Master of Flying Guillotine (Sub)

Starring:Tak Chi Chen, Fu Chiang Chi, Tien Wu Chu, Pai Cheng Hau, Wai Hsiung Ho, Han Hsieh, Hsing Hsieh, Kang Kam, Chia Yung Liu, Chung-erh Lung, Fei Lung, Tsim Po Sham, Mao Shan, Kao Shan Shao, Chiang Wang, Lung Wei Wang, Ming Fei Wang, Tie Lang Wang, Wing Sheng Wang
Studio: Pathfinder Home Ent.
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
A classic kung fu movie, Master of the Flying Guillotine stars martial arts legend Jimmy Wang Yu (who also wrote and directed) as the One-Armed Boxer, a warrior who has remained true to the recently overthrown Ming Dynasty. A league of kung fu masters are tracking down rebels with a new, deadly weapon--the flying guillotine; an unbeatable, almost supernatural blind man is the king of these killers. After the One-Armed Boxer defeats two of the blind master's disciples, the blind master goes to a martial arts tournament to kill every one-armed man he meets until he has slain the One-Armed Boxer. The wild mix of fighting styles at the tournament (using ropes, swords, sticks, Eagle's Claw, Thai kickboxing, and Hindu magic) provides a spectacular centerpiece. Hokey and campy, sure--but the culminating battle in a coffin shop will have you on the edge of your seat nonetheless. --Bret Fetzer
Description
Introducing what many consider the Holy Grail of 1970's martial arts/Hong Kong films. Master of the Flying Guillotine (also known as One Armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine) combines eye-popping visuals, unforgettable characters, incredible performances, a spectacular electronic soundtrack and one of the most notorious weapons in film history. The cult and legend of Master of the Flying Guillotine continues to grow as martial arts film moves into the mainstream. Both Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson single out "Master" as one of their favorite films.

Average customer rating:

A classic.....

eagle claw lady

Save Your $$$

Consummate Cult Classic

A classic of the martial arts genre and just plain fun to boot

Master of the Flying Guillotine
Starring: Tak Chi Chen , Fu Chiang Chi , Tien Wu Chu , Pai Cheng Hau , and Wai Hsiung Ho
Manufacturer: Pathfinder Home Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002ZDW8A
Release Date: 2004-12-07

Amazon.com

A classic kung fu movie, Master of the Flying Guillotine stars martial arts legend Jimmy Wang Yu (who also wrote and directed) as the One-Armed Boxer, a warrior who has remained true to the recently overthrown Ming Dynasty. A league of kung fu masters are tracking down rebels with a new, deadly weapon--the flying guillotine; an unbeatable, almost supernatural blind man is the king of these killers. After the One-Armed Boxer defeats two of the blind master's disciples, the blind master goes to a martial arts tournament to kill every one-armed man he meets until he has slain the One-Armed Boxer. The wild mix of fighting styles at the tournament (using ropes, swords, sticks, Eagle's Claw, Thai kickboxing, and Hindu magic) provides a spectacular centerpiece. Hokey and campy, sure--but the culminating battle in a coffin shop will have you on the edge of your seat nonetheless. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Limited Deluxe Edition of the classic kung fu movie, staring martial arts legend Jimmy Wang Yu as the One-Armed Boxer, a warrior who has remained true to the recently overthrown Ming Dynasty. A league of kung fu masters are tracking down rebels with a new, deadly weapon--the flying guillotine; an unbeatable, almost supernatural blind man is the king of these killers.

Customer Reviews:

A classic............2007-04-04

What can you say about this flick that hasn't already been said? Maybe, "hmmm.....so he has knives after all.....very clever!" If you love bad english overdubbing & impossible physics, this is the one for you. A must have for any fan of kung-fu foley editing. The fight tournament sequence is great fun. Bet amongst yourselves on the outcome!

eagle claw lady.......2007-02-19

Another kung fu classic that i do believe deserves a viewing. Has all the tacky elements , strange characters, dubbing, bad acting, bad kung fu. It's hard to tell who is the bad guy or the good at first. The guillotine master or the one arm boxer , who knows but my guess is the boxer . The guillotine sifu kills anyone with one arm no mercy at all .
The movie does have its few seconds of good fighting but most of it is tedious and slow with actors waiting to be hit or setting up the next move. The coffin store final fight and the man with arm extensions is pretty cool though. rent if you can dont buy cause one viewing is clearly enough.

Save Your $$$.......2007-01-10

I would have given this title 5 stars (I love the old-school kung fu classics!) except for one problem-the DVD would not play past a certain point (about 30 minutes into the film!) I've tried it on 3 different players, always getting the same result at the same point. ARRGH! Because of this issue I can't recommend this DVD. Hope this review is helpful to my fellow kung fu fans out there!

