Full name: Gary Edward Daniels

Date of birth: May 9, 1963 (Working, Surrey, England)

Occupation: Actor, producer, action director, instructor, professional kickboxer

Style: Mongolian kung fu, kickboxing, taekwondo, Muay Thai

Biography: Daniels was influenced to pursue a career in martial arts after sneaking into a screening of Enter the Dragon at the age of 8. He trained in the hybrid style of Mongolian kung fu before studying taekwondo, acquiring a black belt under Master Rhee Ki Ha. Daniels taught taekwondo at three schools in England. In 1980, following disqualification for excessive contact in competitions, Daniels relocated to Florida to pursue a full-contact kickboxing career. Daniels has trained with Peter Cunningham, Jim Graden, and former World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Joe Lewis. In the 1990s, Daniels began studying Muay Thai kickboxing alongside Benny Urquidez and Winston Omega. Relocating to California, Daniels was crowned PKA (Professional Karate Association) Lightheavyweight Kickboxing Champion, retiring from competitive fighting in 1993 to concentrate on a film career. Daniels started acting in the Philippines on low budget martial arts films. In 1993, Daniels made his Hong Kong film debut in the Jackie Chan film City Hunter. He has predominantly worked in B movies in America alongside the likes of Steven Seagal, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone. He has also worked as a fight choreographer and associate producer.

Speech! In an interview with Martial Edge: “I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life the day I saw Bruce Lee on screen. And 40 years later that hasn’t changed. I still train five days a week and my goal is still to be the lead in a film that opens on 3000 screens on a Friday night.”

Click here to read our interview with Gary Daniels.

Filmography: 1988 The Secret of King Mahis Island; Final Reprisal; 1991 In Between; Ring of Fire; Capital Punishment; 1992 Deadly Bet; Blood Fist IV: Die Trying; American Streetfighter (+ action dir); 1993 City Hunter; Full Impact (+ action dir); Knights; Firepower; 1994 Deadly Target; 1995 Fist of the North Star; Rage; Heatseeker; 1996 White Tiger; 1997 Hawk’s Vengeance (+ action dir); Bloodmoon; Riot; Pocket Ninjas; 1998 Recoil; Spoiler; 1999 No Tomorrow; Sons of Thunder (TV); 2000 Ides of March; Epicentre; Delta Force One: The Lost Patrol; 2001 Queen’s Messenger; Gedo; City of Fear; 2002 Black Friday; 2004 Witness to a Kill; Retrograde; 2005 Submerged; 2006 Reptilicant; 2008 The Day the Earth Stopped; The Legend of Bruce Lee (TV); Cold Earth; 2009 La Linea; Immortally Yours; 2010 Game of Death; Tekken; The Lazarus Reports; The Expendables; Hunt to Kill; 2011 Forced to Fight; Johnny’s Gone; 2012 A Stranger in Paradise; The Encounter: Paradise Lost; The Mark; Angels; 2013 The Mark: Redemption

(1978, Taiwan, Kam Yeung Film Co.)

Dir. Li Shia-jie; Pro. Shio Shia-liang; Scr. Shio Shia-jen; Action Dir. Carter Wong Chia-ta; Cast Carter Wong Chia-ta, Chan Sing, Lin Hsiao-hu, Gei Gwong-lung, Ching Tse-ming, Yu Hang.

90 min.

Crude indie flick from Taiwan which forces Carter Wong into the unfortunate situation of being upstaged by a monkey. He plays a disgruntled imperial guard who is framed for an assassination attempt on the Emperor and as he flees, he accidentally poisons the Princess with a lethal dart. In an attempt to save her life, he straps the antidote to his pet monkey (played by ‘Sida, the French Monkey Star!’) who adheres to the rules of the Royal Seal and saves her life, accepting her hand in marriage as a reward. In a bizarre twist which questions both the sanctity of marriage and the girl’s sanity, she agrees to marry the monkey and cops off to a secret island to bring up a son. Meanwhile, that bastard Chan Sing has killed the Emperor and put himself in charge, leaving Carter Wong the unenviable task of exacting his revenge, restoring law and order, and saving his future Queen from any further simian shenanigans. “Princess,” Carter asks, “Am I the father of this boy, or is it the monkey’s?”

AKA: Kung Fu: Horse, Monkey and Tiger; Raging Tiger vs. Monkey King

(1977, HK, Hwa Tai Movie Co.)

