Bullet Points: Kung Fu Fever
Bruceploitation movies typically fall into one of four categories…
- Movies that are based off of actual Bruce Lee films like New Fist of Fury and Enter the Game of Death.
- Biopics like Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth and The Dragon Lives.
- Batshit crazy flicks The Clones of Bruce Lee and Bruce Lee in New Guinea.
- And last but not least, movies centering around Bruce Lee’s “Kung Fu Finger Book” like Bruce’s Deadly Fingers and the subject of this review, 1979’s Kung Fu Fever…
- Ling Chow Got Fingered: After the untimely death of Bruce Lee, word gets around that Bruce had a book that described in detail his deadly finger technique. There are two parties that are especially interested in getting their grubby little hands on Bruce’s Finger Book… Japanese businessman Mr. Shumu and Hong Kong club owner Mr. Mah. Now since they can’t very well ask Bruce where the book is, both interested parties go after Ling Chow, Bruce Lee’s oldest friend in Hong Kong and a man Bruce considered a brother. Ling Chow does not cave to Shumu or Mah and their intimidation tactics or their generous monetary offers for the book… but realizing he is in trouble he gets word to the States and more specifically to Ricky Chan (Dragon Lee, Golden Dragon, Silver Snake) a mutual friend of Ling Chow and Bruce Lee.
- Ricky Chan Can: If there is anybody who can help out Ling Chow it is Ricky Chan… the first few minutes of the movie has actual footage of Bruce Lee from a press conference and thanks to the magic of dubbed voices, Bruce Lee himself endorses Ricky Chan as a master of the deadly finger technique. (Side Note: After they run out of press conference footage the movie shifts gears to the usual ambulance racing to the hospital footage, along with the shot of Bruce Lee in his casket all while Frederic Chopin’s “Funeral March” plays). Knowing how important Ling Chow was to Bruce Lee and how dangerous Bruce Lee’s Finger Book could be in the wrong hands, Ricky Chan hops on a plane to Hong Kong.
- Wild Card: Miss Lu (Tam Yan-Mei) is another interested party where Bruce Lee’s Finger Book is concerned and she is one bad motorcycle mama too. Lu initially sets out on her own to get the book… but ends up reluctantly joining forces with Mr. Mah and his goons (Mah uses Lu’s elderly father as leverage). But that alliance is short lived and before it is all said and done she is fighting side by side with our hero Ricky Chan…. The Miss Lu character manages to steal more than a few scenes both with and without her motorcycle.
- The Heavy Artillery: When Ricky Chan gets to Hong Kong he almost immediately starts dispatching of Mr. Shumu and Mr. Mah’s hired help… fortunately for the kung fu fighting loving audience this movie was intended for, both Shumu and Mah have some heavy hitters that they call in when they realize their regular guys aren’t cutting the mustard. Shumu calls in his guy Ron from the United States (played convincingly by Ron Van Clief, The Way of the Black Dragon) and Mr. Mah calls in his guy Mr. Li from Thailand. Much of the third act of the film features Ricky Chan (with some help from Miss Lu) going toe to toe with these high level heavies… you know Ron and Li are some serious competition when Ricky Chan breaks out the yellow and black Game of Death jumpsuit.
If you’ve got a fever that only some quality kung fu can cure, then you’ll want to check out Kung Fu Fever. Ron Van Clief is magnificent as the menacing Ron… he even kills a guy with a garrote! Dragon Lee’s star is shining bright in this one… he looks like a superstar as he dispatches the forces of evil and protects the sanctity of a book that never really existed… or maybe it does exist and nobody has found it yet.
I found some Kung Fu Fever Bonus Bullet Points and I will share those now…
- AKA: Kung Fu Fever was released as Never Give Up in Dragon Lee’s native South Korea… the movie is also known as Black Dragon Fever.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Ron Van Clief forced off the road and his car explode and Ron survive the whole ordeal with only a minor head injury, then this is the movie for you.
- Favorite Quote: “These new girls are real lookers aren’t they? A pity they’re not topless though”
- If You Ever: …wanted to see a guy’s dead body not just stashed inside a trunk, but jammed inside a suitcase that was stashed inside a trunk, then this is the movie for you and you are obviously a fan of contortionists.
- The Clones Cast: Michael and Matthew covered Kung Fu Fever on The Clones Cast, you can give the episode a listen by clicking here!
- If You Ever: …wanted to see a woman literally kick a man’s pants off, then this is the movie for you.
- Cover Your Ass: The producers of Kung Fu Fever did not want to get caught with their pants down in the legal sense so they run a disclaimer after the opening credits that reads “The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons, places, buildings and products is intended or should be inferred”.