Consummate Cult Classic.......2006-12-27

Few films enjoy the moniker of a "cult classic." Few films have a one-armed hero, a blind antagonist who wields a Flying Guillotine, steal German techno music for the soundtrack, a martial arts tournament in the middle of the film, and have been inspirational to Quentin Tarantino and video games. Master of the Flying Guillotine (aka One-armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine) is one of several old-school martial art films to take on an iconic stature amongst Asian film fanatics, amongst them include Five Deadly Venoms, Fist of Fury and Drunken Master. This movie is one of my favorite Taiwanese films - produced by First Films.

It is 1730 during the reign of Emperor Yung Cheng of the Manchu Dynasty and is in the case of all films about this oppressive era the protagonists are supporters of the Ming Dynasty. The awesome antagonist is a blind (disguised) Buddhist named Fung Sheng Wu Chi played with demonic fury by Kam Kong (Half a Loaf of Kung Fu). He wears Buddhist garb, has his own lifted musical theme of "Super 16" by the German group Neu! (they also use "Super" by Neu! in the opening theme and "Mitternacht", "Morgensparziergang" and "Kometenmelodie 2" by Kraftwerk in the film), throws bombs that remind me of Tim from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and carries an ingenious weapon called the Flying Guillotine, it was used earlier in the movie The Flying Guillotine (1975). This weapon is a round circular disk with serrated edges on the outside and a retractable net with sharp knives that can be thrown by its user to go over the head of its opponent and with a jerk of the attached chain rip off the head. It is also be folded and fit in your pocket! With this weapon and his learned knowledge that his students Chow Lung and Chow Fu were killed by the One-Armed Boxer he goes off in search of his revenge.

The One-Armed Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu reprising his most successful role as well as directing this film) is the sifu of a martial arts school where he shows his students how to fight, walk on empty baskets and to walk on ceilings (it is all in how you breathe). His students want to enter a martial arts tournament run by Wu Chang Sheng of the Eagle Claw school but he fears that government might find them out. He does agree to go watch the tournament though.

The tournament is one of the many highlights of the film. While the tournament film was nothing new (Enter the Dragon was done several years earlier), the approach of many styles and deadly fighting would go on to influence video games such as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. There are nine fights that range in quality but most are memorable. The first is Long Spear Chang Chia Yu (actually uses a three-section staff) versus Long Stick Ho Po Wei. This is a short but decent fight that is more memorable because the underrated Lau Kar Wing (also one of the stunt coordinators) plays Chia Yu and that it is more calm than the fights about the happen. However there is much more: there is a Mongolian who looks more like a silent movie star (with his dastardly false mustache) than a Mongolian. There is a double fatality. There are crotch kicks, eye pokes, pole-fighting, a one-armed fighter who accidently shows his other arm, a cheating Thai fighter and an Indian fighter who can stretch his limbs (like Dhalsim in Street Fighter) to attack his opponents. One of my favorite fights is the fifth fight between Eagle Claws Wu Shao Tieh (Doris Lung) and a Monkey Boxer Ma Wa Kung who is small, agile and carries the fight between the two (being comic relief he will not win but he will not die either).

But this tournament is just a diversion. The main plot will continue after the abrupt conclusion of the tournament. There are still several fights to go and two are unforgettable. The first memorable fight involves the One-Armed Boxer vs. the Thai fighter. Though Wang Yu would have trouble with plot, dialogue and making sense in many of his films he has always had an interesting knack on weaponry and situations. Here he uses a small metal house to trap the barefoot Thai fighter while the OAB's students are piling wood and setting underneath the house ablaze making this a giant hotbox. This fight to the death is a bit difficult and is sometimes hard to watch but nonetheless a fantastic bout. Sometimes the hero must have some sadistic element in fighting his enemies. The last fight is an awesome inevitable confrontation between the protagonist and Fung Sheng. Here is where Fung Yu's ingenuity at situational martial arts comes to blossom. I will not tempt to spoil this be explaining it (just in case you have not watched it). I will say that it is the perfect ending to this momentous martial arts film.

There are a couple of good Master of the Flying Guillotine R1 DVDs out there by Pathfinder. Pathfinder has a 2002 (Ultimate Edition) and 2004 (2-disc Anniversary Edition) release. The latest release is preferable because of the anamorphic video transfer, additional interviews with Jimmy Wang Yu and an insert booklet with a several goods articles including the history of the Flying Guillotine, the movie itself and one on Wang Yu. It is important to mention to extreme collectors that the commentaries are different on both disks. The first one has Wade Major and Andy Klein, the second adds Alex Luu to the mix. I was not particularly impressed by the second commentary. While they acknowledged their mistakes in the first one (such as calling this a Hong Kong film) they still did not add as much factual information as they could (name the music that was lifted instead of saying a German band) and they digressed a few too many times. While this film could use a better transfer (this is still a decent transfer and both Pathfinder versions seem to have the same quality, I just wish Criterion would pick this up; wishful bizarre thinking I know) it is great to see in a good-enough widescreen version with Mandarin dialogue.