Dir. Wu Ma; Pro. Tung Chen-ching; Action Dir. Wong Lung; Cast Dorian Tan Tao-liang, Lung Fei, Lo Lieh, Doris Lung Chung-erh, Wong Hap, Kam Kong.

92 min.

Promising more boot than you can shake a kwan at, Flash Legs does everything it says on the tin. The titular flash legs belong to Dorian Tan who gets to show off his entire repertoire of fancy kicks. The premise seems tedious enough – eight bandits are singlehandedly bumped off by police chief Tan for stealing a sacred treasure map – and makes you wonder how it lasts the distance. Its probably got something to do with all those fight scenes, which fly in thick and fast in this relatively mediocre kung fu fest.

AKA: Deadly Kick; Shaolin Deadly Kicks

(1974, Taiwan, Hai Hua Cinema Co./Lee Ming Film Co.)

Dir. Yu Min-sheong; Pro. C.Y. Yang, T.K. Yang; Scr. Yang Hsiang; Action Dir. Kuang Yung-lin, Kuo Liang-su; Cast Hsu Feng, Wang Kuan-hsiung, Ma Cheung, Nam Wan, Chow Chung-lim, Tai Leung, Yue Feng.

82 min.

Good chopsocky with the lovely Hsu Feng who plays the plutonic love interest and kung fu sister of Wang Kuan-hsiung. They both leave their circus school by royal decree to help protect 1000 taels of gold heading to Lung Shan province to help the victims of a drought. Things don’t run entirely smoothly as every two-bit bandit wants a piece of them, offering the filmmakers a chance to exploit some crafty wire stunts and kung fu shapes. The love/hate relationship between the two leads is actually quite sweet for a film clearly made on a terrible budget.

(1978, Taiwan, Nine Continents Film Productions)

Dir. Yeung Jing-chan; Pro. Wen Shen-chen; Scr. Sung Pe-liu, Tsan Liang-tung; Action Dir. Kwan Hung; Cast John Liu Chung-liang, Angela Mao Ying, Leung Kar-yan, Man Kong-lung, Chan Sing, Chan San-yat, Shut Chun-tin, Lam Mei-ling, Cheng Chiu.

94 min.

A convoluted hotbed of chopsocky talent. This Ming Dynasty fable shows a clan of resistance fighters squabble among themselves in an attempt to confront some Manchu bounders led by snarling super villain Chan Sing, who can emit poisonous blows from his dirty palm strikes. John Liu wants out of their futile plan so he can shack up with his fiancé but an endless rabble of halfwitted assassins keep dragging him back into the game. By the end the film completely loses the plot and it becomes impossible to decipher good from bad. The film’s only saving grace is a great cast and some exotic weaponry. The costumes are also good and must have set the budget back considerably as very little seems to have been spent on anything else.

AKA: Blade of Fury; Deadly Duo

The Country category indicates a film’s country of origin. Below are all the titles listed on Kung Fu Movie Guide produced by South Korea.

• Ninja Champion (1986)

(1986, HK/South Korea, IFD Films and Arts)

Dir. Godfrey Ho Chi-keung; Pro. Joseph Lai San-lun, Betty Chan; Scr. Godfrey Ho Chi-keung; Action Dir. Phillip Ko Fai; Cast Bruce Baron, Jack Lam, Pierre Tremblay, Dragon Lee, Richard Harrison.

87 min.

Another lesson in retarded filmmaking from B movie tycoon Godfrey Ho who barely attempts to add any kind of logic to this cut and paste cash-in. The film accidentally features people like Dragon Lee and Richard Harrison only because of an ingenious editing job. In one part of the film, we have a victim of a rape exacting her revenge on the culprits with the help of her ex-husband, then on a separate tape we have Bruce Baron dressed up as a white ninja in the bustle of Hong Kong fighting red ninja Pierre Tremblay and his trio of underlings for absolutely no reason whatsoever. It kind of works, though, only to lose it at the end in a laughable summary of events which would have made more sense if it was recorded backwards. Underwater. In Greek. It’s completely awful, but strangely good at the same time.

AKA: Kickboxing Connection; Ninja Boxing Cop; Ninja Connection 2

(1973, HK, Mirabelle International Production)

Dir. Shang Lang; Pro. Chui Cheung-lung, Yeh Chung-ho; Scr. Shang Lang; Action Dir. Ching Tung-yee; Cast Michael Chan Wai-man, Sun Chia-lin, Chan Fei-lung, Poon Lok, Goo Men-chung.

92 min.

