Five Fingers of Death (1972)
"Tian xia di yi quan" (original title)

Two martial arts schools prepare for an important tournament.

Director:

Chang-hwa Jeong

Writer:

Yang Chiang (screenplay)

Stars:

Lieh Lo, Ping Wang, Hsiung Chao

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lieh Lo	...	Chao Chih-Hao
Ping Wang	...	Sung Ying Ying
Hsiung Chao	...	Okada
Chin-Feng Wang	...	Yen Chu Hung
Mien Fang	...	Sun Hsin-Pei
Feng Tien	...	Meng Tung-Shun
James Nam	...	Han Lung (as Nan Kung-Hsun)
Shen Chan	...	Wan Hung-chieh
Bolo Yeung	...	Pa Tu-er, Mongolian Fighter
Wen Chung Ku	...	Sung Wu-yang
Lung Yu	...	Tu Wei
Yukio Someno	...	Oshima Shotaro (as Ran Yeh)
Tse Lin Yang	...	Sun's pupil
Chi Chu Chin	...	Chen Lang
Bong-jin Jin	...	Lu Ta-ming (as Chen Feng Chen)

Storyline

Two martial arts schools prepare for an important tournament.

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Plot Keywords:

tournament | martial arts | letter | fruit cart | blood | 

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Taglines:

The first international martial arts movie sensation

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

21 March 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

5 Fingers of Death

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The English dubbed version, released through Warner Brothers, was the film that launched the craze for "kung fu" movies in the United States.

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Quotes

Chen Lang: He's got less guts than a mouse.

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Connections

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

User Reviews

A kung fu classic with special meaning to me.

This is truly a kung fu classic. This film appears to have influenced martial arts films for decades. The Spanish guitar background music, the competing schools, the impossibly high leaps onto the edges of rooftops, catching thrown spears, cheating in tournaments, the secret training for an exotic karate technique, themes of patience and perseverance, and more were copied by many later films such as "The Karate Kid" (1984), "Hero" (2002), "Kill Bill Volume 2" (2004), and "Kung Fu Hustle" (2004).

I feel lucky to have first seen this film in 1972, shortly after it was released, just before kung fu films became mainstream and before Bruce Lee became a household name. I saw it with two buddies of mine in a downtown San Diego theater frequented by sailors, and although the scenes of the glowing red hands and gouged eyeballs got some laughs, clearly the audience was getting into it, as was our little group. It was a very memorable movie for me. Decades later I could still recall several specific scenes, even after I had forgotten the film title. This film is extra special to me now because one of those two buddies with whom I first saw it (sailor Kenneth Lee Hines of the Kitty Hawk) has since passed away, so this film serves as a memento of that day together before we took judo and karate lessons in subsequent years.

Relative to kung fu films, I'd rate this film as 10/10. But since I have to keep the larger film audience in mind, I'll more objectively rate it as 8/10, due to obvious technical flaws. I just recommend that neophyte viewers consider those technical flaws to be proof of its vintage nature and of its authenticity, and then merrily proceed to enjoy its testosterone-charged mayhem.