Fang Shiyu yu Hong Xiguan (1974)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang (screenplay)
Kuang Ni (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 January 1974 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Shaolin | Fighting

Cast

Kuan Tai Chen	...	Hung Hsi-kuan
Sheng Fu	...	Fang Shih-yu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kwok Kuen Chan
Chuan Chen	...	Tibetan Lama fighter
Kent Cheng
Nan Chiang	...	Ho
Ngai Hung Chik
Yun Kin Chow
Hsin Fang	...	Restaurant owner
Hak On Fung	...	Hsiang
Ngai Fung	...	Mai Hsin
Hsia Hsu
Pei Chi Huang	...	Tibetan Lama fighter
Fai Wong Lam
Chiu Lee
Hoi San Lee	...	Tibetan Lama fighter (as Li Hai Sheng)
Chia Yung Liu	...	Tibetan Lama fighter
Chen Tien Loong	...	Extra
Wai Lo
Jamie Luk
Yan Tsan Tang	...	Nien Shui-ching
Kwong-Chin Tsang
Fat Tsui
Fat Wan
Chiang Wang
Ching Wong	...	Teh
Ha Wong
Shu Tong Wong
Chi Chin Wu
Stephan Yip
Brandy Yuen
Shun-Yee Yuen
Mu Zhu	...	General Che Kang (as Chu Mu)

Also Known As:

Heroes Two (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title) (Philippines: English title)
Bloody Fists
Heroes 2 (USA)
Kung Fu Invaders (USA)
Temple of the Dragon

Runtime:

West Germany:86 min | USA:93 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1973) | West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:18 (re-rating) (1986) | UK:R (original rating) | UK:X (re-rating) (1976)

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Chang's Film Company

Fu Sheng's starring debut in the first of the Shaolin cycle

HEROES TWO (1973) was the first in a series of kung fu movies directed by Chang Cheh to focus on a group of legendary fighters from the famous Shaolin Temple. Alexander Fu Sheng appears here for the first time in his signature role of Fong Si Yu, a fighter trained at Shaolin who was involved with a group of Ming patriots opposing Manchu rule during the Qing dynasty. Chen Kuan Tai (fresh from Chang Cheh's BOXER FROM SHANTUNG and DYNASTY OF BLOOD) appears in the pivotal role of Hung Si Kwan, a Shaolin survivor who went on to teach his Southern Chinese style of martial arts, dubbed Hung boxing, to an illustrious line of students and their descendants, extending all the way down to this film's martial arts director, Lau Kar Leung (Liu Chia Liang), who used this film to infuse the kung fu genre with more authentic styles of fighting.

HEROES TWO opens with the burning of Shaolin Temple and deals with its aftermath, focusing on a misunderstanding that pits two heroes, Fong Si Yu and Hung Si Kwan, against each other to the benefit of their enemies. Curiously, the two characters don't seem to know each other even though later films depict them as friends both during and after their tenure at Shaolin. There are only a handful of brief kung fu bouts in the film before the spectacular final battle in which the heroes take on the `the four red-robed fighters from Tibet.' Up until this fight, however, the villains are not too formidable and don't represent much of a challenge to the two leads. Subsequent films would feature much better actor-fighters in the villain roles.

Although this is a weak entry in the Shaolin series, it remains an important film for its introduction of the stars in these roles and the use of authentic Shaolin martial arts styles in the fight scenes. The tape reviewed includes a 9-minute prologue entitled `Three Styles of Hung School's Kung Fu,' in which Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan Tai and Chi Kuan-Chun demonstrate different techniques of Hung boxing. Later films in the Shaolin series include MEN FROM THE MONASTERY (aka DISCIPLES OF DEATH), SHAOLIN AVENGERS (aka THE INVINCIBLE KUNG FU BROTHERS), SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS (listed on IMDB as SHAO LIN MARTIAL ARTS), FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH and DEATH CHAMBER (aka SHAOLIN TEMPLE), all from the years 1974-76.