Bullet Points: King Boxer

King Boxer could be described as the spark that lit the Kung Fu fire in the United States of America. Months before the release of Enter the Dragon and Bruce Lee becoming an international superstar, Warner Brothers released Shaw Brothers’ King Boxer under the title 5 Fingers of Death and it took the American movie going audience by storm.

Thanks to its inclusion in the fantastic Shaw Scope Volume One box set from Arrow Video, I was able to enjoy this trendsetting film for the first time in beautiful high definition glory…

• Comfort Zone: Lo Lieh (Fatal Needles Fatal Fists) plays Zhao Zhihao, a man who has found himself in his comfort zone as a longtime student of Master Song and an admirer of Master Song’s daughter, Ying-ying. But two events are going to force Zhao out of his comfort zone… first, when Master Song is targeted by a group of thugs… second is when a former student of Master Song, Daming returns for a visit. Daming has been away for years in Baoding, doing advanced training with Master Sun. After a friendly sparring session between Zhao and Daming, Master Sun realizes that in order for Zhao’s fighting skills to improve, he too is going to need to move on and train with Master Sun in Baoding… Zhao doesn’t want to leave, Ying-ying doesn’t want him to leave, but Master Song insists especially since Zhao’s dream is to win the big martial arts tournament that is held each year.

• It’s NOT Always Sunny in Baoding: When Zhao arrives in Baoding, Master Sun is disappointed in Zhao’s fighting skills and instead of having him train with the rest of the school, Sun puts Zhao on kitchen duty. To his credit, Zhao never complains. He does his work, and studies and trains on his own… until one day when Zhao passes one of Master Sun’s tests and then he joins the rest of Sun’s students… but then a new problem arises, Zhao has to contend with representatives of Master Meng, who runs a rival school in Baoding. After Zhao kicks the ass of one of Meng’s men, Chen Leng… Master Sun decides he will teach Zhao his secret Iron Fist technique!
• Meng the Merciless: Not everyone at Master Sun’s school is thrilled that Zhao has been selected to learn the Iron Fist technique and by not everyone I mean Han Lung. Han Lung pays a visit to Master Meng’s school and warns Meng (Tien Feng, Fist of Fury) that Zhao knows the Iron Fist technique AND worse he then sets a trap for Zhao sending a note to Zhao supposedly from his friend Miss Yan, a local singer, but instead of meeting up with the lovely and talented Miss Yan Zhao finds himself being attacked by Meng’s son, Chen Leng and Meng’s Japanese henchmen and not just attacked but they deliberately and violently break both of Zhao’s hands! …how is Han Lung rewarded for his treachery… Meng’s son rips out Han Lung’s eyeballs!!! I would bet the hand breaking and the eye ball removal were big talking points back in 1973 for those who witnessed it on the big screen and those two scenes probably gave the movie some serious word of mouth buzz!

• The Big Comeback: At this point Zhao believes all is lost… so you know that means, it’s time to start his comeback. Zhao Zhihao trains harder than he ever has before and soon finds himself representing Master Sun’s school in the process. Ying-ying makes her way to Baoding to see the man she hopes to marry fulfill his dream, much to Miss Yan’s chagrin and not surprisingly the tournament finals end up with a match between Zhao Zhihao and Tianxiong Meng, Master Meng’s son. The tournament really felt anti-climatic… but that’s because the tournament was not the end of the film as Master Meng showed how sore a loser he could be, Ying-ying delivered some heartbreaking news to Zhao, Han Lung was looking for redemption and all hell was about to break loose.

The fighting in King Boxer is almost secondary to the story that is being told and what a story it is… filled with underdog determination, envy, a love triangle, murder, sorrow, skullduggery, betrayal and probably most importantly… vengeance!

Lo Lieh was excellent as the lead. The Zhao character was not an over the top hero, but more of a salt of the earth type, who just had an iron will and kept overcoming one obstacle after the next… all traits to admire.

After I finished King Boxer, I once again found myself asking when Arrow was planning on releasing Shaw Scope Volume 2. I’m not quite through Volume 1 yet, but I have enjoyed every movie I have watched thus far and have a deeper understanding of why the Shaw Brothers productions are so revered among Kung Fu movie fanatics.

Now something for my Bonus Bullet Point fanatics…

• Name That Tune: A sample of Quincy Jones’ “Ironside Theme” is used in the opening titles and can be heard anytime Zhoa Zhihao is about to use his five fingers of death. The lighting effect that accompanies the music was a nice touch too.
• Bastard Check: Meng’s main Japanese henchman Okada is called a bastard and rightfully so.
• Familiar Face: A bald Bolo Yeung of Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport fame has a small role in the film as the Mongolian Fighter, Hercules Ba Ta Er! Hercules and his carnival barker like partner have an open challenge on the streets where challengers pay an entry fee in hopes of winning a cash prize for defeating Hercules. This is where Chen Leng (Kim Ki Ju, My Name Called Bruce) makes an impression on Master Meng and is invited into the fold.