User reviews

If you are looking for pure chop socky, then this film is for you. It doesn't waste a lot of time with meaningless dialog unrelated to fighting. It is basically Chinese "I'm gonna kick your ass, sucka." I heard the other day that QT is planning a similar type movie in his grindhouse vein with badly dubbed dialog or subtitles. He should watch this film for guidance as it epitomizes the genre.

Fei Meng gives a great performance as the son out to avenge his father. He takes two brutal ass-kickings before he gets his stuff together. (Reminds you of Rocky) The only problem is that you will be hungry for more an hour later.

'Kung Fu: The Punch of Death' is quite a movie. First off, it has a title so awesome that no mere mortal can resist it. It also appears to be strive to be a bit more than an average kung-fu movie, but the DVD version my mate bought could possibly be one of the poorest quality DVDs in existence (the digitally degraded copy, perhaps?).

'Kung Fu: The Punch of Death' begins with our hero, Fong Su Yi (Meng Fei), being cheated by members of a rival martial arts school. Apparently Fong believes that the appropriate course of action is to start a fight his rivals and kill at least one, which he does. Fong then proceeds to cause trouble elsewhere, but then Iron Fist and Iron Leg - the masters of the rival school - seek vengeance against Fong and kill his father, leading Fong to take vengeance against the killers.

I would be lying if I said 'Kung Fu' made perfect sense. Scratch that. I would be lying if I said 'Kung Fu' was easily understood. The dubbing on the version we watched was the average dub that simplifies everything and tends to make you laugh through most of the movie and miss various chunks of dialog (which were probably just as useless / awesome anyway).

As an action movie, 'Kung Fu' tends to deviate from the standard kung-fu movies at the time. There are random fights throughout the movie, but most of them end with our hero getting beaten to within an inch of his life. The fights looked pretty good, but fight editing was distracting, and the quality of the DVD doesn't help when it changes colour during a fight or flashes red for a second.

'Kung Fu' is technically a better movie than most other kung fu movies of the time. It does put more effort into costuming and scenery, such as having most of the male cast in traditional pig-tails. Of course, if you are like me or my mates,extended shots of people racing around in attractive locations will only serve to distract people from the kung-fu. And what's the deal with Fong's mother looking around about the same as Fong, and being more attractive than Fong's love interest?

As a movie, 'Kung Fu: The Punch of Death' is an above average 6/10. For a kung-fu movie to watch with some mates, 'Kung Fu: The Punch of Death' transcends a numbered rating in awesome value (for that to make any sense, check out my 'Killer Meteors' review).

The most notable feature of this movie is the spectacular scenery and costuming. This is one of the few Kung fu movies where the majority of the cast wears the pigtail, which made for some interesting observations as well as and interesting weapons related finale. The mother in the movie was pretty enough and young enough to be a sister and was better looking than the 'girl friend' of the plot. Lots of fight scenes but none that were spectacular in my mind.

Typical of the genre is the unusual and strange training method. Some of the expected 'flying' and some less than normal weapons work. I liked seeing some of the more 'normal' aspects of everyday life. The sets/scenery really are a cut above normal and the cinematography is really above average.

A friendly game of chess breaks into a free-for-all fight, and one martial arts student dies accidentally. The teachers (one of fists and one of feet) come after the accidental killer and instead find his father and murder him. The son spends the rest of the film trying to avenge his father. Who will win in the showdown to the death? This film is known by many names, most notably "The Prodigal Boxer". I picked it up as "Kung Fu Punch of Death", which is a rather misleading title. There's enough kung fu fighting to make Carl Douglas gag (it's very overwhelming).But although many punches were thrown, there was never a "kung fu punch of death" in the manner I expected (such as a signature kill move).

There are things I didn't really understand fully: if the son killed a student, aren't the masters justified in killing his father? And there is a "waiver of death" at one point which I wouldn't have understood as quickly if I hadn't seen this with my friend Seth, who has seen his share of kung fu films.

Not much to say here that needs to be said. This was sold as a "grindhouse" film -- cheap effects, bad editing and not much plot. If you've seen one bad martial arts film, you've seen them all. Or at least this one. It's good for a night of drinking, but nothing that's going to stand out as a must-see.

This is a great movie. It has good acting. It also has a great story line. 5.8 is undrrating this movie. I give it 7 out of 10. A very good movie. See it. It is an awesome movie.

On the outside, KUNG FU - THE PUNCH OF DEATH is simply another in a long line of '70s period 'fu flicks. The storyline is completely unremarkable, telling the impossibly overdone tale of a guy seeking revenge for the death of his father, and the characterisation is virtually nil. The action sequences in themselves are passable, with a nice adult edge to them – no overblown comedy here, just guys absolutely beating the heck out of each other and nearly dying in the process. I enjoyed watching them, even if they lack the technical proficiency of a Jackie Chan flick.

No, the most interesting thing about this film is the direction, which is a cut above the standard. Chai Yang-Min is master of the roving camera and he always seems to frame his scenes in unusual, interesting ways. I enjoyed the visual impact of this film a LOT, and it made a nice difference to the usual set-up (choppy editing, static camera midway back, etc.). The quality of the acting is also worth noting – Meng Fei excels as the young, bratty hero and you can really get a sense of his newfound maturity come the climax. Yasuaki Kurata (MILLIONAIRE'S EXPRESS) makes an excellent foe and you never doubt his toughness for a second.

