinois

Raymond Chow produced "Lady Kung-Fu," a no-holds-barred martial arts action flick from the early 1970s directed by Feng Huang, and contains shades of nearly every Bruce Lee movie from that time. When I looked at it last night, I saw a number of interesting parallels between this flick and Bruce Lee's "The Chinese Connection," as both films were released in 1972. Most notable is that the plots bear some resemblance to one another and there is a strong sense of conflict between warring martial arts schools. Unlike "The Chinese Connection," however, the enemy, the Japanese, are portrayed in a flagrant, one-sided, racist, and xenophobic light; they are sometimes referred to as "Japs" by the main Chinese characters (I know this film is set before World War II - I wonder, did such racial epithets exist before then?). But I'm getting off track. Angela Mao, Carter Wong, and Sammo Hung star as three Chinese gong-fu students studying martial arts in Korea under a famed exile (Hapkido Grandmaster Han Jae Ji). They take their Hapkido training (called "kung-fu" in the film) back to China and attempt to set up their own school, only to face opposition from the ruling Japanese occupational forces, who seek to promote their art of Judo (founded in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano). That's about all there is to the plot, and then we have the fights. During the opening credits, we're treated to one incredible sequence with Wong drubbing a band of thugs. Next, there is a training sequence with Angela Mao. Then, Han Jae Ji himself demonstrates his unique Hapkido fighting art. In "Lady Kung-Fu," there are a number of familiar faces from Chow-produced martial arts action flicks too. Mao is probably my favorite fighter, since she is mostly famous for her tragic portrayal of Bruce Lee's sister in "Enter the Dragon" (1973). On a side note, I am currently studying Hapkido and I encourage anyone else interested in it to check out this flick.

An enjoyable martial arts romp.

8/10

I first saw this in the late 80s on a rented vhs.

Revisited it recently.

This movie has tons n tons of fights but the best treat is Angela Mao.

We have a very young n slim but chubby face Sammo Hung.

We also have Jackie who appears in 6 scenes as an extra but all are blink n miss. He is visible after 72nd min but disappears within few seconds kinda u blink u miss.

Much before Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Scott Adkins, Van Damme, Michael Jai White, etc we get to see the lead actress Angela Mao do the front double kick in an awesome way.

She played the sister of Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.

This movie has a sadistic scene where a man throws hot water on an old lady.

It is a bit vulgar when a guy ogles at a woman's back n suddenly the guy imagines the woman to be nude in a blink n miss scene. These two things were totally uncalled for.

Sammo Hung goes shirtless without being muscular.

This is female empowerment stuff n that too in the early 70s.

I cannot understand why this film is really rare and not widely available. The copy I have seen has burnt in English subtitles that is almost impossible to read as it often goes under the screen and since it was in white color it disappeared in their white clothes.

Apart from that the movie is really good. Although I have never been a fan of Carter Wong or Sammo Hung Kam Bo, I have enjoyed the scenes with Hwang In Sik. He is such a good high kicker.

One thing that bothered me about this movie is that it looks way too similar to Fist of Fury. They even used the same guy that played the annoying Chinese man siding with the Japanese in Fist of Fury too.

Definitely not as good as Fist of Fury but much better than most of the martial arts movies. Recommended...

Jackie can be seen briefly in at least two scenes. I first noticed him near the end of the film in the scene where Angela visits the Japanese school and is prevented from leaving. Jackie, dressed in black, stands in the doorway and gets flipped to the floor by Angela. In another scene, he's also standing on the left side of a doorway, but he's wearing white.

I THINK I also saw Yuen Biao (in white) a couple of times, but unfortunately, I can't tell you where to look for him.

What surprised me was how prominently featured Lam Ching-Ying is in this movie. He's all over the fight scene that takes place in the street market, ultimately taking punches from Sammo Hung, who probably has more screen time than anyone else in the film.. certainly screen time spent fighting.

Finally, I was surprised to discover that the attractive young woman who gets ogled and nearly groped near the start is none other than Nancy Sit!

A good martial arts film in the mold of Fist of Fury that presents the art of Hapkido and has some great action scenes and features smaller roles for the likes of Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan. Angela Mao is awesome!

Recommended for fans of kung fu cinema.