User reviews

(54%) A film that shows "good" old boy cowboys in maybe the worst light possible as nearly every person featured bar a few Mexican characters are portrayed as huge and total b#stards. The guy that carts main character Joe to Texas is a git, the barman he meets is a turd, while everyone else is if anything even worse. This may not look up to much on the outset, but for a lowish budgeted 70's martial arts spaghetti western hybrid I enjoyed its simple charm. This is a little rough around the edges, though it moves along at a good pace with never really a dull moment throughout. There's plenty of fights, lots bad guys getting what they deserve, a sweet romantic sub-plot, and best of all: it's fun to watch.

Minor, enjoyable and surprisingly violent Spaghetti Western, one of a clutch of such efforts embellished with an Oriental touch in the form of a martial-arts exponent hero (as can be gathered from the title). The film was enough of a success to boast a sequel – THE RETURN OF SHANGAI JOE (1975).

Chen Lee is the typical meek Oriental who becomes deadly when provoked; we're given plenty of opportunity to see him at work here, particularly after he falls foul of a slave trader. The latter despatches four ruthless assassins to exterminate the Chinaman – three of whom are played by well-known actors and popular Euro-Cult figures of the era: Gordon Mitchell, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and Klaus Kinski, the other by Robert Hundar (ill-fated hero of CUT-THROATS NINE [1972], which actually preceded this viewing!). Kinski receives second-billing but his contribution lasts all of 7 minutes (and he only turns up 68 minutes into the film!).

Eventually, we learn that the title character is one of only two masters of a specific martial arts technique – so, naturally, the boss eventually calls on his equal to fight the hero! The most violent moments occur when Joe gouges the eye of one of the hired killers – a scene which surely must have inspired Quentin Tarantino for his KILL BILL (2003/4) saga – and the confrontation between the two Orientals, which involves dismembered limbs and busted torsos! As usual for films of this genre, the music score is a notable asset which is here provided by Bruno Nicolai.

"The Fight Fists of Shanghai Joe" (1973) sounds like one of those awful genre bending films that repeatedly crop up over the years; however this kung-fu Spaghetti Western is actually pretty decent and has certain similarities with the television series "Kung Fu" with David Carradine. It is directed by Mario Caiano, who made a number of Spaghetti Westerns, and stars Chen Lee as the eponymous Shanghai Joe.

The story is straightforward, almost verging on the simplistic. Joe is a recent immigrant from China to San Francisco, where, in search of work, he heads to Texas. Here he gets on the wrong side of a powerful, racist rancher, Stanley Spencer (Piero Lulli), after he witnesses the massacre of Mexican slave labourers.

This Western tries to say some interesting things about the West, and how Chinese immigrants helped do a lot of the "dirty" jobs that Whites wouldn't do. Sadly, most of this is drowned under its comic book style and some pretty bad kung-fu. Yet it does have some good parts: most of the action scenes come with Peckinpah-esque slow motion and exploding, bloody squids. Some of the violence is pretty strong too, with Lee pulling a bad guy's eyes out on screen. But due to its light-hearted mode, it never feels dark or repellent. In fact, it is all rather comic, lacking the seriousness as "Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot!" (1967) has from its strong violence.

Acting wise, Chen Lee is probably as wooden as his martial arts, but Piero Lulli makes a fine villain and Klaus Kinski's virtually cameo-like role is memorable. The scene where the Mexicans are killed is well-directed, as are a number of other action scenes, sufficient enough to make sure that the Western is at least fast paced.

It isn't a brilliant piece of cinema, but as the Spaghetti Western genre went down the drains, it is refreshingly old fashioned in a way, occasionally recalling the past Golden Era of the late sixties that makes it worth checking out for the Spaghetti Western enthusiast.

