Ying xiong ben se (1973)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Shan-hsi Ting

Release Date:

10 February 1973 (Hong Kong)

Cast

Yu Wang
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Taezo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yi Kuei Chang
Hsin Yi Chen
Pei Ling Chen
Ying Fung Chen
Wai Hung Ho
Han Hsieh
Eddy Ko
Hsiao Po Ko
Sau Leung 'Blacky' Ko
Fei Lung
Mao Shan
Ting Ken Shih
Chih Wei Tang
Lan-hua Tang
Hung Tsai
Gam Guk Tse
Su Wei
Tung Chao Wu
Yuen Yi

Also Known As:

Knight Errant (International: English title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

First Films

Over the top fun!

A minute into the movie and you know you're in for some fun. A groovy 60's soundtrack blares as the scene opens onto several young men in martial arts training. A trainee jumps high into the air and just as he busts his kung-fu move the film freezes on the image and a credit appears in Chinese characters. The opening continues this way, (high jump kicks syncopated to the funky beat), until the credit sequence is over.

We learn that these trainees are three Japanese brothers, (one is of course played by Yasuaki Kurata), and their squat & sturdy auntie is teaching them tough killer kung-fu to avenge the death of their parents. Their father committed hari-kari from the shame of losing a war prisoner during a prison break and now the harsh midget auntie, (Tse Gam Guk), works to poison the boys with hatred and revenge.

Cut to Taiwan and Jimmy Wang Yu is a taxi driver who lives with his father, little brother and sexy blind sister. Jimmy's a righteous man with a quick fist who tends to get into fights. Unfortunately after every fight Jimmy must pay for his victim's medical bills by dipping into a fund for his sister's operation. Still Jimmy's quite a guy, stopping the `sneak thieves' by chasing them in a loader from an empty shipyard and saving his supermarket clerk girlfriend from lecherous advances.

It turns out that Jimmy's dad helped sneak the war hero out of the Japanese prison and now the vengeful brother's have arrived in Taiwan to make him and his family pay. The story is just a set up for the audience to view innumerable fight sequences between the killer brothers and various family members but especially with Wang Yu. The film is purposely gimmicky using silly sound effects, jump cuts, freeze frames, motorcycle gangs, supermarkets (a novelty in Hong Kong at the time?) and real life stunt woman Tse Gam Guk to perform several of her outrageous stunts in the film. It's obvious that this movie was just slapped together but there are more than enough fun and outlandish moments to find Knight Errant entertaining.

Addendum: The term Knight Errant is a common translation for the traditional Chinese hero character seen in many ancient Wu Xia fables. Wang Yu is obviously playing a modern version of this traditional character in the film.