Lady Kung Fu

Pretty standard fare as far as 70s martial arts flicks go. However, notable for the role of 'Teacher' played by Hapkido founder Grandmaster Ji Han Jae. Some great fight scenes (watch Grandmaster pulverise his students ;]). Also good to watch Angela Mao and Samo Hung in some decent fight scenes. A very interesting 'must-see' for all Hapkido (and other martial arts) students.

Korea, 1934. During the Japanese occupation, there is open warfare between rival martial arts schools. There is a fight in the marketplace, and three Chinese students cannot stand the unfair way of students that side up with the invaders, when they gang assault one of the fighting men. Between the three, they send the aggressors away. Retaliation is heavy: their school is destroyed, and they are banished.

This film may be best known for an uncredited cameo from Jackie Chan before he became an international star, but it is a decent film in its own right. While not quite as action-packed as "Lady Whirlwind" (which came out the same year from the same director), there is a better plot here, and the production value from Golden Harvest is noticeably higher.

A decent copy has been released from Shout Factory. While it is not pristine (this may not even be possible) and does not have much for special features, this is a film worth checking out.

I cannot understand why this film is really rare and not widely available. The copy I have seen has burnt in English subtitles that is almost impossible to read as it often goes under the screen and since it was in white color it disappeared in their white clothes.

Apart from that the movie is really good. Although I have never been a fan of Carter Wong or Sammo Hung Kam Bo, I have enjoyed the scenes with Hwang In Sik. He is such a good high kicker.

One thing that bothered me about this movie is that it looks way too similar to Fist of Fury. They even used the same guy that played the annoying Chinese man siding with the Japanese in Fist of Fury too.

Definitely not as good as Fist of Fury but much better than most of the martial arts movies. Recommended...

I first saw this in the late 80s on a rented vhs.

Revisited it recently.

This movie has tons n tons of fights but the best treat is Angela Mao.

We have a very young n slim but chubby face Sammo Hung.

We also have Jackie who appears in 6 scenes as an extra but all are blink n miss. He is visible after 72nd min but disappears within few seconds kinda u blink u miss.

Much before Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Scott Adkins, Van Damme, Michael Jai White, etc we get to see the lead actress Angela Mao do the front double kick in an awesome way.

She played the sister of Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.

This movie has a sadistic scene where a man throws hot water on an old lady.

It is a bit vulgar when a guy ogles at a woman's back n suddenly the guy imagines the woman to be nude in a blink n miss scene. These two things were totally uncalled for.

Sammo Hung goes shirtless without being muscular.

This is female empowerment stuff n that too in the early 70s.

Man, this one had me hooked from start to finish. The characters really shine through here make you really want to root for the good guys. This film shows a lot of formidable throw techniques; very effective against multiple attackers. Feng (Sammo) is the brash, arrogant fighter and is played well by the Fat Dragon (WARNING: Shirtless Sammo sighting!!) Carter Wong is okay and thankfully isn't featured that much. OW, that arm!

Finally there's Angela. Her character is really interesting because she's a pacifist torn between her belief in non-aggression and righting her enemy's wrongdoings. Can she compromise and how will she resolve the conflict? Don't get me wrong; there is a story to this, but Ms. Mao is the epitome of Hopkido here. She displays her fighting skills in several scenes and I can't get enough of her flipping guys like rag dolls. Even dubbed, she acts really well especially with her facial expressions. Angela's the main star here and proves it beyond a doubt.