Shanghai Joe is a Chinese martial arts master who somehow finds himself in the racist Old West. Of course, Joe is pushed to his breaking point by them racist white folk, so he starts kicking honky ass left and right. Fast-paced and incredibly violent, 'The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe' is the kind of mindless entertainment that Spaghetti Western fans love. Klaus Kinski shows up to get his ass handed to him and add some star power to the proceedings...well, star power in our minds. Bruno Nicolai rips off his score to 'Have a Good Funeral, My Friend' but it's so good you won't care.

Ahhhh, the Kung Fu Spaghetti Western, a weird hybrid that existed for a brief flash in the world of exploitation cinema. This film, known by various titles including DRAGON STRIKES AGAIN and most commonly THE FIGHTING FIST OF SHANGHAI JOE, came out in 1974, probably the zenith year for such attempts. (FYI, 1992 was the peak year for the Cyborg/Kickboxer mash-up--but that's another story.) Directed by undistinguished Italian genre hack Mario Caiano, the pic presents the tale of a Chinese loner ambling his way through the American Old West. The lead is played by the little-seen Chen Lee. Lee has only three movie credits to his name, each in an Italian film, which begs the question of whether he is an actor per se or merely a expert martial artist that happened to be living in Italy at the time. But whatever the explanation, Lee manages to acquit himself rather well in this performance. He has an easygoing, laconic presence that is pleasantly free of the stiffness sometimes on display among non-acting fighters. (Of course his dialog is dubbed, but so is everyone else's here, so it's hard to judge him in that respect.) After a few vignettes depicting Lee's troubles in finding transportation, food, and ranch work due to the locals' bigotry and bullying, we settle in to the main thrust of the story, wherein Lee aims to help liberate Mexican peons who are being enslaved by evil rancher Spencer, played by the familiar Piero Lulli. Along to help him is the pretty Mexican Cristina (Carla Romanelli), and she turns into a sort of love interest for him.

There are a few weird quirks about the pic that are worth noting. First, our hero goes unnamed for about the first 3/4 of the film--no one asks his name an he is never addressed by anyone. Then out of the blue, he offhandedly refers to himself as "Shanghai Joe" in a chat with Cristina. OK, after 80 minutes we learn his name... the in the very next scene, Spencer calls for "Joe" to be killed and shouts, "Go get Chin Hao!", a name by which "Joe" is referred for the final few minutes. What the heck? How did Spencer learn this guy's Chinese name? Is this a sloppy scripting gaffe, a botched dubbing mistake, poor exposition? Whatever the reason, it's weird.

Another oddity is the plot twist where, late in the story, Spencer and his men meet to decide how to deal with Joe. They opine that four notorious hit men would each be perfect for doing away with the Chinaman. What follows is a quick series of pretty ridiculous vignettes as colorful baddies with names like "The Cannibal" are dispatched by Joe. Among these hit men are top-billed stars Gordon Mitchell as "Buryin' Sam" and Klaus Kinski as "Scalper Jack". Their scenes are so brief, basically cameo appearances, that neither of the two have a real chance to flex their wild, woolly acting chops. A wasted opportunity.

The hit men sequences display another unusual aspect of this picture: a great number of grotesque, gory and explicit wounds and deaths. Kinski's character, obviously, relishes cutting his victim's scalps off; Mitchell builds a spiked grave-trap for his victim to fall into. Also seen elsewhere in the film are an eyeball gouged out, homemade acupuncture on a bullet wound, and a man's hand shot off. Gruesome stuff and oddly disconcerting, these shots don't give a visceral thrill or gasp, rather, they make you do a double-take in disbelief, like, "what was *that*?" Also unusual to the modern viewer are the camera tricks and staging used to suggest Joe's jumping and fighting prowess. Quite a few times we see the ol' "reverse footage" trick to depict someone jumping from a standstill up onto a tall perch. In '74 that might have wowed 'em, but by now we can see right through that trick.

