Young Hero of Shaolin (1984)

Young Hero of Shaolin (1984)
Aka: New Young Hero of Shaolin; The Young Hero of Shaolin, Part I
Chinese Title: 新方世玉
Translation: New Fong Sai Yuk

Starring: Xun Feng (as Shut Bo-Wa), Chen Yong-Xia, Du Xiong-Wen, Guo Liang, Zhao Zhi-Gang, Chi Ke-Chuan, Chow Kung-Kin, Wang Shao-Min, Zhang Hua, Li Wang-Hua, Xiao Hong-Fu
Director: Ngai Hoi-Fung, Yang Fan
Action Director: Zhao Chang-jun

Young Hero of Shaolin is the first of a two-part series of Mainland films directed by cinematographer-turned-director Ngai Hoi-Fung, whose career in Hong Kong went all the way back to the 1940s. He is best known for directing a handful of old school kung fu films, including Jackie Chan’s first leading role in Cub Tiger from Kwangtung, not to mention Story of the Drunken Master. Both this film and its sequel covers the life of Chinese folk hero Fong Sai-Yuk, played by Mainland wushu stylist Xun Feng, billed here as Shut Bo-Wa.

The film starts at a Fong’s birth, much to the joy of his parents, Fong Tak (Du Xiong-Wen, of A Loyal Overseas Chinese Family) and female martial artist Miu Chui-Fa (Chen Yong-Xia, of The Magic Beggar and Golden Dart Hero). The celebration of his birth is interrupted by a wicked priest (Sun Zhen-Ming) and his student, Lui Hung (Guo Liang, of Pride’s Deadly Fury and Tai Chi Chun—his character is referred to in the dub as “Raepon” or “Raehon”, which often sounds like “Raekwon”). The priest demands all sorts of money to leave the family alone, but Miu Chui-Fa gets in a fight with him. He is ultimately repelled by Miu’s teacher, the Shaolin nun Wu Mei (Chi Ke-Chuan, of Revenge of Swordsmanship). The defeated monk swears revenge on the baby Fong.

Miu Chui-Fa raises Fong, teaching him the basics of kung fu and bathing his body in special herbs in order to increase his endurance and durability. In his early adulthood, he is attacked by the old monk and injured. Fong’s parents decide to send him to Shaolin to study kung fu in a more structured setting. Although a bit too impish for Shaolin rules at first, he still curries the favor of the Abbot (Chow Kung-Kin, of Ninjas and Dragons) and starts to grow in his kung fu skills.

Some of the senior students (and the abbot’s second-in-command) don’t really like Fong and try to get him in trouble when he helps out a destitute young woman, Xiaohua (Zhang Hua, To Cross the Dadu River), and her ailing grandfather (Xiao Hong-Fu). They accuse him of having a girlfriend, which is strictly against temple rules, but he is exonerated just as he’s about to quit and leave the temple. The senior monk manages to perform a special kung fu demonstration that piques Fong’s interest and convinces him to stay and finish his training. After three years, him and fellow layman disciple Wu Wai-Kin (Zhao Zhi-Gong, of Kung Fu Hero Wang Wu and A Terra-Cotta Warrior—playing the same character Chi Kuan-Chun played in Chang Cheh’s films), are invited to face the Lo Ha Formation in order to graduate from their studies.

Now, one of the cruxes of the Wu Wai-Kin story is that he was never as good as his colleague and was unable to officially pass the Shaolin Exit Exam (this comes up in Shaolin Temple and The Kung Fu Master series). As a result, it is implied he had to sneak out of Shaolin in order to get his revenge on the dye company who killed his father. Fong Sai-Yuk, on the other hand, is more than a match for the formation and is given an honorable release from the temple.

From there, Fong Sai-Yuk’s personal journey will bring him back to Lui Hung, aka Tiger Lu, who is now the Captain of the Guard in another town and is running crooked martial arts tournament.

