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Rage of the Masters

Hero
Rage of the Tiger
Rage of the Master


Cast:

Jimmy Wang Yu is Tiger Wong
Chiao Chiao
Tien Yen
Trang Kin Chang
Bing Yue
Hon Hoi


What the box says:

When a kung-fu master and his wife are killed by an army of thai kickboxers led by a former student hungry for revenge, the surviving brother and sister must seek revenge. But neither one of them is strong enough to take on a whole army of thai kickboxers.

Their uncle takes them to see a distant relative of theirs named Tiger. Tiger is a renowned martial arts expert with a big heart. But since the death of his father in a fight, his mother has made him promise never to fight again.

Tiger's mother sends the brother and sister away, knowing that they want Tiger to fight for their behalf. The sister is accidentally bitten by a snake and while she is nursed back to health by Tiger and his mother, a romance blossoms between her and Tiger.

Now Tiger must decide between his promise to his mother and saving the girl that he has come to love.


Plot:

Rage of the Master is shown across the screen. But, the DVD title was Rage of the Masters. We hear monster music play as the credits roll.

A lady in blue, Sang Yuka, visits her dad at the martial arts school. Dad is showing the students how to punch properly. A guy is wrapped in rope is tossing the others around. This is pretty much like a Shaolin school. Dad even chews out the worthless son, Sang Lee.

Dude, Lo, and a horde of Thai kick boxers arrive. We learn that Lo will finish Dad off because he was thrown out of the school years ago. It is kick boxers versus kung fu experts. The kick boxers seem to be winning. Yuka is even in on the fight unloading on them.

The kick boxers surround Dad. They come at him one at a time. HE can fight them that way. But, he is unable to fend off 4 at a time. Everyone is fighting in the background. He sends Yuka to protect her mother and to go their uncle.

The kick boxers kill Mom who sends Yuka and Lee them away. Yuka unleashes some more kung fu vengeance on the kick boxers. The students will cover their escape.

Dad is still being beaten but is finally killed.

Elsewhere, a guy swears vengeance. Another guy is being Rico Suavay. And a couple of ladies are drawing their claws for the catfight. I know I’m being vague at this point but I don’t really think this scene has anything to do with the rest of the movie.

Lee and Yuka need to avenge dad. They tell their uncle how dangerous the kick boxers are. He happens to know of one who can help them.

Tiger is chopping wood. He watches out for his sickly mother. It’s been hard on Tiger since his father died. His dying wish was for Tiger to hide his martial skills. This is sort of like the Kung Fu “Coward of the County.” Dad wants him to be a laborer. It’s great when you are wanted to go from kung fu master to day laborer. Mom is sad he’s single.

Nephew visits Wong, Tiger’s mom. Uncle offers a gift. Wong claims that Tiger is (I’m not sure what I wrote in my notes…). They explain how they need tiger to help them. Outside, Yuka is waiting. Tiger has eyes for Yuka. Wong has them leave. No one has told Tiger what’s going on. Uncle informs Lee and Yuka what happened. They don’t know what to do. Yuka has an idea. Lee and Yuka will stay hoping Wong will change her mind.

Tiger and Wong have dinner.

The next day, Tiger spots Yuka lying outside. He asks Wong why they’re here. She didn’t tell him about the vengeance and everything only said they came asking for something. Tiger wants to help them. Guess what, Wong doesn’t want him to break his promise.

A snake is slithering around, bites Yuka. Tiger rushes her inside. Wong uses various herbs to cure the bite. Yuka will be fine but needs rest. Lee will leave. Tiger will take her back in a few days.

Wong has this look that could kill Yuka. Tiger has Yuka rest and watches over her. Later, she awakens seeing the Tiger has fallen asleep watching over her. She is told about the snake. Yuka is gratefully for being taken care while sick.

A crowd is watching acrobats. A blindfolded knife thrower practices his skill at the girl on the spinning wheel. A group is betting on a cockfight.


Why are you standing on my head?

Dude has Eagle Lee, weasel guy, find Lee and Yuka.

The gambling continues. Schmuck is losing his shirt but given a loan. A lot of people are having bad luck. Could the games be rigged? Schmuck must pay the loan back as he’s walking out of the casino. He is beaten and pleads for a little time to pay them back. Daughter comes to his side. The evil men take daughter for collateral until Schmuck repays his loan. The henchmen beat the guy some more, not sure if he’s dead.

