Da wu shi yu xiao piao ke

I don't really have anything to say about Hero of the Wild other than, about 46 minutes into it, we cut to a scene of someone dropping down into a cave to break free the hero and suddenly, like catching the glint of Sparticus' wrist-watch, we hear the distinctive metallic pulse of Pink Floyd's Echoes. The snippet last just long enough for Gilmour's undulating lead and Wright's patter of organ notes to become audible, and then it's gone. It's an oddity. One wonders if the band knew their music had been linked, however fleetingly, to the doomed rebel struggle to return the Ming to power. How the world would have been different had they succeeded.

Forget all about what some other reviewers say about this being a "decent" or above average Kung Fu film. The picture is simply awesome.. Naturally, the plot has it's flaws.. but it's essentially better than most Kung Fu movies of the time and at times really interesting and somehow riveting. The best thing about the movie is of course the fights.. and I tell you, they are simply top-notch! Sing Chen and Hwang Jang Lee really shine as the best fighters of the nation and Jang Lee proves again why he is the best kicker the world has ever seen. The choreography is absolutely insane, but I guess that's what you'll have to expect when Yuen Biao is credited as the action director (he has a small role as one of Jang Lee's grandsons as well, and honestly.. who do you think was doubling for all the other cast when needed??) I didn't expect that much from this movie.. but it's a fact.. Kung Fu films don't get any better than this.

ej's kung-fu capsule review for films of the chop-socky old-school - 1. basic plot type - Family honor must be avenged; traitors must be ferreted out and destroyed; a young man comes of age by learning kung-fu from a real master. the film also has a more complicated dramatic plot elements than most 'fu films of this era. Chen Xing plays an aging fighter with traditional values who decides to train the son of a man he has shamed into committing suicide. The relationship between master and student thus becomes extremely complex, and may surprise those familiar with simpler variants of these plot elements from countless other old school 'fu films.

2. plot construction - Audacious; there is a real effort to make these characters 3-dimensional, and to develop a narrative that allows this to happen. However, the film is a little slow in spots.

3. dramatic - Yes, very; above average dialog and real effort by the cast to deliver the lines in a believable manner. The story also has a strong theme, concerning the difficulties of living as a righteous warrior in very unrighteous times. That's a common theme in this genre, but here it is really brought to the fore. The decision to set the story on the eve of the Manchurian overthrow of the Ming dynasty adds an element of foreboding that enhances the tension of the film - the collapse of the Ming was due in part to a betrayal by one of the leading Ming generals. Consequently the subplot concerning the discovery of traitors is given more weight than it would normally have in a 'fu film; and the issue is emphasized from a different perspective by the relationship between the master and student, since the master, almost accidentally, suggests that the student should be prepared to betray him in order to get revenge for his father's death (!) - this is a very complex thematic work-out for this genre.

4. funny - Occasionally.

5. dialog - Solid - about character rather than events; the central relationship between master and student is entirely credible.

6. cast performance - Very strong; this is probably the single best performance by Chen Xing, who could act as well as perform martial arts.

7. crew performance - More than simply competent - very nice camera work.

8. amount of fighting - Plenty.

9. quality of fighting - Top notch.

10. special any cast or crew notes - Chen Xing acted in a lot of old school 'fu films, from the late '60s to the early '80s. He was a true master of the Shaolin styles of kung fu, but also an excellent actor, able to play many different roles. Most 'fu film fans will best remember him as the villain of any number of historically-set 'fu films, but he actually began his career playing heroes, and was first delegated to villain roles during a brief stay at Shaw Bros. working under master director Chang Cheh. Chen Xing performed in many of the best - and some of the worst - films of the chop-socky era, but his performance is always solidly professional, regardless of the quality of the film he's in.

This film also represents early work from Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwei) of the Yuen Clan (Yuen Woo Ping, Simon Yuen, etc.), and Yuen Biao of the Lucky Stars troop (Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, etc.), as martial arts choreographers. The third choreographer is listed as "Tony Tu" which I suspect is a pseudonym for Ching Siu Tung. Director William Chang also gets credits for photography and for co-writing the screenplay. Chang later flowered as art-director and production designer on a lot of films of the "New Wave" '80s.