This has nothing to do with Bruce Lee or, indeed, any of his spirits, except for a more than incidental resemblance to The Big Boss in both its story and setting. Michael Chan looks a bit like Lee as he avenges the death of his brother by tearing up a gang of Thailand baddies on their own turf. He also has a little help from a family of fellow Chinese who rather stupidly decide to stick their noses in. He even manages to woo Sun Chia-lin. It must have something to do with his collection of tight-fitting shirts. Convincing enough, but the film has dated badly.

AKA: Angry Tiger

Next year, Australian action star Richard Norton will play a villain in the new Mad Max movie. We talk to the former rock and roll bodyguard about Zen Do Kai, turning 61 and being one of Jackie Chan’s favourite gweilos

There has been a bit of a delay on the set of the new Mad Max movie. An unseasonably wet Australian summer has turned the dry, red sand of outback town Broken Hill into a luscious green landscape. Action star Richard Norton has come to Brisbane while the film’s location naturally adopts a more apocalyptic tone. He’s playing four parts, which already sounds intriguing, and the great Inception and The Dark Knight Rises actor Tom Hardy has signed up. But he’s already said too much. “I can’t tell you anything about the story or I’ll get shot, but it’s very exciting,” before adding, quite honestly, “Even if it’s a swan song, it’s a good one to go out on.”

At 61, Norton seems content balancing film work with the occasional guest seminar at events like Brisbane’s Supanova Pop Culture Expo (we meet in the signing tent for our interview). He may have clocked up four decades in the entertainment industry – from personal bodyguard to some of the biggest names in popular music (James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones), to sparring onscreen with everyone from Chuck Norris to Jackie Chan – but mention retirement and he recoils. “You should never lose sight of the fact that you’re a student,” he says. “When you lose sight of that, everything stops. I have a saying, ‘if anything stops still long enough then it’s probably dead.’”

It was his friendship with Chuck Norris that first transported Norton from his dangerous work as a bodyguard to the glare of the silver screen. It’s a friendship that continues to this day. Norris was best man at Norton’s wedding. But prior to accepting a supporting role in Chuck Norris’s 1980 ninja film The Octagon, Norton was already looking for a way out of his former hazardous occupation, even though he admits to not having any desire to be in movies. “I had a couple of friends who were shot and killed as bodyguards in the States,” he says. “I never really thought about my own mortality. I was just prepared to do what I had to do.”

With an acclaimed background in judo, karate, Brazilian jiu jitsu, aikido, Muay Thai and Japanese weaponry, Norton’s lifelong passion and dedication to the martial arts has not wavered. In fact, he is relocating to his birthplace of Melbourne partly to promote his own Zen Do Kai system, co-created with fellow bodyguard Bob Jones in 1970. It’s what the industry now calls mixed martial arts, says Norton, a system designed to take what is useful from other styles and incorporate them into their own. “When you’re on the door, you quickly realise what works and what doesn’t.”

So do martial artists have to put themselves in the firing line in order to become better fighters? “I believe you need to learn it from somebody who has actually been there; otherwise it’s theory teaching theory. To be a good martial artist doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be street tested. You can be an amazing expert with the katana sword and do iaidō [Japanese sword style], but there is no relation between iaidō and the real world. You can’t go around carrying a Japanese sword, so you do it for different reasons, like personal development, meditation, or the physical excellence of it.”

But a strong commitment to one discipline is required before considering further supplementary styles, according to Norton. His follow up to the 2007 Black Belt Complexes instructional DVD follows a similar ethos. Called the Mixed Martial Arts Curriculum, the idea is to promote ‘modern technique with traditional values’ – a far cry from the old fashioned divisions of school, rank and style.

“I’m a little over the martial arts world that [says] it’s all about titles and belts. That’s the validation of something, rather than what can you do. People would come up to [World Kickboxing Champion] Benny Urquidez and say, ‘well, I’ve studied this’, and he would say, ‘don’t tell me, surprise me’. I always aspire to learn something new.”

Norton freely admits that if he had the same passion for acting as he does for the martial arts, he would be a better actor. “To me, acting is a way to fund more time in the dojo.” From The Octagon, a supporting role followed in the Joe Lewis vehicle Force: Five (1981), directed by Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse and co-starring Urquidez. He’s appeared in over 70 films since, from a twisted ninja baddie in Gymkata (1985) to anti-heroes like fed up nightclub owner Frank Torrence in Under the Gun (1995). Does he mind, then, that some of them – most of them – are low-budget B movies?

