Wu da han (1974) User Reviews

Not much to see and not much to say

[ckormos1 · 5/10 · 8 September 2019]

It starts with Chen Kuan-Tai, in a glorious 1970s style suit, takes out six would-be muggers. The police are after him for a payoff so he hides in the brothel. Other main characters include Ku Feng as the Chinese army general and Fan Mei-Sheng as the escort company man looking for one last glory run.

In one word the problem with this movie is "guns". Guns are a poor fit in martial arts movies for obvious reasons. There are limited options to negate the "instant death at a distance" problem that guns create. This movie quickly uses up all the options. This includes such set ups as: the first three shots always miss, the dagger hits first, or using another man or a dead body as a shield. There is even a scene where the guys say they don't want to use guns because that's unfair. (In real life that has never happened.) After all the excuses, the bullets just have to keep missing and missing. Many times the soldiers used the rifles as if they were just sticks.

This is a Shaw Brothers movie and almost all of these are available in excellent video quality today. My copy is English dubbed by the "A team" of voice over people. I prefer the subtitled versions of these movies because sometimes a bit of the video is missing with the translation. Nevertheless, the copy I have has an 81 minute run time which appears correct.

I first watched this movie back in 2015 but did not write a review at the time. My notes back then put it on my list to watch again sometime as appropriate and today was appropriate. I am sure all fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984 have this movie on their list so my recommendation is meaningless. I only rate it as average for the year and genre. The fights are just not that special and the story failed to hold my attention at times.

FIVE TOUGH GUYS – Chinese history with generous doses of kung fu

[BrianDanaCamp · 8 February 2008]

FIVE TOUGH GUYS (1974) is a Shaw Bros. kung fu film with a solid cast and suspenseful storyline and a most unusual setting for the genre. It's China in 1916, when civil conflict is afoot as military leader Yuan Shi Kai is trying to get himself crowned Emperor in Beijing. General Tsai Song Po, a key leader of the resistance, is at large and eager to reunite with his troops in Yunnan. One of his aides (Frankie Wei) recruits three martial artists to help escort the General (Ling Yun) out of Beijing and past the watchful eyes of the government's security forces, led by Chief Hung (Ku Feng). On the way, they pick up a kung fu-fighting Beijing University student (Wang Chung), raising the number of men guarding the General to five (hence, the title). They have to find a way to Tianjin to get the General on a ship to Yunnan even as Chief Hung recruits a band of fighters on horseback led by Scarred Tiger (Wang Ching) to try to track the fleeing General on the back roads. At some point, the Japanese get into the act to help out Beijing's government and bring in a judo expert (played by Japanese wrestler Omae Hitoshi) to try to stop the General and his party.

It's very suspenseful, as there are quite a number of fights along the way, culminating in three major kung fu bouts involving multiple combatants in the last half-hour. The question of why the pursuing troops, many armed with rifles and pistols, just don't shoot the "five tough guys" certainly comes up and is never adequately addressed, although it's never as big a problem here as it was in such World War II-set kung fu films from Shaw as SEVEN MAN ARMY and NAVAL COMMANDOS.

The strong cast is led by Chen Kuan Tai (BOXER FROM SHANTUNG), playing a rich man and powerful fighter who joins the group out of a sense of righteousness; Frankie Wei as the general's aide; Fan Mei-sheng as a former escort chief from the days of "security bureaus" who sees this job as one last burst of old-school glory; and Wang Chung as the student eager to help. The fifth of the title five is Shih Chung-Tien (aka Chun Tin Se), an actor who's unfamiliar to me, even though I've seen many films listed on his IMDb filmography.

Ling Yun plays the taciturn, dignified General Tsai. Ku Feng, always a formidable Shaw Bros. opponent, plays his opposite number, Chief Hung. At one point, the two face each other with bemused expressions as they watch their men fight each other and Ku Feng likens it to a chess game, saying, "I have more pawns than you," to which the general replies, "But mine are more useful." The hapless Cheng Kang Yeh plays a lowlife police informant recruited to impersonate the general at a key point. The only significant female role is held by Lily Ho (THE JADE FACED ASSASSIN) in a glorified cameo as a beautiful "courtesan" who helps out the general. There are plenty of other dependable Shaw studio performers among the large army of men trying to stop the general.

There are a few notable contrivances, but the film moves well, has plenty of fight scenes, tells a good story with a historical background, and ultimately delivers the goods. I had to look up Yuan Shi Kai on Wikipedia to figure out that the film is set in 1916. (The cars look like they're from the 1940s.) He's a key figure in Chinese history of the early 20th century and is a presence in the film, although seen only in shadow. The kung fu sequences, however, seem to be an invention of the screenwriter, I Kuang, the prolific Shaw Bros. house scribe.

Director Pao Hsueh Li is credited as co-director with Chang Cheh on some classic Shaw titles, such as BOXER FROM SHANTUNG, THE WATER MARGIN, and MAN OF IRON, all reviewed on this site. However, when he went independent in the later 1970s, the results, including EIGHT ESCORTS, BLOODED TREASURY FIGHT, and REVENGER, all also reviewed here, were just not as good.

Political intrigue...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 8 April 2013]

General Tsai (Ling Yun) is on the run from General Hung (Ku Feng) and needs an escort to get him through enemy territory. Frankie Wei recruits Wu (Chen Kuan-tai), who recruits Wei (Fan Mei-sheng), the heir apparent to his late father's escort company, and their meeting results in a barroom brawl that decimates all of the furnishings. Feng (Wang Chung) throws in with them and they recruit a fifth, making them (including Frankie Wei) FIVE TOUGH GUYS. When a beggar, Wild Dog, asks to help out (for money), he's mistaken for General Tsai, bound, and shot. This minor (and, unfortunately for Wild Dog, all too brief) diversion allows the fugitives to gain some ground- but the villains soon catch up with them (otherwise, FIVE TOUGH GUYS would've been ONE SHORT MOVIE). There are some good fight scenes throughout (especially when the FIVE TOUGH GUYS must battle a giant Japanese judoka) and some genuinely suspenseful moments. The cinematography is great, as is the direction (the outdoors locations help a lot), and once again we see that a "contemporary" setting CAN work in a martial arts movie (although I'LL always prefer the period costume dramas).