In the end, the various exploitation elements can't make this a cohesive, engaging feature. Caiano's pacing is suspect, as little momentum carries over from one scene to the next, giving the 93-minute picture quite a plodding pace. And with no protagonist other than the stone-faced Joe, there is no charismatic heart to the story. As capable as Lee is, an effervescent sidekick or partner might have livened things up. What we do have to stir the soul, however, is the absolutely BRILLIANT theme music by Bruno Nicolai, which plays several times throughout. As great as the Morricone-trained Nicolai is, I will without hesitation call this the greatest theme (that I've heard) of his career. It is a rousing, epic delight that will stay with you long after the flick is done.

In all, I think the idea of this film is better than the actual finished product. Kung Fu, cowboys, cartoonish violence and gore, eastern philosophy, gunfights ... it ought to add up to a better picture that what it is. Not on anybody's must-see list, but a watchable curiosity. Call it a C+, or 6/10 stars.

Fast action , one-dimensional characters in a Spaghetti Western with gunplay and kung fu . It is a thrilling and violent Italian Western with ordinary ingredients as a courageous , honest antihero searching justice and vengeance , Karate fights , duels , extreme outlaws wishing gold along with regular final confrontation . Concerning a Chinese young traveling to a foreign and far country : USA .The immigrant recently arrived in America , he is named Chin How or Shanghai Joe (Chen Lee) lands in a small Texas town inhabited by bigot enemies . As Chin leads his way by violent means , as if they don't succumb to his demands they normally end up dead . The town folk soon realize that Chin is no usual adventurer and he quickly gains a perilous reputation . When Chin's skills spread to Stanley Spencer (Piero Lulli) , the owner of the states largest cattle ranch, Chin lands a job working for snake-oil Spencer as a fellow cowboy. Friend soon becomes foe when Chin realizes he is working for a cattle smuggler bent on brutalising Mexican farmers and anyone else who stands in his way .The sinister town boss called Spencer has exploited almost everyone Mexican countrymen in the region as our hero Shangai Joe fights to free Mexican slaves from his ruthless master . Chen Lee , the real Brother In Arms of Bruce Lee . He took on the toughest white gang in America. With bare hands World Champions - Chen Lee (Karate) Gordon Mitchell (Pistol) , Pancho del Rio (Knife) .

This Pasta picture contains the ordinary plot about ¨One Man Stands Alone In His Fight For Justice¨ , as a valiant drifter who must move fast to struggle their way through unbearable risks and twisted difficulties . Including Western action , shootouts , violent fights with gore and blood , as well as a little bit of campy and refreshing humor . It's an improbable blending of standard Western , struggles, violence , gory scenes and chop-socky . An enjoyable premise , gunslingers against Karateka, and agreeable Italian cast make this oater well worth the watching . In Shanghai Joe or Il mio nome è Shangai Joe (1973) shows an understanding of both the western and the kung fu genres . Resulting to be perfect example of the late declining years of the spaghetti western . Stars the unknown Chen Lee who's acceptable as Kung Fu expert , testing his unbeatable fighting skills , as he takes on hard-nosed cowboys who don't take kindly to outsiders . As Shangai Joe confronts the greatest criminals in the West played by a top-notch plethora of secondaries of the 60s and 7os , such as : Klaus Kinski as Scalper Jack , Gordon Mitchell as Burying Sam , Robert Hundar as Pedro, The Cannibal , Giacomo Rossi Stuart as Tricky the Gambler . Along with these notorious secondaries, appearing here and there others Italian actors as Carla Mancini , Andrea Aureli , Pietro Torrisi , Lars Bloch , George Wang , Roberto Dell'Acqua and Rick Boyd . And being shot in Almeria, desert of Tabernas , some uncredited Spanish actor showing up , such as : Francisco Sanz, Alfonso de la Vega, Tito Garcia , all of them usual in Spaghetti/Paella subgenre .

