THE CHINESE BOXER (1970)
AKA THE HAMMER OF GOD
Label: 88 Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes
Audio: English-dub DTS-HD MA Dual-Mono 2.0, Originall Mandarin DTS-HD MA Dual-Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Jimmy Wang Yu
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Lieh Lo, Ping Wang, Hsiung Chao, Mien Fang, Lei Cheng, Sing Chen, Li Tung, Kuang Yu Wang, No Tsai, Chung Wang, Ling Chiang
The seminal kung fu flick The Chinese Boxer (1970) was produced by the legendary Shaw Bros. Studios and was written by, directed and starred Jimmy Wang Yu (One-Armed Swordsman). It opens with a disgruntled Diao Erh-yeh (Chao Hsiung, Five Fingers of Death) showing up his former martial arts school at challenging the whole place to a fight, besting the student easily but thoroughly getting his ass handed to him by his former Master (Fang Mien, Five Fingers of Death). Being a sore loser he vows to return, and return he does a few days later with a trio of Japanese karate-thugs who use their superior karate skills to kill the master and lay waste to his students in a very bloody fashion.
In the aftermath most of the students have either been killed or severely injured and leave town out of fear of being killed. With the Master and his school now kaput the defenseless village falls prey to Diao and his Japanese karate-thugs who set-up a crooked casino that never seems to payout, and if someone does the winner don't seem to live long.
Kung fu student Lei Ming (Jimmy Wang Yu, The Man From Hong Kong) is one of the students beaten badly, who recuperates hidden away outside the village. However, when his neighbors kill themselves after Diao rapes the wife and accuses the man of cheating the casino he makes a vow to train himself in New fighting styles in hopes of bringing the karate-thugs down. After that we get an intense training montage of Lei Ming running and leaping with weights tied to his legs to achieve acrobatic heights and strength training, including forging his hands into deadly kung fu weapon by punching hot sand. Eventually he gets himself properly trained and embarks on a vigilante spree wearing a surgeon's mask to disguise his identity and white mittens, kicking ass to free his village from the oppression of Diao and the Japanese interlopers.
The flick is light on extraneous drama a but chock full of well-executed fight choreography, favoring hand to hand martial arts styles over weapons, which was apparently pretty groundbreaking at the time, as the more operatic wuxia style was in fashion. The flick proved to to be an influential film that would inspire martial arts films for years to come, as well as Tarantino's Kill Bill (2003). The fights come fast and furious and are especially gory as the hand-fighting techniques include plunging fists straight into the flesh and some bloody eye-gouging!
It's a thoroughly fun and violent watch with Wang Yu being a fantastic underdog protaganist hellbent on revenge and a double-dose of head lead baddies with Hsiung Chao (Five Fingers of Death) as the disgraced Chinese karate student turned evil-doer and the maniacal Lieh Lo as his bad-ass Japanese karate-enforcer. Towards the end when Wang Yu's Lei Ming proves to be more than the Japanese mercenaries can handle they bring in a few anachronistic
samurai swordsmen providing a bit of sword-wielding
Samurai vs kung fun action set in the snow, which was pretty cool looking.
Audio/Video: The Chinese Boxer (1970) arrives on Blu-ray from 88 Films as #27 in their 88 Asia Collection, presented in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen, sourced from the original camera negative. Much like the other Shaw Bros. releases I've seen from 88 Films this is a pleasing presentation from a source that is flawless. Grain levels are well-managed with appreciable fine detail, depth and clarity are strong throughout, and the colors are rich and robust, especially the paint-like red blood! Audio comes by way of both uncompressed original Mandarin and English-dub DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is well-defined and the action sequences sound plenty beefy, and the score, some of it sounding "borrowed" has good placement in the mix.
88 Films offer a solid selection of extras, kicking off with a brand new Audio Commentary by Critic and Author Samm Deighan who gets into the history of Shaw Bros. Studios, the production history of the film and plenty of info about Jimmy Wang Yu and the influence of the film on cinema. We also get pair of interviews, first up is the 14-minute Wong Ching at Shaw: Interview with Wong Ching, who was a stuntman in Shaw Bros. film who worked his way up to more major roles and getting into editing films, also mentioning the relative lack of safety on-set during those crazy times. Up next, the 17-minute Open Hand Combat - David West on The Chinese Boxer who discusses how seminal and influential the film was and how Yu was able to d write, direct and star after having established himself as a Shaw Bros. superstar. The disc extras are buttoned up with a 8-minutes of Trailers in Mandarin and English plus the US 'Hammer of God' TV Spot.
The sinlge-disc release arrives in an oversized clear keepcase with a sleeve of reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the original Hong Kong movie poster art plus a new ass-kicking R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brian illustration, whose artwork is also featured on the slipcover. Inside there's a 24-page illustrated collector's booklet with 'Hong Kong's Famous Fight Life' essay by Andrew Graves, and a double-sided fold-out poster featuring the original artwork and the new Kung Fu Bob illustration.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Critic and Author Samm Deighan
- Limited Edition Slipcase with brand-new artwork from R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
- 24-Page Illustrated Collector's Booklet with ‘Hong Kong’s Famous Fight Life’ Essay by Andrew Graves
- Double-sided A3 Fold-Out Poster
- Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
- English LPCM Mono 2.0
- Mandarin LPCM Mono 2.0
- Newly-translated English Subtitles
- Wong Ching at Shaw: Interview with Wong Ching (14 min)
- Open Hand Combat - David West on The Chinese Boxer (17 min)
- US 'Hammer of God' TV Spot
- TV Spot (1 min)
- English Trailer (3 min)
- Mandarin Trailer (4 min)
- US ‘Hammer of God’ Trailer (1 min)
88 Films delivers one-two knockout with their initial US expansion offerings, both The Gestapo's Last Orgy and The Chinese Boxer are technically strong releases with solid sets of extras and attractive packaging. The Chinese Boxer is an ass-kicking slice of kung fu and comes highly recommended, even if you're only a casual king fu fan like myself I think that this is a fucking great film.
Screenshots from the 88 Films Blu-ray:
