The Incredible Kung Fu Master (1979)
(AKA: "The Kung Fu Master" & "They Call Me Phat Dragon")
Director: Joe Cheung
Cast:
Plot: Two brothers, Li Chin Fei (Huang Ha) and Li Chin Peng (Peter Chan) fall out over who has the best fighting style after they jointly defeat a Mongol bully Yang Wei (Lee Hoi San). They start separate kung fu schools to teach their specific styles. Chin Fung (Philip Ko) is the brother of Yang Wei, and he places a student of his in each school to find out all the secrets of each fighting technique. In the meantime, “Kung Fu” Ching (Stephen Tung), a local boy with dreams of being a kung fu master, is obsessed with learning everything he can about fighting so he joins both schools. When both masters find out what he is doing, they throw him out and he ends up studying with Fei Jai (Sammo Hung) a wine seller and kung fu master who does not believe in using just one style of fighting but instead using any technique or style. When Yang Wei and his brother Chin Fung’s plan for revenge is exposed it is up to “Kung Fu” Ching and Fei Jai to save the day……….. But Yang Wei has been improving his fighting skills too, so our two heroes have to use every trick they know if they want to survive.
Review: Joe Cheung’s directorial debut was this old school kung fu comedy from the late seventies. It may not have much in the way of originality with most of the plot being one that has been used and re-used over and over again, but what this film does have are some high quality fights and a pairing of two lead actors that provide entertainment despite it treading a well worn path. For the choreography we have Sammo Hung’s team to thank. In particular this time there is Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao and Leung Kar Yan, while the pairing of Sammo Hung and Stephen Tung is the real revelation. You may remember Stephen Tung as the young boy being given a kung fu lesson by Bruce Lee in “Enter The Dragon”, and coincidentally enough Sammo Hung also made an appearance in that opening sequence of the same film, but Stephen Tung is far better known today as an action director with a long list of acclaimed credits to his name including “Hard Boiled”, “”The Twin Dragons”, “The Blade”, “Hitman” and “Hero”, working with almost every major talent in the Hong Kong film industry over the years. Probably his best screen performance, Stephen shows the kind of athleticism here that you would normally associate with Yuen Biao, while the obvious chemistry between him and Sammo make their scenes together, especially training sequences, a real pleasure to watch.
The supporting cast is good too for such a low budget film, with Lee Hoi San and Philip Ko playing the main villains, though Philip Ko is under used as he doesn’t really get too much to do. They are ably supported by Chung Faat and Dai Sai-aan as the comic villainous sidekicks, with Dai Sai-aan in particular giving a performance that boarders on the irritating for me with his extremely broad style of comedy. Peter Chan and Huang Ha play the two bickering brothers, with Meng Hoi and Celia Wong playing their siblings. Of course we get the usual cameos, but some are so short you will miss them if you are not paying close attention, especially the ones by Lam Ching Ying and Mars.
Comedy is the main ingredient in the film, with quite a lot of the humour actually channelled into the choreography itself. One particular fight ends with “Kung Fu” Ching being manipulated on the floor until his legs are behind his head. Something the extremely flexible Stephen Tung does with surprising ease. In fact a little too much humour is injected into some of the action with Lee Hoi San at one point ending up with egg sized bumps on the top of his head that frankly look ridiculous rather than humorous, but this is the world of Hong Kong action cinema where almost anything goes in the name of entertainment.
The strength of this film comes from the main performers’ interaction. My favourite moments in the film are almost all between Sammo Hung and Stephen Tung. The scene where the character Fei Jai compares learning kung fu to enjoying different types of food is well done, recalling Bruce Lee’s attitude in real life when he refused to be tied down to any particular form of martial arts. Another classic moment comes during one of the training sessions when Fei Jai sets the table for their meal on a floor that is covered with grease. “Kung Fu” Ching must walk to the table to eat or go without food. After several attempts Ching gets the knack of walking without falling but spends so much time showing off that Fei Jai eats all the food.
Sammo’s creative input into this film aside from the acting is not in doubt, for there are several typical Sammo moments throughout, but on the whole his concentration here was on the character and his performance. This is no classic by his standards and unlikely to be in anyone’s top ten kung fu films, but this still manages to be an engaging and entertaining above average action comedy that has enough exciting and well choreographed fights to make the experience an enjoyable one. Like a kung fu buddy movie, this is one of those films that I keep returning to simply because it is a lot of fun. It is easy to criticise this film for being unoriginal, but this still stands head and shoulders above the majority of old school comedies from this era and remains one to watch purely and simply for its undemanding escapism qualities. Switch off your brain and enjoy.