A classic of the martial arts genre and just plain fun to boot.......2006-12-09

This movie is fun for fans of the martial arts genre, especially if you are old enough to remember its heyday in the 1970's. If you are into writing computer games, it gives you a good idea of what people are looking for in such games more than any book on the subject ever could. The basic story behind the film is simple - Sent by the Ching Emperor to destroy Ching rebels, the vicious and blind assassin known as the Flying Guillotine interrupts a deadly martial arts competition in the hopes of killing the famous One Armed Boxer to avenge the death of his two students.

Nothing captures the imagination of genre fans like the notion of a mechanical device being hurled through the air to behead its victims, though the idea may have less effect today than it did back in 1974 when the famous character known as the One Armed Boxer first found himself dodging its razor-sharp teeth. However, this film remains a cult film classic that lives up to its eccentric name.

As the narrator explains, the Ching Emperor has trained numerous assassins in the use of the Flying Guillotine to kill off Ming rebels. This deadly and impractical weapon looks much like a hat with a saw blade brim and a long chain attached. The user throws the weapon with practiced precision onto his victim's head. A chain netting with blades at the bottom drops down and with one pull severs the head. Best of all, it collapses for easy carrying while traveling.

One of the emperor's assassins is Fung Cheh Wu Chi (Kam Kong), who has just discovered that his two students were killed by the One Armed Boxer. Although blind, Fung assumes the guise of a monk and goes in search of Yu who now runs a kung fu school. Yu is invited to a martial arts competition, but only agrees to watch so as not to draw attention to himself. This doesn't stop Fung from crashing the party and beheading a one-armed competitor he mistakes for Yu. With the aid of the contest's foreign competitors including a yoga master with arms that extend and retract, Fung begins his hunt for Yu. To gain an edge, Yu and his students prepare a series of clever traps to help them defeat these fierce killers, culminating in a memorable fight in a coffin-making shop.

Genre fans already know that Wang Yu's strength as a martial arts star did not lie in his martial arts abilities, which were limited to what performance training he learned from Shaw Brothers in the 1960's. Yet, he possessed a fair amount of charisma and became an accomplished filmmaker, often writing and directing his own films once he left Shaw Brothers. This film offers one of his most creative and enjoyable efforts before he slipped into irreversible decline later in the 1970's. A staple of his films were visual gimmicks which he uses to entertain and make up for a lack of fighting skill such as the flying guillotine. You can also expect to see Wang Yu walking up walls as he did in "Return of the Chinese Boxer" and some unusual fighting styles. A character named Nai Men from Thailand introduces the potent skills of Thai boxing to the story, as he allies himself with Fung. Less conceivable, but no less enjoyable are the arm-extending skills of the so-called yoga master who strangles his victims from a distance. Even Kam Kong's head does a 360 degree spin towards the end. The finale also incorporates coffins with spring-loaded hatchets and more of Wang Yu's gravity-defying wall-climbing.

Action director Lau Kar Leung's choreography keeps the fighting fierce and imaginative. The competition, which takes up a big chunk of the film's running time, features various styles such as monkey fist and Eagle's Claw, although you'll likely remember the yoga master's 6-foot long arms best. As writer, director, and star Wang Yu proved to be an extraordinary showman whose creativity, experimentation with genre conventions, and knack for surrounding himself with great talent is a recipe for a marvelously manic film. It's one of the few films of the martial arts genre still commonly televised today.

Average customer rating:

A classic.....
eagle claw lady
Save Your $$$
Consummate Cult Classic
A classic of the martial arts genre and just plain fun to boot

Master of Flying Guillotine (Sub)
Starring: Tak Chi Chen , Fu Chiang Chi , Tien Wu Chu , Pai Cheng Hau , and Wai Hsiung Ho
Manufacturer: Pathfinder Home Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Five Deadly Venoms
7 Grand Masters
Shaolin Wu Tang
The Buddhist Fist
Five Fingers of Death

ASIN: B00006FDBE
Release Date: 2002-09-17

Amazon.com

Description

Introducing what many consider the Holy Grail of 1970's martial arts/Hong Kong films. Master of the Flying Guillotine (also known as One Armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine) combines eye-popping visuals, unforgettable characters, incredible performances, a spectacular electronic soundtrack and one of the most notorious weapons in film history. The cult and legend of Master of the Flying Guillotine continues to grow as martial arts film moves into the mainstream. Both Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson single out "Master" as one of their favorite films.

Customer Reviews:

A classic............2007-04-04

eagle claw lady.......2007-02-19

Save Your $$$.......2007-01-10

Consummate Cult Classic.......2006-12-27

A classic of the martial arts genre and just plain fun to boot.......2006-12-09

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