“I’m very realistic as to why I’m in the B grade movie range rather than the A grade, and I’m very comfortable with that. All I wanted to do was be the best martial artist I can be, and everything that has come good in my life has been a result of that – bodyguard work, touring the world with rock and roll bands, sitting there doing movies with some of the greatest people around. It can’t get much better than that.”

It’s not too surprising that perhaps Norton’s most notable film work has come through his close associations with some of the biggest names in the industry. Norton practically became Jackie Chan’s default western punching bag for a string of Hong Kong movies: Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985), City Hunter (1993) and Mr. Nice Guy (1997). Norton acknowledges the rare honour of being Jackie Chan’s go-to gweilo with modesty. “Jackie always said I had the right timing,” he says.

But it was advice given to him by Japanese actor Yasuaki Kurata on the set of Twinkle that has remained with him, particularly during the filming of those arduous HK fight scenes. “He [Kurata] pulled me aside and said, ‘you need to realise that the Hong Kong [filmmakers] believe they are god’s gift to martial arts. It’s their movies, their set. If you want to work here, don’t say anything. If it takes a hundred takes, do what they want you to do until they’re happy.’… And that’s what I did.”

“As much as anything, Jackie liked the comfort of me knowing how they shoot. I shut my mouth, I did what they told me, and I did the best I could do.” Norton also earned the respect of the locals by taking a few bumps and bruises along the way and never once complaining, something that seemingly impressed Twinkle director Sammo Hung, who would go on to cast Norton in another Hong Kong classic, Millionaire’s Express, in 1986. Norton says he has never met a more creative actor and director than Sammo Hung. “He could make a fight scene out of anything.”

The organised chaos of Hong Kong movie sets in the 1980s is well documented, but Norton still chuckles at the sheer spontaneity involved, recalling one instance on the set of City Hunter. “I would be having make up put on and [writer and director] Wong Jing would be lying on a roll-out chair, almost like a pool lounge, giggling away because he would be writing that day’s script.” Or when Jackie Chan decided at the last minute to finish his Melbourne-based comedy Mr. Nice Guy with a climactic demolition scene involving giant mining trucks. “We had no idea how that would fit into the story until we were well into shooting. I mean, that’s radical.”

It was on the set of Millionaire’s Express that Norton would first work with fan’s favourite Cynthia Rothrock, sparking an onscreen marriage that continues to this day. They have so far appeared in 10 films together, including the Rage and Honor and China O’Brien films. One British magazine endearingly described them as the “Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of martial arts films”.

“We know each other so well,” he says. “It’s very cool when you get on set and you can be comfortable. But it’s hard fighting someone like Cynthia. With a guy you can beat them a bit and mess around, but you can’t really do that [with Cynthia]. When we did Magic Crystal (1987), I had to fight with aluminium sai, and when you punch you have to make a bit of contact. She says, ‘can you make sure you hit exactly the right place?’ She had cut the padding down to the size of a postage stamp because she didn’t want it to make her look big!”

As digitally-enhanced comic book heroes loom large over the multiplex and Hollywood grapples with faster editing, handheld camera techniques and stunt doubles, what can be said for the new breed of martial arts heroes compared to the more authentic kung fu stars of Norton’s era? “Nowadays, you don’t have to be a really good martial artist to be an action star, [whereas] you wouldn’t get hired in those Hong Kong movies unless you had skill. That’s the difference.”

Tellingly, Norton says he finds the cold, structured, multi-million dollar movie sets uncomfortable, where pecking orders take precedence and extras are treated badly. Instead, he favours the smaller films he has made with Chuck Norris and Cynthia Rothrock for their “simplistic charm”. But could Norton’s more ethical viewpoint be the reason why his name is not nearly as prominent as his B movie contemporaries, people like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal?

“If you’re like a Seagal, and capable of making a lot of money, then they [producers] will put up with you. But they can’t wait for you to fall from that pedestal. Whereas if you’re the type of actor who is professional, on time, knows their lines and supportive, then they stick with you even through the tough times. People like Chuck and Jackie have so much time for their fans because they know that without them they don’t have a career, and this serves them well in their longevity.”

This moralistic approach might also explain why he has so far refrained from the ‘kiss and tell’ biography, favoured by so many in his profession, particularly given his close proximity to the rock and roll lifestyle and its most iconic stars. He is actually planning a book, but it’s not what you think. “It’s based on the lessons I have learnt from people at the top of their game. You don’t get a long career like Mick Jaggar, David Bowie or James Taylor without being a very smart operator and having something about you.”

