8/12/2023 0 Comments Second galaxy fist of fury![]() Lo has come to tell Mai and her two friends – one of whom is a wanted rebel – that their passage to Taiwan is ready. One has to remember that these films often looked like shit on video and even DVD. So we follow on from Fist Of Fury, and begin with that film’s Inspector Lo played again by Wei, which must be why the simple moment of him going to a house takes ages, though watching it with the excellent picture quality of this Blu-ray I was impressed by the noir-like cinematography amd even atmosphere with its strong use of blacks. My preferred cut would be something that lies in-between the two versions – and maybe one day I’ll put it together. The shorter version of the film has a much faster pace to it and proves that some of the wordier scenes were just not necessary, though I do feel that Wei went too far in his re-edit. Two shots of Lee were also removed, and even a small amount of action footage, though Wei also added a few shots and different takes. The cutting out of much bad guy footage reduced the political element so much that parts of the storyline weren’t too clear. When Chan finally became big, Wei re-released New Fist Of Fury in this drastically cut form, even cutting out his own cameo so it opened instead with Chan, and removing a great deal of dialogue from the first two thirds. A major flop, it didn’t even get a release in Japan odd, since that country soon became one of Chan’s biggest markets. He jumped at the chance, though soon became frustrated with Wei not giving him any control over the action despite often listening to horse racing when he should have been focused on directing. Then he received a telegram from his manager Willie Chan wanting him to star in a sequel to Fist of Fury for the newly formed Lo Wei Productions and that it would be directed by Wei himself – but Chan had to sign an eight-film contract. After co-starring in Hand of Death for no less than John Woo, he retired to Australia, doing construction in the day and working in a Chinese restaurant at night. More known as a stuntman, Chan had already starred in The Little Tiger Of Canton, but that took two years to creep out to an uninterested public. Of course I watched it in the English dub which has several of the expected “but still”s. As for Chan, he doesn’t look too uncomfortable for the most part, though his acting isn’t that impressive yet. ![]() Lee directed all the action he was in for his two Wei films, and one sometimes wishes that Wei had given the job to someone else here too except for the rather good final confrontation. One thing he generally wasn’t so good with was martial arts. Yet despite its very poor reputation I don’t think it’s that bad for every weak, clumsy or unnecessary scene there’s a decent one, and the performances are generally quite strong one thing that Wei was often good with was actors. A direct sequel to director Lo Wei’s Bruce Lee-starring hit Fist Of Fury, it disappointed me intensely when I first saw it because our hero isn’t even in it very much and, apart from two very early scrapes which he loses, he doesn’t go into action until the last ten minutes – and this in a film that last two hours! It’s never actively boring, but Wei and co-screenwriter Pan Lei pack the film with scenes and even plot elements aren’t always necessary, especially in the full length cut which this review will primarily be of though I’ll describe the short version a bit in the next paragraph. I’m behind, so I’m going to be posting my write-ups on the three new 88 Films releases all today, starting with this unsatisfying, rather odd but certainly not uninteresting film. ![]() If you’re really up to date with Blu-ray releases then you’ll have noticed that I’ve been reviewing all the Jackie Chan film being released by 88 Films, this being part of a a project of my own accord to review all of his films. However, Mao’s initial problem is that a thief by the name of Ah Lung steals a box belonging to Mao which contains Chen’s deadly nunchuku…. Unfortunately, the Japanese rule there too, and Akumora the provincial leader wants to combine all the Chinese martial art schools under his Di Wah karate school and is prepared to turn nasty in order to achieve this. Survivors Mao Li Er – who was Chen’s girlfriend – and two of her friends escape to Taiwan to stay with her grandfather Master Su. The Ching Wu school of martial arts in Shanghai has been closed down and most of its students killed by the Japanese who rule there, including Chen Chao-un who was the very best of them. Starring: Chan Sing, Jackie Chan, Luk Yat-lung, Nora Miao ![]()
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