THE GOLDEN SEAL (1971) #66

THE GOLDEN SEAL (1971)

Released June 23^rd, THE GOLDEN SEAL (1971) is directed by veteran actor Tien Feng, his first solo direction project. Working with Wong Yi-Wa (who?) writing the script and Leung Siu-Chung [THE LADY HERMIT (1971)] directing the action, Mr Feng gives us a typical tale of revenge with twists that seem awfully familiar but don’t quite mesh together in this story. Senior Shaw brother Runme Shaw gives Mr. Feng this opportunity as the producer, but I am not quite sure what the back story is. It is of record that Mr. Feng does some back and forth work between independent movie companies and Shaw Brothers in 1971 and 1972 before settling in with the rival company in 1973. All right, let’s get busy!

Ku Feng as Lei Zhentian

Ku Feng as Lei Zhentian   and   Cliff Lok as Xiao Bai Lung

Lei Zhentian is a power hungry bully who is determined to rule the Jiang Hu by force. His gang of thugs have become the Sun and Moon Clan and one by one they have challenged the other local clans until they have become rather powerful in their own right. Along the way they have done many misdeeds and have crushed any who have stood before them while having no regard for righteousness whatsoever. Therefore it stands to reason Lei Zhentian has many enemies and it is his fate that they band together one day, to end him for once and for all.  

Chung Wah as Dai Tianchou of the Green Dragon Clan

Wang Ping as Wu Dapeng of the Sun and Moon Clan

CAST REPORT:

the good: Chung Wah as Dai Tianchou. Wang Ping as Wu Dapeng / Xiao Yan. Yue Fung as Feng Jing Yi. Pai Lu as Ms. Shi.

the bad: Ku Feng as Lei Zhentian. Chan Shen as Wu Tianting. Cliff Lok as Xiao Bai Lung. 

HONORABLE MENTION: Pai Lu as the exotic cave-dwelling orphan keeps you interested in this movie that is less than totally original.  Tien Feng has a cameo as the Green Dragon Clan grand master in this movie he directed. 

Yue Fung as Feng Jing Yi

Pai Lu as Ms Shi

 FIGHT TIME: THE GOLDEN SEAL (1971) has Leung Siu-Chung as its action director and once again his choreography is crisp and easy to follow, however there is none of the creative under-cranking I loved so much in THE LADY HERMIT (1971). The under-cranking used for this picture is either rushed or lazy and is sometimes unintentionally comical. Mr. Leung also seems to not have as much confidence in the women fighters as they are often stunt doubled to a fault and in an obvious way no less. I counted seven (7) fight scenes in this movie, which is a bit less than Mr. Leung delivered in his past efforts. Over-all the fighting here is a middle of the road effort or a “5” on a scale of “1 to 10”.

HONORABLE MENTION: The three way women fight in the cave could have been longer and with less stunt doubles would have rocked the house!

Three-way girl fight!

RECOMMENDATION

While there are some faults with THE GOLDEN SEAL (1971) it was still an entertaining film that I can confidently recommend for entertainment. The direction by Tien Feng is too much of a patchwork to be of merit to this great actor and his career shows that directing was not his passion. If you can see it without buying it then that would be ideal in my opinion. It is collectible only if you need to have all of the wuxia films produced by Shaw Brothers. See you next time!

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NEXT UP: THE REBOOT OF THE PROJECT

THE DUEL (1971) #64

THE DUEL (1971)

Released on April 21^st, THE DUEL (1971) is yet another well-loved movie produced by the elder brother Shaw: Runme Shaw. It is written by, surprise, surprise Chiu Kang-Chien, the writer of THE SINGING KILLER (1970) but not so surprisingly, also the writer of THE BELLS OF DEATH (1968). THE DUEL (1971) is a tale of intrigue set on the backdrop of the birth of The Republic of China. The great Chang Cheh is the director working once again with the action direction team of Yuen Cheung-Yan and Tang Chia putting in their most exciting work to date! Let’s get busy!

Ti Lung as Tang Ren Jia

David Chiang as Jian Nan, the Rambler  and  Cheng Kang-Yeh as Xiao Mao

On the surface of it THE DUEL (1971) is a tale of a fateful duel between two fighters. Tang Ren Jie is fighting to avenge his godfather’s death at the hands of a journeyman in the underworld (the Rambler), Jian Nan, a highly skilled fight with no ties to any one gang and as such can be persuaded to help one gang or another. In this case however, Jian Nan is deceived in killing Tang Ren Jie’s godfather, Shen Tian Hung, an elder gang boss who is actually retiring from the criminal life after taking revenge for a friend of his who was also killed recently. Jian Nan must fight Tang Ren Jie but he is sorrowful for what he feels is an unworthy kill for him since his victim was going to retire from the gang life and become a civilian. 

Tang Ren Jie saves Jian Nan's life during a battle

THE DUEL (1971) takes place during “The Warlord Era” or the period after the Qing Dynasty from 1916 to 1927. Whether they were called warlords or bandits or gangsters, these people wrecked havoc on life in Mainland China where it was a “man’s world” and if you were weak or a woman you could be forced to do whatever you were told and corruption was everywhere and justice was whatever the powerful said it was. I mention this because the more you know of China and this era the more there is for you to experience in THE DUEL (1971), it is that deep.  There are double crosses galore and everybody has deep characterization if you care to look for it. A look at life in China after the Qing Imperial government and before Communist Party rule, THE DUEL (1971) is a must have for everyone's library of Asian films.   

Chuen Yuen steals this scene but ONLY if you are paying attention to details

CAST REPORT

the “good”:  Ti Lung as Tang Ren Jie. David Chiang as Jian Nan, the Rambler. Chang Kang-Yeh as Xiao Mao. Ku Feng as Tang Jen Lin. Wang Ping as Hu Die.

the bad: Chuen Yuen as Gan Wei Bin. Hung Lau as Shiu Li. Wang Ching Ho as Jau Hai Shan. Lee Wan-Chung as Senator Fung.

HONORABLE MENTION: Chuen Yuen is absolutely repulsive as the big bad, excellent acting especially when you are not suppose to focused on him. 

FIGHT TIME: THE DUEL (1971) was choreographed by the fight team of Tang Chia and Yuen Cheung-Yan. Their design style could certainly be called “fast and furious” and it was again difficult for me to grab screen shots of action without any blur. They also like to keep multiple fights working simultaneously making for some very exciting scenes where you could get caught up in just trying to follow everything. I counted twelve (12) fight scenes making this one of the most fight filled movies to date. No wonder this one is a fan favorite!
HONORABLE MENTION: The all-star cast of henchmen used throughout the film. Including: Liu Chia-Yung, Yuen Woo Ping, Fung Hak-On, Cliff Lok, Wang Chung, Yuen Shun-Yi, Chen Kuan-Tai, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, and more!

RECOMMENDATION: Any Shaw Brothers, David Chiang and Ti Lung co-starring project needs no one's recommendation, especially mine. It is entertaining and collectible. It is automatically a must-see and a must-have. See you next time!

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NEXT UP: THE EUNUCH (1971)

THE SINGING KILLER (1970) #057

THE SINGING KILLER (1970)

The Singing Killer (1970) released 12/22 is Shaw Brother's the last kung fu movie released in 1970. Sir Run Run Shaw produces Master Director Chang Cheh's heist / kung fu / modern music / romantic / young people's slice of life in Hong Kong / dramatic movie. This movie is definitely one for the time capsule with everything and the kitchen sink from the Shaw Brothers Studios packed inside it and it takes itself very seriously. The script is co-written by I Kuang and Chiu Kang-Chien, and the song lyrics are written by director Chang Cheh. Action direction is by the skillful team of Tang Chia and Liu Chia Liang so it is a legit kung fu movie. Let's get busy! 

Chen Sing the "Chinese Clark Gable"

Mr. Fung is a music promoter and the manager of the Dragon Palace Night Club. Mr. Fung is also an independent member of the criminal underworld in Hong Kong. Occasionally his legit world and his illegal underworld would cross paths but this time they will totally collide as his multi-million dollar jewelry heist of Tse's Jewelry Shop is missing one "key" element. That element is someone to crack open the safe in the manager's office. Namely Mr. Fung's heist requires the skills of the Singing Killer himself, the former criminal gang member known as "Johnny".   

David Chaing doing teen angst

Mr. Fung is keenly aware of Johnny's reluctance to return to a life of crime but he also knows Johnny's weakness --"Lily". Lily is the love of Johnny's life and his former gang member and girlfriend. They have long went their separate ways but Johnny would do anything to be reunited with Lily or at least, that's the plan...

Wang Ping as "Shiu Hsien"

CAST REPORT

the good: David Chiang as Johnny. Wang Ping as Shiu Hsien (Lily). Stanley Fung as Detective Wang.

the bad: Chen Sing as Manager Fung. Tina Chin Fei as Ho Man. Ku Feng as Brother One.

HONORABLE MENTION: Ti Lung, Dean Shek, and Wang Chung have very small roles. 

