Heroes of the East (1978) Zhong hua zhang fu (original title)

Director:

Chia-Liang Liu

Writer:

Kuang Ni (writer)

Release Date:

November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A Chinese man (Liu) marries a Japanese woman through an arranged marriage and manages to insult all...

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Hand To Hand Combat | Four Word Title | Fight | Ninjato Sword

Cast

Chia Hui Liu	...	Ho Tao
Yuka Mizuno	...	Yumiko Koda
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lung Chan
Kang-Yeh Cheng	...	Chow Kan
Miao Ching
Norman Chu	...	Chang
Ping Ha
Riki Harada	...	Japanese Kendo expert
Linda Lin Di Ho
Hou Hsiao
Pa-Ching Huang
Naozo Kato	...	Dojo Grandmaster
Ho Chiu Kei
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Takeno, Japanese ninjutsu expert
Hoi Sang Lee	...	Bald Pupil
Chia-Liang Liu	...	Drunken Master
Hung Lu
Yasutaka Nakazaki	...	Japanese Sai expert
Hitoshi Omae	...	Japanese judo expert
Sha-fei Ouyang
Helen Poon		(as Pan Ping Chang)
Hayato Ryuzaki	...	Nunchaku expert
Hsin Shen
Yujiro Sumi	...	Karate expert
Wilson Tong
Nobuo Yana	...	Japanese spear expert
Hua Yang
Siu Tien Yuen	...	Tao's Teacher

Directed by
Chia-Liang Liu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kuang Ni		writer

Produced by
Mona Fong	....	producer

Original Music by
Yung-Yu Chen

Cinematography by
Arthur Wong

Costume Design by
Chi-Yu Liu

Makeup Department
Yen-Lien Peng	....	hair stylist
Hsu-Ching Wu	....	makeup artist

Stunts
Chia-Liang Liu	....	stunt coordinator
Wilson Tong	....	assistant stunt coordinator (as Tang Wei-cheng)

Other crew
Chi-Ming Pang	....	script supervisor (as Peng Chih-Ming)
Cheng Peng	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Distributors

• World Northal (1981) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed) (as 'Challenge of the Ninja')
• Cinécran (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Creswin Distribution (1984) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (1991) (Finland) (VHS)
• Weinstein Company, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Zhong hua zhang fu" - Hong Kong (original title)
"Challenge of the Ninja" - USA (dubbed version)
"Shaolin Challenges Ninja" - International (English title) (dubbed version)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-3 (1991) | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Company:

Shaw Brothers

The best of the "old-school" kung fu films

Let's begin by saying that I consider Chia Hui Liu (Gordon Liu, to you KILL BILL fans) to be, pound-for-pound, the greatest movie martial artist of all. Before the Bruce Lee and Jet Li fans start baying for my blood, just read that phrase again. I said "movie martial artist" ... not "star" or "actor". But martial artist.

That's because Liu Chia-Hui (in China, you put your family name first) really is a martial artist. Bruce Lee was many things - actor, star and fighter - but never a martial artist in the traditional sense. And Jet Li is a wushu player, and wushu is a system of acrobatics, much like western gymnastics, never intended for combat.

And I consider ZHONG HUA ZHANG FU the best sustained martial arts performance in Liu's filmography, as much as I admire WU LANG BA GUA GUN (1983, aka EIGHT FIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER).

I won't elaborate on the plot of ZHONG HUA ZHANG FU here as many other commenters have already done that (but what *about* that wig, eh?), but simply observe that although, as many have stated, director Lui Chia-Liang appears to show Japanese martial arts in a sympathetic light, he does still take the position that Chinese martial arts are better, and that still amounts to a pretty damning criticism, no matter how polite he is about it.

Clearly the message of this film is that Japanese styles are direct, bombastic and chest-beating and Chinese styles are subtle, layered and adaptable. I'm not entirely disagreeing with that. I'm a 20-year student of Chinese kung fu myself. So perhaps my eye is better attuned to discern what's going on in the first battle between the Japanese Katana and the Chinese straight sword.

The katana is a weapon that is used for hacking and chopping and as such needs to have a hugely strong blade. Indeed, the manufacture of the Japanese katana is a long and arduous process in which the metal is folded and beaten many times to produce a blade that is made up of dozens of wafer-like layers of steel. This means that the weapon can take no end of punishment, even at the hands of the clumsiest or strongest swordsman.

In contrast, the Chinese sword is a far more delicate weapon and must be wielded with care and accuracy in order to be at its most effective. No hacking and chopping with a Chinese sword, then, as the blade would simply break.

So, the fight with Liu using a Chinese sword against a katana should have ended with the Chinese sword broken and Liu helpless. It's a testament to both Lius' understanding of martial arts and the limitations and advantages of both weapons that the fight is as realistic and believable as it is.

And each battle in ZHONG HUA ZHANG FU is treated with equal care (though I won't try everyone's patience by analysing each in detail)

It's well worth seeking out the Celestrial Pictures release of HEROES OF THE EAST which offers a Chinese soundtrack and English subtitles, rather than the awful Ground Zero release which is dubbed and looks like it was transferred from a full-screen VHS.

Definitely one of the best depictions of Chinese martial arts on film - ever!