Five Fingers of Death

 Brace yourself, because the "5 Fingers of Death" will kick your ass!

 

This is THE martial arts movie that started the Kung Fu craze in America.  Before Warner Bros. put this out, martial arts flicks were shown only in Chinatown to Chinese audiences.  "5 Fingers of  Death" (sometimes called "King Boxer") showed the rest of us how awesome watching dudes punch and kick each other could be.

 

It's a story of honor.  But y'know what?  Like most Kung Fu movies, the story doesn't matter.  What matters are the fights.  And they are freakin' awesome!  Nothing fancy here.  Minimal wirework.  No dance-like choreography.  Just dudes beating the shit out of each other.  Blood flows (tame by today's standards but in 1973 this was intense) and sometimes sprays wildly.

 

Director Chang Ho Cheng came to China from Korea and changed the face of martial arts.  His camera and editing is incredible kinetic.  The action is constantly in your face.  Kung Fu movies would duplicate his style for the next 20 years.  Filmmakers today could take a lesson from Chang Ho Cheng.  The man could put together some incredible action.

 

But the ultimate badassery in "5 Fingers of Death" is star, Lo Lieh.  He embodies that certain quiet intensity that great Kung Fu heroes seem to require (there are exceptions).  When he starts honing his Iron Palm, you know things are going to get crazy awesome.  Which is insane considering that the movie is already crazy awesome!

 

I watch a ton of martial arts movies and "5 Fingers of Death" is one I return to often (I still watch my VHS copy sometimes because I love the dubbing).  I actually watched this movie the other day and two hours after it was over, I watched it again with the audio commentary on.  Check it out.  It's one of the absolute best action flicks ever!  And keep an eye (and ear) open for all the stuff Quentin Tarantino borrowed for "Kill Bill."

 

9 out of 10