The Man from Hong Kong

source: The Man from Hong Kong

This Australian/Hong Kong co-production stars martial arts greats Jimmy Wang Yu (One-Armed Swordsman) and Sammo Hung (Eastern Condors), has a James Bond (George Lazenby) for a villain and Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) from Mad Max as a cop, boasts stunning locations (Ayers Rock and Sydney Harbour), is directed by Ozploitation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith, and features a catchy theme song to boot ('Sky High' by Jigsaw). With all that, one might reasonably expect something rather special, but this isn't the case: a run-of-the-mill plot, unexceptional fight scenes and mediocre car chases make for a frustratingly average movie, despite all the right ingredients. Wang Yu plays Hong Kong police inspector Fang Sing Leng, who travels to Australia to extradite a drug dealer (Sammo Hung). When the criminal is assassinated, Fang Sing Leng investigates, suspecting the involvement of Sydney crime-lord Jack Wilton (Lazenby). What follows is a succession of silly escapades for the fish-out-of-water renegade cop, including lots of punch ups (choreographed by Sammo Hung, but not his best work) and vehicular stunts (of the sort that always end up with a car crashing and immediately bursting into flames). The silly ending sees Fang Sing Leng hang-gliding onto the roof of Wilton's penthouse, abseiling down the side of the building and smashing his way in through the window, where he takes on the machine-gun toting villain. The HK cop gets a full confession and blows the penthouse (and its owner) sky high, to the amusement of his Aussie counterparts. Best scene: Fang Sing Leng's bloody fight against numerous martial artists (after which our hero gets his wounds patched up by a country vet and thanks the helpful fellow by screwing his tasty daughter). 5.5/10, generously rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

The great cult filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith strikes again, with this lively international crime / kung fu picture, which he also scripted. Yu Wang stars as Chinese police inspector Fang Sing Leng of the "Special Branch". He travels to Australia for the purpose of extraditing a drug dealer (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, also the martial arts choreographer). Before he is silenced by an assassin (legendary Aussie stuntman Grant Page), the dealer gives up the name of the man for whom he works: Wilton (one-time James Bond, George Lazenby), a prominent gangster. Our intrepid hero takes on all comers (and there are a lot of them) as he attempts to take down this Mr. Big. "The Man from Hong Kong" is simply grand entertainment. There's no deep thinking involved; it's just plain fun. It serves up one glorious action set piece after another, even opening the movie with some action as Hung is apprehended. It's pretty damn violent, but it's also stylish and amusing and never, ever boring. The various locations (including Aussie landmark Ayers Rock) are well photographed, and the script by Mr. Trenchard-Smith is often humorous as it throws in everything but the kitchen sink. Yu Wang is an amiable hero who shows remarkable indestructibility; he has more lives than nine cats. He even takes time to make sweet love to ladies such as reporter Caroline Thorne (Rosalind Speirs) and the adorable, pretty Rebecca Gilling. A couple of Aussie icons have supporting roles: future "Mad Max" cast members Hugh Keays-Byrne and Roger Ward as detectives, Frank Thring as an underling named Willard, and Bill Hunter as Peterson. Lazenby is an enjoyably smug, smarmy villain. The incredible fight between Yu Wang and Page goes on for quite a while. Look for the director in an extended cameo as one of various thugs. The movie may be best known for spawning that hit song "Sky High", performed by Jigsaw. It accompanies the opening credits and sure gets you in the proper mood for this diversion. The finale with Lazenby might well have inspired the makers of "Wanted: Dead or Alive" a dozen years later. Eight out of 10.

One of the greatest action films of its era. Classic!

