Bullet Points: Heroes Two
Alexander Fu Sheng was born Cheung Fu Sheng in Hong Kong on October 20, 1954. By his late teens, Fu Sheng was a martial arts film star whose popularity transcended his Hong Kong roots. Alexander Fu Sheng was a global sensation!
Sadly a car accident would end the life of Alexander Fu Sheng when he was only 28 years old. Today we remember Fu Sheng by taking a look back at one of his earliest starring roles in 1974’s Heroes Two…
- Shaolin Temple Blues: It is instant destruction, terror and mayhem in Heroes Two, as the Manchus, led by General Che Kang (Chu Mu), burn down the Shaolin Temple and lay waste to those who dare to stop them. As the smoke begins to clear, the General inquires about the whereabouts of Shaolin Temple’s top fighter/Chinese patriot Hung Hsi Kuan (Chen Kuan-Tai). General Che Kang was looking forward to testing Hung’s fighting skills against his own. When Hung’s whereabouts can not be confirmed, the Manchus go on a man hunt for Hung Hsi Kuan.
- Hero vs. Hero: Hung Hsi Kuan survived the attack on the Shaolin Temple, but he did not come out of the tragedy unscathed. But even wounded, Hung Hsi Kuan lives up to his reputation of being a top fighter as he dispatches of his hunters left and right. This is about the time we meet another top fighter/Chinese patriot Fang Shih Yu (Alexander Fu Sheng, The Chinatown Kid). Fang Shih Yu is walking along and sees three of the Manchus who got their asses handed to them by Hung. Fang asks the three guys what had happened to them and they told the good natured Fang about how Hung (or the man in black as they described him) had attacked them (conveniently leaving out the part about them hunting Hung). When Fang and Hung cross paths, Fang, living up to his heroic reputation, challenges Hung… who Fang believes is some sort of an outlaw. Hung Hsi Kuan may have been able to handle the Manchu foot soldiers when he was less than 100%, but there was no way he was going to be able to defeat Fang Shih Yu. And he didn’t and then Fang Shih Yu, unknowingly handed the defeated Hung over to the evil Manchus on a silver platter.
- Traitor: Word spreads quickly among the Chinese rebels that Fang Shih Yu has betrayed the cause… this is news to Fang Shih Yu and when he finds out who the man in black really was, Fang is mortified about what he has done and wants to correct the problem ASAP. Fang Shih Yu and the rebels hatch a plan to spring Hung Hsi Kuan who is now being held captive in General Che Kang’s cellar. Fang Shih Yu and the rebels manage to do some damage to General Che Kang’s forces. We even get our second face-to-face moment between Fang and Hung. Fang explains why he did what he did and to his credit Hung forgives Fang… but there’s a problem General Che Kang has Hung strapped to the stone wall of the cellar and there’s no way Fang can free him… if that’s not bad enough Fang then has his own run in with General Che Kang and ends up getting the beating of a lifetime. A battered and bloodied Fang Shih Yu manages to escape before the General can finish the job, but now he is more determined than ever to rescue Hung. The sense of urgency is ramped up when General Che Kang announces that Hung Hsi Kuan will be publicly executed.
- Plan B: While the rest of the rebels are trying to figure out their next move, Fang Shih Yu gets to work! Fang digs a tunnel from the rebel hideout to General Che Kang’s cellar. Fang is a man possessed and works day and night for 8 straight days… when he finally hits the literal wall of General Che Kang’s cellar, he also hits the wall figuratively… at least momentarily. The rebels can’t bust through the stone wall without dynamite and dynamite would kill Hung Hsi Kuan… but that’s when Fang notices the end of the spikes that have Hung fastened to the other side of the wall. It’s hammer time as Fang and the others start pounding the spikes, loosening the fasteners on the other side and opening the door for Hung to make his escape when the time is right.
- Final Battle: The tunnel ended up serving two purposes. The rebels figure that General Che Kang is no dummy and he will determine that the only way Hung Hsi Kuan could have gotten free is if somebody dug a tunnel and loosened the fasteners from the other side of the wall and that if the wall is busted down the tunnel would lead the General to the rebel hideout… so the rebels leave General Che Kang a message with a meeting place for what will end up being the final battle. General Che Kang does not come alone, along with his regular troops brings four of his ace students from Tibet to really up the martial arts action. One feature of this final battle that I had not seen before in any of the other kung fu classics I have watched was the screen going red when things got bloody… but the real selling point was finally getting to watch our two heroes, Hung Hsi Kuan and Fang Shih Yu fighting side by side and kicking some Manchu ass!
Some actors and directors were just meant to be… for Alexander Fu Sheng that director was most definitely Cheh Chang. Under the direction of Cheh Chang, Fu Sheng become one of the biggest stars in the history of Hong Kong cinema.
Heroes Two was an early example of Fu Sheng as a movie headliner with his natural charisma and fighting skills, he delivered a one-two punch. If they didn’t know it already, after Heroes Two the Shaw Brothers had to realize they had lightning in a bottle where Fu Sheng was concerned and it was time to strap a rocket to his ass and see just how far he could go.
We don’t have much further to go in this review, because it is time to wrap things up with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Face: Fung Ngai played one of General Che Kang’s top men, Mai Hsin. I instantly recognized Fung from his role in the Bruce Lee classic Fist of Fury aka The Chinese Connection.
- AKA: Heroes Two was originally released in the United States as Bloody Fists and in the UK as Temple of the Dragon. IMDb lists the movie under the title Kung Fu Invaders and HKMDB puts IMDb on blast for it.
- Bathroom Humor: Hung Hsi Kuan was fastened to the General’s cellar wall for at least 10 days. They were feeding Hung during his time in captivity… but apparently the ability to “hold it” for long stretches of time is something one learns in the Shaolin Temple, because there was no evidence that Hung shit or piss himself.
