Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Leofwine_draca A routine Hong Kong beat-em-up, surprisingly entertaining thanks to the starring power of huge Chinese muscleman Bolo Yeung (ENTER THE DRAGON) who spends his entire screen time breaking down his opponents and ripping them to shreds. Although Bolo doesn't come into the film until halfway through the running time, his appearance immediately signals a stronger level of quality in the fight scenes as he smashes through enemy after enemy, never losing and destroying every opponent. My only major complaint with this film is the misnomer of the retitling, Chinese HERCULES; it makes it sound like Bolo is going to be the hero in the movie when instead he is more routinely (type)cast as the villain's henchman. Now watching Bolo in a traditional peplum-style Hercules film as the hero; that would be something really special.Aside from Bolo, it's hard to see why this film is so special. The production values are about average for a typical mid '70s Hong Kong kung fu film, meaning that the editing is sloppy and the music overbearing. The dubbing is either unbelievable or ridiculous and the transfer I watched was horrifically panned and scanned, ruining the spectacle of a number of the fight sequences. Speaking of the non-Bolo action, it is fairly routine and the film does take a long while to get going. The clichéd storyline concerns the skilled fighter who kills a man and vows never to fight again; of course we all know that eventually he will resume fighting so the various plot twists are never too surprising.Cast members put in commendable performances (especially from the lead, whose character surprisingly gets some depth, unusual for this genre) but nobody really shines. Apart from Bolo, of course, who makes do with a single line of dialogue ("First we kill them, then we dump them") for dramatic effect. The finale of the film consists of a massacre followed by a massive battle which really shows off Bolo's bone-breaking capabilities and as a result the entertainment value is far greater than it has any real right to be. My advice is to struggle through the slow build-up and then watch it for the violence and the coastal scenery alone. Grade C chop-socky at its finest.

Woodyanders Lee Hsi (a solid performance by Yeh Fang) accidentally kills his fiancé's brother in a fight. Lee promptly leaves town and vows never to fight again. He gets a job unloading boats in a small village. The ruthless Boss Chan (a perfectly hateful portrayal by Liang Tin) closes down the docks and puts everyone in the village out of work. It's up to Lee to face both Chan and his army of nasty flunkies. Director Ta Huang and writer Kuang Ni deliver a strong and compelling story about courage, morality and redemption that moves along at a steady clip, offers an interesting array of colorful characters, and certainly doesn't skimp on the copious raw, brutal and exciting martial arts fisticuffs. Moreover, the harsh, serious tone and bleak coastal community setting add extra grit to the absorbing narrative. The film earns bonus points for its realistic and unglamorous depiction of violence. Fang makes for a sympathetic tormented protagonist, with sturdy support from Di Chin as tubby, amiable bumbler Wa Ah-mao, Tien Ying Li as the hot-tempered Chu-heng, Wang Chung Tsung as tough, friendly foreman Uncle Lo, and Fan Chiang as Chan's sultry mistress Miss Ho. Top acting honors go to the ever-fearsome Bolo Yeung as the savage and intimidating Chiang Tai, who's the seemingly unbeatable henchman for the main bad guy. The climactic confrontation between Lee and Chiang is a total vicious corker. A worthy chopysocky flick.

winner55 This is indeed the film that solidified Bolo Yeung's international reputation as a strong and implacable villain. And he really pulls his weight in the film, killing with a rare enjoyment.The trouble with the film is two-fold. First it is an early 'chinese boxing' film, not really about the self-discipline that 'kung fu' is all about. It is in the vein of what became known as the 'swining fist' fight movie, since that is what the fighters really do, swing their arms and legs about, without much technique.This leads to another, larger problem: this film is downright cruel. The violence is unrelenting, even sadistic, and there is no great sense that the hero will at last achieve the much needed revenge and justice until the very end.It is unclear why many Hong Kong filmmakers chose that kind of structure during that period; my own guess is that it made making films cheaper, easier and faster - everybody get's killed, and then the hero at last exacts revenge. That's pretty much the whole formula.Historically interesting but actually difficult to watch. Definitely not for repeated viewing.

Golgo-13 Since this old kung-fu flick features China's answer to Arnold, the formidable Bolo Yeung, one can only assume the title refers to him. The reason this is a bit peculiar is because Bolo is a bad guy heavy who only has about 20 or 25 minutes of screen time. Still, he made his presence known; there's nothing quite like watching multiple Chinamen who weigh 115 pounds dripping wet take on the mighty pecs that are Bolo! Yeah, surprisingly, Chinese Hercules wasn't that bad of a fight flick at all, decent plot and everything. Also stars the chubby punk who "scolded" Bruce Lee for not wearing his uniform in Enter The Dragon.