This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
... View MoreYour blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
... View MoreThe acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
... View MoreIt's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
... View MoreTien (Angela Mao, as fierce and magnetic as ever) arrives in town to exact revenge on Ling (a solid and likable performance by Yi Chang) for abandoning her pregnant sister and thus driving said sister to commit suicide. Although Tien agrees to help Ling take down the leader of a local gambling syndicate, she nonetheless still plans to avenge her sister's death which she holds Ling responsible for. Director Feng Huang, working from a taut and compelling script by Yi-chung Hua, relates the absorbing story at a quick pace and stages the rousing rough'n'tumble fights with brutal'n'bloody brio. Naturally, Mao handles her martial arts fights with characteristic poise and agility as she mixes it up with a bunch of guys all at once. Sammo Hung plays a sniveling thug who Mao beats the living snot out of. Moreover, the strong theme about honor and revenge along with a surprising element of compassion gives this picture additional depth and substance, with an especially unexpected, yet still satisfying conclusion. Joseph Koo's spirited score and Yu-tang Li's dynamic cinematography are both up to par. Recommended viewing for Mao fans.
... View More"Miss Tien, thank you for saving me." "Forget it. I just didn't want somebody else to kill you!" This film was directed by Huang Feng (who made 18 films in the 1970s alone), and stars Angela Mao. Not sure if Mao is well known outside of martial arts circles (probably not), but she probably should be -- why let Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee get all the credit? Although I know very little about the martial arts film genre, I feel like this might be one worth seeing. If for no other reason than the fact that literally everyone is kung fu fighting -- there are hardly any scenes without a dozen guys trying to defeat Lady Whirlwind (and losing).
... View MoreRaymond Chow's upstart company sure played it smart with this movie. He used Chang Yi as the male lead. Chang Yi was an established Shaw Brothers actor doing martial arts films since about King Cat in 1967 but was shelved due to new talent such as David Chiang and Ti Lung. Next add Pai Ying for the bad guy. He's another Shaw Brothers actor who did a fine job as an evil eunuch in the 1971 "The Eunuch". Sammo Hung was the martial arts choreographer and with some side burns (quite stylish in 1972 but ridiculous otherwise) he got good screen time as a co-villain. Bruce Lee had just done "Fist of Fury" so add the theme of evil Japanese to the mix. (Actually the movie still works fine without the subplot, but why not?) With all that foundation, the only risky element was casting Angela Mao as the hot kung fu chick female lead. That was really no risk at all. Angela was fabulous despite the otherwise impression that the entire movie was done in one take. Yes, the whole movie seems to have been made with a budget for the price of the rolls of film with just a few dollars left over to pay the crew. Nevertheless, here I am 40 years later and watching it for the second time and enjoying every minute of it. Certainly recommended for all fans of the genre and my rating here is 7.0
... View MoreThis is a Golden Harvest movie starring Angela Mao. One thing to note is that early Golden Harvest movies had very good quality, and it is recommended that whenever possible, they should be viewed in remastered DVD. The difference between the original and the faded copy is like night and day, and drastically changes the viewing experience.Released in the United States as Deep Thrust, the shabby title doesn't do justice to the action contained in this movie. Angela Mao explodes with her signature moves in this movie. Did she learn new style of martial arts within a year of making this movie ? It seems likely as her previous movie "Hapkido", and this movie has drastically different level of moves compared to her earlier movies.This movie, Hapkido, and When Tae Kwon Do Strikes all has similar looks and feel to the story and appearances. Anti-Japanese sentiment is strong on all three movies, but this is probably due to the bombastic success of Fist of Fury starring Bruce Lee from a year earlier. the scene where Bruce Lee destroys the sign that says "No dogs and Chinese allowed" really caught on at the time.This movie is a step down in production for some reason from the previous "Hapkido", and looks almost like a Shaw Brothers film. The good is as mentioned earlier, Angela Mao's moves are fantastic in this movie, and she was in the height of her beauty in 1972. It would have been better if there were more of Angela Mao's action in this movie, but even as it is, it's still a very good kung fu movie, and is recommended for viewing.
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