Morbid
November 10th, 2007, 01:13 AM
Bloody-Disgusting.com forum members participate in a Film Swap. It is simply two forum members being teamed up and recommending a movie to the other. They then watch the films that were recommended to them and review it. I was teamed up with mrbishop77. I recommended Joel Cohen's BLOOD SIMPLE, and he recommended Jimmy Wang Yu's sequel to his 1971 film, THE ONE-ARMED BOXER, the 1975 classic, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006FDBE.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006FDBE/thedreamidemo-20)
Master of the Flying Guillotine
The film takes place in the year 1730, during the reign of the Emperor Yung Cheng, an early emperor of the Manchu Ching Dynasty. The Emperor still faces constant hassles with the followers of the former Ming dynasty. To help combat this problem, the Emperor employs assassins to quickly deal with the Han revolutionists. The most notorious of these assassins is Fung Sheng Wu-chi (Kang Kam). He is a blind martial artist who disguises himself as a Buddhist Monk. Aside from being the master of the bushy eyebrows, he is also the master of one of the coolest martial arts weapons, the Flying Guillotine. The device is about the size of a large salad bowl with blades lining the interior and exterior of the device, akin to a circular saw blade. This contraption is connected to a chain and can be thrown like a Frisbee, cutting anything in it's path. The "Guillotine" portion of this weapons name comes from what happens if this salad bowl of sharp death lands on your head. When the thrower yanks back on the chain, your head pops off like a cork. The weapon even makes thing handy by having netting, akin to a beekeepers hood, drop down from the rim to catch the head. The weapon is also collapsible, down to the size of a mini-umbrella.
The movie opens with Fung receiving word that two of his best disciples have been killed by the most notorious of all the rebels, the One-Armed Boxer (Yu Wang - who also directed and wrote the film). Furious, Fung leaves his hillside dwelling, after setting it on fire, and searches for the appendage challenged fighter to exact his revenge, starting by killing any one-armed man he comes across (there are a lot, it seems). Following government instructions, he ends up at a grand martial arts tournament being hosted by the Eagle Clan school. The best of the best have been invited and fighters from all over Asia have turned out to compete and he has a hunch that this One-Armed Boxer will show up as well. As Fung had hoped, The One-Armed Boxer does show up. He turns out to be the leader of a martial arts school who has come to the tournament not to fight, but rather to let his students see some of the different fighting styles in action. Unbeknownst to all involved, three of the fighters competing in the tournament are also employed by Fung and on the lookout for The One-Armed Boxer as well as any other rebels. These henchmen consist of Nai Men (Tsim Po Sham) a kick boxer from Thailand who fights barefoot and dances before every fight, Yoga Master (Wing Sheng Wang) from India who has telescoping arms, and 'Wins-Without-a-Knife' Yakuma (Lung Fei), a sneaky stick fighter from Japan.
While the Boxer is a formidable opponent for almost any man, he finds he is no match for Fung and his Flying Guillotine, especially with Fung having help from his new friends. The Boxer realizes that a one-on-one type of battle with this assassin is not in his favor. He realizes that in order to survive this confrontation, he will have to use more than just his martial arts skill to defeat Fung and his companions, he will have to use his brain as well.
