The influence of 1970’s The Chinese Boxer, a Shaw Brothers movie written, directed by, and starring the one-(armed)-man phenomenon that was Jimmy Wang Yu, can never be understated. It influenced a shift in Chinese/Taiwanese cinema, moving away from long-haired heroes in bad wigs, flowing gowns, and swishy swords to something far more grounded, far more visceral, and way more violent. No longer were our heroes mythic in stature – they were down-to-earth men with bloody fists and deadly kicks, willing to lay it all on the line without a single weapon in sight. Real men dishing out real beatings in the name of justice.
Without The Chinese Boxer, it is unlikely that we would have seen the likes of Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss, and definitely not his human highlight reel from 1972, Fist of Fury. It also allowed Shaw Brothers to explore this new line of chivalry, thus reducing production and costume costs (something Run Run Shaw was always in favor of) and, by happenstance, creating the film that finally broke America in 1973 – King Boxer, aka Five Fingers of Death.
As is the case with any successful movie – none more so in Hong Kong – a slew of imitators were rushed into production in hopes of getting a slice of that King Boxer pie in a once-untapped market. It was the gold rush, and the new, fledgling distribution company set up by former Shaw Brothers executive Raymond Chow, Golden Harvest, was not going to miss out.
Alas, this led to an oversaturated market filled with many forgettable films, often with stars plucked from supporting status to marquee headliners. No film encapsulates this more than the latest release from Eureka Entertainment – 1974’s Shaolin Boxer.
Shaolin Boxer ticks all the right Kung Fu boxes, but in an ocean of classics, it struggles to stay afloat
Starring James Tien (who appeared in over 80 films alongside stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung, but was usually credited as something like “Broken Arm Fighter”) and directed by Huang Ta (in his only credited directorial feature), Shaolin Boxer feels like it was rushed into production to hit theaters as quickly as possible. The fights feel hurried, the characters are as thin as tracing paper (which isn’t unusual for the genre, but it’s particularly noticeable here), and the story is little more than an excuse to get bare-fisted brutes together to let bloody knuckles meet faces.
That’s not to say there isn’t a certain charm to proceedings. For all its quick-and-dirty aesthetic, Shaolin Boxer doesn’t concern itself with overtly complicated sequences, allowing the whole thing to wash over its audience, letting them forget the world in its simplicity. However, even at just under 80 minutes, Shaolin Boxer can still feel bloated at times.
Despite these flaws, Eureka Entertainment doesn’t skimp on their usual plethora of extra features. Alongside the obligatory commentaries from esteemed Hong Kong cinema experts like Frank Djeng, Arne Venema, and Mike Leeder, they’ve also thrown in an interview with Wayne Wong, editor of Martial Arts Studies.
Shaolin Boxer is the definition of “fine” when it comes to Kung Fu cinema. It ticks the required boxes and hits the standard beats, but in an ocean filled with so many great Kung Fu movies, Shaolin Boxer is one that will struggle to stay afloat in the memory for too long.
SHAOLIN BOXERS IS OUT NOW ON EUREKA BLU-RAY
Ben’s Archive – Shaolin Boxers
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