Tiger is thinking Yuka isn’t ready to go. Wong wants her gone. Yuka will leave. Tiger escorts her back. They run into the bad guys that want Yuka. These guys attack Tiger who shows them how to put a Tiger in your tank. Hairy Mole Man stands alone and then retreats. Sis asks why Tiger doesn’t help them. He made a vow not to kill anymore. They continue to tread along.


What do you mean the root of my mole is growing out of my face?

Tiger leaves Yuka with Lee. Hairy Mole Man watches from a distance.

Back at the casino, the evil guys are counting the money. Massive coin-tossing ensues. Those 2 girls that were sharpening their claws earlier now get into that catfight. The guys think this is fantastic.

A weapons demonstration and kung fu sparring is going on outside the casino. Bad men want the kung fu demonstrators to leave. A fight breaks out. Eventually, the guy is killed. And, the girl is taken to the dungeon.

Hairy Mole Man and his goons head to where Lee and Yuka are staying. The goons are trying to fight Yuka who is too good for them. Attack captures Yuka by using a net to capture her. The kick boxers have Yuka. They search for Lee, can’t find him. Lee, Uncle, and young servant see this from a distance. They take Lee away.

Either Lee surrenders or Yuka dies. Uncle has a plan; goons don’t know what Lee looks like. He has his son dress in Lee’s clothes. Son will sacrifice himself for Lee.

Son heads down, demanding that Yuka be released. They actually think it’s Lee. Yuka runs off. Kick boxers surround Son. Later, after the goons are marching back, Son is laughing his head off. He reveals that he isn’t Lee. The goons beat him to death.

Lee and Yuka are unsure what to do now. Uncle doesn’t want them to rescue Son. This is a chance for them to repay the Master’s family. They all are crying.

Back at Tiger’s place, he is crying after hearing their story. Wong lets Lee and Yuka stay. Tiger will do something.

Guys are skulking about. At the casino, Tiger is hiding inside. A bunch of drunks are roaming about. Fight, a sweet fight ensues. Afterwards, Tiger leaps to safety.

Back at the Tiger lair, Yuka asks him how his face was cut. He was out fighting. Mom is sick, asks what he’ll do. She knows he was fighting wants him to be a good man. Tiger leaves. Yuka checks on coughing Wong who gives her blessing to Yuka.

In a boxing ring, we get a fight demonstration. It is kick boxer versus kick boxer. They warm up with a little Tai-Chi. The fight actually starts. They show the next fight.

The audience can now challenge the champion Shock La. Blue Guy fights him. Shock La’s kicks finish him off. Next contestant is guy dressed in brown: his name will be Turd Ferguson. Chock La finishes Turd off faster than the last guy.

Fatty McChest climbs into the ring. Hairy Armpit Kick Boxer will fight Fatty. Fatty seems to be holding his own tossing Hairy Armpit Kick Boxer like a rag doll and gets him in an airplane spin. Hairy Armpit Kick Boxer spins on the turnbuckle kicking Fatty. Hairy Armpit now has the momentum. Fatty has the bleeding wounds. Hairy Armpit is the winner.

Kick boxers approach Tiger’s house. Wong throws scissors like throwing stars. She and Yuka are fighting the kick boxers. Lee and Uncle arrive to download some Whoopazz Version 5.2 upon some headskulls. The kick boxers have swords. Lee, Yuka, Wong and Uncle are taking care of kick boxers. TCK. Wong is like a wizened old kung fu master. Evil guy throws a knife in her back. She may be dying but won’t go quietly into the night.

Yuka rushes to Wong’s side and gets her away. Lee and Uncle hold the kick boxers back. Some kick boxers follow Yuka.

Somewhere besides the house, Lee and Uncle are fighting the legions of kick boxers. Elsewhere, Yuka is protecting Wong. Uncle and Lee are still fighting the kick boxers. Evil guy jumps on Uncle’s chest until hear a crushing noise. Lee fights alone and doesn’t last long before being killed.

Yuka is hauling Wong while fighting off the kick boxers. She fights them. Yuka is knocked off a cliff. Sure didn’t see that one coming.

Tiger returns and finds hordes of dead kick boxers around the house. He runs to find Wong and Yuka. He finds and carries his dead mother back to the house. He rips what is supposed to be the promise to not kill off the wall. We have another “Coward of the County” moment.

