Ma tou da jue dou (1973)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Ta Huang

Writer:

Kuang Ni (writer)

Release Date:

2 January 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

The first and only Muscle Mad Monster of the martial Arts! He fights to the death

Plot:

A martial arts fighter, haunted by his past, takes a job as a dock worker in a small village. His vow never to fight again is tested by the cruel owner of the pier.

Plot Keywords:

Pier | Martial Arts | Vow | Loss Of Friend | Deceit

Cast

Bolo Yeung	...	Chiang Tai (as Yang Sze)
Fan Chiang	...	Miss Ho
Yeh Fang	...	Lee Hsi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wai-Man Chan	...	Shen Wei Ta
Di Chin	...	Wu Ah-mao
Yuet Sang Chin
Yuan Feng	...	Girl Beggar
Tien Ying Li	...	Chu-heng
Wen Tai Li
Yukio Someno
Liang Tin	...	Boss Chan
Wang Chung Tsung	...	Uncle Lo
Biao Yuen
Corey Yuen

Also Known As:

Black Guide (Philippines: English title)
Chinese Hercules (USA)
Freedom Strikes a Blow (International: English title)
Ma tou shao zi (Taiwan)
The Kid from Pier (Taiwan)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Hong Kong | Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Company:

The Hong Kong Kai Fa Film Company

Quotes:

[first lines, dubbed version]
Young Woman: Shen Wei Ta, you're practicing at night?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 8 (2002) (V)

Another keeper from Brentwood's 10-packs!

CHINESE HERCULES is a martial-arts movie with a nice plot, something you don't see too often in the genre! The fight scenes are also not bad, and considering that Bolo Yeung is one of the bad guys, can it really be that terrible?? :)

Starting with our protagonist Lee Hsi accidentally killing someone in a fight, CHINESE HERCULES follows him through his flight to a small village, which is entirely dependent on the traffic that comes into their pier. As such, the owner of the pier can control all the workers (isn't ownership great?) and beat them up without remorse. Lee wants to defend his friends, but he's sworn an oath to never fight again. Also, the current boss of the pier is eventually overrun by chain-smoking Boss Chan and his giant of a henchman, Chiang Tai (played by our buddy Bolo).

The fight scenes in CHINESE HERCULES, when they actually happen, are not terrible, with the exception of one scene in the middle (wherein a disgruntled worker barges in on the pier owner "doing business") that is entirely overdubbed by shabby sound effects. The most interesting part of the fights is seeing Lee's emotions as he fights with himself over whether or not to fight OTHER people. And eventually, what do you think he decides to do? Take a wild guess!

As mentioned earlier, the struggle of the village's inhabitants against the big bosses is possibly the best feature of CHINESE HERCULES. Add into that an emotionally torn Lee and a huge-ass bad guy and you've got a solid script, and a great movie. My rating: 7.5/10