This Shaw Brothers movie is set in 1970s Hong Kong. Ti Lung is listed as director. That would have been his second and final directing credit. A blue and white 1967 VW van is featured in three or more scenes. Back in the 1970s I owned a 1967 VW van. It was the last year of the split windshield. My model had the folding sunroof. Fond memories but back to the movie.
It starts with the usual clichés of unfair life and poor conditions for the lowly worker. David Chiang's character is angry his father was killed by a truck. To support his mother and sister he takes a lousy job doing delivery for a miserable store owner. At first it seems all his deliveries are uphill in both directions. Eventually he gets the hang of the work. Then the gangs complicate things. He avoids joining a gang but then hooks up with a gang boss and seems to be oblivious about it. Ti Lung plays his friend. His character serves to contrast the other's life.
Martial arts finally enter the story at about the 40 minute mark. The great Simon Yuen plays the kung fu school master. He does not fight. All the fights are done by the extras. The fights are basic hand to hand street fighting. It only takes David Chiang about five minutes of movie time to go from a pushover to a master, but that's movies for you!
Today this movie would only draw the attention of a genre fan. This review and rating assumes the reader/viewer is such a fan. As such, "The Young Rebel" is average in every way. I found no special movie moments or anything noteworthy about the action. I also found nothing to complain about or criticize.
