Shi da sha shou

Kung fu films don't come much more loosely-plotted than 10 MAGNIFICENT KILLERS, a 1977-shot quickie that was filmed in Hong Kong. I had no idea who the main actors or director were, which left me to sit back and enjoy the story on its own merits. The storyline, what exists of it, features a young martial artist and a middle-aged master who find themselves the targets of a series of hired assassins, no less than ten of them.

Yep, it's a film which features a series of ten fight scenes with a little humour and a little emotion in between the bouts. It's a light and sketchy production, filmed on the cheap at the edge of the woods somewhere. At least without the complexities of a plot viewers can simply sit back and enjoy the action. It's not classic stuff - there's no choreography up to the stand of a Sammo Hung or a Yuen Woo-ping here - but it fills the time pretty well, and you never end up looking at your watch.

The one actor I did recognise was the ever-excellent Bolo Yeung, who unsurprisingly plays one of the villains (and the toughest too, of course). Yeung is a delight and brings warm and humour to his part, and he excels in the fighting stakes too. Imagine a couple of 'hip' actors like Shia LaBeouf teaming up to fight Schwarzenegger in his '80s heyday and you have some idea of the entertainment value here. Yeung does his trademark 'look away' kung fu and also employs a long red ribbon as a secret weapon; his presence is undoubtedly the highlight of the movie.

Kung-fu star Cheung Lik and Lau Wing are each being trained by two kung-fu masters. One is played by actor and director Fong Yau (Broken Oath, City On Fire), and the other by fight choreographer, Sa Kuai, who's special move is the whirling fist which is hilarious!

A regular face to many Hong Kong film fans, Kuai starred in classics such as The Buddhist Fist and Drunken Master, as well as a host of Shaw Brothers films, and provides some great fight scenes across its basic story-line!

While there isn't much to it, 10 Magnificent Killers is really all about the kung-fu, and in all honesty, there is probably about 10 minutes of the film that doesn't have any...

Think of it as a 'tournament' fighting movie, without a tournament!

There is plenty of comedy throughout and, of course, a great cast including the awesome Bolo Yeung who gets some great action as well as a host of regular faces from the Hong Kong film scene. The fights come fast as each killer turns up one-after-another, getting better and better each time, all leading to a great finale - if you aren't already exhausted from everything beforehand. I also personally think this is one of star, Cheung Lik's best roles as a screen fighter!

Overall: A better-than-average classic with 90 minutes of non-stop fight action!

Yes, there are ten killers listed in the credits. The movie opens with two guys at a table talking about the gang of ten killers. They make some sort of plan then cut to a guy training.

The unprofessional looking master wants the student to sign a contract that makes him 50% in debt for life. In contrast another master makes his student a professional constable. The scenes alternate between the two. Killers keep coming after the goofy master and his student does most of the fighting.

Bolo enters with a ridiculous mustache. Mark this down in your Kung Fu Movie Record Book - Bolo wins a fight! Sure, he is belly up after the next fight, but that first fight he remained upright. I consider Bolo to be the biggest sport in movie history and respect him for the fact that in 99.8% of his fights he ends up either dead, down, dropped, disarmed, defeated, destroyed, dominated, defused, dragged, or discombobulated. (Though never defenestrated or decapitated.)

I highly recommend this movie to fans of the genre. I am a hard core fan on a mission to watch every martial arts movie made from 1967 to 1984 and after 7 years I just now came across this gem. It is low budget to the point where it seems a bunch of stunt men just got together for a few days in the country and put together a movie by showing off their strengths. It is all comedy but unless you can observe the quick comedic touches in the martial arts sequences and the standard schlock of these movies you really won't get it. If you do get it the fights compromise at least 50% of the movie run time and they never get repetitious. The only thing it lacks is weapons.

I rate it 7 out of 10 and count it as one of the best of 1977.