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Heroes of the East
Ho
Tao (Gordon Liu of Kill Bill fame) begins an arranged marriage to a
Japanese childhood sweetheart Kung Zi.
Unfortunately marital bliss is interrupted by each other’s love of their
own cultural martial arts, Ho Tao Chinese Kung Fu and Kung Zi Japanese
karate. They constantly fight (literally) and bicker over which
technique is supreme, finally Kung Zi leaves in a huff to Japan to
better her fighting skills. When a series of misunderstandings spirals
into an international incident, Ho Tao is forced to take on several of
Japan’s most powerful martial arts masters, each an expert in a
different discipline seeking to punish Ho and restore Japanese honour.
Ho
Tao is a young master of a Chinese kung fu school, his wife Kung Zi a
practitioner of various Japanese martial art disciplines. Ho
disapproves of his wife’s hobby by calling her style unladylike, leading
to several amusing physical confrontations. As Ho is obviously the
better trained his victories humiliate his new bride and she flees to
Japan to cure her wounded pride at the side of a ninjitsu master Takeno,
who has obvious designs on her. Ho writes a challenge to Kung Zi hoping
it will bring her back to him; unfortunately it is badly written and
shows little respect to Japanese martial arts. When Takeno reads it he
is insulted and gathers 6 other masters along with his sensei to
confront Ho and take up his challenge. Ho is advised to fight each
master one a day to avert escalating the problem. He first faces up to
an iadio master practiced in the art of samurai katana sword fighting.
Ho betters him with his Chinese jian sword, but mistakes his defeated
foe’s surrender which further antagonizes the Japanese contingent. The
fights will now take a greater and potentially deadly intensity. Next
is the karate master who Ho counters with a drunken boxing style learnt
the day before by watching a drunk (played by director Lau Kar-Leung).
He then defeats a nunchaku/tonfa combination with his three sectional
staff. Japanese yari spear versus Chinese qiang spear follows with Ho
distracting his opponent with his spear’s red horse mane adornment to
get the victory. Next a Japanese master of the sai, with a nose twitch
that would make Samantha of Bewitched proud, meets his defeat at the
fast hands of Ho’s butterfly short swords. The judo master arrives to
challenge Ho one minute after midnight not allowing our hero any rest;
he seems to be getting the better of Ho until Ho strips down and covers
himself in oil. As judo relies on grappling Ho easily slips out of any
hold applied leaving the Judo master to concede. Kung Zi is worried for
her husband and warns Ho of the ninjitsu skills of his final opponent
Takeno, she also educates him in his disrespect of his first opponent
who offered Ho his sword. The last fight is the longest and most varied
including ninja weapons like the ninjato sword, shuriken stars,
disguise, poison and a bizarre crab style which Ho counters with
throwing darts, a dao saber and crane kung fu. Takeno believes he has
poisoned Ho and carries his body to the other masters, Ho however has
held his breath long enough to fool his foes and carry the win. The
samurai lashes out at Ho but is restrained by an
honourable
Takeno. Ho finally shows humility and praises the skills of the
defeated Japanese assemble. This gesture is reciprocated by the samurai
who again offers Ho his sword, this time a better learned Ho accepts
with both hands ending the film on a happy note of dual respect.
Part
of the Dragon Dynasty range this is a great martial arts action movie
with some elements of
humour
between the newly married couple of Ho Tau and Kung Zi. The range of
weapons and styles on display is brilliant and maintains the interest
the whole way through. Gordon Liu must be given praise for the sheer
number of fight scenes he appears in and his great mastery of many
weapons and kung fu styles. The Japanese are never portrayed as evil
and are given respect, plus no one dies which makes the film suitable
for the kiddies as well.
Picture quality is very good shot in 2.35:1 with a running time of 101
minutes, surprisingly good actually as the film harks from 1978. Dolby
Digital 2.0 is in Mandarin with English subtitles with well defined
sound. Extras are interesting with a great insightful interview with
start Gordon Liu, feature commentary from Hong Kong cinema expert Bey
Logan, and a Trailer Gallery. My
favourite
though is an exploration of the weapons used in the film. We are shown
some of the techniques used with these classic fighting arms by a
charming female Asian host, great stuff, I recognize her from the extras
in Fist Of Legend another great Dragon Dynasty disc.
A
great martial arts showcase where the action and skills are at the
front, PG so everyone can enjoy and a great history lesson in various
Chinese and Japanese fighting styles. Get this if you love any Bruce
Lee film or want to explore this genre, get this if you just marvel at
magnificent fighting sequences and action. One can see a young
Tarantino watching this and wanting to
honour
its
star Gordon Liu one day for all the enjoyment he brings here. Dragon
Dynasty has delivered an all time classic yet again, well done to you.
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