Now entering his sixth decade, Norton may be pragmatic about his options, but that’s not to say his drive and ambition has eased. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” he tells me. “Look at Jacki Weaver [Australian actress nominated for a 2011 Academy Award]… She was out of it for so long. That’s very inspiring. You’ve just got to hang in there. Who knows what’s in store.”

Originally commissioned for Martial Edge. Interview conducted in 2011.

(1980, US, American Cinema Productions)

Dir. Eric Karson; Pro. Joel Freeman; Scr. Paul Aaron, Leigh Chapman; Action Dir. Aaron Norris, Chuck Norris; Cast Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, Lee Van Cleef, Art Hindle, Carol Bagdasarian, Tadashi Yamashita, Richard Norton.

103 min.

Chuck is on fighting form as karate champ Scott James, a sweet talker with psychological issues (his subconscious thoughts are represented by a echoed voiceover which gets really annoying). Mercenaries are being transported to a distant training ranch and taught the outlawed secrets of Ninjitsu, and their scary leader Seikura (Yamashita) just happens to be Scott’s martial brother. What an awkward coincidence. There’s only one way to sort this situation out: with violence, and plenty of it. Amateur performances and clumsy dialogue tend to slow things down, however the final assault with Norris fighting an entire ninja ranch singlehandedly is crazy enough to make it all worthwhile.

AKA: The Man Without Mercy

(2007, Japan, The Klockworx/Crossmedia/Kuro-Obi Partners)

Dir. Shunichi Nagasaki; Pro. Katsuhiro Ogawa, Nobuhiko Sakoh; Scr. George Iida; Action Dir. Fuyuhiko Nishi; Cast Akihito Yagi, Tatsuya Naka, Yuji Suzuki, Shinya Ohwada, Takayasu Komiya.

92 min.

Set soon after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, what hints at a political, revisionist war film soon starts to resemble a symbolic study into karate’s ethics and practitioners. As much as this is a martial arts film, it is also a film about martial arts, which makes it fulfilling for quite different reasons. Director Nagasaki adds extra authenticity by casting real karate experts in the lead roles.

The film starts with an opportunistic siege on a dojo by wayward Japanese military police. The police are thwarted on their first attempt by the clinical karate skills of the school’s three prized fighters, but the school succumbs on a second attempt following the death of their sensei.

Following the familiar tradition of yin versus yang, one karate fighter contradicts the advice of his late master and the other follows a purer, peaceful path. This is represented physically via their chosen technique: one is primed to attack; the other trained only to defend. Taikan (played by “Japanese Karate Association instructor” Tatsuya Naka) becomes the sake-guzzling womanising poodle to a power crazed militia utilising his unparalleled martial arts skills to kill off rival fighters, while Giryu (played by Akihito Yagi from the “International Meibukan of Goju Ryu”) is harboured by a peasant family and forced into confrontation – albeit against his will – when the family’s young daughter is kidnapped.

The film’s most poignant subplot involves Taikan’s belief that he is the rightful heir to his former school’s hallowed black belt, which takes on a crucial symbolic significance. Ultimately, the mere possession of the belt is incidental – it is tellingly kept in a box and never worn – and Taikan’s insatiable quest for its possession is balanced by the solemn indifference from his opposing half. Giryu’s final sacrifice at the movie’s end is befitting to both their polarised beliefs and in the true redemptive spirit upon which the ideals of karate are based.

Followers will enjoy Fuyuhiko Nishi’s fresh, free-flowing choreography captured elegantly by Nagasaki’s wide lens. It is so refreshing to see a fight film free from wires and computer generated effects, and the film’s approach to capturing both the merits and the corruption of karate in all its idiosyncratic forms is an endeavour worth applauding. A slight reliance on cliché (Star Wars-esque visions of a dead sensei; villainy which borders on caricature; a slightly twee red balloon metaphor) seems nit-picky for what is ostensibly a competent, erudite and moralistic tale.

AKA: Kuro-obi

(1985, HK, First Films)

Dir. Godfrey Ho Chi-keung; Pro. Hoi Wang; Scr. Godfrey Ho Chi-keung; Cast Michael Chan Wai-man, Casanova Wong Ho, Chae Eun-hee.

91 min.

More than just a fantastic title, this schizophrenic Godfrey Ho no-brainer features some fantastic fight scenes with speedy ninjas who explode and vanish into thin air. Add to this some equally relentless shagging and salacious nudity and we have one of Ho’s more enjoyable exploitation films, even if it does just feel like a load of random scenes edited together, which it is. Casanova Wong and his rampant girlfriend are targeted by hotshot ninja when they cross paths with boxing champ Michael Chan and his boss’ plan to secure the possession of a priceless necklace, or something.