Young Hero of Shaolin (Part I) is a rather episodic kung fu film, hitting various parts of the Fong Sai-Yuk legend, although often failing to bring it all into a single cohesive narrative. Certain events of Fong’s life, like his duel with Li Bashan (Chui Ngai, of Out of Danger and Murky Shadows Over the Gorges) atop a series of wooden poles, are included, but feel divorced from everything else happening around it. Even after it is revealed that Li Bashan is Tiger Lu’s father-in-law, it doesn’t link that detail to the previous duel on the poles.

The first hour of the film focuses on his early life and experiences at Shaolin. Sadly, the training sequences aren’t very detailed, with a few scenes consisting of montages of different monks (and later Fong Sai-Yuk) performing all sorts of open-handed and weapons forms, but with little of the gradual build up from “undisciplined scamp” into “kung fu dynamo.” This is especially disappointing after he gets a sample of the advanced Shaolin techniques from his monk friends and decides to stay at the temple. I wanted to see him training in those moves, but alas, the film didn’t showcase any of that—it just skips to the Lo Han Formation test.

The fighting doesn’t really kick in until the hour mark or so, beginning with Lo Han Formation sequence. Fong Sai-Yuk and Wu Wai-King take on a contingent of Shaolin monks—about 80 or so—who take on the formation the Swastika (the Buddhist variation, not the German one). The formation creates “corridors” of monks that the heroes have to navigate, getting attacked on all sides. This sequence is frequently filmed from high overhead shots, which allows us to see all the monks, presumably played by entire schools of wushu students, running around in perfect synch. Logistically, it is an impressive scene.

The next fight is the duel atop the poles with Li Bashan. The fight is well-shot, although a lot of angles from the closer shots make me wonder if they had two sets of poles--a taller set and a lower one—on which to film. The choreography is pretty decent, considering the balance necessary for the actors to maintain (even on a lower set of poles), but it admittedly a bit slow at times and noticeably undercranked at times.

The last 20 minutes or so of the film revolve around a kung fu tournament thrown by Tiger Lu (or Raepon, depending on the dub). The early part of the tournament features different fighters using a variety of styles, including one guy who sticks out using Monkey Fist kung fu. The big disappointment of the set piece is when Fong Sai-Yuk throws down with the old priest who had injured him years before: Fong knocks him off the platform in two moves.

The emphasis of the finale is on Fong Sai-Yuk’s two duels with Tiger Lu. In their first showdown, leading man Xun Feng uses the Yingquan (Eagle Fist) and Southern Eagle Claw, especially the former. Meanwhile, antagonist Guo Liang uses both Bagua and Praying Mantis. There is a interruption in the fight, which allows Fong to regroup and learn a new technique from Wu Mei, thus preparing him for the second and final duel with Tiger Lu, which is a bit more drag-out brutal in its presentation. The choreography is attributed to Mainland Wushu Champion Zhao Chang-Jun, best known for his appearances in The Undaunted Wudang and Blade of Fury. The fights are generally solid by Mainland action direction standards, although not as good as those movies that had Hong Kong choreographers.

Overall, Young Hero of Shaolin is a decent, but uneven effort. The narrative of its sequel, Young Hero of Shaolin (Part II), is a bit more focused and enjoys better overall fight action. This one does have the beautiful Mainland Chinese scenery expected of these wushu movies and a solid second half. Worth a view to genre fans, but I prefer Part II.

My Rebellious Son (1982)

My Rebellious Son (1982)
aka: Raging Tiger
Chinese Title: 小子有種
Translation: You Have Guts, Kid!