It displays a considerable Spaghetti musical score by composer Bruno Nicolai in Ennio Morricone style , in fact Bruno was his main musical disciple . The motion picture was professionally directed by Mario Caiano , and it turned out to be entertaining enough . The picture takes part of a sub-genre in which during the period of the 70s combined Spaghetti Western and art martials with original influence from ¨David Carradine's Kung Fu ¨ series , and mostly focusing on the dumb spaghetti western comedy sub-genre , for example : ¨Karate law in the west ¨(Tonino Ricci), Tiger from River Kwai (Franco Lattanzi) , ¨The Karate , the Colt and the impostor¨ (Anthony M Dawson) . Adding this ¨ My name is Shangai Joe¨ (Mario Caiano) and its sequel , a poor knock-off titled¨Return of Shangai Joe¨ (Bitto Albertini) with Cheen Lie , Klaus Kinski , Karin Field , Carla Mancini , that focus on lame comedy rather than action : furthermore ¨The white, the yellow and the black¨(Sergio Corbucci) that bears remarkable resemblance to deemed to be the best : ¨Red sun¨ by Terence Young with Charles Bronson , Alain Delon , Toshiro Mifune . ¨Il mio nome è Shangai Joe ¨(1973) it's an offbeat , muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Spaghetti Western fans fans.

(1972) Fists Of Shanghai Joe/ Il mio nome è Shangai Joe DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

The build up leading to the fights is okay, but when seeing the fights is just as bad as most martial art movies made in the 1970's which the characters just swing on the air and they pretend to get hit- and this is supposed to be a martial art movie meaning that the payoffs totally suck. The difference with many Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan martial art movies is that they do many retakes, in these ones they're cheapened to make it seem like the fights are good when they really look totally fake upon watching them. Anyways, this movie doesn't really have much a plot which has a Chinese immigrant experiencing many racist acts toward him as well as to others such as Mexicans while traveling from town to town from supposedly white Caucasian outlaws( but are really Italians/ French and German actors acting like white rustlers) oblivious that he happens to know martial arts. He uses his hands and feet more than he uses a gun and they're just as ridiculous as anything anyone can ever expect upon watching a martial art movie made in the 1972. This movie is financed by a European company perhaps from France and Italian which the attempt was to capitalize on the martial art craze started from Bruce Lee movies so the Europeans thought they could make a "Spaghetti Western" movie out of it and obviously didn't do very well otherwise another one would have been made. And so far the best "Spaghetti Westerns" will always be Sergio Leone's movies.

"Shanghai Joe" has a lot of goodwill going for it but not enough to save it. It tries to mix two different genres (spaghetti westerns and Kung Fu) but they mix like oil and water. I'm a fan of spaghetti westerns but I don't enjoy Karate flicks that much. There are a bunch of moments in "Shanghai Joe" that are just too silly. They drag everything down. Overall, it wasn't a very satisfying watch. Dishonorable mention: How little Klaus Kinski is actually in the movie.

In early seventies the European cinema had wagered in a mixing of western spaghetti and martial arts due Bruce Lee was in a peak of his career taking millions at box-office, it make sense they start bringing some skillful actors from Hong Kong, oddly enough Chen Lee wasn't a Chinese as he portraited in picture, actually he is a Japanese fighter, whatever what's the difference anyway, this was a short circle period that lost momentum after mid-seventies.

This turn a Chinese called Shanghai Joe landed at San Franscisco circa 1882 and headed to Texas to be a cowboy, after faces some troubles concerning his skin, he stumbles with a slaves trader that smuggles Mexicans to work at America in conditions analogous in slavery, by helping these poorest people Shanghai has to fight against the big farmer Stanley Spencer (Piero Lulli) that hires some gunslinger to kill him, then came up some stereotypical figures as Pedro the cannibal (Robert Hundar) Tricky the Gambler (Giacomo Stuart Rossi), Burying Sam (Gordon Mitchell) and the Scalper Jack (Klaus Kinski).

