RETURN OF FIST OF FURY
- Year: 1978
- AKA: The School of the Jung-mu Fighting Technique
- Starring: Cheong Ryong, Bae Su-Cheon, Lee Kang-Jo, Bruce Le (clips)
- Directed by: Nam Ki-Kam
"Seeking revenge for his murdered brother, Bruce Le follows a trail of destruction to Korea where he comes face-to-face with the evil war lord Sapio, and his gang of superfighters. Fueled by hatred, the warriors meet in the final fight to the death."
Ok, so Bruce Le is all over this video box. Big pics of adorn the US Best Film & Video sleeve and it says in big bold letters "STARRING BRUCE LE" on the front and back. Too bad he isn't the star of the movie! Now, thankfully I didn't suffer like Keith and find out that Bruce Le isn't actually in the movie. Here, Le is only shown twice in sepia toned flashbacks totally about 5 minutes of screen time.
Best Film & Video would have you believe this stars a guy named Bruce Pak and a white guy named Joseph Velasco directed it. But, in actuality, it was made in Korea by Nam Ki-Nam and is a sequel to the BRUCE AND SHAOLIN KUNG FU series (which is where the clips of Bruce Le come from). The bulk of the story focuses on Bruce's young brother coming to Korea to locate Bruce. The brother hooks up with Le's old master and ex-girlfriend to battle some, you guessed it, Japanese baddies. The Japanese are still mad at Le because he had the audacity to kill a Japanese general after being impaled with a sword. Damn him and his fighting spirit!
If you can get past the outright lies on the video box, this isn't a bad film at all. In fact, it is pretty damn good. A lot of the sets seen in earlier Korean productions show up here and the fight scenes are worthy. The best bit at the end involves the Japanese head baddie unveiling a mirror chest piece. He shines in it our hero's eyes, causing him to be blinded. It takes Bruce's little bro several minutes of this torture to realize that if he moves 180 degrees, the sun will won't be shining on him. Then it is on!
Reviewed by William.
