Kelly WandMaster of the Flying Guillotine
September 27th 2006 02:47
The box tells us that “Master of the Flying Guillotine” is cited as Tarantino’s favourite Kung Fu film. Well, “cited” is an awkward word to hang your major selling point off of especially when Quentin is the kind of guy who’ll rattle off a list of thirty seven obscure films each of which is his favourite. So, dear friends, is there anything about this film that makes it special. What is there about this film that drags it above the morass of the grindhouse?
After all, this is a sequel to “One Armed Boxer” which was a reworking of “One Armed Swordsman”. You get the picture? How much new blood can you expect to get from this particular stone?
The first thing that happens when you throw the disc into your machine is a notice of information that they deliberately ignored on the cover. Someone apparently used all the 35mm prints of this film as toilet paper and the image quality is far from pristine. It is, however, much better than your normal third generation video-to-DVD transfers that you come to expect of obscure martial arts movies of this vintage. It is certainly watchable.
Although the martial arts sections are first rate, you kind of take that for granted. Lots of long shot – we’re not faking this – action. Fight choreographer Ka Wing Lau went on to work on “Once Upon A Time in China” so, if you are only here for the punch ups, you have nothing to complain about.
This is a kind of “tournament” film (it is credited as the first). What this means is it is a bit like watching a game of “Streetfighter”, particularly when many of the participants are ethnic cliches gifted with the kinds of powers no amount of training or meditation are going to grant you. This film boasts a boot polished actor playing an Indian yoga master who can stretch his arms to about triple their regular length. The Thai fighter is portrayed as a bare foot savage while the Japanese fighter demands the heroine return to Japan with him so he can teach her his secret kung fu. We are left in no doubt as to what this will involve.
Boo, hiss, you may say. Don’t worry about it. It is kind of expected of you. Things are not looking particularly good on the storyline front. Having said that, the storyline is clean and well drawn. It doesn’t suffer from the genre’s usual vices of glaring gaps in logic or dialogue that comes in huge chunks of exposition. It moves from go to whoa with a ruthless efficiency and it is not an unenjoyable ride.
Jimmy Wang Yu is one reason to jump aboard this band wagon. He has star charisma. His direction is confident and brisk.
The main villain, a blind psychopath who wields the flying guillotine of the title, is an interesting foil. One is almost convinced that such a ridiculous device could, in fact, be the dire threat it is promoted as. Almost. I mean, there are certain laws of physics that… I’m sorry. I almost failed to suspend my disbelief there!
The most amazing thing about this film is its soundtrack. It is so far ahead of its time that it is hard to believe it comes from a 1974 film. For connoisseurs of this kind of thing, I rank it along side Goblin’s soundtracks for “Deep Red” and “Suspiria”, Lalo Schifrin’s “Enter the Dragon” and John Carpenter’s “Halloween”. Even in the depths of it’s murky mix, it is that good.
Straight up, Kung Fu fans will love this. Film buffs will find it not without interest. Casual viewers should probably avoid it. Just because Tarantino borrowed little bits here and there for Kill Bill is no reason to knock yourself out getting hold of the disc.
If that is your only motivation, try “Lady Snowblood” and “The Bride With White Hair”. He ripped off much more off of those films. If you then find yourself converted to the cause of martial arts mayhem, this could be your next stop.
After all, this is a sequel to “One Armed Boxer” which was a reworking of “One Armed Swordsman”. You get the picture? How much new blood can you expect to get from this particular stone?
The first thing that happens when you throw the disc into your machine is a notice of information that they deliberately ignored on the cover. Someone apparently used all the 35mm prints of this film as toilet paper and the image quality is far from pristine. It is, however, much better than your normal third generation video-to-DVD transfers that you come to expect of obscure martial arts movies of this vintage. It is certainly watchable.
Although the martial arts sections are first rate, you kind of take that for granted. Lots of long shot – we’re not faking this – action. Fight choreographer Ka Wing Lau went on to work on “Once Upon A Time in China” so, if you are only here for the punch ups, you have nothing to complain about.
This is a kind of “tournament” film (it is credited as the first). What this means is it is a bit like watching a game of “Streetfighter”, particularly when many of the participants are ethnic cliches gifted with the kinds of powers no amount of training or meditation are going to grant you. This film boasts a boot polished actor playing an Indian yoga master who can stretch his arms to about triple their regular length. The Thai fighter is portrayed as a bare foot savage while the Japanese fighter demands the heroine return to Japan with him so he can teach her his secret kung fu. We are left in no doubt as to what this will involve.
Boo, hiss, you may say. Don’t worry about it. It is kind of expected of you. Things are not looking particularly good on the storyline front. Having said that, the storyline is clean and well drawn. It doesn’t suffer from the genre’s usual vices of glaring gaps in logic or dialogue that comes in huge chunks of exposition. It moves from go to whoa with a ruthless efficiency and it is not an unenjoyable ride.
Jimmy Wang Yu is one reason to jump aboard this band wagon. He has star charisma. His direction is confident and brisk.
The main villain, a blind psychopath who wields the flying guillotine of the title, is an interesting foil. One is almost convinced that such a ridiculous device could, in fact, be the dire threat it is promoted as. Almost. I mean, there are certain laws of physics that… I’m sorry. I almost failed to suspend my disbelief there!
The most amazing thing about this film is its soundtrack. It is so far ahead of its time that it is hard to believe it comes from a 1974 film. For connoisseurs of this kind of thing, I rank it along side Goblin’s soundtracks for “Deep Red” and “Suspiria”, Lalo Schifrin’s “Enter the Dragon” and John Carpenter’s “Halloween”. Even in the depths of it’s murky mix, it is that good.
Straight up, Kung Fu fans will love this. Film buffs will find it not without interest. Casual viewers should probably avoid it. Just because Tarantino borrowed little bits here and there for Kill Bill is no reason to knock yourself out getting hold of the disc.
If that is your only motivation, try “Lady Snowblood” and “The Bride With White Hair”. He ripped off much more off of those films. If you then find yourself converted to the cause of martial arts mayhem, this could be your next stop.
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