Starring: Alexander Fu Sheng, Ku Feng, Tang Ching, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Cecilia Wong Hang-Sau, Ai Fei, Michael Chan Wai-Man, Tin Ching, Walter Tso Tat-Wah, Yuen Wah, Ng Hong-Sang, Wong Wai-Tong, Lee Fat-Yuen, To Wai-Wo, Kong Chuen
Director: Sun Chung
Action Director: Tong Gai, Huang Pei-Chih

My Rebellious Son was directed by Sun Chung, the man behind one of the all-time classics: The Avenging Eagle. He has a couple of other important films under his belt, like The Deadly Breaking Sword and To Kill a Mastermind. Unlike Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-Leung (and Chor Yuen after 1976), Sun Chung never allowed himself to be completely pigeon-holed into making just kung fu and/or wuxia films. When he did kung fu, he did it well…quite well…extremely well at times. But he also dabbled in true crime (Homicides– The Criminals, Part II); erotica (Dreams of Eroticism); and horror (Revenge of the Corpse). Heck, his other 1982 film, Human Lanterns was a mixture of horror and wuxia. My Rebellious Son ended up being his penultimate Shaw Brothers film, with him coming back to the studio for the low-budget follow-up to his own The Kung-Fu Instructor: The Master Strikes Back.

This movie revolves around a father-son pair of bone-setters (or physicians, for all practical purposes): Chang Tak-Tai (Ku Feng, of Dynamo and Bruce and the Iron Finger) and Chang Siu-Tai (Alexander Fu Sheng, of Heroes Two and Five Shaolin Masters). The art of bone-setting has long been a tradition of the Chang family and the general cycle is for dad to practice until he reaches old age, and then retire and enjoy life while his son takes up the mantle. The problem is that Tak-Tai has reached old age (he was 52 here, but he was a convincing old man 11 years prior, to be honest) and is still a spry, energetic man. That means that he is still running the family clinic while his son is still just an assistant.

Tak-Tai is also a very demanding man, constantly brow-beating his son for every little transgression. Even when Siu-Tai is late because he’s helping a Westernized Chinese girl, Judy Shum (Cecelia Wong, of Shaolin Mantis and Ol’ Dirty & the Bastard), his dad’s reaction is to berate him. So, there Siu-Tai loves and respects his dad, but often wants to put his dad into compromising situations in order to prove that he has what it takes.

For example, those dastardly foreigners and their Westernized Chinese sycophants have decided to prove to the locals that Western boxing, wrestling, and fencing is superior to Chinese kung fu. They manipulate the school run by Master Jiang (Walter Tso, of My Young Auntie) into participating in an exhibition match with a big bruiser (Dragon Force’s Randy Channell). Siu-Tai gives dad an extra dose of anesthetic in his tea in order to make his dad pass out and step in, accepting the duel on behalf of the Jiang school.

The main conflict involves the foreigners wanting to steal a gold statute of the Goddess of Mercy from the local temple to give to one of the rich Englishman. The Englishman is supported by local Western Athletics Gym, run by the rich official/brown noser, Mr. Tang (Tang Ching, of Wrath of the Sword and The Bloody Fight). His son, Robert (Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, of Martial Club); Robert’s friend (Lam Fai-Wong), and the archetypical interpreter, Mr. Chun (Tin Chung), act as the enforcers for Chairman Tang and they are determined to steal the statue. But Master Chang is part of the “Buddha Protection Squad” and is always around to stand up for the villagers’ rights to worship the statue.

Robert and Mr. Chun decide to bring in a bunch of Japanese kendo masters, led by Yamaguchi (Michael Chan, playing a Japanese fighter like he did that same year in Five Element Ninjas). When Chang Siu-Tai tries to steal the statue himself in an effort to embarrass his dad and take his place, the Japanese fighters (dressed as ninjas) catch this and end up stealing it themselves. Will the Chang duo be able to recover the statue before it goes the way of so many other artifacts that fell into the hands of the British?

I found My Rebellious Son to be a fascinating movie. I had watched My Young Auntie just a week earlier and this film often feels like a gender inversion of that movie. Instead of the bumpkin girl and the Western-educated boy her age getting into hijinks, one of the subplots involves Judy Shum falling for Chang Siu-Tai after he gives her medical attention when she falls from a horse. The thing is, her Western ways are a mystery to him, so her actively seeking him out is practically an affront to his more traditional view of courtship. It does culminate in a kung fu dance sequence, made a year before a similar one was staged in The Champions and 14 years before Wu Jing mixed wushu and the Tango in Tai Chi II.

