SHAOLIN FIST OF FURY
- AKA: Ninja Over The Great Wall, Fire On Great Wall, Shaolin Fist Fury, Long Huo Chang Cheng(Chinese title)
- Year: 1987/1988
- Run Time: 85 mins/82 mins
- Director: Bruce Le & Lim Kim Hui (aka Kim Hui Lim)
- Writer: Hoi Pan Man/Fock Da Lin
- Producer: Lim Kim Hui (Ng Bo Lom), Ko Hung Cook (Kwok Ho Ki)
- Martial Arts Choreography: Bruce Le
- Starring: Bruce Le - Chi Keung, Li Ning (aka Lee Ning aka Ning Li) - Di Lung (cameo), Lily Young - Shu Yi, Shi Kamura (aka Shi Ka Mura) - Shojiro, Yue Hoi - Master Yeung, Leung Yim, Yang Chun Hoi, Mona Wong, Chang Ling, Shit Pai
Description: Before Jet Li’s FIST OF LEGEND, there was SHAOLIN FIST OF FURY. Loosely based on the hit Bruce Lee film, SHAOLIN FIST OF FURY pits Bruce Le against the dreaded occupying Samurai class of Japanese, headed by the King of Leg Combat Hwang Jang Lee (DRUNKEN MASTER). Helping Le is the legendary disciples of Shaolin Temple. SHAOLIN FIST OF FURY is one of the first films from Hong Kong allowed to film at the Shaolin site, and it uses many of the cast who helped elevate Jet Li to superstardom. Add a few nasty ninja’s, and you have the perfect mix of action, drama and suspense. Available for the first time in the U.S., this is a Shaolin style gem!!
Comments/Critique:First of all, I deem it important to say; my edition of this film is dubbed and presented as part of the great ‘Wu Tang Clan “Shaolin Style Collection”. Straight away we see the film boasts it’s cast members. Starring; Lee Ning; the world champion of gymnastics, Leung Yim; the famous volleyball player, and of course Bruce Le.
SHAOLIN FIST OF FURY is no doubt Bruce Le’s greatest achievement in his career of Bruceploitation and Kung Fu cinema. Le acts in the lead role as well as directing the film and also choreographing the fight scenes. Personally speaking, this is one of the best Bruceploitation films I’ve seen, and definitely Bruce Le’s best!
It’s also important to note that this film isn’t low budget. I have a feeling that the majority of the budget will have been spent on location filming, paying extras, various cinematic aspects, and oh yeah, the guy that runs about after being set on fire.
The film starts of with actual b+w footage of Japanese troops. The film obviously has a politically motivated undercurrent.
Unfortunately poor lighting on some scenes was very frustrating and I often had to back track to see exactly what was going on. However, the English dub was great and had added reverb.
Obviously numerous scenes (e.g. the dojo, ”take them all on, on your own” scene) are reminiscent of Bruce Lee’s FIST OF FURY. How ever there are various elements of Ninja movies and a load of elements of Samurai films embedded in Shaolin FIST OF FURY. For example; the scene where ninjas emerge from the ground in front of Le is very similar to scenes in films such as ‘BABYCART AT THE RIVER STYX‘.
What sets this Bruceploitation film apart from the rest is the fantastic cinematography. Some cinematic aspects of this film will have certainly have been copied. The grand final battle takes place on the Great Wall Of China setting the bench mark for future films such as HERO and KILL BILL.
SHAOLIN FIST OF FURY was great to watch and I never got bored. This film seems to meld Asian movie genres (Samurai, Ninja, Bruceploitation, Kung Fu) as well as encapsulating a dozen classic kung fu story structures in a single plot. Bruce Le seems to have come along way since ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH!
Review by: Tame.
