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:

kung fu classic | chinese versus japanese | imperial japan | hand to hand combat | roundhouse kick | 

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Taglines:

Unstoppable! Unbelievable! Unbeatable!

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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

Bruce Lee openly admitted that in real-life, nunchaku versus the katana was actually an uneven match and should be avoided.

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Goofs

During the extreme close-up of Chen's eyes in the final fight with Petrov, his contact lenses are visible.

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Quotes

Chen: I have come here to avenge my teacher. This doesn't concern you. I'll allow you to leave. Out.
[nobody moves]
Chen: Out.
[no response]
Chen: Out.
[nothing]
Chen: Out.
[screams]
Chen: SCRAM.

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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

Featured in Zomergasten: Episode #16.3 (2003)

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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

Bruce Lee ACTS!!

This is the one film of Bruce's where I have actually seen him act (Outside of fighting scenes) with any credibility at all.

This film clearly demonstrates the anti-japanese feeling that Hong-Kong and mainland Chinese still posess. This is partly based upon WWII and partly on the thousand years or so of history before then, when China tried to invade Japan, Japan invaded China ect etc.

In fact, the way the Japanese are portrayed in this film is a very stereotypical Chinese one, long, thin pencil moustaches, usually large round glasses, oiled hair and well, evil.

This film goes over the top with this kind of view, and it's a pity as it tends to lessen the impact they were trying to make with the now infamous sign.

The end scene was excellent. It's truly disturbing how close this was to what happened to Brandon.

Shots to the head: Bruce acts - Better storyline than most of the genre - martial arts scenes ok from Bruce

Shots to the foot: Anti-Japanese characterisations go too far - martial art choreography of Bruce's opponents bad - "Kick" scene patently ridiculous.