[DVD Review] Hard-core kung fu classic from a Korean director
Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)
"King Boxer", perhaps better known to English-speaking fans by its U.S. release title "Five Fingers of Death", is, according to historians of "kung fu cinema", (as opposed to wu xia pian or Chinese martial arts films) the monumental classic that claims the position of its kind to be a bona fide commercial hit stateside, several months before the explosive opening of Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon". The film has recently gained some interest among Asian viewers, too, as an early example of intra-Asian cinematic collaboration, in this case between the Korean director Jeong Chang Hwa and the Hong Kong staff and cast.
"King Boxer" is indeed one of the best examples of the more hardboiled, violent wing of the kung fu cinema, indicating a direct lineage to Lo Wei's "Fist of Fury" starring Bruce Lee, minus the latter's patriotic sentimentalism.
Even though the story follows a hoary genre staple of a young martial artist fighting single-handedly against corrupt rivals and a variety of exotic assassins employed by the latter, director Jeong and the newly promoted martial arts directors Liu Chiau Yung and Chen Chuan brought a number of innovations to the action filmmaking, which have become well-worn cliches in the subsequent HK cinema. These include acrobatic high jumps and mid-air somersaults done with trampolines, puffs of dust that mark an impact of a blow, and surprisingly gory makeup effects with realistic-looking blood -- a karate blow to the head in "King Boxer" does not simply kill: it splits up a man's skull like a watermelon.
And of course, the "plucking of eyeballs" sequence is something straight out of a Herschel Gordon Lewis flick (only done very effectively) and even seen today has lost little of its shock value.
Like other Hong Kong filmmakers of this period, he picks and chooses motifs and elements from both spaghetti Westerns and Japanese jidai-geki. Incorporating the elements of the latter, especially, is cleverly justified by casting the Japanese judo and kendo masters as villains. "The King Boxer" is also notable for featuring the main actor so obviously not a martial artist and is devoid of the kind of Jimmy-Wang-Yu-type matinee idol elan: Lo Lieh, while lacking in grace and suaveness, however, is a rather good actor, showing his chops in the scenes of intense emotional turmoil.
His "Iron Palm" technique, by the way, is portrayed by means of simply shining red lights on Lo's outspread palms, accompanied by (unintentionally hilarious to some) keening synth intro to the "Ironside" theme. For all intents and purposes, it should look and sound hokey and trite beyond belief, but in the context of the movie it's pretty darn cool.
DVD Presentation:
Dragon Dynasty/Weinstein Company. NTSC. Dual Layer. Region 1. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1. Audio: Chinese Mandarin, English (Dolby Digital Mono). Subtitle: English. Supplements: Audio commentary with Quentin Tarantino, David Chute and Elvis Mitchell, interviews with the director Jeong Chang Hwa, martial arts director Liu Chia Yung (Lau Kar Wing), film scholars David Chute and Andy Klein, stills gallery, original theatrical trailer, commentator biographies. Retail Price: $19.99. Released: June 19, 2007.
Weinstein Company's Dragon Dynasty label does another great job with the presentation of this classic kung fu actioner. The transfer is the digitally cleaned version licensed from Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures, and as expected demonstrates vibrant color, pleasing detail and gratifying absence of dirt or artifacts.
Now I have seen a few Celestial-restored Show Brothers pictures which go a tad overboard, almost to the point that the shots look like airbrushed paintings, but "King Boxer" is not one of them. The picture is so clear that you can actually notice several shots where the cameraman has trouble pulling the focus. Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack is supplied only in dubbed Mandarin but sound effects and sometimes unintentionally humorous patchwork score (James Bond movies, Akira Ifukube music from Japanese sources, etc.) come out well. English subtitles are okay but not outstanding: they occasionally sport curiously archaic or head-scratching expressions, such as rendering "entertainers" as "art sellers", and "Don't be too excited" as "Don't be outrageous".
The biggest attraction for English-speaking viewers would be the commentary track recorded by the noted director Tarantino and kung fu cinema experts David Chute and Elvis Mitchell. Tarantino is obviously a big fan of "King Boxer" and his fanboy enthusiasm is infectious, but the track is surprisingly informative in terms of supplying a slice of the fascinating history of the Asian pop culture infiltration into the U.S. film market.
The interview with Jeong Chang Hwa is a big surprise among the supplements, as the veteran director relates the circumstances in which he came to work for Show Brothers and takes credit for introducing many of the stylistic innovations enumerated above (puffs of powder released via a physical impact, and so on). Next, the martial arts director Liu Chia Yung, friendly and unassuming, relates in Cantonese his experiences with "King Boxer" and kung fu cinema in general.
Film scholars David Chute and Andy Klein are also interviewed, providing some American context for the appreciation of the film, although I must say I am not certain whether they actually believe that the "chi" gathered on your palms can be blasted like death rays. The "kung fu expert" angle eventually gets a bit excessive, as the DVD includes bio info of Chute and Mitchell (?) but not of Lo Lieh, Jeong Chang Hwa or any other principals.
English 
