Director:
Richard Yeung Kuen Year: 1973
Rating: 5.0
Aka - Shanghai Lil and the Sun Luck Kid
Aka - Karate King
According to HKMDB this was produced by the Shaw Brothers but if so it feels
like it was the not quite right in his head uncle who was kept in the attic.
It doesn't resemble a Shaw film from this period in the least but instead
is right at home with all the cheap kung fu films coming out of Taiwan. Where
it was made. More action than a bee hive on alert but all out in remote locations
with low budget sets. But the two main actors in the film were certainly
Shaw stars.
Chin Han had been a major star at Shaw for about a decade but primarily in
dramas and romances. After watching him swing his arms for 90-minutes you
can understand why. He also was about to leave Shaw's and work primarily
in Taiwan. So perhaps this was punishment. And the adorable Shih Szu had
been an action star since 1970 but was on a slow trajectory that would get
her smaller roles. But it still feels like a loan-out and then Shaw buying
it up or distributing up. I guess it doesn't really matter but that is how
curiosity works. Or obsession.
A basic plot for a basic film. Chin Han gets out of prison where he has been
practicing kicking holes in the walls and shooting darts out of his mouth.
You have to pass the time somehow. When he gets home he discovers that his
parents have died and that his brother (Lung Fei) set him up and is a total
scumbag who now owns a coal mine. The brother also wants him dead because
the parents liked Chin Han more and he has about fifty minions to make his
dreams come true. Oops make that forty men. No - thirty men. Between Chin
Han and the girl he left behind Shih Szu there are fewer and fewer of them.
Then there are the Japanese who also want the coal mine and they have about
fifty samurai/swordsmen with them. No make that forty. Maybe thirty. Twenty?
They have to learn not to swing their swords over their opponent's head.
There is nothing up there. So there is a fight every few minutes with both
actors getting lots of opportunities to rough it up - nothing very clever
or innovative but quantity in a kung fu film counts for something.
