THE MAN FROM HONG KONG (1975)
AKA THE DRAGON FLIES
Labe: Twilight Time
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 106 Minutes
Rating: R
Duration: 106 Minutes
Video: 1080p High Definition (2.35:1) Widescreen
Audio: English LPCM Mono 2.0 or English Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Brian Trenchard-SmithCast: Roger Ward, George Lazenby, Jimmy Wang Yu, Frank Thring, Ros Spiers, Rebecca Gilling, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Synopsis: Strap in for a spectacular example from the golden age of “Ozploitation” moviemaking: writer/director/genre master Brian Trenchard-Smith’s full-bore action caper The Man from Hong Kong (1975, first seen in the U.S. as The Dragon Flies). It blazingly showcases the savvy grit and sleek fighting moves of two icons – Hong Kong martial-arts superstar Jimmy Wang Yu and one-time James Bond portrayer George Lazenby – playing lawman/gangster antagonists in a battle-royal array of aerial, vehicular, and close-combat stunts exploding across a gleaming Sydney cityscape and executed with a mix of cool precision and edge-stretching luck that will leave you breathless.
The full-tilt kung-fu cop-thriller The Man From Hong Kong (1975), directed by the prolific Ozploitation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot), opens with Chinese drug dealer Win Chan (Sammo Hung, The Prodigal Son) being apprehended during an undercover sting operation by Federal Narcotics Bureau officers Bob Taylor (Roger Ward, Capt. Fin from Mad Max!) and Morrise Grosse (Hugh Keyes Byrnes, Toecutter from Mad Max!). The adrenaline-fueled opener kicks things off with some kick-ass action, we get a cool fight with cop Taylor chasing and fighting Win Chan while running up the impressive incline of the Australian natural wonder that is Ayers Rock. We also get a brief but high-octane scene of a helicopter giving chase to a car, resulting in a satisfying roll-over and apprehension. Cops Taylor and Grosse suspect the Chinese drug-dealer's heroin source is a well-connected Sydney-based businessman named Jack Wilton (George Lazenby, On Her Majesty's Secret Service), but the drug dealer only speaks Chinese so the guys call in a bad-ass kung-fu cop from Hong Kong named Fang Sing Leng (Jimmy Wang Yu, One-Armed Swordsman), who is tasked with interrogating and translating the drug-peddler before extraditing him back to Hong Kong.
The full-tilt kung-fu cop-thriller The Man From Hong Kong (1975), directed by the prolific Ozploitation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot), opens with Chinese drug dealer Win Chan (Sammo Hung, The Prodigal Son) being apprehended during an undercover sting operation by Federal Narcotics Bureau officers Bob Taylor (Roger Ward, Capt. Fin from Mad Max!) and Morrise Grosse (Hugh Keyes Byrnes, Toecutter from Mad Max!). The adrenaline-fueled opener kicks things off with some kick-ass action, we get a cool fight with cop Taylor chasing and fighting Win Chan while running up the impressive incline of the Australian natural wonder that is Ayers Rock. We also get a brief but high-octane scene of a helicopter giving chase to a car, resulting in a satisfying roll-over and apprehension. Cops Taylor and Grosse suspect the Chinese drug-dealer's heroin source is a well-connected Sydney-based businessman named Jack Wilton (George Lazenby, On Her Majesty's Secret Service), but the drug dealer only speaks Chinese so the guys call in a bad-ass kung-fu cop from Hong Kong named Fang Sing Leng (Jimmy Wang Yu, One-Armed Swordsman), who is tasked with interrogating and translating the drug-peddler before extraditing him back to Hong Kong.
Fang wastes little time establishing himself as a Dirty Harry-styled vigilante cop who is quite willing to break all the rules to nab the bad guys. During the interrogation of Win Chan he cracks open his skull both irking and humoring his Australian counterparts, but the strong-armed tactics illicit a confession, with the name-dropping the identity of his heroin connection, a certain Mr. Wilton. While transporting Win Chan to the Chinese consulate for extradition a sniper, played by the legendary stunt coordinator Grant Page (Road Games), takes out the drug dealer with a well-placed bullet. Funnily, both Taylor and Grosse are handcuffed to Win Chan, and their pursuit of the culprit is slowed down by his dead weight, leaving Fang to run down the assassin himself.
Trenchard-Smith's debut feature film is a fantastic non-stop action-romp chock full of kung-fu fights and pulse-raising stunt work that will have you giggling with delight. It's not played too seriously either, the humor is evident throughout but without resorting to being too corny for it's own sake, it strikes a great balance, leaving room for dramatic pauses like the tragic loss of Fang's most recent lover. Some of my favorite action-sequences are a furious foot chase which has a kick-ass fight in a Chinese kitchen that turns every kitchen utensil you can imagine into a weapon, it's a sequence that ends with a a flying double-kick to the chest that dismounts the assassin from a stolen motor bike. There's also fender-crunching car chase with explosions and vehicular left carnage in it's wake, plus a frenzied finale that takes place in the seventeenth story high-rise lair of the baddie, featuring Lazenby performing an unforgettable fire-stunt that both you and he won't soon forget!
The flick is well-shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer
Russell Boyd (Picnic At Hanging Rock) who lensed most if not all of the Peter Weir (The Last Wave) films. His talent behind the camera give's this scrappy low-budget action flick an attractive if still raw-looking veneer. I did note that Boyd never again worked with Trenchard Smith, perhaps still sore at the director about that car door that nearly hit him during a car explosion on set! The script, also penned by director Brian Trenchard-Smith, is heavy with sharp wit and full of fun dialogue, stuff that is at the same time both action-film tropey but also having a bit of fun with the source material. The script was originally titled Yellow Peril, an ironic title according to BTS, much to the chagrin of Hong Kong-based co-financiers Golden Harvest, who baked at the title, perhaps for the better.