An acrobatic offering on contrived and far-fetched sequences, too much phony pyrotechnics just addressed to less demanding cinephiles, in fact Chen Lee isn't any Bruce Lee, a weak figure as fighter, the American title implied him as Dragon, don't be fooled by that, to reach in such status he needs eat more meat and beans, instead rice.

Thanks for reading.

Resume: First watch: 1990 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 5.5.

very weird European take on the Spaghetti western-Kung fu connection that has haunted Hong Kong cinema since Shaw Bros. started using borrowed Ennio Morricone music for their films in the later '60s.

There is much to be said of this weird connection; but for now, let's remark that while "Shanghai Joe" shows really very little understanding of Kung Fu, it shows considerable savvy about Spaghetti Westerns; the action rarely lags, and the heros are heroic, the villains are villainous - yep, a good B-movie all around, perfect Saturday Matinée fare from its era.

(Cinephiles - note the tribute to Sergoi Leone at the end - a definite plus for me.) I agree -fun film of its type & date.

This one is a real oddity, a martial arts western, with a small role for the ever evil Klaus Kinski as the bounty hunter set to go and kill our Hero Joe.

Joe arrives in San Francisco, and instead of meeting the people of the land of the free he meets the land of the racists, and his troubles only just start to begin.

Joe is far to nice for his own good, polite and well-mannered, thats until he needs to defend his life and then his fists of fury unleash some retribution.

A lot of fun.

In 1882, spunky Chinese man Shanghai Joe hops atop a stagecoach from San Francisco (subtitle says St. Francisco!) to Texas in order to become a cowboy and ends up having to defend himself against a seemingly endless stream of trash-talking rednecks.

Soon Joe runs afoul of a group of nasty human smugglers who send four colorful hired killers to do him in, including Gordon Mitchell, a cannibal, and scalp-collector Klaus Kinski!

Coming out on the heels of the hit television show "Kung Fu", The Fighting Fists Of Shanghai Joe is a lot better than it's Italian knock-off status would suggest.

It's almost all non-stop action with loads of flying fists and flying lead. Blood, a bit of gore, and a great Ennio Morricone sounding score by Bruno Nicolai all fit the comic book nature of the film quite nicely!

In the title role, Chen Lee is really good and should have been in more movies than he was.

Shanghai Joe is just a regular Chinese guy who has moved to America to get a good job and live the dream. Sadly for Joe everyone he comes across is a racist moron who don't want Joe to get anywhere. Sadly for them Joe tends to lose his rag and beat everyone who crosses him into submission.

This film is a lot of fun. A lot of fun. For the first half of the film Joe just goes from job to job being harassed and doling out justice, but then he crosses the wrong guy (a slave trader) and from then on the heat is on, in the form of ugly Gordon Mitchell and uglier Klaus Kinski! Basically just one action set piece after another, this film does not disappoint. Its a nice merging of spaghetti western and martial arts and Mario Caiano isn't daft, as he gives us loads of both in an overtly violent way.

Honestly, for a spaghetti western this one is really high on violence. Wrists are broken and bones protrude, folk are drowned in boiling water, hands are cut off, torsos punctured by fists and Joe even manually removes a guy's eyeball! Entertaining stuff.

I had this in my collection for years and now wish I'd watched it sooner. It's on YouTube if you don't own it.

Also - Joe screams Eeeeeaaaaeeaagh before braining someone. Watch out for that.

