Flying Fists of Kung Fu is
a 12 film compilation set spread across four DVD's . with rare Kung
Fu films from the smaller studios in Hong Kong ,Taiwan in the 70's
80's.
All of the transfers may
not be great as many are from VHS or poor quality prints, but to see
the films featured on disc ,this is the only way.
Unlike films from the same
time from the big studios which get remastered releases ,well in the
far east at least.
Some of the films may not
be cutting edge or have the cult status as the maybe the film before
it on the same disc.
But as introduction to
the more not easy to find films this compilation is a good bargain
for some chop- socky action.
Starring Judy Lee Ling Chia
Raymond Liu
Directed By : Raymond Liu
The Crane Fighter –
1979
For our first review from this 12 film compilation 3 disc set we
look at one of the highlights of the whole set, that's not to say
other films in the set are bad ,but The Crane Fighter is a film worth
having the set for. Especially when the price of the set is only
slightly higher then buying a copy of the The Crane Fighter by it
self..
First things first though , as is often the case with these type of
compilation sets , I would not go expecting high quality remastered
prints with all the trimmings you may find on a disc from say Dragon
Dynasty or the Sword Masters label.
This is due mostly in part to the fact that most of these independent
films from Hong Kong,Taiwan from the 70's and 80's have never been
treated to such luxury.
So what we have here is a English dubbed print which is pan and
scanned and looks like it's taken from a VHS transfer. But that won't
spoil the enjoyment of the film to much I'm sure.
If watched on a big screen or a projector in a 4.3 format it will
just be like your back in time watching the film in some seedy late
night cinema with sticky seats and the odd tramp snoozing in the
corner and maybe the odd smell of pee.
With it's grainy screen and speckles it like you entered a time
machine ..
The film in question is a true classic and one that most should view
if they have not.
Judy Lee Chia Ling plays Ping erh , a daughter of a exiled Shaolin
master , along with with his brother they have lived in secret ,
never showing the knowledge of Shaolin Kung Fu and there specialty
,The Crane Fist style.
Ping secretly learns the art with her father kept in the dark.
But when she ends up showing her technique when coming up against a
abusive monk she ends up putting her family s and her-selves life in
danger.
What makes matters worse is when the son of a local magistrate
decides he wants to marry her it causes other problems, what's worse
is the son is a nut case who has trained in a special style of Kung
Fu which has sent him insane, basically he has become a overly large
humped back man that acts like a five year old on drugs .Plus he has
that brilliantly annoying stupid voice that seems to be the norm for
these films from the 70's and 80's that decided they needed to add
some comedy to the proceedings.
But aside from him we also have a mystery man who comes to the rescue
to help Ping and her family on a number of occasions. Referred to as
Busy Body in the film the character played by Raymond Liu is also a
excellent fighter.
Judy Lee gets to show some excellent kicks and feats in what is one
of her starring roles, trained in acrobats and fighting from a young
age Judy also entered Peking Opera to finish of her training.
Between 1972 and 1982 she made around forty films ,many of which are
hard to come by now. So it's a joy to see even this low quality print
getting a release in any form.
The film culminates into a a series of well crafted fight scenes ,
all directed and choreographed by co- star Raymond Liu.
In the end it will be the Manchu against the Shaolin , where Ping and
her new found love Busy Body will take on the Manchu in a fight to
regain Shaolin's honour .
The film offers some side stories as well with Busy Body helping out
a young girl and her father , and a fight tournament where Ping
decides the only man that can marry her is one who can beat her at
Kung Fu.
But in the end your be watching for one thing only and that's Judy
Lee kicking butt in what many consider her best role .
I myself can't really make that decision on watching this film alone
, though I think I have seen Kung Fu Queen aka Queen Boxer but not
much else .
As a stand alone independent Kung Fu film from the 70's The Crane
Fighter is a one of those must see films and be prepared to hit that
rewind button to catch all the action.
Take one of the score if you don't like the fact that the only
available print is a VHS transfer.
Score out of Ten = 7
Review Date : August 25th 2014
Review By : Sertes Nake