AKA: City Ninja; Ninja the Protector; 108 Killers

(1977, HK, Chin Ma Film Co.)

Dir. Ngai Hoi-fung; Pro. Charles Lowe, Cheng Hui-chun; Scr. Wai Man-keung; Action Dir. Wong Mei; Cast Larry Lee Gam-kwan, Bruce Leung Siu-lung, Wong Yuen-san, Jason Pai Piao, Lau Dan, Lau Kar-yung, Charlie Chan Yiu-lam, Eric Tsang Chi-wai.

88 min.

This is your standard girl meets boy, boy loses girl, girl gets abducted by gold smugglers and forced into prostitution story. The boy summarily unites with his old buddies to rescue the girl and kill all the baddies. The boy in question in Larry Lee, playing someone with a lose connection to Wong Fei-hung, who teams up with fellow challengers Bruce Leung, Wong Yuen-san and Jason Pai who all seem to be having a great time despite the gravity of the situation. The ensemble set up and collection of familiar faces give the film an endearing quality, but this is pulp chopsocky at its most basic.

(1974, HK)

Dir. Ng Fei-kim; Pro. C.Y. Yang; Scr. Chow Chen-kun; Action Dir. Kwan Hung; Cast Barry Wai Ji-wan, Yu Hang, Cheng Fu-hung, Tai Leung, Choi Wang.

82 min.

Two Chinese POWs seek freedom and fortune by mixing up the locals at a lumber yard occupied by the Japanese during World War II. But the guards fail to consider the consequences of Barry Wai’s kung fu chops, who doesn’t take kindly to foreign oppression and plans a little uprising of his own. The film ends with 30 minutes of constant fighting which is an arduous process given the film’s distinct lack of imagination, but you would have lost the will to live by then anyway. And never trust a film set during the war where the majority of the cast are wearing safari shirts and flared jeans.

(1977, US, KFM Films)

Dir. John Landis; Pro. Robert K. Weiss; Scr. Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker; Action Dir. Patrick Strong, Russ Dodson; Cast Evan Kim, Bong Soo-han, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Bill Bixby, Tony Dow, Boni Enten, George Lazenby, Donald Sutherland, Henry Gibson.

90 min.

The first meeting of minds between the Airplane! and Naked Gun team, this rapid fire spoof is 90 minutes of pure parody with the American media the target. The news becomes a laughing stock, sexploitation is made to look silly and commercials are rioted – one about a charity helpline for the dead, another about the importance of zinc oxide. It’s a sequence of skits, hilarious in places, with a glorious centrepiece: a half-hour spoof of Enter the Dragon, titled ‘A Fistful of Yen’. Obviously a labour of love, the parody is simply glorious. The evil ‘Klhan’ uses his disposable hand as a toothbrush and a hairdryer; Evan Kim bumps into American tourists when investigating Klhan’s lair; the film’s script is comically plundered and rewritten, until the routine somehow ends up in The Wizard of Oz. It’s the best thing in a very funny movie.

(1974, US, Warner Bros.)

Dir. Robert Clouse; Pro. Peter Heller, Fred Weintraub; Scr. Oscar Williams; Action Dir. Robert Wall; Cast Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry, Scatman Crothers, Eric Laneuville, Alan Weeks, Andre Phillippe, Mel Novak, Malik Carter.

87 min.

Those who question the cinematic influence of Bruce Lee need only refer to what Messrs Clouse, Weintraub and Heller did after the instant success of Enter the Dragon in 1973. The team turn to Bruce Lee’s well-coiffed co-star Jim Kelly – a karate fighter of some merit – to helm this cheap blaxploitation effort, but the results are quite ghastly.

Kelly’s film career is a particularly unfortunate story. Even here he displays enough commendable chopping and sassy sex appeal to make it as a leading man, but his subsequent films following Enter the Dragon are never more than moronic. And here he really gets off on the wrong foot.

Scatman Crothers is hopelessly miscast as the head of Pop Byrd’s karate school, which he has clearly mistaken for a jazz café. Pop’s dojo lies on a highly lucrative slice of Californian real estate, which soon leads to his death at the collaborative hands of both the Italian mafia and a local drug gang, and pretty soon its brother against brother.

Kelly is Black Belt Jones, a friend of Pop who is hired by detectives to take down the mob, recruiting a team of female trampoline acrobats in swimsuits and the karate kicks of Pop’s estranged daughter (played by later Bond girl Gloria Hendry). The duo battle dubious racial stereotyping before culminating in an impromptu fight fest at a carwash.

