Ming, ragazzi!

Subterranean slapstick comedy by Antonio Margheriti

Sophia Loren's husband Carlo Ponti also wanted to benefit from the success of the films with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill and produced this slapstick film with two lookalikes in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and Bangkok. The film, released in 1973, is also known as "Ming, Ragazzi!" and "Mr. Hercules against Karate".

The two extremely strong idiots Dino (Alberto Terracina) and Parsifal (Fernando Bilbao) are so clumsy at their work in Australia that they are promptly fired by their Saxon (!) boss. Full of frustration, they first beat an entire rugby team (including stunt legends Giovanni Cianfriglia and Pietro Torrisi) to a pulp and at the same time dismantle the pub. But their owner is so enthusiastic about the dynamite fists of the two snout polishers that he hires them to free his son from the clutches of an evil kung fu master (George Wang) in Hong Kong. Said and done! The two whipping boys fly to Hong Kong and really stir things up there. Of course, the little Kung Fu fighters have no chance against bells and steam hammers...

You can already tell that this film belongs to the category of the most favorite aberrations of taste, also known in the English-speaking world as "guilty pleasure". Just don't take the whole thing too seriously! There was no sequel with this brawling duo, even if the fights are definitely funny. But the rest...Mr. Ponti will probably have been left with his money's worth.

The Taiwanese actor George Wang (1918-2015), who was also beaten up by Antonio Sabato and Brad Harris in "Questa volta ti faccio ricco" (1974), does a pretty good job as the nasty antagonist.

Two unemployed friends agree to travel to Hong Kong and bring back an abducted boy. They run into the usual obstacles in their search but eventually find him. Before they can return him, they have to fight just about every Kung Fu and Karate fighter in Hong Kong in this massive brawl. This "theme" has been played out before in Italian movies, usually with Bud Spencer and Terrance hill. Brad Harris made a few as well using the name Robin McDavid. The two characters in this movie are totally hopeless and inept. None of it is new OR funny. I taped it 30 years ago off TV and didn't miss much by not watching it until now.

As I'm typing this, I discovered the movie on the terrestrial channel Charge TV at 2 a.m. I Googled "Hercules Against Karate" & read a recap from one person who disliked it. To call this "mindless kung fu action" is an understatement. There's embarrassing stereotypical portrayals of Asians whose names have unfunny puns. One notable scene includes a bar fight scene where two Americans fight football fans. Even though the scene takes place in Sydney, Australia, (If you didn't watch the beginning of the movie, you likely missed seeing the town's famous bridge & opera house and wouldn't be sure if the scene's in Sydney.) the Italian crew thought it'd be a funny & innovative idea to have the brawlers use American, not Australian football tactics. Also when I watch on TV some movie from the '60s-'90s that has an Italian crew, I'd assume Bud Spencer would be in it, like "Superfantagenio" (which I saw on the MOVIES! channel as "Aladdin"). But I can't recognize the lead actor here, but maybe it's better I recognize nobody. I already had the bad movie experience of watching "The Counselor" which Brad Pitt was in but the star, among many, was Michael Fassbender. Anyway back to this movie. There's a really bad proportion of comedy to action scenes, as in there's way too much slapstick which is intended for yuks but I'm just cringing silently. You'd think films this crappy would appear on Netflix or even YouTube. But I think anybody who worked on "Hercules Against Karate" or in media knows better to put it on the Internet, & somehow it finds its way in a rabbit-ear channel. In conclusion, two thumbs down, & I better go to bed.

This goofy Italian slapstick comedy was obviously made to capitalize on the kung-fu craze of the early 70's. Though released in the U.S. under the title "Hercules Against Karate", there's no Hercules to be seen here. It concerns two Americans, a blond babyface and his big, burly lunkhead sidekick who woo two pretty young ladies in Hong Kong while fending off high-kicking bad guys and sumo wrestlers (don't ask). There's an irritating cute kid and some toilet humor. It all resembles a Bud Spencer/Terrence Hill film, but minus Hill and Spencer.