Fist of Fury (1972)

A young man seeks vengence for the death of his teacher.

Director:

Wei Lo

Writer:

Wei Lo (screenplay) (as Lo Wei)

Stars:

Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, James Tien

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Lee	...	Chen Zhen
Nora Miao	...	Yuan Le-erh (as Miao Ker Hsiu)
James Tien	...	Fan Chun-hsia
Maria Yi	...	Yen
Robert Baker	...	Petrov
Fu Ching Chen	...	Chao
Shan Chin	...	Tung
Ying-Chieh Han	...	Feng Kwai-sher
Chikara Hashimoto	...	Hiroshi Suzuki (as Riki Hashimoto)
Jun Katsumura	...	Suzuki's bodyguard
Chung-Hsin Huang	...	Tien
Kun Li	...	Hsu (as Quin Lee)
Feng Tien	...	Fan
Ying-Chi Li	...	Li (as Yin Chi Lee)
Tony Liu	...	Chin

Storyline

Returning to Shanghai to marry his fiancée, Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee) a student of renowned martial arts teacher Huo Yuanjia, discovers his sifu has died. During the funeral, members of a local Japanese dojo show up and insult the Chinese students. The bullying continues, with Chen fighting back, but when he discovers the truth - that his teacher was poisoned on the orders of the dojo's master - he sets off on a doomed mission of revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

hand to hand combat | kung fu classic | roundhouse kick | fight to the death | teacher student relationship | 

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Taglines:

Bruce Lee is DYNAMITE! [UK]

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese English

Release Date:

9 September 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fist of Fury

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 102 min (PAL) 99 min (initial release)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the end credits, the name of Nora Miao's character is "Yuan". The name Yuan, however, isn't mentioned in the movie.

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Goofs

Yoshida's hakama is worn backwards.

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Quotes

Wu: I feel dizzy, so dizzy!
Petrov: Three more cups!
Suzuki: Now then, if you want to go out of here, go out like a Chinese! On your hands and knees!
Wu: You mean crawl?
Suzuki: Why not?
Wu: Oh yes, sure. I will, I will crawl. Crawl!

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Alternate Versions

For its original 1972 UK cinema release the BBFC requested a cut to remove a shot of a flying throat kick, though it appeared intact in all early theatrical prints and was possibly waived before release. In 1978 the film was withdrawn by BBFC director James Ferman (together with Enter the Dragon) and all nunchaku footage removed together with the previously mentioned throat kick, and these cuts, (totalling 2 mins 51 secs) would persist in all of the film's UK video releases. The cuts were fully restored for the 2001 Hong Kong Legends release.

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Connections

References Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

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Soundtracks

Atmospheres
Written by György Ligeti
Performed by Das Orchester des Südwestfunks Baden-Baden
Courtesy of MGM Records
Brief excerpt, played twice, during dramatic death scenes

User Reviews

Classic Chop-Socky in which wild fighting scenes provide an overwhelming view of Bruce lee's skills.

Chen Chen (Bruce Lee choreographed his own fight scenes) returns to the international compound of China to find his girlfriend (Nora Miao) and old friends , only to learn of his intimate teacher's death . This is compounded by the continual racist harassment by the Japanese population in the area . As he seeks vengeance for the death of his teacher and infiltrates Japanese territory to investigate the strange events . As he sets out to avenge the death of his teacher Huo Yuanjia (Fok Yuen Gap) and at one point during the film, the Chinese Wushu students are called "sick men of Asia" by their rivals . Unlike his friends, he confronts it head on with his mastery of martial arts while investigating his teacher's murder . Chen dispatches numerous thugs and hundreds of Karate experts before a violent slug-fest with Petrov , a baddie Russian (Robert Baker, in the Cantonese and Mandarin versions of the film, his voice is dubbed by 'Bruce Lee') . Chen Chen accepted the challenge of a Russian fighter who called all Chinese people "sick men of Asia" . According to certain historical sources in China , the real-life Chen escaped from Shanghai successfully .

This violent Chop-Socky displays action-packed , thrills , fast-paced and wild fighting images . The international title of this film was "Fist of Fury" , in the United States the English dubbed version was released under the title "The Chinese Connection" to avoid confusion with "Fists of Fury" or ¨The big boss¨ , the title for the U.S. release of Bruce Lee's previous film . Packs violent combats sequences including Karate , Judo, Tae Kwon do , Hapkido and Wushu . Exciting and rousing struggles , though Bruce Lee was doubled in the fight scene between Chen and Yoshida where Chen does a somersault, while Jackie Chan doubled for the villain Suzuki when he is kicked back through the large paper windows . And impressive final fighting , the key fight sequence between Lee and Robert Baker is a mixture of punishing action and dry humor, as at one point Lee bites Baker on his leg to escape an arm lock , plus Lee boxes with Baker, jabbing him repeatedly in the face whilst wearing a cheeky grin! ; the fight comes to a dramatic conclusion as Lee side kicks Baker in the head, knocking him senseless, and then Lee delivers a lethal karate chop to Baker's windpipe, terminating his bigger opponent.

The motion picture was well directed by Lo Wei , because of the movie's racial content and personal disagreements, Bruce Lee quit working with Lo Wei after this movie . Lo Wei also directed the successful ¨Fists of fury¨ and various Jackie Chan vehicles as ¨New fist of fury¨ and ¨Spiritual Kung Fu¨.

This is a top-notch Kung-Fu movie with the unforgettable Bruce Lee . Bruce Lee one of the biggest international hit smashes , ¨Fist of Fury¨ was previously realized to his American box office ¨Enter the dragon¨. This one was made later but released before ¨Lee's Return of dragon¨ with Chuck Norris as contender , and Lee had formerly starred ¨Fists of fury¨ or ¨The big boss¨. ¨Enter the dragon¨ is his last complete movie character but his next film ¨ Game of death¨ was absurdly edited after his death , this Kung-Fu actioner was realized by Robert Clouse , an expert on Chop-Socky movies and he directed Bruce Lee's last film . ¨Fist of fury¨ is indispensable and essential seeing for Lee fans and Karate enthusiastic.