No one comes out of this looking good. Apart from maybe guitarist Dennis Coffey, who wrote the film’s damn funky theme tune.

(1978, HK, Four Seas Films)

Dir. Joseph Kong Hung; Cast Bruce Li, Dana, Chan Sing, Larry Lee Gam-kwan, Cheung Lik, Bolo Yeung, Lee Hoi-san, Lau Kar-yung, To Siu-ming.

90 min.

A title of confounding falsity, featuring an actor mimicking Bruce Lee and Taiwan doubling for Papua New Guinea, and neither party doing a particularly convincing job.

This Joseph Kong Bruceploitation arrives at the zany dog-end of the genre, and the story is forever clutching at straws.

Kong might well be the sub-genre’s Hitchcock, spinning such classic name-droppers as The Clones of Bruce Lee and Bruce’s Deadly Fingers. Although this film is clearly insane, Kong manages to convince a roster of familiar faces into raiding the Four Seas costume department for all the headbands and leopard print they can find. Great subsidiary actors like Bolo Yeung and Lee Hoi-san are squeezed into dressing gowns and gladiator boots which helps to make the film fun and breezy.

As for Bruce Li, it is clearly unfair to overlook his capabilities as a convincing leading man when forced to don his Lee-like moniker, especially when he is usually the most sensible thing in his own films.

Here he’s particularly great as a hard-nosed anthropologist (eh?) alongside kung fu friend Larry Lee, who both take a random trip to Papua New Guinea in an inevitable ruse to rough up the natives.

They encounter a primitive snake tribe who possess the coveted snake pearl – a deadly lure for inquisitive tourists despite clearly being a gold-coloured golf ball. The tribe have been lured into a supernatural hoodoo by the Great Wizard, played by the great Chen Sing, who still gives it his best evil bastard routine despite sporting a ghost mask, red kimono and navel length hair, sticking a poisoned ring into his challengers.

The best supporting character is a giant ape (read: a man in a gorilla suit), who is grossly underused as the prized protection for the tribe’s alluring and sassy Princess (Dana) who, despite living in the jungle, still manages to fashion out a perm and some high heels.

Bruce and the Princess fall in love and have a child, which is when the film gets really strange. Li returns to Hong Kong, seemingly for many years, during which he is placed under a spell of celibacy which occasionally turns him into a snake. The Great Wizard puts a nasty curse on his child and Bruce must return to New Guinea to finish what he started – acquiring some obligatory Bruce Lee trademark injuries along the way.

If you find yourself losing track of this one, here’s a tip: good guys wear flares. That’s about all you need.

AKA: Big Boss à Borneo; Bruce Lee in New Guinea; Bruce Lee in Snake Island; Last Fist of Fury

(1978, HK, Shaw Brothers)

Dir. Lau Kar-leung; Pro. Run Run Shaw; Scr. Ni Kuang, Eric Tsang Chi-wai; Action Dir. Lau Kar-leung, Wilson Tong Wai-shing; Cast Gordon Liu Chia-hui, Lo Lieh, Kok Lee-yan, Henry Yu Yeung, Wilson Tong Wai-shing, Frankie Wai Wang, Lee Hoi-san, Lau Kar-wing, Wong Yu.

111 min.

Lau’s famous kung fu film based on monk San Te’s retribution – the Shaolin student credited for opening the temple’s gates to the secular world – plays like a standard revenge flick with some obligatory establishment bashing thrown in for good measure. The key to the film’s legacy as one of the genre’s greatest treasures, then, lies in its insightful and earnest depiction of the Shaolin Temple as not only a vessel for superhuman kung fu training, but also a place of solace, piety and emotional development. Here, Lau portrays the spiritual birthplace of martial arts as a character in the narrative, one which encompasses the heart of the film.

San Te learns how to headbutt sandbags, float on water and even invents his own trademark weapon (the three sectioned staff), yet his years of martial  training and Buddhist learning bares no real impact on his bloodthirsty quest for revenge. Lo Lieh plays the evil tyrant (now there’s a surprise) who has slain countless rebels and innocent people alike, including San Te’s family and friends, but his eventual day of reckoning is a slightly lazy anticlimax. The real juice is in the middle, where Gordon Liu steps out of his shell and lays claim to a naïve charm and intensity that would help to form an iconic career highlight for the kung fu star.

