The Boxer from Shantung (1972)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

That was an excellent one.

As Good As It Gets

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Ma Yung Chen (Chen Kuan Tai) from Shantung yearns to be someone of importance. Someone people don't look past, but admire as he walks own the street. He is going to take pal Hsiao Chiang Bei (Cheng Kang-Yeh) aka Little Hsiao Chiang Bei, along with him. Those who were with him when he was down and stick by his side as he rises, will be rewarded well. When Ma meets the infamous Boss Tan (the always amazing David Chiang Da Wei) he knows exactly what he wants to be. He refuses a job from Boss Tan, announcing he will get where he wants to be on his own. he will owe no one for his success. It creates an immediate respect between the two.Ma's steps to become important include accidentally intervening in a district fight between Boss Tan and Boss Yang (Chiang Nan). Ma's Iron Fists easily defeat Yang's men, who have nearly destroyed Tan's men in the district. Yang thinks Ma is working for Tan, despite Ma's assurances he is on his own. Yang sees Ma as a means to indirectly screw with Tan over district dominance and an impending opium deal. Little Hsiao learns about a contest involving a Russian Muscleman and a $20 bet. If you can make the Russian fall, you win $20 and no doubt recognition in Shanghai as someone on the rise. It's the perfect stepping stone for Ma. One of Yang's 4 Champion fighters, Li Caishun (Tien Chiang) is on hand to guard the proceeds fro the challenge. Li and Ma have already had on run in and Li wants t make sure there will not be a third encounter. Li is one of those men who's powerful so long as he has minions around him. Ma defeats both Li an the Russian without much of a sweat Ma will have run in with two more of Yang's champions and also back them down without much effort. This irks the Champions and seems to amuse Yang, who back burners the issue to focus on ridding himself of Tan before the Opium deal can occur. Ma learns he has become the boss of the poorest section in Shanghai. Tan lost the area to Yang, who in turn technically lost it to Ma during their fist encounter. Tan sends along some of his best men, including Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, to help Ma establish himself as Boss. All profits from the area go directly to Ma. Tan sends a message nothing is owed to Tan or anyone else. Ma did this on his own.Ma has flirtations with a local singer, Chin Lin Chi (Ching Li). They exchange glances an smiles, but it never goes beyond that (Not like in Man of Iron where Ching Li and Chen Kuan Tai become an actual couple). Chin Lin Chi loses interest when Ma goes from being a no boy to the boss of her area. She sees him now as just another thug looking to make a name for himself while stepping on others. Ma is picked on by his men for his interest in Chin Lin Chi. Ma brushes it off by announcing he can get any woman he wants - and proves it.Ma gets a carriage and has it painted identical to Tan's - as he is still trying to emulate Tan. Even Tan's former men who are now with Ma, remark how similar the two are. Ma is discussing expanded his holdings with his men, but doesn't want to step on Tan's toes or deal with Yang. There is a Casino an Brothel that neither seems to possess. Ma goes on his own to take on the owner Chang Chin Fa (Ku Feng), one of Yang's Champions. Chin Fa is infuriated when Yang orders him to give the properties to Ma. It is all part of Yang's plan to deal with Ma once Tan is out of the way.When Tan learns the properties are now in the possession of Ma and that Ma has a carriage identical to his own, his is flattered and offers a warning. Yang is far more devious than he appears. Ma needs to watch every move he makes where Yang is concerned. Little Hsiao promises to pass on the warning. Sadly, Tan doesn't heed his own advice and is ambushed by Yang through information leaked by Tan's right hand man (Wong Chung). Ma goes in search of Tan and finds the ambush aftermath. Ma vows to avenge Tan by taking on Yang. Ma prepares for the meeting with Yang by ensuring Little Hsiao is out of harms way. He tells Little Hsiao to get $100 from the cashier and get out of Shanghai. Little Hsiao should go buy a farm, get married and live a happy life. The life Ma has created for himself has no room for someone as honorable as Little Hsiao. Ma ignores his men's behest not to confront Yang on his own. The man cannot be trusted. Ma promises things will work out the way they were meant to work out. His men should stay put and wait for his return. Everyone seems to know this is a suicide mission but none speak to it.Yang has filled the tea house with his own men. Which I have come to expect with storylines like this. You know what will happen, but you have to watch anyway. I have to applaud Ma's stamina. He took a beating, but kept coming back for more. Chin Fa has buried a hatchet in Ma's stomach and it didn't even phase Ma. Yang watches in interest and horror, as his men are killed one by one by Ma. even his champions don't stand a chance against a man who has nothing more to lose.Ma's men arrive to help him as Ma struggles to remain on his feet to reach is final goal - Killing Yang for the murder of Tan. Yang's men are sent outside to deal with ma's men. The blood bath fills the street. Ma can barely stand by the time he gets his hands on Yang. One of Yang's men, who is also mortally wounded, attacks Ma after Yang has dawn his last breath. The irony of Ma's situation doesn't seem lost on him as he break out in hysterical laughter. He did exactly as he planned. He became someone. Someone people notice on the street. Someone people, on some level, respected. He also mirrored Tan's rise and fall nearly to the letter. Ma's men enter the tea house as Ma dies at the foot of the stairs. They take their revenge on the man who dealt Ma's final blow.Little Hsiao has done as Ma requested. He has packed everything he possesses and is boarding a train out of Shanghai. Also on the train are Chin Lin Chi and her uncle who are no doubt hoping to go where others will not dictate their lives.

