Duel of Fists by Chang Cheh (1971)
17 December 2007I am a huge Ti Lung and David Chiang Dai Wei fan and also Chang Cheh, but for being the number 2 to Bruce Lee’s the Big Boss, this could have been a better film. Sure the action is great, but there is too much use of shaky camera moves and zooms, that do detract from the story, but that isn’t as bad as having this scope film presented in non anamorphic 4×3 screen size. Blech. Still David Chiang and Ti Lung are as enjoyable as always, even if the movie is only decent. The Action by Liu Chang Liang/Lau Kar Keung is of course top notch, and it is cool to see Ti Lung fight with a Thai Boxing style and David Chiang fight with Chinese boxing. A nice contrast. And the “stylish” outfits that David Chiang wears have to be seen to be believed!
Fan Key (David Chang Dai Wei) is a construction engineer, and martial artist. His father runs a chinese boxing school. His father has a heart attack when he is supposed to go to Thailand, and he leaves it to his son before he dies. It turns out Fan Key has an older brother from a Thai woman in Thailand, and all he has to go on is a photo of him as a kid, with 2 tattoos on his arm, and he knows that he is a Thai Boxer, so Fan Key goes to find his brother. In Thailand Wen Lie (Ti Lung) who is Fan Key’s brother has to make money for an operation for his mother, so he is entering a fight against the current champion Cannon (Guk Fung). A fight promoter named Qiang Ren (Chan Sing) tries to get them to sign with them, but Wen Lie refuses, and so the gangsters plan on killing him at the fight.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS….
Fan Key meets his brother at a fight by Miller who he thinks might be his brother because of the tattoos, and they become friends, though they don’t know each other’s identity. Miller is killed in the fight, and Fan Key realizes he is not his brother, so he keeps looking.
Fan Key has met a young thai women called Mei Dai (Pawana Chanajit) who shows him around, and goes with him to Wen Lie’s fight when they realize he is Fan Key’s brother, and they also meet Wen Lei’s girlfriend Yulan (Ching Li). Amazingly Wen Lei manages to win the fight against Canon, but after the fight Miller’s brother kills him for revenge, and the gangsters think it was Wen Lei and go after him. They find the brother and kill him and Wen Lie and Fan Key go to get him back and end up fighting the evil boss and killing him. And then Fan Key and Wen Lie head back to Hong Kong together, and promise to return for the girls.
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A decent enough movie, with a great cast, but I sure wish it was anamorphic.