MASTER is a film that really shouldn't work. The star, and director, Jimmy Wang Yu, is not very charismatic on screen and not even that good of a martial artist. The plot is extremely thin, and the visual quality can sometimes delve into "really bad" territory with some of the film feeling pieced together and suffering from flicker and fading. But surprisingly, what Yu Wang may be lacking in the martial arts department, he more than makes up for with his directing. The man knows how to film kung-fu. Staying away from loads of dialog and convoluted plots, Jimmy Wang Yu delivers exactly what people wanted, and that was lots of fighting. While the martial arts are not as good or fast as other films of its time, Yu Wang knows how to film the fight scenes in a way that is not confusing and not overly-laden with superhuman abilities. With the fights scenes being choreographed by brothers Lau Kar-Leung and Lau Kar-Wing, the fighting is memorable, methodical and makes great use of space whether the fighting is outside or indoors. Since a large chunk of the film is at the actual tournament, all of this skill was put to great use as the tournament consisted of no less than 9 individual fights. Very reminiscent of the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games to follow, here is the fight roster:
Eagle Clan School Tournament Roster
Long spear Chang Chia Yu vs Long Stick Ho Po Wei
Fast Sword Wang Chiang vs "Win without a Knife" Y. Yakuma
Braised Hair Cheung Shung Vee vs The Mongolian Tieh Cheng
Daredevil Lee Sen vs Iron Skin Niu Sze
Eagle Claws' Wu Shao Tieh vs Monkey Boxer Ma Wa Kung
So Leong vs Flying Rope Chao Wu
Tornado Knives Lei Kung vs Yoga Tro La Seng
Tiger and Crane Fists, Lee Kun Man vs Nai Men
One Armed Snake fist, Hsien Hsing vs Praying Mantis, Tung Erh
Every match-up is quick and most importantly, fun to watch. Multiple styles and weapons on display, all accompanied by a plethora of exaggerated sound effects and fighters who are all easily distinguishable in both look and form. The martial arts skill may not be the best, but it is all filmed so competently that it never becomes an issue. Even the final showdowns between our hero and the four individual villains are satisfying in their execution, and actually go a little off the tracks that have been laid down by other kung-fu films past and present. Our hero has no issues with using whatever skills or items that may be at his disposal, including booby traps. Another standout with MASTER is the soundtrack. The music in the film is remarkable as well, and breaks the mold of other films of this genre. Normally borrowing heavily from Spaghetti Westerns, MASTER actually uses a soundtrack that consists of '70s era electronica from bands like Neu!, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. This surprising choice helps separate the film from the pack by truly enhancing scenes, and in the case of the main title (also used whenever Fung makes an appearance) ramp up the overall entertainment value of the film.
Most veterans of this style of film have probably already seen this film and this write-up is just preaching to the choir. But if you have only dabbled in it, or are a new fan of these style martial arts films, you truly owe it to yourself to check out MASTER. You can really see how this film influenced others and why it is constantly paid homage to. With nine tournament fights, four villain showdowns, and some hapless victims caught in the crossfire, MASTER is pretty much non-stop kung-fu from beginning to end. Movies are rarely as fun to watch as this one and after watching it, there is no surprise as to why the film has such a following and mentioned by other actors and directors.
Lastly, thanks mrbishop77, for recommending it. With my backlog of films to watch, this one would have never made it to the top of the heap on its own. I am not a big fan of these films, but had I seen this one first, that would probably be different. Awesome movie.
Links
IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072913/) | Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006FDBE/dreamindemon-20) | Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Flying_Guillotine)
RmdP1qTjGZY
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006FDBE.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006FDBE/thedreamidemo-20)
Master of the Flying Guillotine
The film takes place in the year 1730, during the reign of the Emperor Yung Cheng, an early emperor of the Manchu Ching Dynasty. The Emperor still faces constant hassles with the followers of the former Ming dynasty. To help combat this problem, the Emperor employs assassins to quickly deal with the Han revolutionists. The most notorious of these assassins is Fung Sheng Wu-chi (Kang Kam). He is a blind martial artist who disguises himself as a Buddhist Monk. Aside from being the master of the bushy eyebrows, he is also the master of one of the coolest martial arts weapons, the Flying Guillotine. The device is about the size of a large salad bowl with blades lining the interior and exterior of the device, akin to a circular saw blade. This contraption is connected to a chain and can be thrown like a Frisbee, cutting anything in it's path. The "Guillotine" portion of this weapons name comes from what happens if this salad bowl of sharp death lands on your head. When the thrower yanks back on the chain, your head pops off like a cork. The weapon even makes thing handy by having netting, akin to a beekeepers hood, drop down from the rim to catch the head. The weapon is also collapsible, down to the size of a mini-umbrella.
The movie opens with Fung receiving word that two of his best disciples have been killed by the most notorious of all the rebels, the One-Armed Boxer (Yu Wang - who also directed and wrote the film). Furious, Fung leaves his hillside dwelling, after setting it on fire, and searches for the appendage challenged fighter to exact his revenge, starting by killing any one-armed man he comes across (there are a lot, it seems). Following government instructions, he ends up at a grand martial arts tournament being hosted by the Eagle Clan school. The best of the best have been invited and fighters from all over Asia have turned out to compete and he has a hunch that this One-Armed Boxer will show up as well. As Fung had hoped, The One-Armed Boxer does show up. He turns out to be the leader of a martial arts school who has come to the tournament not to fight, but rather to let his students see some of the different fighting styles in action. Unbeknownst to all involved, three of the fighters competing in the tournament are also employed by Fung and on the lookout for The One-Armed Boxer as well as any other rebels. These henchmen consist of Nai Men (Tsim Po Sham) a kick boxer from Thailand who fights barefoot and dances before every fight, Yoga Master (Wing Sheng Wang) from India who has telescoping arms, and 'Wins-Without-a-Knife' Yakuma (Lung Fei), a sneaky stick fighter from Japan.
