Chinese Hercules (1973)

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.

Director:

Ta Huang (as Tak Choy)

Writer:

Tao Liang

Stars:

Michael Wai-Man Chan, Fan Chiang, Yeh Fang

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Wai-Man Chan	...	Shen Wei Ta (as Wai-Man Chan)
Fan Chiang	...	Miss Ho
Yeh Fang	...	Lee Hsi
Bolo Yeung	...	Chiang Tai (as Yang Sze)
Feng Chiang	...	(Guest star)
Fung Yuen	...	Girl Beggar (as Feng Yuan)
Tin Leung	...	Boss Chan (as Tin Liang)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chi-Ping Chang
Ti-Ko Chen
John Cheung
Tao Chiang
Ti Chin	...	Wu Ah-mao
Alan Chung San Chui
Fat Chung
Yun Ho

Storyline

A martial arts fighter, haunted by his past, takes a job as a dock worker in a small village. The villagers are dependent on the traffic that comes to the pier, which gives its cruel owner too much power over his beleaguered workers. The situation worsens when an even crueler gangster takes control. His most powerful weapon is his henchman, a muscle-bound brute, who remorselessly and easily cracks the skulls and breaks the necks of anyone who gets in the way. The new dock worker had sworn never to fight again, but the deaths of his co-workers force him to act.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | fight | pier | martial arts | death | 

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Taglines:

"Chinese Hercules" ... He's got a crush on you!

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie played theaters in New York City, Cleveland, and parts of Illinois and Florida, with Blood (1973) serving as a second feature under the title 'Black Nightmare in Blood'.

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Quotes

[last lines, dubbed version]
Lee Hsi: Please don't. I won't try to take your pier. I'll leave here. I won't come back.

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Connections

Featured in Someone Has to Review It!: The Big Boss (2014)

User Reviews

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

Details

Country:

Hong Kong Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

2 January 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chinese Hercules

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Hong Kong Kai Fa Film Company

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1