Rest in Peace, Jimmy Wang Yu (March 28, 1944 - April 5, 2022)
After leaving the Shaw Brothers in 1970, he jumped back and forth between Golden Harvest studios in Hong Kong and lower-budgeted Taiwanese fare, where it felt that his general philosophy was, "If I can't out-fight them, I'll out-weird them." He made the cult classic MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE and TIGER AND CRANE FISTS, the latter of which was edited into KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST in 2001. His career slowed down in the 1980s. Wang Yu essentially retired from filmmaking after making the wuxia fantasy The Beheaded 1000 in 1993. It was only 18 years later that he eventually made something of a comeback in the Donnie Yen film WU XIA (released stateside as DRAGON) in a memorable role as the film's main villain. Wang Yu received three different nominations for Best Supporting Actor for WU XIA -- the Taiwan Golden Horse Award, the Hong Kong Film Award, and the China Film Media Award. He did win a Best Actor Award at the Taipei Film Festival for his work on the film Soul (2013).
Wang Yu also won two Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Taiwan Golden Horses and the New York Asian Film Festival. Wang Yu famously acted as a mediator for Jackie Chan and director Lo Wei when the former broke contract for greener pastures and Lo Wei wanted to sick the Triads on him. This act of kindness resulted in the Chan showing up in films like the bizarre FANTASY MISSION FORCE (1984) and the prison-centered flick ISLAND OF FIRE (1990), released stateside as THE PRISONER.
"Wang Yu...starred in an endless stream of violent "chop sockys" (primarily from [1970] to [1974]) which featured agonizingly long fights with flailing arms, loud cracks, unintentionally hilarity and very cheap cinematography (if you could even call it that). Wang Yu was once the king of this stuff. Wang in real life had numerous fights to the death, so he knows how to fight. But on film, his unorthodox moves were hard to watch.[1]"
Nonetheless, the man was a pioneer. He was the Wuxia Hero of the late 1960s and the first Kung Fu Hero of the early 1970s. And despite his limited abilities, once you put a sword or spear in the man's hand, few people could sell the wholesale slaughter of entire armies like Wang Yu could. He has earned his keep in the genre, belonging in the Annals of the Greats alongside Bruce Lee, Lau Kar-Leung, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and others of great kung fu stature.
Temple of the Red Lotus (1965)[Actor]
The Twin Swords (1965)[Actor]
Tiger Boy (1966)[Actor]
Magnificent Trio (1966)[Actor]
The Joy of Spring (1966)[Cameo]
Auntie Lan (1967)[Actor]
The Trail of the Broken Blade (1967)[Actor]
The Sword and the Lute (1967)[Actor]
Asia-Pol (1967)[Actor]
One-Armed Swordsman (1967)[Actor]
The Assassin (1967)[Actor]
Golden Swallow (1968)[Actor]
The Sword of Swords (1968)[Actor]
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)[Actor]
My Son (1969)[Actor]
The Chinese Boxer (1970)[Actor/Director/Writer]
Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman (1970)[Actor]
The Brave and the Evil (1971)[Actor/Director/Writer]
The Last Duel (1971)[Actor]
Professional Killer (1971)[Actor]
The Magnificent Chivalry (1971)[Actor]
The Sword (1971)[Actor/Director/Action Director]
The Invincible Sword (1971)[Actor]
Blood of the Dragon (1971)[Actor]
Rage of the Masters (1971)[Actor]
Furious Slaughter (1972)[Actor]
Boxers of Loyalty and Righteousness (1972)[Actor]
Chow Ken (1972)[Actor]
One-Armed Boxer (1972)[Actor/Director/Writer]
The Fast Fists (1972)[Actor]
The Gallant (1972)[Actor]
Girls of the Night (1972)[Producer]
The Adventure (1972)[Actor]
A Kiss to Remember (1972)[Actor]
The Lion's Heart (1972)[Actor]
A Man Called Tiger (1973)[Actor]
Knight Errant (1973)[Actor]
Seaman No. 7 (1973)[Actor]
Beach of the War Gods (1973)[Actor/Director/Writer]
The Two Cavaliers (1973)[Actor]
The Black Friday (1973)[Actor]
Wang Yu, King of Boxers (1973)[Actor]
The Iron Man (1973)[Actor]
The Tattooed Dragon (1973)[Actor]
Four Real Friends (1974)[Actor/Director]
My Wacky, Wacky World (1975)[Actor]
The Man from Hong Kong (1975)[Actor/Co-Director]
A Cookbook of Birth Control (1975)[Actor]
One Armed Against Nine Killers (1976)[Actor/Producer]
The Great Hunter (1976)[Actor]
The One-Armed Swordsmen (1976)[Actor/Director]
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)[Actor/Director/Writer]
Tiger & Crane Fists (1976)[Actor/Director]
The Killer Meteors (1976)[Actor]
A Queen's Ransom (1976)[Actor]
The Private Eyes (1976)[Actor]
The Criminal (1977)[Actor]
The Lantern Street (1977)[Actor]
Return of the Tiger (1977)[Producer]
Revenge of Kung Fu Mao (1977)[Actor]
Point the Finger of Death (1977)[Actor]
The Deadly Silver Spear (1977)[Actor]
The Double Double Cross (1977)[Actor/Producer]
Return of the Chinese Boxer (1977)[Actor/Director/Producer]
Big Leap Forward (1978)[Actor]
Boxer, Lover, Lawyer (1978)[Actor]
The Battle of Ku-Ning-Tou (1979)[Actor]
Cute Foster Sister (1979)[Producer]
Only Yesterday (1980)[Actor/Producer]
The Taxi Driver (1981)[Planner]
Flattering Family (1983)[Actor]
Fantasy Mission Force (1983)[Actor/Presenter]
The Shanghai Thirteen (1984)[Actor]
Heart of the Dragon (1985)[Presenter]
The Millionaires' Express (1986)[Actor]
Zui Du Fu Ren Xin (1986)[Producer]
The Thundering Ninja (1987)[Footage from The Criminal (1977)]
Clash of the Professionals (1988)[Actor/Producer]
Island of Fire (1990)[Actor/Producer/Planner]
All for the Gamblers (1991)[Presenter]
The Tantana (1991)[Producer]
Shogun and Little Kitchen (1992)[Actor]
Requital (1992)[Actor]
The Beheaded 1000 (1993)[Actor/Producer]
Eighteen Springs (1997)[Producer]
Stand Behind the Yellow Line (1997)[Producer]
Wu Xia (2011)[Actor]
Let's Go! (2011)[Actor]
Soul (2013)[Actor]
A Wang Yu film guarantees a few things - a large body count, a stoic hero and good fun. He loved the one against many set up and as ridiculous as they are he makes them work. When the camera pulls back and we see the ground littered with dead bad guys, it is always a pleasure. Have you see Man from Hong Kong? It is great. Everybody in the cast and behind the camera hated him but they made a terrific film. Very nice write-up on the Man.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting!
DeleteI have not watched Man from Hong Kong yet. That's one of the gaping holes in my Wang Yu watching.
I have generally enjoyed all of the Wang Yu movies I've seen, with The Two Cavaliers (with Chen Sing) being the only exception. But yeah, whenever he takes on an entire army, the result is almost always entertaining.