The action is liberally inspired by the work Cheung-yan’s older brother, Yuen Woo-ping, did on Drunken Master, but the film is not as much of a direct ripoff as the title suggests. Simon Yuen Siu-tien shows up briefly at the beginning and end, likely as a favour to his son Yuen Cheung-yan, who serves as action director. The second disc leans into the Jackie Chan influence, with the first film, The World of Drunken Master (★★★), being a ripoff/prequel of his massive, and then new, hit. The pace isn’t quite as relentless as in Grandmasters, and you might find yourself lost on occasion, but the wall to wall action should keep everyone entertained. The influence of Jackie Chan is much clearer here, with an extended comedy training sequence for lead Nick Cheung-lik that draws heavily on Drunken Master. Bolo in particular is memorable, thanks to a wig that makes him look like a sentient mop. The two lead villains are played by perennial martial arts baddies Hwang Jang-lee and Bolo Yeung. Here though, we have a couple of more recognisable faces. There’s more overt comedy and the fighting style is much the same as in The 7 Grandmasters. The storytelling goes from childishly simple to sometimes bafflingly convoluted, as this tale of revenge (of course) flits between present day and flashbacks. The 36 Deadly Styles (★★★) can’t quite live up to that opener, but it’s still a treat if you come to it in the right frame of mind. This is terrific start to the set and tremendously good time for any kung fu fan. The choreography (early work by the great Corey Yuen-kwei) is big and broad, more in the classical tradition than what Bruce Lee had done or the comedic style that Jackie Chan was developing, but the sequences are fast moving and impressive and the shift late in the film from conflicts that live into ideas of honour and sporting competition to fighting for vengeance and for one’s life is well done. It’s 88 minutes long, perhaps 70 of those are either fights or training sequences, with just enough exposition sprinkled throughout to keep the film on the rails.
#Female kung fu fighter series
The story is beyond perfunctory: the first half unfolds as a series of sporting duels, while the second brings a hoary revenge plot in, but plot is hardly the point.
![female kung fu fighter female kung fu fighter](https://www.bitchmedia.org/sites/default/files/film-crouching-ti.jpg)
At the same time, a young fighter (Simon Li Yi-Min) pesters the master to teach him kung fu. Kuo’s frequent collaborator Jack Long Shi-chia plays a kung fu master who is about to retire, but finds an honour bestowed on him challenged, and has to set out to prove that he really is the best fighter in his area before he can end his career.
![female kung fu fighter female kung fu fighter](https://pixfeeds.com/images/martial-arts/1280-174847567-shaolin-kung-fu-fighting-position.jpg)
The first four films come under the umbrella ‘Deadly Masters’. Before the Golden Harvest era, which was where HKL concentrated their releases, I confess that my knowledge is limited, and that’s probably why I hadn’t stumbled on Joseph Kuo Nan-Hong before this set was announced.Ĭollecting 8 of Kuo’s films (one of them in two different cuts), in two themed collections, this boxset is an ideal introduction to director whose films have probably previously been largely dismissed in the UK thanks to bad dubs and incorrectly framed releases.
![female kung fu fighter female kung fu fighter](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7c/7d/8f/7c7d8fa5f01c704ce32edbe9e97e4503.jpg)
![female kung fu fighter female kung fu fighter](http://www.kfdmartialarts.com/prodimages/ADHF102-1a.jpg)
I also do my best to keep up with the genre, though that’s a difficult task due to how few foreign examples get proper UK releases. I began collecting the Hong Kong Legends label early in its life, and now have approximately 80% of everything they ever released. I consider myself a pretty big fan of martial arts cinema.