But more than that, this film completely felt like a partial sequel to Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master. Moreso, it feels like an initial script for Drunken Master II, which came out 12 years later. Knowing that both Wong Kei-Ying and Wong Fei-Hung were herbalists/healers, it’s hard not to see that in Chang father-son duo. And you see the seemingly impossible task of the son trying to please his father, but his happy-go-lucky personality getting in the way at every turn. Add to that an external conflict of an Englishman trying to steal cultural artifacts—specifically a golden statue here—with the help of Western-educated and dressed Chinese toadies and it feels extremely similar to DM2. To be perfectly honest, I now consider My Rebellious Son to be Drunken Master Version 0.1. It would make for a fascinating experience to watch Drunken Master; this film; and then Drunken Master II in rapid succession.

The action scenes were staged by Tong Gai and his brother, Huang Pei-Chih. Those two had worked extensively with Sun Chung, especially once Sun had started focusing on martial arts movies in the second half of the 1970s. The fights are pretty good. The fight between Fu Sheng and Randy Channell is a nice mix of kung fu and boxing, not too dissimilar from the fights in Jet Li’s Born to Defence and Ip Man 2. There is a real good fight halfway through when a bunch of thugs attack the two Chang’s at their shop: kung fu, weapons (including the three-section staff), and zaniness is on display during this lengthy sequence. That is topped by prolonged fight between Fu Sheng and the Japanese masters (who include Yuen Wah), who ambush him with their katana blades. There is some great choreography in this scene.

The finale is a bit of a disappointment, although it feels like the inspiration for the bookending sequences of Jet Li’s Fearless. Fu Sheng must face with the foreign fighters in a succession of fights. It starts with Wang Lung-Wei’s Robert, using a more modern kickboxing style (which would soon become the style of the time). It moves onto John Ladalski (Inheritor of Kung Fu and Bloodfight), which fight is played for laughs. The next fight is with the Western fencer (Mimmo Gasbarri, of Ninja in USA and The Super Ninja) has Fu Sheng matching him with the jian, or two-edged straight sword. That is very much a Fearless thing. The same goes for the final fight, which pits Fu Sheng against the sword-wielding Yamaguchi, which also feels like Fearless. I really liked the choreography in these sequences (except for the John Ladalski segment), but since this set piece starts 10 minutes before the film is to end, each individual fight feels very short by genre standards.

I wouldn’t say My Rebellious Son is a great movie, but it feels like an inspiration for so many movies that came later—Drunken Master II; Fearless; Tai Chi 2; etc—and it does a good job on every aspect (fight direction, characters, etc.) that is should be watched by all fans.

2 Capsule Reviews - (Low)-Kicking Caucasian Women in 1981

Firecracker (1981)
AKA: Naked Fist

Starring: Jillian Kesner, Darby Hinton, Ken Metcalfe, Vic Diaz, Pete Cooper, Rey Malonzo
Director: Cirio H. Santiago
Action Director: n/a

Firecracker is essentially Roger Corman's Filipino equivalent* remaking his own T.N.T. Jackson from seven years prior. It is a near racial inversion, although there are no black people in the film. It is about a white girl karate expert who goes to the Philippines in search of her sibling, only to get involved with karate-kicking drugs dealers, led once again by Ken Metcalfe, who helped write this.

The movie starts with Chuck Donner (Darby Hinton, looking like Bob Wall by-way-of Marjoe Gortner) killing his opponent in mortal combat at an underground fight tournament. Cut to Susanne Cooper (Jillian Kesner, of Raw Force and Student Body), a blonde karate expert arriving in Manila. During the aforementioned fight, there was another blonde girl who was taking pictures of the event until she was forcibly escorted out by some Hired Goons. That is Susanne's sister and our heroine wants to know what happened to her. She goes to the bar/hotel where her sister, Bonnie, had been staying. That is run by a white guy named Pete (Pete Cooper, Stryker and Up from the Depths) who employs a Bruce Lee imitator named Rey (Rey Malonzo, Twin Fists for the Blackmasters). Their first meeting turns into a huge bar fight for no reason than to establish that Susanne is a badass.

