Fist of Fury (1972)

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"Fist of Fury" is an improvement over Bruce Lee's previous movie, technically speaking and the story is stronger. Above all, the martial arts choreography is simply superb and represents the best of its kind. The violence is brutal and unpretentious. There is some history associated with this film, focusing on the hatred between the Chinese and the Japanese races. That is the reason why the plot is better than usual. Bruce Lee plays the avenging student of a local Chinese school who seeks revenge for the murder of his teacher. He soon runs afoul of this Japanese school - or should that be the other way round? Soon, all hell breaks loose as Lee exerts his own brand of justice - in Kung Fu style! There is added tension in the story, courtesy of the Chinese citizens being under the control of the Japanese. Bruce Lee is a more hard-edged character in this film. He displays almost no humour or charm and is strictly business. He dispatches his enemies without a second thought and without conscience. His anger and grief surface on more than occasion and in spectacular fashion. The fight scenes are amongst the best I've ever seen in a martial arts movie and I have watched a lot of them. Real life student of Bruce Lee - American Bob Baker - is on hand as a Russian martial artist. His fight against Lee is not to be missed. For the first time, we bear witness to the use of the nunchukus. In the hands of Lee, they are an exceptionally dangerous weapon. At the beginning when Lee first enters the Japanese school, he says the line: We Chinese are NOT sick men," the cinemagoers went wild with applause during the film's release in 1972. The Chinese people immediately regarded Bruce Lee as their hero and who can blame them? "Fist of Fury" proved to be so successful at the Asian box office after breaking all records, that two different sequels were made. In my opinion, neither one of them can match the original.

In this film, the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee brilliantly demonstrates how to skillfully use a nunchaku in hand-to-hand combat. The nunchaku is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks connected at one end by a short chain or rope. Using a nunchaku as a weapon, Lee singlehandedly beats all the Japanese students in a very easy way.

Lo Wei's FIST OF FURY is yet another strong, action-fuelled odyssey of danger, treachery, rivalry, and hatred from Bruce Lee, the undisputed king of kung fu cinema who once again gets an opportunity to display the reasons that he is still, even now forty years later, considered to be the best of the best when it comes to martial arts. Drawing on many inspirations, from spaghetti westerns to war films and even romance, the movie satisfies on a number of levels and not least with the violence-fuelled plot which makes ultimate use of the intense hatred of the Japanese by the Chinese (and vice-versa). This time around, Bruce plays a deeply flawed hero who simply cannot control his anger when confronted by a Japanese school who may or may not have had his beloved master killed. In order to satisfy his deep-burning lust for revenge, Bruce goes on a one-man mission of revenge and justice, as the police close in on him and his former comrades lose hope.Lo Wei's movie is well-directed and it goes without saying that the fights are very well choreographed, especially towards the end of the movie. Although the transfer I saw was badly cropped, many of the fight sequences are still highly impressive, showing a more human but no less indestructible side of Bruce. The finale, in which he invades the Japanese camp and takes on a massive Russian fighter, is great stuff and martial arts at its finest.The rest of the film is a mixed bag, containing heavy helpings of social comment, drama and a close examination of the situation in which the helpless characters find themselves. In a way, all of the participants have no control over what they do and so watching the inevitable tragedy play out is often gripping stuff. Although the victim of another bad dubbing job, the often strong acting shines through from the likes of Nora Miao, James Tien, and of course Bruce himself. Thus, both Lee fans and fans of the action genre in general should find much to be enjoyed in this powerful, very human drama which uses the fight scenes as a result of the plot rather than the other way round (as is often the flaw with most cheap kung fu movies). Jet Li's 1994 film FIST OF LEGEND is a very different - but no less impressive - version of the same story.

Way of the Dragon (1972) has better fight scenes, than this movie. Yes, I know, in Way they're back door of restaurant, but its what happens there. I give Way 8, Enter 6 and Boss 7. In Enter the Dragon Lee was really skinny and he died, before the movie was released. The Big Boss has strong story, but not much fighting. OK, I made myself clear about other Lee movies, lets think about Fist of Fury. It starts with Lee arriving to his teachers funeral. Lee becomes so emotional, that he starts to dig with his hands mud off teachers coffin. Next scene, Lee hasn't eat anything in 2 days, he just sits in front of his teachers photo. Lee asks: "What killed my teacher?" Little Unicorn answers: "It was cold". Lee replies: "He was wealthy man, nothing was wrong with him". Then Japanese arrive and give sign, that reads: sick men of Asia. Lee nearly attacks Japanese, but remembers, what his teacher told to him: be patient. I was really surprised in a good way, because the infamous house scene happens at 15 minutes mark. After that this movie becomes quite boring, but next action scene is Lee versus Ying-Chieh Han and other Japanese, they pretended to be Chinese, but Lee found out secret. Lee kills both and takes them to hang in pole. Japanese respond by attacking Chinese school. Next action scene is Lee with rickshaw and that gay dude from Way of the Dragon, Lee asks, that what happened to his teacher, gay answers, it was Suzuki, gay tries to surprise Lee, but Lee was alert and kills gay and again puts him to pole. Then Japanese have had it and they march to Chinese school and same time Lee goes to Japanese school and end fight begins. There are only few men in house, so Lee finishes them off quickly. Then its fat dude with glasses and he takes samurai sword, Lee kicks the sword and grabs fat dude and sword goes right through him. Then its Japanese backyard and Lee beats up few guys, after them its Lee versus Russian guy and that was pretty impressive fight, when Lee finishes Russian, its Lee versus Suzuki and Suzuki surprises Lee with Samurai sword, but Lee has his weapon and Lee kicks Suzuki through paper wall and when Suzuki flew, the stunt was made by Jackie Chan. After that scene Lee shows up to police and they shoot Lee. End of movie. We had young and rising superstars in Jackie Chan, Biao Yuen, Corey Yuen and Wah Yuen. Then again we had veteran actors in Ying-Chieh Han (1927-1991) and Feng Tien (Born 1928 and still alive, while I'm making this review).