Gaming hall, Tiger shows up let the blood spilling begin. Pandemonium ensues as people are trampled. Kick boxers surround Tiger. It is a good thing he revoked that non-killing vow. He’s making up for lost time. Tiger is mightily Kung fuing and stabbing kick boxers. He is trying to get Hairy Mole Man who is cowering, eventually stabbed. Insane stabbing fu continues. He chases after the retreating kick boxers.

Some kick boxers see the carnage. Evil Dude tells them to get Tiger. Let me do a little math here. If 1 guy can kill 100, and you have 10 guys stab your guys in the legs so you’ll be the fastest one to escape. Tiger demonstrates his excellent knife throwing skills, too.

The fight rages on. Tiger versus Evil Dude and a few kick boxers. It’s just Tiger against Evil Dude who is swiftly killed.

The casino owners arrive. Five guys versus Tiger. Tiger will use Evil Dude’s head as a grave marker for his mom’s grave. After the funeral, Tiger will hunt them tomorrow.

At the beach, Tiger fights the last guys who have brass knuckles. Tiger is fighting 3 of them. They seem to be doing better. Tiger isn’t able to overwhelm them. He kills one guy by ramming his head into the sand. The tide is slowing changing in Tiger’s favor. Last Man charges at Tiger. Last Man is doing good against Tiger who is bloodied and battered. They are fighting in the ocean. Tiger finishes Last Man and the movie ends.


What I say:

It’s been a while since I’ve done a kung fu movie. More than there is there some kind of unspoken rule that requires a kung fu movie to end 90 minutes after it begins.

I have made a couple of references to this being a Kung Fu version of the Kenny Roger’s song “Coward of the County.” Let me see, guy who promised his father not to solve problems with violence. Check. What else? A guy who unleashes sweet azz-kicking upon those who did his loved ones wrong.

Several things don’t make much sense in this movie. One, it is almost impossible to follow the character’s names besides Tiger. I don’t think anyone else’s name was used more than once. Retrogressive Namification is a concept that can get so tiresome. Because, it is never just one character but the most of the cast.

Kung Fu movies have several things going for them. We are just waiting for the reason to have the epic fight. A lot of Kung Fu movies have the training sequence where our hero learns he has the skill to challenge the evil goons that oppressing the town, etc…

Jimmy Wang Yu. One of the more prolific Hong Kong stars for a time. If his name sounds familiar, Jimmy started using Jackie Chan to draw a bigger crowd for his movies in the early 80s. Well, they were both in Fantasy Mission Force , Killer Meteor, and in more than just these 2 movies.

The big problem is they seem to not do much with the fights until the last 30 minutes or so. We get at least 3 scenes were the evil guys slap someone who is promptly killed by the blows. After seeing how terrifying a fighter Tiger’s mom is with a knife in her back throwing cement blocks around like they were nothing. It is a little hard to realize Tiger is that impressive seeing his little old mother kung fu with a knife in her back.

Well, it is hinted about the romance between Yuka and Tiger. But, nothing ever really comes of it. I was surprised when she fell off the cliff and died. You don’t expect anything like that to happen in an American movie. But, it sort of makes sense. The deaths of everyone push Tiger to break his word and defeat hundreds of kick boxers.

No point in trying to discuss the acting when we’re given the typical 70s style dubbing. Can anyone really think that cheesy dubbed voices would improve the quality of the actors? I have seen dubs of anime that are as good if not better than the subtitled stuff. But, most anime DVDs are trying to do quality dubbing. The DVD release of Akira was a new dubbed version dropping the old VHS version that had been showed on Sci-Fi Channel. One of the things about the explosion of DVDs is cheap looking VHS 2nd generation dubs are now on DVDs.

This isn’t a movie I’d recommended you searching hard for. Granted, after I got my copy I found it in a Wal-Mart bargain bin release with Fist of Fury, Touch of Death among other movies, too. I’ve seen worse kung fu movies, but seen better, too.



2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"If you behave badly, you will insult our martial institute."
"If you want to be good, you've got to understand how to breathe."
"You've been in a coma for hours."
"You stupid son of bish."
"Let me show you my thunder kick.
"You killed my mother. You'll pay with your blood."


Morals of the Story

It's embarrassing when your sister is a better kung fu expert than you.
You can kick a knife through a man's wrist.
Plans involve nudity.
Headbands are like a wrestler's championship belt.
Firewood can impale kickboxers.
Dying allows you to throw massive cement blocks with ease.
You can stab 30 guys without getting blood on your knife.