Susanne goes to the fight club we saw earlier, which is run by a drug dealer named Erik (Ken Metcalfe). Erik keeps Chuck as a sort of enforcer and a Filipino guy, Grip (Vic Diaz, of Caged Heat II and Live by the Fist), as the liaison with the heroin suppliers (one throwaway scene shows us that Erik is an addict himself). Susanne beats one of Erik's men in combat and is later invited to participate in to-the-death fights. Chuck falls for her and they eventually have sex--Attention, Men! According to this movie, the best way to comfort a woman who has learned of her sister's murder is to engage in kinky sex involving switchblade knives! Meanwhile, Chuck is amassing an army of martial artists that he plans to use in order to get rid of Grip and eliminate the middle man in the drug acquisitions.

So, this film is basically T.N.T. Jackson, the white girl version. It shares much of that film's plot points--the boss's main squeeze being an undercover agent, the love interesting turning out to be the murderer, the missing sibling, the internal intrigue in the main drug gang, etc. This film also features a topless fight when a pair of would-be rapists attack Susanne, who gradually has her clothes ripped off until she's in her bra and panties. One of the assaulters rips off her bra with a hook, leaving her topless. There are lots of fights, but like its predecessor, they are not very good. Much like Jeannie Bell, it seems that Jillian Kesner was hired based on her willingness to show her tits (they get a good workout here) than on her fighting skills. Her kicks almost never rise above belt level (despite her character being a 6th dan black belt) and her punches are sloppy. There is some Arnis stick work and it's not very interesting, although it does play a part in the film's final gory kill. If you want boobs and fights (regardless of quality), you might enjoy Firecracker. Viewers with more higher standards may want to avoid.

Lovely But Deadly (1981)

Starring: Lucinda Dooling, Vincent Roberts, Pamela Jean Bryant, Richard Herd, Mel Novak
Director: David Sheldon
Action Director: Rex Kimbell

When high school student Arthur Lovitt (Vincent Roberts) drowns while strung out on drugs, his sister, Mary Ann "Lovely" Lovitt (Lucinda Dooling, The Alchemist) takes matters into her own hands. She is a karate expert and starts making her way through the drug ring in the school. The main drug pusher in school is the star football player Mantis Managian (Rick Moser), whom the police cannot touch because he's likely to get a football scholarship. Really. Consider how lawyers are often trying to get star athletes off the hook for S.A. charges because of their promising future, that isn't too far from our reality.

Anyway, Lovely starts flirting with Managian, which pisses his current cheerleader girlfriend, Gloria (Pamela Jean Bryant, of Private Lessons and H.O.T.S.), to no end. This is done with the intent of getting herself whore'd out to the higher-ups in the drug ring. You see, Managian gets his stuff from a rich broker named Warren Leng (the late Mel Novak), who in turn gets it from a local businessman named "Honest Charlie" Gilmarten (Richard Herd, All the President's Men and The China Syndrome). Gilmarten receives the shipments at the local shipyard, whose owner is in cahoots with him. Managian also supplies Gilmarten with high school-age girls to satisfy his libido on a regular basis. Anyway, Lovely finds herself fighting with Gloria and the rest of the strung-out whore-cheerleaders, Gilmarten and his enforcers, and ultimately the entire city drug ring. The police are useless, but the school's karate club will be at her disposal if she needs them...

Lovely But Deadly is a mix of high school drama, martial arts movie, and vigilante film, with a smidgen of exploitation (a few random moments of female nudity). There are a number of fight scenes, although the choreography is quite sloppy. Lucinda Dooling can throw a higher kick than Jillian Kessner of Firecracker, but the choreography is uninteresting. There are a few catfights that are more grappling and pawing than actual fighting. The focus of the film is drugs and the evils of them, but the film glosses over the fact that the bad guys are practically running a high school prostitution ring in the process. I found that rather odd. In the end, fans of 1980s cheese may enjoy this ironically, but everybody else can skip it.