King Boxer - Shaw Brothers

(aka "Tian Xia Di Yi Quan" or "Best Fist in the World" or "Five Fingers of Death" or "Invincible Boxer" )

directed by Chang-hwa Jeong
Hong Kong 1972

Well, I’ve been staring at this open word document for far too long now, not sure where to start when talking about the Shaw Brothers’ seminal King Boxer. I don’t know where to start because there are simply so many things to say about it.

Do I introduce this piece by discussing just how ground breaking King Boxer was, as the first Kung Fu film to be a hit in the west? Released in spring 1973 with the exploitation-tastic title of Five Fingers of Death, it created the Kung Fu phenomenon which continued throughout the 70s, breaking ground for the likes of Bruce Lee and the many Shaw Brother’s productions that followed.

Or do I take a more trivial hook, and discuss the most familiar musical cue in this film, a repeating klaxon stolen from Ironside. Stolen in turn from this film by serial style-kleptomaniac Quentin Tarantino, it gained fame in his Kill Bill series but is probably less worthy than the stirring main theme of the film.

I think I’ll return to the idea that this was probably the first Kung Fu film a whole generation saw. Seeing this film in 1973 with no idea what you were in for was probably mind blowing, as it’s still an incredibly visceral and exciting piece of cinema today.

Excerpt from Mathew, TwitchFilm.net

Posters

Theatrical Release: 26 May 1972

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DVD Review: Genius Products - Region 1 - PAL

Big thanks to Yunda Eddie Feng for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Genius Products Region 1 - PAL
Runtime	101 min
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.44 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Mandarin Chinese, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono English
Subtitles	Optional English, English SDH, Spanish
Features	Release Information: Studio: Genius Products Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • audio commentary by Quentin Tarantino, David Chute, and Elvis Mitchell • commentator biographies • interview with scholars David Chute and Andy Klein • interview with director Chang-Hwa Jeong • interview with action director Lau Kar-Wing • stills gallery • trailers DVD Release Date: 19 June 2007 keepcase Chapters 22

Comments:

Video:
Harvey and Bob Weinstein are notorious for cutting up other people’s movies. Yet, here they are, giving viewers the chance to own excellent editions of martial-arts classics. While the movie shows its age via faded colors, this is not anyone’s fault. In fact, the print that was used for the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen video transfer shows off the movie’s cheesy glory (fake blood, some wires for tricky effects shots, obvious studio sets, bad background paintings, etc.). The video is slightly windowboxed, so there are thin black lines on the sides of the frame.

Audio:
Like the image, the audio shows the movie’s age with hollow punches and thuds. Yet, this is exactly the way that the movie was made, and the DVD preserves the original sonic feel with a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Mandarin Chinese track.

You can watch the movie with a DD 2.0 mono English dub. Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
Undoubtedly, Quentin Tarantino helped convince the Weinsteins to release martial-arts classics on DVD in North America, so it makes sense to see him contribute an audio commentary to one of these Dragon-Dynasty DVDs. Here, Tarantino joins scholars David Chute and Elvis Mitchell in discussing King Boxer’s influence on the genre. There are commentator biographies for the aforementioned chatters. Scholars David Chute and Andy Klein further discuss the movie in an interview.

There are interviews with director Chang-Hwa Jeong and action director Lau Kar-Wing. You can also enjoy a stills gallery, trailers for other Shaw Brothers movies, and trailers for other Dragon Dynasty DVDs.

--Miscellaneous--
The DVD comes with a $3 coupon for any other Dragon Dynasty DVD.

- Yunda Eddie Feng

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