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Directed by: Yu Wang Starring: Yu Wang / Kang Kam In the early seventies Yu Wang had a dream. He desired to create a series of films that would serve only to exploit the seemingly endless and so-far un-utilized aspects of kung fu in modern cinema. The stories would be tacked on, a side-note to the action, serving only as a baseboard to preform some of the most insane and brutal fight sequences ever put to film. His dream was realized in the One Armed Boxer series. The one armed boxer was a man who was so hardcore he had his arm KARATE CHOPPED OFF and he didn't even give a poo poo. Master of the Flying Guillotine is the second movie in the series and follows after the first movie, "One Armed Boxer." After his students are killed and news reaches him of their deaths, a blind master of the Flying Guillotine, basically a cap with blades faced inward around the edges, sets out to avenge his students by killing the man who killed them... duh duh duh, the one armed boxer. So, this blind man sets out, using nothing but his ears to find a one armed man and kill him. But Sandwich, you say, isn't there more than one, uni-armed gentlemen who occupies the provinces of China? gently caress yes there is, and that blind sonovabitch gets down to killin every single one until he finds his man. This movie even has a useless tournament thrown in for no reason other than to have mindless fights to the death, with such characters as "Yoga Master" who really is just Dhalsim. To even give you a remote sense of how ridiculous this movie is, the DVD will break in and out of english dub, mandarin, and cantonese for some reason. Don't even try to understand what they are saying, I guarantee you it's something about "technique" or "skill" or "vengeance." Just sit your rear end down and watch some insanely clever choreography and savor the original electronic soundtrack made famous by being featured in Kill Bill vol 1. That being said, this movie has been a major inspiration for the Kill Bill series and was brought to the states (on possibly one of the most hilariously awful DVD transfers ever made) by Quentin Tarantino himself, and can be picked up at Best Buy for a ten-spot. This movie is for people who like beer. Not just any beer, more like Newcastle beer. Cheap, delicious, and plentiful. That's this movie. Go buy it you loving jackasses. RATING: 4 PROS: Perhaps one of the best Kung Fu movies of all time CONS: Pretty cheesy / special effects you can see through like wax paper ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072913/
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May 4, 2004 10:56
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 04:19 |
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It should also be noted that the "Tournament Scene" has been cited as a chief inspiration for both the "Street Fighter II" and "Mortal Kombat" games -- and its pretty easy to see where and how, with such goofy characters, many of which have very strange powers. I agree that this is a movie to drink to. It's not terribly meaningful but it is a lot of fun. 4/5
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May 4, 2004 20:48
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I agree with the above posters in that the action scenes are very well done. It has a nice, cheaply produced but deep in effort kind of movie. Some very classic, cheesy lines, "Nice jumping", is the first one that comes to mind. The story is pretty basic, but luckily the action really is not. Some very good scenes here and there, and the end fight scene is very very good. Overall...I'd say.. 3/5
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Aug 13, 2004 05:06
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quote:]-[ate_Sandwich came out of the closet to say: quote:To even give you a remote sense of how ridiculous this movie is, the DVD will break in and out of english dub, mandarin, and cantonese for some reason. 555/5 Devine fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Sep 2, 2004 |
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Sep 2, 2004 22:41
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I had the pleasure of watching this movie last night. Very decent Kung fu movie for it's time period, fun characters, and a good deal of neat scenes.
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Sep 8, 2004 12:32
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quote:]-[ate_Sandwich came out of the closet to say: Yu Wang was the lead in The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), a Shaw Brothers film directed by Chang Cheh. It was the first Hong Kong film to gross a million dollars at the box office. The sequel also did well. Wang revised the character yet again in a Zatoichi film (Shin Zatoichi: Yabure! Tojin-ken (1971)). So, after directing a couple formulaic (and largely forgotten) vanilla kung fu flicks, Wang tried his hand at creating a new series with a one-armed martial artist at its centre (again played by him). The original film (Dop bey kuan wan (1971), a.k.a. One-Armed Boxer) did quite well. His next few films were duds (has anybody even seen Dragon Squad (1974)?). Then he sees the Shaw Brothers having success with Xuedizi (1974) (a.k.a. Flying Guillotine), and it ain't long before we have Master of the Flying Guillotine (the film reviewed in this thread), which merges the (obviously borrowed) one-armed martial artist gimmick and the (obviously borrowed) flying neckchopper gimmick. So I really think that it's a bit misleading to present Yu Wang's films (and in particular the One-Armed Boxer films) as the fulfilment of an artistic vision. If anything, they're the first examples of Hong Kong kung fu flicks designed with no other purpose than to pander to the audience. That isn't to say I dislike his films---when they're good, they're as good as gratuitous kick flicks get. But he's sorta the '70s version of Quentin Tarantino---right down to being a mediocre actor, and his heavy quoting of the Shaw Brothers and Sergio Leone. It is Wang's incorporation of Leone's vision of the morally ambiguous Man With No Name that almost certainly lead to this being a recognisable character in subsequent Hong Kong kung fu epics. Final word: although a substantially less polished product that the Shaw Brothers' flying guillotine films, Master of the Flying Guillotine is easily the most enjoyable of the decapatation widget films.
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Sep 9, 2004 02:42
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What can I say about this film other than that it is probably the best way to get acquainted with the man himself, Jimmy Wang Yu, one of the unsung greats. I showed this movie at my ol' high school in a club, Liberals With Nunchuks (a newer subset of another club called The Hague- long story), that I had co-founded with some friends. During free periods, we introduced a wider audience to the joy of films featuring mass amounts of blood spurting out of asian people (not racist). This, 'Battle Royale' and 'Versus' were the most popular DVDs. I mention this inconsequential anecdote simply because it is hard proof that this movie is a real crowd-pleaser. High points include One Armed Boxer (hitherto referred to as OAB) teaching us that a good martial artist can walk on walls by controlling his breathing, the decidedly flamboyant exit by the Blind Master from his home, the unnecessarily cruel tactics that OAB employs against one kickboxer, the spunky girl who is the worst fighter in the movie (and whose costume and use of Tiger-Crane Style got a slight nod in Kill Bill 2), the aforementioned Dhalsim (a very clever special effect), lines like "I plan to kill EVERY one-armed man I come across!", droll dubbed dialogue in OAB's New Zealand accent, a decidedly homoerotic fight in the middle of the tournament, the inherent hypocrisy of Win Without A Knife, the fact that every punch makes a small sonic boom, and of course the awesome, awesome final fight. In fact, every fight is quite memorable, and the movie keeps things more interesting than some of other slowly-paced classics like 5 Deadly Venoms (not that there's anything wrong with 5 Deadly Venoms, but it *does* make you wait a full 35 minutes before the first big fight). Also, the soundtrack by Neu! really sticks in your head- no one will *not* notice it in Kill Bill after hearing it here. Anyway, the inexpensive DVD of this movie is a steal and will provide you with a great deal of entertainment. Watch it with your friends.
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Sep 12, 2004 05:18
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 04:19 |
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This movie is absolutely enjoyable. As a lover of old martial arts films, I got a treat on so many different levels that I felt like I was smiling the whole way through. This movie puts together each of the following in a glorious combination: 1970's Chinese martial arts stereotypes, the tournament-style movie plot, an absolutely batshit-insane contraption designed to remove heads, and deliciously-hideous dubbing. Purists might say this movie should be watched subtitled, but as far as I'm concerned, the bad dubbing only heightens the fun of this movie. By all means, watch this movie and watch it with your friends.
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Sep 13, 2004 19:26
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