One Armed Boxer
THERE are many reasons why Jimmy Wang Yu is one of the greats of Asian cinema.
If you want to see them all in one easily digestible movie-shaped package, then get hold of the 1972 film One Armed Boxer.
Sometimes known as The Chinese Professionals, this hugely entertaining action adventure flick – freshly reissued in a sparkling Blu-ray edition by the ever reliable cult pleasers at Arrow Video – has everything you could possibly want from a period martial arts punch 'em up and then some.
It's got relentless action, inventive fight scenes executed with real panache and skill and that slightly sleazy, very seductive sense of street grittiness that only Asian action movies from the early 70s really have.
For all of those attributes, and indeed the all-important charismatic leading man who fronts it all, we must thank Jimmy Wang Yu alone. He wrote, directed and starred in this, so every reason it works is thanks to him and nobody else.
He plays Yu Tian Long, a decent man of honour who stumbles into a spat with a member of a shady collective of street thugs who call themselves the Hook Gang. Seeking revenge, these ruthless hoods decide to target not just him but also the Zhengde Martial Arts School that he comes from.
With each pitched battle though, the school comes out on top, leaving the gang to take desperate measures to save face. Gang leader Shao LaoLaoliu (Yeh Tien) calls in a team of true martial arts experts, and when Yu Tian Long comes face to face with the ruthless karate master Natino Taro (Fei Lung), he winds up having his arm completely severed.
As he recuperates with the help of the beautiful Xiao Lu (Hsin Tang) and comes to terms with the fact that most of his school are dead or doomed to defeat, our hero re-trains himself in the art of one armed boxing and gets ready to avenge both his friends and his honour once and for all.
The set up is basic and far from wholly original, but such matters fade to irrelevance when the action rattles along at this pace. The fighting is pretty much non-stop and Wang Yu is amazing as the charismatic main man who must master a whole range of styles and disciplines in order to gain his revenge.
Wang Yu delivered a sequel to this ground-breaker a few years later, but Master Of The Flying Guillotine pushes things so far over the top it enters the realms of surrealism rather than action adventure. It's hugely entertaining of course, but this is the real deal.
Wang Yu is brilliant at the action and the drama, and the moves he throws on screen – particularly once he is forced to learn one-armed skills – are genuinely breathtaking.
The cinematography is sharp, highlighted by this beautifully curated re-issue, and the soundtrack cracks away dynamically throughout.
A thrilling, no-nonsense action flick from a true genius of the genre, One Armed Boxer is a true martial arts masterpiece.