If it's plentiful action, you're after, and you like some nice sights of Sydney, set your sights on this flick. It a full on non stop, wonderfully orchestrated action extravaganza, you must witness, some violence here and there, but again I reiterate, action packed. The film is so cool, as in the way it's real one note plot, is manipulated and stretched by all the action sequences. taking up most of the film. I've never got more exhausted, looking at Ayers Rock for one thing. Here's what the simple plot consists of. Heavyweight Asian cop comes to Sydney to assist with the operation of a drug muel, busted at the Rock. Forced to testify, against drug czar, Jack Wilton (Lazenby, ruthlessly fantastic) due to some heavy persuasion on Inspector Fung Sung Ling's part (Jimmy Wung Yu) he's shot. Now the rest of the film, the one note plot, has Wang yu, trying to get to Wilton, where he encounters a few obstacles, which finally becomes a mission of revenge, plus an explosion encore. This film is just an action showcase, but it's a brilliant action showcase, on a high scale, but that's it. That doesn't constitute for a good film. It just constitutes, for bubblegum action escapism, and it works tremendously. But just watching it, you may become fit, because it's an exhausting action fare. Too, watching Jimmy Wung Yu, is quite fun, but he's not the best of leading men or ones that can act.

The Man From Hong Kong (1975) was one of the few attempts that film makers and producers have made in trying to market Wang Yu as an international star in the same vein as Bruce Lee. Even some film markets have began calling him "The Next Bruce Lee" despite already being an action star a few years before Bruce Lee made a Kung-Fu film. Wang Yu has a certain aura about. Unlike Bruce Lee, he's characters have a cocky attitude with a streak of sadism. Whilst Bruce was always about doing the right thing, Wang Yu was about getting the job done and if he has to but quite a few people in the hospital so be it. Wang Yu stars as a Hong Kong cop who has to go to Australia to capture a wanted convict (Sammo Hung). Whilst in Oz, he comes across a real shady crime lord (George Lazenby). Realizing he's behind the actions of the convict, he sets his eyes on him and watching all of his "activites". Not liking this unwanted pest and condescending him in public, "JImmy" gets on the Boss' bad side. One night he decides to snoop around the Boss' office building. Inside he finds a few dozen karate "students". Jimmy asks them to leave but they want to take him out. A long brutal fight ensues. Despite their impressive numbers and cache of weapons, Jimmy beats they snot out of them. Re-enforcements come and after dispatching a few more guards, Jimmy is severely wound. A van load of Samaritans give Jimmy a ride to safety. One of the woman has a father who's a doctor. Jimmy spends the nest few days convalescing and romanticizing his heroine. But is heavenly bliss is cut short when the Big Boss' men find him and try to whack him. After a nasty accident, Jimmy's new lover is dead. This causes Jimmy to snap and he begins to wage a one man war on the Big Boss and whoever get's into his way. The big boss waits for Jimmy and sends all of his available guards outside to great his arrival. A ticked off Jimmy is too much for the ill prepared henchmen. Jommy makes quick work of them and races towards the top floor. The Big Boss is tired of holding back his "awesome" fighting skills and attacks Jimmy. He's no match for Jimmy who decides to have fun with him. Noticing the police and fire fighters outside, he goes into the Boss' arsenal and picks up a couple of grenades. After binding the beaten boss's hands, he shoves the grenade into his mouth and pulls the pin. The boss freaks out running around his office to and fro. Jimmy jumps out the top building before the office explodes. A sadly overlooked film. I thought it was great. Unfortunately very few people do. George Lazenby was great as the evil boss and Wang Yu was perfect as the Hong Kong inspector. They make a perfect pair of foes. This unlikely duo also appeared in A QUEEN'S RANSOM. Watch out for Toecutter from MAD MAX and Frank Thring from MAD MAX 3. Directed by "JimmY" Wang Yu and Brian Trenchard-Smith. Fight scenes were directed by Sammo Hung. This movie also features the cheesy 70's pop song SKY HIGH. Highly recommended.