AKA: Disciples of Master Killer; Master Killer; Shaolin Master Killer; The Thirty-Sixth Chamber

(1978, HK, Seasonal Films)

Dir. Yuen Woo-ping; Pro. Ng See-yuen; Scr. Yuen Woo-ping, Hai Wah-on; Action Dir. Yuen Woo-ping, Hsu Hsia, Corey Yuen Kwai, Sunny Yuen Shun-yi; Cast Jackie Chan, Simon Yuen Siu-tien, Hwang Jang-lee, Dean Shek Tin, Tino Wong Cheung, Hsu Hsia, Lam Kau, Sunny Yuen Shun-yi, Linda Lin Ying.

107 min.

This is a really great movie, the kind of thing you would recommend to a distant cousin. Brought to us by the Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow team, Drunken Master is a slightly superior film and undoubtedly the quintessential kung fu comedy.

Credit due to all involved: Woo-ping’s stylish direction and choreography, Simon Yuen’s synonymous ageing beggar, Hwang Jang-lee’s dastardly evil adversary. Yet the real delight here is Jackie Chan, strikingly confident from his new found fame and looking better than ever.

Woo-ping retraces the early years of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung, who is sent as a punishment by his father to learn kung fu from his torturous Uncle Sam the Seed (Simon Yuen), a bummed out alcoholic famous for crippling his students. The film’s villain Thunderfoot (Hwang) – a hired assassin who is good with his legs – kicks a little sense into the rebellious youth, and Sam is quick to teach the boy a few drunken kung fu techniques.

The training scenes are awesome, and you’ll have to go some to find a better brawl than Hwang and Jackie’s final punch up, in which our young hero resorts to camping it up with his new style of lady-like kung fu.

This movie caused a storm when first released and it still holds an impact today. A kung fu classic if ever there was one.

AKA: Drunken Monkey in the Tiger’s Eyes; Eagle Claw, Snake Fist and Cat’s Paw; Story of the Drunken Master

(1979, HK, Seasonal Films)

Dir. Yuen Woo-ping; Pro. Ng See-yuen; Scr. Ng See-yuen, Siao Lung; Action Dir. Yuen Woo-ping, Sunny Yuen Shun-yi, Corey Yuen Kwai, Brandy Yuen Jan-yeung, Chin Yuet-sang; Cast Simon Yuen Siu-tien, Sunny Yuen Shun-yi, Hwang Jang-lee, Linda Lin Ying, Yen Shi-kwan, Dean Shek Tin, Lee Fat-yuen, Corey Yuen Kwai, Chien Yuet-san.

90 min.

Sublime kung fu comedy from the Yuen clan, devised as a sequel to Drunken Master with much of the original cast returning to similar roles. Apart from one glaring absence, Jackie Chan; although young Sunny Yuen slips nicely into the same naive persona, even if he lacks a leading man’s charisma.

He plays Foggy, a part-time pot-wash bumpkin and the adoptive son of drunken vagabond Sam the Seed (played by real-life Yuen clan patriarch Simon Yuen). Sam only discovers he has an adopted son following a chance visit to his long-suffering wife, who devises a plan to help with some father-son bonding time by getting the disgruntled beggar to teach the young boy some drunken boxing.

Woo-ping expands on the vindictive yet soft centred Sam the Seed from his earlier portrayal in Drunken Master. Here, he is far from cuddly – he is stubborn and reluctant to teach the boy anything particularly useful in a callous attempt to undermine the boy’s significance. It is only upon a chance meeting with the Sick God (Yen Shi-kwan) – master of the “Sick Fist” – that Foggy finds his father figure, learning kung fu and developing into a supreme fighter.

Not unsurprisingly, Hwang Jang-lee rips up the screen as the villain of the piece, playing Rubber Legs – a northern drunken boxing expert on a quest to confront Sam the Seed and end his days. Rubber Legs has devised a new technique of combining the Drunken Fist with the Praying Mantis style, and in combination with his exuberant kicking technique, he puts up quite a challenge. The scene in which Rubber Legs and Sam the Seed meet over bottles of rice wine is a classic encounter of mind games, posturing and kung fu tricks – a really fantastic sequence.

But the film is full of great moments, like Foggy’s ascension to kung fu  greatness via some unorthodox training scenes, and a climactic duel in which Foggy must protect his foster parent despite the cruelty he has shown towards him. On one level, you could read this as Woo-ping’s most personal film. But on a less pretentious level, it is simply one of his most enjoyable kung fu movies.

AKA: Dance of the Drunken Mantis; Drunken Master Part 2; South North Drunk Fist