Shout! Factory Presents Martial Arts Films of 1972, 1974-1975
In 2014, Shout! Factory takes on some lesser-known kung fu flicks… let’s see what they have to offer.
Angela Mao Double Feature
This first pairing of “Lady Whirlwind” and “Hapkido” makes a lot of sense. Besides both starring Angela Mao and Sammo Hung, both films come from Golden Harvest Studios, were released in 1972, and were directed by Huang Feng. It is hard to imagine a double feature that was meant to be together more than these two are.
Hapkido
Many have compared “Hapkido” to “The Chinese Connection”, another Golden Harvest film that had recently been released. Indeed, the plots do bare a striking similarity.
“Hapkido” may be best remembered as an early film of Jackie Chan’s, but good luck finding him. He is not even credited, which comes as no surprise to anyone who bothers to count his screen time. We also get some of the wonderful Carter Wong (“Big Trouble In Little China”).
Lady Whirlwind
“Lady Whirlwind” may be the more enjoyable of the two, particularly for those who are not deeply interested in the kung fu genre. In this one, literally everyone is kung fu fighting. As Aaron Christensen notes, “Mao spends the entirety of the film fighting, whether it be with the Japanese that would interfere with her rightful revenge, with the direct object of her rage, or with her conscience as a young fiancée (Ying Bai) begs mercy for her man.” Who needs a plot when you have flying fists of fury? (The same could be said for many Godzilla films.)
Christensen prefers “Hapkido”, opining that it is the “more dramatically satisfying of the two” and “its fight sequences are also superior”.
Likely based on her starring role in these two, Mao went on to cameo as Bruce Lee’s sister in the international hit “Enter the Dragon”. (As a side note, this makes one wonder if her cameo was viewed differently by different audiences. To Americans, she was probably largely unknown and forgettable. But in her homeland, her role may be more comparable to Janet Leigh in “Psycho”… maybe.)
Martial Arts Movie Marathon
The Skyhawk
starring Sammo Hung, Carter Wong
The Manchu Boxer
Sammo Hung
The Dragon Tamers
director John Woo
Starring Carter Wong
The Association
Didn’t get enough of Angela Mao in her double feature? She returns here, and Carter Wong is with her, too. (After these six films, you should really start to appreciate how hard Mao, Wong and Hung had to work in order to release so many films in such a short time!)