11. big positive - A very strong story with strong characters played by strong actors.

12. big negative - Slow at times.

bottom-line - who should see this movie - It is probably most enjoyable for those familiar with the old school 'fu film tradition; for new-comers to chop-socky, the complicated plot and theme may be a bit confusing. Still, for those open to it, this is a finely made genre film, richly rewarding.

More bone crunching martial arse hi jinks here, full of bad dubbing, questionable antics, and bad wigs. Grrr. I'll get you! Some champion challenges another champion to a fight on a beach (I'll get you!), causing the other guy to kill himself. This guy's son goes nuts (I'll get you!) but the losing champion makes the winning champion promise that he'll look after his son and also take down some Manchurian spies who also happen to be champion fighters, so now the winning champion has to raise this guy and teach his kung fu in order for the losing champion's son to grow up strong and kill him. Makes sense so far, eh?

So the champion guys also gets hired to kill a guy who turns out to be the guy he was going to kill anyway, plus the guy that hired him was wearing a mask so we'll have to wait to find out who he was. He's also training this young guy to kill him, which seems to involve killing a dog (for real? Who knows in these films) because kindness is not allowed or something, and now and again rescuing this girl from a life of prostitution.

While story wise this is kind of boring jazz (not to mention confusing, as it seems to me a bunch of innocent people were beaten up and killed), there's plenty of martial arse battles to watch. For some reason the version I watched was split into two separate parts. It's okay, don't sweat it if you don't see it.

Chan Sing was one of the original "real deal" kung fu movie stars in that he had a black belt in the karate style Goju-Ryu. In his early films he brought the sai, a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon to the screen. Born in Thailand and looking a bit dark and with a moustache he made a perfect villain in his early Shaw Brothers movies. In my opinion this movie is one of his best. Unfortunately the best copy I ever came across was a digital file made from a VHS tape dubbed in English. The picture is sharp enough to watch on a modern wide screen television but it is not wide screen. I would love to find a laser disk version but none seem to have made it out of Hong Kong. The story starts with a creative twist on the old revenge plot. Chan Sing kills a man and his son swears revenge. Instead of getting twenty years older and meanwhile the kid becomes a martial arts master and then comes back to kill him, Chan Sing takes the revengeful son under his wing to teach him martial arts. I'm thinking his motive is that in twenty years they will have bonded and then the kid will not want to kill him for revenge – problem solved. Later he accepts an unusual murder contract in that politics and patriotism become part of the story. Then he stops a girl from being taken to forced prostitution by fighting and paying her contract. A challenger appears and Chan Sing feels he is too young so the two kids battle. His student loses but survives. Lo Lieh is behind this. After the kid heals up they fight again as Chan Sing and Lo Lieh watch. This time Chan Sing's student wins. Next Lo Lieh fights Chan Sing and I was disappointed with this fight. Lo Lieh is also one of the first – if not the very first – original "real deal" kung fu movie stars. He learned mostly karate in his teen years in Indonesia. This could have been a unique karateka versus karateka fight but it was not choreographed that way. I guess they just never thought of it. Instead, Lo Lieh fights without honor and they both live to fight another day. On the way to the brothel, Got Siui-Bo gets his cameo. I call him respectfully the fat man of martial arts movies. He made 284 movies from 1964 to 1996 and with his body habitus he only suited the role of the fat guy. Despite that limitation he added true emotion from grief to comedy to many of his performances and often stole the scene in brief appearances. Chan Sing then finds the woman he freed from the brothel yet working at the brothel. The real treat at the brothel is Doris Lung Chung- Erh, whom I lovingly named Crazy Doris. Check out her personal life and you might agree with me. They fight, using stunt doubles only for the acrobatics. This sets up the fight for Chan Sing versus Hwang Jang-Lee. Chan Sing is defeated but lives and the kid has his climactic moment where he decides not to revenge. The focus shifts to the kid fighting everyone starting with Crazy Doris and company. Of course, the good guys win and bad guys lose.