Tang ren jie xiao zi (1977)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang (writer)
Kuang Ni (writer)

Release Date:

1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Kung Fu Kid | Art

Cast

Sheng Fu	...	Tan Tung
Shirley Yu	...	Lena
Shaw Yin Yin	...	Hsin Wa
Philip Kwok	...	White Dragon boss Hsiao Pai-lung (as Kuo Chui)
Jenny Tseng	...	Yvonne / Lee Wa Fung (as Jenny)
Chien Sun	...	Yang Chien-wen
Hung Tsai	...	Wan
Ching Ho Wang	...	Tung's Grandfather
Lung Wei Wang	...	Hsu Hao
Ti Lu	...	Mr. Yang
Yung Henry Yu
Ping Ha	...	Mrs. Hsu (as Hsia Ping)
Chih-Ching Yang	...	Restaurant Owner Chen
Kuan-chung Ku	...	Cook
Nan Chiang	...	Laundry Owner Lee

Also Known As:

Chinatown Kid (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title) (Philippines: English title)
Tang ren jie gung fu xiao zi (Hong Kong: Mandarin title) (recut version)
Tong yan gai siu ji (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

USA:115 min | Hong Kong:86 min (DVD version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Goofs:

Factual errors: Despite the fact that the majority of the film takes place in San Francisco, all cars shown have the steering wheel on the right-hand side and drive on the left-hand side of the road.

Movie Connections:

Version of Ma Yong Zhen (1972)

One of the best "modern day" kung fu's

I don't normally watch martial arts movies that take place in a modern day city, but I kept seeing parts of this movie on T.V. and it eventually caught my interest.

This is actually a good movie. You do sort of get close to some of the characters (good acting for this type of movie).

Watching this movie today, it does feel rather dated, with the bell-bottom pants and some of the background music. Though, some of the music is kind of "cool" sounding, and fits in with the scenes. Wait till you see the modern digital wrist watch that the lead character becomes obsessed with (remember those big ones where you had to push a button to see the red LED light up the time? I do!)

The story is good and does have some morals to it. The scenery does look rather phoney. It looks as if a strong wind might blow down some of the stores downtown. Is a hot dog stand supposed to convince us that this is really America?

The dubbing is also very funny, and stereo-typical of Chinese people and kung fu movies.

Most of the fight scenes in this are not that great, and is probably the film's weak point. There seems to be too many fight scenes in this movie anyway. This is one of those rare martial arts film where the plot is more interesting than the fighting.

To some it up, this movie does have "campy" elements, and there are some poor production qualities. But the acting, character development, story, and even a few positive production values make this into a very watchable movie.

I recommend this to fans of Chinese martial arts movies, especially the older 70's/80's movies. Or anyone who likes to watch something a little different from time to time.

7 out of 10 stars.