Rating: 3.5/5
Director: Joe Cheung
Cast:
Plot: Two brothers, Li Chin Fei (Huang Ha) and Li Chin Peng (Peter Chan) fall out over who has the best fighting style after they jointly defeat a Mongol bully Yang Wei (Lee Hoi San). They start separate kung fu schools to teach their specific styles. Chin Fung (Philip Ko) is the brother of Yang Wei, and he places a student of his in each school to find out all the secrets of each fighting technique. In the meantime, “Kung Fu” Ching (Stephen Tung), a local boy with dreams of being a kung fu master, is obsessed with learning everything he can about fighting so he joins both schools. When both masters find out what he is doing, they throw him out and he ends up studying with Fei Jai (Sammo Hung) a wine seller and kung fu master who does not believe in using just one style of fighting but instead using any technique or style. When Yang Wei and his brother Chin Fung’s plan for revenge is exposed it is up to “Kung Fu” Ching and Fei Jai to save the day……….. But Yang Wei has been improving his fighting skills too, so our two heroes have to use every trick they know if they want to survive.
Review: Joe Cheung’s directorial debut was this old school kung fu comedy from the late seventies. It may not have much in the way of originality with most of the plot being one that has been used and re-used over and over again, but what this film does have are some high quality fights and a pairing of two lead actors that provide entertainment despite it treading a well worn path. For the choreography we have Sammo Hung’s team to thank. In particular this time there is Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao and Leung Kar Yan, while the pairing of Sammo Hung and Stephen Tung is the real revelation. You may remember Stephen Tung as the young boy being given a kung fu lesson by Bruce Lee in “Enter The Dragon”, and coincidentally enough Sammo Hung also made an appearance in that opening sequence of the same film, but Stephen Tung is far better known today as an action director with a long list of acclaimed credits to his name including “Hard Boiled”, “”The Twin Dragons”, “The Blade”, “Hitman” and “Hero”, working with almost every major talent in the Hong Kong film industry over the years. Probably his best screen performance, Stephen shows the kind of athleticism here that you would normally associate with Yuen Biao, while the obvious chemistry between him and Sammo make their scenes together, especially training sequences, a real pleasure to watch.
The supporting cast is good too for such a low budget film, with Lee Hoi San and Philip Ko playing the main villains, though Philip Ko is under used as he doesn’t really get too much to do. They are ably supported by Chung Faat and Dai Sai-aan as the comic villainous sidekicks, with Dai Sai-aan in particular giving a performance that boarders on the irritating for me with his extremely broad style of comedy. Peter Chan and Huang Ha play the two bickering brothers, with Meng Hoi and Celia Wong playing their siblings. Of course we get the usual cameos, but some are so short you will miss them if you are not paying close attention, especially the ones by Lam Ching Ying and Mars.
Comedy is the main ingredient in the film, with quite a lot of the humour actually channelled into the choreography itself. One particular fight ends with “Kung Fu” Ching being manipulated on the floor until his legs are behind his head. Something the extremely flexible Stephen Tung does with surprising ease. In fact a little too much humour is injected into some of the action with Lee Hoi San at one point ending up with egg sized bumps on the top of his head that frankly look ridiculous rather than humorous, but this is the world of Hong Kong action cinema where almost anything goes in the name of entertainment.
The strength of this film comes from the main performers’ interaction. My favourite moments in the film are almost all between Sammo Hung and Stephen Tung. The scene where the character Fei Jai compares learning kung fu to enjoying different types of food is well done, recalling Bruce Lee’s attitude in real life when he refused to be tied down to any particular form of martial arts. Another classic moment comes during one of the training sessions when Fei Jai sets the table for their meal on a floor that is covered with grease. “Kung Fu” Ching must walk to the table to eat or go without food. After several attempts Ching gets the knack of walking without falling but spends so much time showing off that Fei Jai eats all the food.
Sammo’s creative input into this film aside from the acting is not in doubt, for there are several typical Sammo moments throughout, but on the whole his concentration here was on the character and his performance. This is no classic by his standards and unlikely to be in anyone’s top ten kung fu films, but this still manages to be an engaging and entertaining above average action comedy that has enough exciting and well choreographed fights to make the experience an enjoyable one. Like a kung fu buddy movie, this is one of those films that I keep returning to simply because it is a lot of fun. It is easy to criticise this film for being unoriginal, but this still stands head and shoulders above the majority of old school comedies from this era and remains one to watch purely and simply for its undemanding escapism qualities. Switch off your brain and enjoy.
Rating: 3.5/5
Review by D. M.
Photos by Klara
Photos by Klara
For bigger photos please click on thumbnails