The Crew

FIGHT TIME: THE SINGING KILLER (1970) spared no effort by assigning the masterful team of Tang Chia and Liu Chia-Liang to do their fight choreography which consisted of street-fighting and some gun play. I counted six (6) fight scenes which is not very action-packed but with the drama and music necessary for the story any more action would have made for a much longer film which I can see them not wanting to risk on a multi-genre movie. Bottom line is you can't do too badly with these guys as your action directors, they do good as usual.

HONORABLE MENTION: And the Academy Award goes to...Chen Sing for pretending he can't fight! 

David Chiang versus Wang Chung

Let's dance!

RECOMMENDATION:

I'll have to recommend THE SINGING KILLER (1971) if for no other reason than the off-the-cuff kick-in-the-stomach realism it portrayed in depicting life on the run for young street people in Hong Kong. If you are not used to Hong Kong movie realism then you might be taken aback when one of the female characters has to "pay the rent" for the group. Unfortunately this does not come until the movie is two thirds over and so you might be bored by the goody-goody two step of the early part of the movie. Over-all this is a movie one should "have" rather than "not-have" but I will not call it a must-see movie. It is, however, a unique look at Hong Kong in the 1970's and as such as some collectible value. See you next time!

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NEXT UP: KING EAGLE (1971)

THE CHINESE BOXER (1970) #056

THE CHINESE BOXER (1970)

Producer Runme Shaw gives Jimmy Wang Yu his first chance to write and direct his own movie and the wuxia genre and the world will never be the same again. Action directing master Tang Chia is on board to add seasoning to this new style of wuxia and as we all know -- it was a hit, pulling in over 2 million Hong Kong dollars on its November 27, 1970 debut! Let's get busy!

Diao-erh is one of those village bullies that is more annoying than dangerous. A small petty man with countless grudges and a warped sense of entitlement. But sooner or later everyone gets to feel that enough is enough and so the entire village petitioned to exile Diao-erh from among them so he had to leave. Diao-erh ended up traveling to Japan and studied hard to learn the art of Judo, but only the physical techniques. When Diao-erh returned to the village he singled out the village kung fu school thinking he would get a little competition but little did he expect he would lose.

Diao-erh's defeat at the Zhongyi Martial Arts School did not set well with him. Before the dust even settled on his judogi he threatened to bring karate experts back with him in one month's time for revenge. And in one month's time Diao-erh is true to his word bringing with him three karate trained killers to the Zhongyi Martial Arts School with the intention of not leaving a single one of them alive. 

Fortunately Diao-erh was unsuccessful in leaving no survivors. One of the survivors of that slaughter, Lei Ming was determined to get vengeance for his teacher and his fellow classmates. Master Li Chun-Hai of the Zhongyi Martial Arts School had always lectured on the various martial arts of the world. Lei Ming remembered what his sifu had taught them on what would beat karate. Lei Ming remembered and trained. Vengeance was coming, and it was coming for Diao-erh and his karate friends.  

CAST REPORT

the good: Jimmy Wang Yu as Lei Ming. Wang Ping as Li Xiao Ling.

Fang Ming as Master Li Chun-Hai. Cheng Lui as Cheung Da Lung. Wang Kuang-Yu as Suen Tung.

the bad: Lo Lieh as Master Kita. Chiu Hung as Diao-erh. Wang Chung as Tanaka. Chen Sing as Ishihara. 

HONORABLE MENTION: Wong Ching, Tung Li, Yuen Wo-Ping, Chen Kuan-Tai, Jason Pai Piao, and Yuen Cheung-Yan have small roles.

FIGHT TIME: THE CHINESE BOXER (1970) is fight directed by Tang Chia.  I counted nine (9) fight scenes including the finale with some of the fights containing authentic Japanese and Okinawan martial arts. This is the first Shaw Brothers movie in the wuxia genre that specialized in unarmed martial arts in Asia and as such is very collectible. With the whole world loving this film and the action in it, my opinion pales in comparison, time for silence.

HONORABLE MENTION: Chen Sing getting down in his Okinawan Goju stances, just too cool!

RECOMMENDATION: "Mama told me there'd be movies like this!"

THE CHINESE BOXER (1970) is a movie that is a lot of "firsts" to its name but it is also the last movie Jimmy Wang Yu made for Shaw Brothers Studios.  Perhaps the reason why it is not mentioned all that often is because it was not the last of anything for Jimmy Wang Yu nor for Shaw Brothers Studios. They both went on from their separate ways to do great things from this accomplishment forward. This movie is one of the very many classic (and collectible) productions from Shaw Brothers that needs no one's recommendation, so just get out and enjoy this one by hook or by crook, and I'll see you next time!

  

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NEXT UP: THE SINGING KILLER (1970)