The film is flawed but I was in a forgiving mood. The storyline seems to expire after an hour or so, and there's about twenty minutes of padding which really didn't need to be here – I would have preferred a non-padded 70 minuter rather than a padded 90 minute offering. Still, the climax is typically good, complete with impalements and weapon play, and this is a fine example of an average kung fu film.

ej's kung-fu capsule review for films of the chop-socky old-school -

1. basic plot type - Young man coming of age as kung fu hero; 'school vs. school' rivalry to-the-death.

2. plot construction - Very good, among the best from this screen-writer (the ubiquitous I Kuang). Weakened by unexplained lapse in continuity editing towards the end.

3. dramatic - Frequently.

4. funny - Rarely.

5. dialog - Acceptible; clichés kept under control.

6. cast performance - Very good - Meng Fei's performance is among his best.

7. crew performance - Solid.

8. amount of fighting - Plenty.

9. quality of fighting - Very good for the era.

10. special any cast or crew notes - Somewhere between this film and the rest of his career, Meng Fei lost his humility, recapturing it only once for the classic Snuff Bottle Connection.

But here, he's entirely believable, and even demonstrates the character's maturing over time, which lays a solid foundation for the film's themes.

11. big positive - The final fight scene - rapid, strong, violent, and completely in keeping with the characters and themes.

12. big negative - In the scenes immediately leading up to the final fight, continuity gets lost; very distracting.

bottom-line - who should see this movie - It's a solid action film for those who like unarmed combat of any kind.

So for this movie I've seen it at least a few times and if I'm honest yes this is more of a movie I watch solely for the fights and rocky like story about overcoming great odds in the face of certain death and suffering. However, the acting and what strings the plot together is so bad it's funny sometimes. Some of the scenes make no sense like randomly breaking into fights for no apparent reason and the badly dubbed English and also some of the acting and scenes are so cheesy. However if I may say one thing the plot is genuinely engrossing at times. With everything else improved this could be an underrated gem. One part that still sticks with me after watching it over and over is how the character deals with defeat. No details to avoid spoilers, but when it showed the character's pain and what lead to his situation he was in I felt genuinely angry and sad at once even knowing what was next. I believe it's as good as a movie of its kind can get because some other movies of this type fail to even get close to being interesting at the end of the day or the overall plot is very bad. Everything in general isn't very bad, but these issues I mention earlier keep this movie from being a 3.5 to 4 star movie the kind that makes it into a collection of some of the best. Still recommended if you can get back some of the other nonsense.

THE PRODIGAL BOXER is yet another entry in the series of films on legendary Chinese hero Fong Sai Yuk (usually referred to as Fong Si Yu), although it wasn't produced by Shaw Bros., the source of several films in the 1970s featuring Fu Sheng as Fong, nor does it get into the Shaolin Temple phase of Fong's life.

Here the character of 'Fong Su Yi' (as pronounced by the English voice cast) is young, callow, and reckless and instigates a dispute with a corrupt rival martial school that results in his father's death and his and his mother's exile. When Fong (Meng Fei) goes after the rivals, Iron Fist Tan (Yasuaki Kurata) and his brother (Wang Ching), he is so badly beaten that it takes months to recuperate under the watchful care of his mother and a young girl he'd helped out. His mother puts him through rigorous training and an herbal bath that will make him invulnerable (no mention is made of the weak point--his rectum!--that figures in so many other films about Fong). Eventually he is able to take on Iron Fist and his brother.

The film is very well mounted and shot on lavish studio sets and sprawling locations. The tape available offers a beautiful widescreen print in all its letter-boxed glory. The action is quite good and the voice dubbing above average. The film pays a good deal more attention to cinematic technique than most kung fu films and offers unusual camera angles and several subjective point-of-view scenes, including a nightmare sequence experienced by Fong. There are also far more reflective moments than usual for the genre. The actresses playing Fong's mother and girlfriend are attractive but not conventionally pretty in the usual Hong Kong fashion. They have more character and display a more authentic look and give the movie a strong emotional undercurrent. The original Chinese music score is retained for the English-dubbed version.

While there are good fight scenes throughout, they usually wind up with the hero getting beaten. In the final bout with the Iron Fist brothers, Fong beats the two villains far too easily in a conclusion that's not as satisfying as this otherwise exciting film deserves. Even so, this is an above-average kung fu film available in an excellent-quality copy.

Yang-Ming Tsai's The Prodigal Boxer is one of the earlier iterations mythologising the legendary Chinese pugilist Fong Sai Yuk. This generously bulging man satchel of thunderously exciting, exhilaratingly choreographed chop socky is bursting at the very seams with magnetic Martial arts madness!!!! Highly prized among the vintage Kung Fu cognoscenti, the compelling story, fine cast, high voltaged, blisteringly bellicose fight craft and a rousing climax shall, perhaps, make a fan of you too!!! Typhoon Thunder kicker Yasuaki Kurata is on bone-breakingly brutalist form, and I enjoyed Fei Meng's powerhouse performance as the savage, single-mindedly revenging son. Prodigal Boxer is a bona fide combat classic, excitingly replete with audacious firecracker Foley, and some truly triumphant, ribcage wrecking, body rupturing battles!!!!