While the Boxer is a formidable opponent for almost any man, he finds he is no match for Fung and his Flying Guillotine, especially with Fung having help from his new friends. The Boxer realizes that a one-on-one type of battle with this assassin is not in his favor. He realizes that in order to survive this confrontation, he will have to use more than just his martial arts skill to defeat Fung and his companions, he will have to use his brain as well.
MASTER is a film that really shouldn't work. The star, and director, Jimmy Wang Yu, is not very charismatic on screen and not even that good of a martial artist. The plot is extremely thin, and the visual quality can sometimes delve into "really bad" territory with some of the film feeling pieced together and suffering from flicker and fading. But surprisingly, what Yu Wang may be lacking in the martial arts department, he more than makes up for with his directing. The man knows how to film kung-fu. Staying away from loads of dialog and convoluted plots, Jimmy Wang Yu delivers exactly what people wanted, and that was lots of fighting. While the martial arts are not as good or fast as other films of its time, Yu Wang knows how to film the fight scenes in a way that is not confusing and not overly-laden with superhuman abilities. With the fights scenes being choreographed by brothers Lau Kar-Leung and Lau Kar-Wing, the fighting is memorable, methodical and makes great use of space whether the fighting is outside or indoors. Since a large chunk of the film is at the actual tournament, all of this skill was put to great use as the tournament consisted of no less than 9 individual fights. Very reminiscent of the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games to follow, here is the fight roster:
Eagle Clan School Tournament Roster
Long spear Chang Chia Yu vs Long Stick Ho Po Wei
Fast Sword Wang Chiang vs "Win without a Knife" Y. Yakuma
Braised Hair Cheung Shung Vee vs The Mongolian Tieh Cheng
Daredevil Lee Sen vs Iron Skin Niu Sze
Eagle Claws' Wu Shao Tieh vs Monkey Boxer Ma Wa Kung
So Leong vs Flying Rope Chao Wu
Tornado Knives Lei Kung vs Yoga Tro La Seng
Tiger and Crane Fists, Lee Kun Man vs Nai Men
One Armed Snake fist, Hsien Hsing vs Praying Mantis, Tung Erh
Every match-up is quick and most importantly, fun to watch. Multiple styles and weapons on display, all accompanied by a plethora of exaggerated sound effects and fighters who are all easily distinguishable in both look and form. The martial arts skill may not be the best, but it is all filmed so competently that it never becomes an issue. Even the final showdowns between our hero and the four individual villains are satisfying in their execution, and actually go a little off the tracks that have been laid down by other kung-fu films past and present. Our hero has no issues with using whatever skills or items that may be at his disposal, including booby traps. Another standout with MASTER is the soundtrack. The music in the film is remarkable as well, and breaks the mold of other films of this genre. Normally borrowing heavily from Spaghetti Westerns, MASTER actually uses a soundtrack that consists of '70s era electronica from bands like Neu!, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. This surprising choice helps separate the film from the pack by truly enhancing scenes, and in the case of the main title (also used whenever Fung makes an appearance) ramp up the overall entertainment value of the film.
Most veterans of this style of film have probably already seen this film and this write-up is just preaching to the choir. But if you have only dabbled in it, or are a new fan of these style martial arts films, you truly owe it to yourself to check out MASTER. You can really see how this film influenced others and why it is constantly paid homage to. With nine tournament fights, four villain showdowns, and some hapless victims caught in the crossfire, MASTER is pretty much non-stop kung-fu from beginning to end. Movies are rarely as fun to watch as this one and after watching it, there is no surprise as to why the film has such a following and mentioned by other actors and directors.
Lastly, thanks mrbishop77, for recommending it. With my backlog of films to watch, this one would have never made it to the top of the heap on its own. I am not a big fan of these films, but had I seen this one first, that would probably be different. Awesome movie.
Links
IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072913/) | Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006FDBE/dreamindemon-20) | Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Flying_Guillotine)
RmdP1qTjGZY