Immigrant Shanghai Joe (Chen Lee) moves from St. Francisco (sic) to Texas in 1882 in search of a life as a cowboy. Of course, he greets racism and adversity at every turn thanks to the local good ol' boys. Holy crap! I grabbed this film at random off a stack of DVDs and it was fun as hell. I'm not the biggest western fan (my filmdom shame) so I usually need an element to spice it up and throwing kung fu in there did the trick. This movie rarely slows down as Joe bounces from one battle to the next. The main crux has him on the run with a bounty on his head after he turns on a rancher using illegal immigrants. Top billed co- stars Gordon Mitchell and Klaus Kinski pop up as two bounty hunters and have about 5 minutes of screen time max. Director Mario Caiano gets the most out of the US locations (a widescreen copy is a must) and knows when to use slo-mo to great effect. He even throws in some surprisingly gory bits like a guy getting his eyeballs ripped out and a chest being punctured. Joe don't fool around! THE RETURN OF SHANGHAI JOE followed in 1975 with Kinski as a different character.

Fighting Fist of Shangai Joe, The (1972)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely weird blend of the Spaghetti Western and Martial Arts genres has a Chinese immigrant (Chen Lee) showing up in Texas where he receives all sorts of racial slurs as well as people trying to mistreat him. He breaks up a slave ring but then finds himself being hunted by professional killers including one played by Klaus Kinski. I'm rather new to both of these genres but I must say I really enjoyed this film for the most part even though you can never really take it too seriously. This movie seems to get a lot of mixed reviews, which is understandable because if someone comes into this movie expecting a serious western then they're going to be disappointed because there's more camp than anything else. The film is strange on so many levels but we can start with the violence, which starts off rather weak and standard but quickly turns violent and over the top. There's one sequence where a man has his hand blown off and this here leads to some really graphic violence as an eyeball is ripped out as well as a heart. Lee is pretty good in his role as is Kinski but for some reason he's only in the film for less than five minutes so if you're tuning in to see him then you're going to be disappointed. The American version I watched had some very bad dubbing, which included a white man doing the voice of Shangai Joe but this did deliver a few laughs. Caiano is best known for his Italian horror film Nightmare Castle but he does a good job with the material here and delivers a memorable if quite silly film.

This is a very entertaining spaghetti western. It is funny, cool, and ridiculously over-the-top.

Shanghai Joe has inhuman physical abilities, so if you like all of your characters to be realistic, this one might not be for you. The over-the top fight scenes are priceless, and wildly entertaining. This movie blends the spaghetti western and martial arts genres seamlessly. It is a cheesy blend for sure, and that is a big part of the film's charm and entertainment value. Besides spaghetti western lovers, I think this movie would also appeal to fans of Tarantino or Jackie Chan movies.

Bruno Nicolai's music score is awesome, and it has one of the coolest and most memorable theme songs of the genre.

As is the case in a lot of other great spaghetti westerns, the west is depicted as a godforsaken, unforgiving hell-hole full of psychopaths and bastards. Gotta love it. One of those psychopathic bastards is played by Klaus Kinski, and his portrayal is marvelous. Kinski is one of those actors that was born to be in spaghetti westerns. He is second only to Lee Van Cleef, in my opinion.

I have no complaints or criticisms regarding this western. I highly recommend sitting back, relaxing with a few beers and enjoying this crazy flick.

The bad dubbing adds to the ineptitude of this hard to watch Western, with its kung fu hero straining to be something different Some masochistic fans enjoy being insulted and this certainly achieves that effect, with Bruno Nicola's self parody of his classic scores with Morricone embarrassing poor and tinny.

Terence Hill was expert at combining parody with hommage in classics like "My Name Is Nobody", a style abandoned here. In fact, the end result is unfortunately most similar to those purely imitation American movies made by Italians in the Western genre in 1964 before Leone revolutionized the Western genre forever.

The racism theme is so heavy-handedly presented as to be more a vicarious celebration of racism rather than social criticism. And the gimmicky fight scenes are ridiculous with sound effects/dubbing of the worst kind.

As a completist I waited for over an hour to see Klaus Kinski's guestrole and wished I hadn't. His screen presence is always terrific but he basically stares his way through this crummy walk-through as a stock sadistic bad guy, shot in slow motion by ultrahack director Caiano, before a vain attempt to gross out the target kiddie audience.

Utter crap.