5 Kickass Kung Fu Flicks from the 1970s
The '70s gave us horrible fashion and some horrible music and weird films. I grew up in the '70s and when you're in the middle of it, especially as a kid, you can't really understand how weird a decade it was. But I think the '70s produced the coolest martial arts films--especially the Shaw Brothers films.
A couple of things right off: these are just five of the many kickass martial arts films from the 1970s and I left off the Bruce Lee films on purpose since they're well-known and they all kick ass (Game of Death being the weakest, but was released five years after Lee's death). Also, these films aren't all necessarily kung fu films, but kung fu worked with the title I wanted for this post so cut me some slack!
The '70s gave us horrible fashion and some horrible music and weird films. I grew up in the '70s and when you're in the middle of it, especially as a kid, you can't really understand how weird a decade it was. But I think the '70s produced the coolest martial arts films--especially the Shaw Brothers films. I remember watching kung fu films on Saturday afternoons in the late '70s and early '80s. The fight scenes were nuts and seemed to last forever, like when they went to commercial break they kept fighting or something. And because I was a kid when I first saw these, I still watch these with the English dubbing.
So, these are some of my favorites from the 1970s.
Master of the Flying Guillotine - 1976
This film is bizarre. The flying guillotine looks like a red hat with teeth which is attached to a chain--the wielder wings the contraption at an enemy, it lands on his head, the teeth sink in and the thrower yanks. You can imagine what happens next. But, the craziest thing in this film is the dude with the long arms--this guy can extend his arms to an insane distance, like twenty feet.
The final fight scene is pretty interesting and chaotic, but also nearly ten minutes long. Not my all-time favorite, but it makes this list simply because of the weapon and the dude with long arms.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin - 1978
This one stars Gordon Liu (star of many, many martial arts films over the years, and played a couple of roles in the Kill Bill films). Many of these films have revenge/vengeance as their theme, and this one is no different. What I enjoy most about this film are the training scenes and Liu figuring out each of the 35 chambers of shaolin and he eventually establishes the 36th chamber.
Crippled Avengers (Return of 5 Deadly Venoms) - 1978
The final three films on this list star the Venom Mob (the name will make sense when I discuss the final film of this list), a group of actors Shaw Brothers films used together in many films. This one was originally known as Crippled Avengers--the main characters are all crippled by the villains in different ways: one becomes deaf and mute, another blind, while another has his legs cut off, and the final person has his head crushed and becomes "simple". So, of course, they seek revenge, but first have to learn how to fight, using their limitations to full advantage.
The Kid with the Golden Arm - 1979
Another Venom Mob Shaw Brothers film. This one is about a gang attempting to steal a shipment of gold. The heroes band together to stop Golden Arm and his gang. Great choreography (but then, all of these have great fight sequences).
Five Deadly Venoms - 1978
Okay, this one is my favorite. This is the film that tagged the group of actors as the Venom Mob. A dying master dispatches his last pupil to find his former students and discover what they're up to, he doesn't trust that they're using their skills for good. Each of his five prior students trained at different times and learned a different technique--oh, and they all wore masks during training. The five styles: scorpion, centipede, snake, lizard, and toad. The last pupil, the one dispatched to find the 5 venoms, knows a little of each style so he has to align with one of the other venoms to defeat the evil ones. But first he has to figure out who are the bad venoms and who are the good venoms. This film is a lot of fun and the storyline is as interesting as the fight scenes are spectacular. So, if you're going to watch just one of these, I say make it 5 Deadly Venoms.
Happy 30th Anniversary, Big Trouble In Little China!
I wrote this a couple of years ago, but had to repost given the 30th Anniversary of the film's release on July 2nd!
This movie is one of my all-time favorites.
How can you not like a movie starring Kurt Russell directed by John Carpenter? Kurt Russell is also wonderful in The Thing and Escape from New York, but Big Trouble In Little China is a masterpiece--a genre mash-up before that was considered a thing.
What is this movie? It's a comedy, martial arts, fantasy, drama, action movie with some romance. Kurt Russell stars as Jack Burton, a truck driver drawn into the search for a missing Chinese girl. Doesn't sound all that interesting when put like that, but the missing girl is the fiancee of Jack's friend, Wang Chi, and she's in the clutches of an ancient and powerful Chinese sorcerer, Lo Pan. Their adventures take them beneath San Francisco Chinatown and into a world of Chinese myth and superstition with the fate of the universe at stake.
What makes Jack Burton great is that he can take his lumps physically and verbally, and keep coming back for more. He's a mixture of John Wayne and Indiana Jones (in his mind perhaps), but in many situations he's on his butt or out of the action. Kurt Russell is great in this film, and has a great supporting cast to include Kim Cattrall. The exchanges between Russell and Cattrall are reminiscent of the classic movies I adore. I could drop a bunch of quotes here, but there are so many great jokes and one-liners that you really need to experience the movie for yourself.
There are some over the top fight scenes, and even during the most serious of moments there are wisecracks and jokes to lighten it up. When I saw this movie back in the mid-eighties when it was released, I couldn't believe one movie could contain so much and make such a crazy idea work. And even now, 30 years later, I think it holds up well. You even forget Kurt Russell's mullet once the movie gets going--but if anyone can pull off a mullet, it's him. ;)
The Blu-ray version is nicely done and contains all the special features found on the 2 disc DVD version. There are deleted scenes, an extended ending, trailers, a 1986 featurette, and a Kurt Russell and John Carpenter commentary.
So, if you've seen the movie before, you know what I'm talking about. But if you haven't watched it in a long time, or have not seen it at all, check it out. I'm pretty sure if you give it a chance, you won't be disappointed. And do me a favor: don't multitask while watching this, the film deserves your full attention.