This is basically a kung fu Scarface type of story. Chen Kuan Tai gets an "Introducing" credit in what I believe to be his first starring role. He was great, and gets even better in future movies. David Chiang has a key role and as always was the coolest guy on screen. The version I saw was uncut, which is my favorite word for movies, though it did feel a bit long. I don't think anything was worth cutting out though. I feel sorry for those stuck with a version shorter by a half hour. My favorite supporting actor of the era, Ku Feng, was in this too, but if I told you I watched 2 Shaw Brothers movies today and he was in both... well, this shouldn't be a surprise. That guy worked his ass off and the odds of such an occurrence are quite high!

Before the advent of DVD media, films such as Cheng Cheh's "Boxer From Shantung" could only be seen in severely butchered form, complete with laughable and awful dubbing, fair to poor picture quality, always in "pan and scan" format with a percentage of the picture chopped out, and in most cases, with the harder violence removed as well. Finally "Ma Yong Zhen" can be seen the way director Cheh envisioned his passionate "rags to riches" epic, with "epic" being a suitable word as this film is quite big in scope, and surpasses the 2 hour mark. The tale itself is a familiar one to be sure; a young, ambitious street urchin uses his unique boxing skills and mental cunning to climb the bloody ladder of success, and fortune. But this tale has rarely been filmed so eloquently. There is so much to praise here, beginning with cinematography; forget comparing this film with the endless and uninspired kung-fu pictures made through the 60's to 70's. For the look of "Ma Yong Zhen" is that of a mostly beautiful art-house style production. This can finally be seen in it's original aspect ratio of 2,35 widescreen, and the difference is hardly describable. For years apparently, this was only released widely with a running time of just over 90 minutes, but the wonderful DVD from "Celestial Pictures" restores the feature to it's 124 minute running time. The lead character, played by Chen Kuan-tai, is really superb in his role as the ambitious 'Ma'. He possesses a strange, utterly unique physical beauty which somehow elicits sympathy from the viewer. The film reminded me a bit of 1983's "Scarface", as the stories, as well as the extreme violence are similar themes within both pictures. However Chen's character never loses touch with his own humanity, unlike Tony Montana, who became a monster. And I must agree with another poster who described the feeling of "sadness" that envelops the film. Much of it is quiet, subdued, featuring some haunting, and totally unobtrusive musical score. Of course this is misleading, as the film explodes with a brand of violence hard to describe, for the films breathtaking climax. That new DVD also features the original Mandarin language audio track, and hearing the original language is the only way to see this. There are English subtitles as well. Recommended viewing for anyone curious to see a how a traditional kung-fu film can be transformed into a work of art.

Occasionally too gluey Eastern about the rising of Ma Yongzhen [ Chen Kuan Tai, in the German title he's giving a pirate, not a boxer ] , who hast to recognize later, the air up there is quite thin. The formal data's of the movie are quite impressing: John Woo as assistant director, Chen Kuan Tai became one the Top Actors thru it, it's with KING BOXER and FIST OF FURY one of THE influential movies of the time, followed by a somehow sequel [ IRON MAN ] and a remake [ Corey Yuen Kwai's HERO, with Takeshi Kaneshiro and the then-comeback of Yuen Biao ]. An epic is aimed, the premise is well, but due to the missing pace and the lacking dramatic and elaboration it isn't reached. The action scenes are either rigid or way too exaggerated, and some sequences could have been cut; a running time of 2hrs is too much for that. For example the Wrestling episode, which is terribly long, but also some sections with Ching Li as eye-catcher and secret love interest of Ma Yongzhen, which adds nothing at all to the film. So there's only struggle to the next, the opponents are always increasing, Ma himself is little impressed by that. At the end he runs around a tea house, collapsing it and beating the sh*t out of estimated 200 thugs, and already has an Axe cut in his belly. Thats too silly.Movie has sure his strengths, production values is as high as the body count, Chen Kuan Tai does very well in his first leading role, there's an expanded cameo of David Chiang and the gangster story is something new, compared to the usual revenge - plot. The prologue and epilogue are quite fine, between them is a good film, but not an outstanding one.