The story features some fun Bond-type globetrotting and spycraft with some gorgeous exotic set-pieces and plenty of eye-popping action. I also appreciate that the action scenes are not of the quick-cut headache inducing variety, you get to see all the action play out in full view. The downside is that occasionally you will see a few punches and kicks that fall short of the intended face, but a few well-placed sound effects smooth those over. Trenchard-Smith was having quite a bit of fun both inverting and celebrating the the tropes of action and spy thrillers, including that of a white man bedding an Asian woman by having the roles reversed, with the cocksure Asian seducing not one but two white women, which might have been eye-brow raising at the time.
I am not the world's biggest consumer of kung-fu and martial arts flicks but even I can see that star Jimmy Wang Yu is absolute dynamite! The guy is not just an incredible martial arts performer, the world's biggest martial arts star before the arrival of Bruce Lee, but he has screen presence to spare. He oozes charisma and easily beds the ladies with his smooth demeanor, on top of kicking serious ass from start to finish. It was also great to see one-off Bond star George Lazenby as the kung-fu skilled baddie in the flick. He is not actually in it all that much if you add up the on-screen it's probably only a few minutes, but when he shows up he brings the thunder, eating away at the scenery with a fervor that brought a smile to my mug. It's not overplayed, I thought it was just the right amount of pulpy-menace that the film needed.
The flick also features a memorable appearance from Australian acting legend Frank Thring (Mad Dog Morgan, Howling III) as Wiltons sassy male secretary, and the sexy Rebecca Gilling (Stone) makes for a pleasing love interest for Fang. Her explosive death being the trigger that further fuels Fang's one man killing spree brings the film to an ultra-violent, ridiculous and incendiary close. Also be on the lookout for director Trenchard-Smith himself as a henchman who battles Fang at the bottom of an elevator shaft, and the lovely and freckle faced Ros Speirs (Stone) as another of Fang's Anglo-lovers.
Audio/Video: The Man From Hong Kong (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from Twilight Time in 1080p HD framed in the original (2.35:1) widescreen aspect ratio. I am not sure if this is the same 4K restoration used by Umbrella Entertainment for their Blu-ray as I have not yet seen it, but the image quality is pleasing. I didn't see a source for the HD scan listed on the print or in the accompanying booklet and wrap, but it looks solid, but it does show some minor age-related wear and tear. Overall I thought the grain was well-structured, colors look accurate and the black levels and skin tones appear solid throughout. I also didn't take notice any egregious digital sharpening, DNR or other such nonsense, it felt appropriately raw. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 Stereo or English Dolby Digital 5.1 with optional English subtitles. I preferred the uncompressed mono presentation this time around, I liked the directness and impact of it. The lossy surround option offers decent use of the surrounds to fill out the score from Noel Quinlan (Edge of Darkness) and some of the action-oriented sequences, but the dialogue seemed a bit constrained which put me off of it.
We do get a couple of cool archival extras for this release, first up is an audio commentary by with Writer/Director Brian Trenchard-Smith who is joined by co-star Hugh Keays-Byrne and stunt director Grant Page via what sounds like telephone. Trenchard's commentaries are always top-notch affairs, he gets deep into the stunt work seen in the film, how certain things were achieved and how a lot of things went wrong, admitting he was young and still very much learning on the job. He also gets into the production, the Hong Kong and Australian locations and what it was like working with former 007 George Lazenby and Honk Kong action-star Wang Yu, including some difficult times with Yu.
We also get eighty-five minutes worth of uncut interviews from Mark Hartley's essential ozploitation doc Not Quite Hollywood. In it we have interviews with Co-Stars George Lazenby, Rebecca Gilling, and Roger Ward; Writer/Director Brian Trenchard-Smith; Executive Producer David Hannay; and 2nd Unit Cameraman John Seale. We get some great stuff, Trenchard-Smith and Lazenby both get into the infamous fire-stunt incident, and its great to hear the then first-time director talking about the movies that influenced his first film, things he could have done better and should not have done at all, and what it was like working with headstrong personalities as a first-time director. The last disc extra is a fun and action-packed four-minute widescreen trailer for the film.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a sleeve of artwork featuring an original movie poster illustration. It is not reversible but the reverse side features a scene from the film of Yu on a hang-glider that is spread across both panels. The same key artwork is featured on the disc itself. Inside there is a 12-page illustrated collector's booklet with new writing on the film by Twilight Time's Mike Finnegan. The essay offers not just a colorful synopsis of the film but highlights the fantastic stunt work seen in the film, Trenchard-Smith's ambitious action-packed direction, the original script title, the co-production with Hong Kong-based Golden Harvest, and the notable cast and crew.
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Brian Trenchard-Smith, Co-Star Hugh Keays-Byrne and Stunt Director Grant Page
- Uncut Not Quite Hollywood Interviews with Co-Stars George Lazenby, Rebecca Gilling, and Roger Ward; Writer/Director Brian Trenchard-Smith; Executive Producer David Hannay; and 2nd Unit Cameraman John Seale (82 min)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (4 min)
Brian Trenchard-Smith's brand of action-packed ozploitation flicks are always my cup o' tea, he just has an eye for action that never fails to bring a smile to my face, and it's the non-stop imaginative action that keeps me coming back to this film in particular. Twilight Time's limited edition Blu-ray of The Man From Hong Kong is delightful, we get a pleasing A/V presentation and a solid set of archival extras. Keep in mind that this is limited edition so get it while you can, this is an easy recommend to any fan of martial arts action films or gonzo cop thrillers.
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