Watched this film for the first time the other night, and it's an absolute wild ride. The film starts with a fight on Ayers rock which definitely sets the tone for the rest of the film. The film is well paced with a variety action scenes with pretty good stunt work throughout. I couldn't help but laugh through the duration of the film with the extremely fun action scenes that often ended up in a large explosion. The acting is over the top, at first I thought it was because the actors were putting on the Aussie accent but most of the main actors were Australian, so I think it is just another layer to the self-aware humour of the film. The best part of the film is definitely the soundtrack. The intro song is an absolute tune, so good in fact that they played it again in the credit sequence. Overall definitely a fun film to watch and currently free on amazon prime 🙌

The biggest criminal in Australia is one Jack Wilton (Lazenby). He has his hands in everything: drug running, gun running, prostitution, and he even cheats when he practices Kung-Fu. Inspector Fang Sing Leng (Yu), of the Hong Kong Special Branch, has traveled to Australia to take him down. Working with the local police, Fang infuriates them because he has no rules and is a one-man wrecking crew. All of Wilton's forces are after Fang - but can any force on earth stop THE MAN FROM HONG KONG? Wow. They truly don't make 'em like this anymore. What a shame. Starting from the great opening sequence with no dialogue, on through the exciting climax, The Man From Hong Kong delivers the goods and then some. The plot is perfectly simple, enough so that the movie can be packed with interesting locations, cool music, exciting stunts, tons of Martial Arts and car-chase setpieces, and still have likable characters as well. Not only is it well-shot, it's all directed and edited with verve and energy. We salute the great Brian Trenchard-Smith, who, despite anything else he will ever do, will be a legend for this movie and Stunt Rock (1980). The movie is rife with 70's style - just check out Lazenby's "'stache-fu", and his baddie pad (not to be confused with a bachelor pad). Also we get an excellent knock-down, drag-out fight between Yu and the great Grant Page which is as enjoyable as everything else in this superb movie. And there's still time for some romance, as represented by the beautiful Rebecca Gilling as Angelica. On top of that, there's some humor, mostly represented by Hugh Byrne and his great hair as cop Morrie Grosse. Because it was the 70's, the stunts are real, and there's no political correctness. It's all just a perfect cocktail of pure, enjoyable entertainment. It's just comforting to know there are writer/directors out there that GET IT. That understand great audience-pleasing tactics. Everyone here is at their best, and of course it doesn't skimp on the action. Sammo Hung is even on board, no doubt due to the fact that this movie was co-produced by Raymond Chow and Golden Harvest. It's filled with "yes!" moments, which we believe we've mentioned before, where as a viewer, something so cool happens, you just have to yell out, "yes!". Everything is done right in this awesome film, and the 2-disc Australian DVD pays this great movie a nice tribute. If you can find it, it seems to be the ultimate way to own this classic. Shockingly, this movie was not released on VHS in the U.S. until Tai Seng did a quiet, under-the-radar release in 2001. Because it didn't receive a golden-age VHS release on, say, Vestron, Paragon, Lightning, or a label like that, the movie's cult stature grew, but mainly in other territories around the world. With the advent of DVD, this can be rectified, and all can now see this fine film. Featuring the ultra-catchy, legendary song "Sky High" by the great band Jigsaw, The Man From Hong Kong is a must-see. For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

The hero, Yu Wang, is a poor man's Bruce Lee in this action film which is a poor man's James Bond adventure. It's an astonishingly lame-brained movie, with no plot or suspense: instead, it provides endless fight sequences which produce more yawns (from us) than thrills. As for George Lazenby, who plays the villain, he has absolutely no charm as an actor, but at least here he's passable and ALMOST makes you forget his Bond past...

I guess I first saw this film in the early 90's on a local TV station. I had been a fan of Jimmy Wang Yu for a long time only really having seen one other film of his being "Blood of the Dragon" also known as "The Desperate Chase". It was one of the first movies I had ever seen period and i'll always remember it. After seeing "The Man from Hong Kong" I automatically knew that this was the best Action movie and drama that I would ever know. The soundtrack to the film is also a memorable one with a hot 70's tune for the opening. After watching this film I have searched high and low for all of Jimmy Wang Yu's other classics and having seen many of them, came to the conclusion that he is the king of kung fu. I own a few different versions of this movie and would love to someday see it get remastered for American home video and DVD or even put back into a few select theaters where it belongs. If you haven't seen it, see it, even if you have to get a multi-regional DVD player or VCR to play it, it's worth it!