The Man From Hong Kong is a 1975 kung fu-action collaboration between Aussie action supremo Brian Trenchard-Smith, and Hong Kong's Golden Harvest studio, producer of many of the Bruce Lee films. Starring 60s and 70s kung fu superstar, Jimmy Wang Yu, the film was also an amusing spoof of the James Bond genre, cemented further by the casting of ex-007 George Lazenby as the main baddie. You may ask, why the hell am I writing about this film now? Well, I've always been a fan of Hong Kong flicks and B-grade action movies. They are often so bad, they're good :) I saw The Man From Hong Kong once before on TV and have been trying to find it ever since on DVD. Imagine my salivations when I discovered that HKFlix.com was selling it online!

The plot (and I use this term loosely) starts off with a sting operation at Ayer's Rock no less. This awesome sequence sees drug runner Win Chan (Sammo Hung!!) fight it out with an Aussie cop on top of the Rock. A helicoptor chase of Win's accomplice in a blue Datsun, culminating in the Datsun overturning and blowing up, was also great. Win is nabbed and refuses to cooperate, and so a call is made to Hong Kong undercover detective, Fang (Wang Yu), to come to Sydney and extradite Win. Chaperoned by two Aussie detectives (Hugh Keays-Byrne and Roger Ward) who try to keep him out of trouble, Fang nevertheless unleashes his special blend of mayhem in Sydney in his relentless pursuit of mob-boss Wilton (Lazenby), leaving a trail of bodies, trashed property and cars, and irrepairable destruction of Aussie-Hong Kong relationships. Fang's love interests are played by Ros Spiers and Rebecca Gilling; the saucy Gilling a far cry from Better Homes and Gardens and her current Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency ads!

From start to finish, it's a non-stop action fest, with spectacular stunts, like Wang Yu handgliding above Sydney Harbour; Lazenby being set on fire in the explosive final scene; and some car chase scenes involving Aussie icons like torana's, holden premiers, and a Valiant Charger, ably driven and crashed by Wang Yu. Some corny lines are delivered but I think that's the spoof element coming through; the film never really takes itself too seriously. That said, certain scenes are nauseating, like Wang Yu's horseback wooing of Gilling on a farmstead - bleh! Wang Yu is not as accomplished a fighter compared to his then contemporaries Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but he does OK. Flushing Sammo's head down the toilet; squirrel gripping an assassin in a Chinese restaurant, then tossing him into a fish tank; chopping up six karate dudes with wuxhu butterfly swords, were all priceless. He also did a lot of his own stunts, and was nearly killed whilst doing the handgliding scene. I am not sure whether Wang Yu's voice was dubbed, but it sounded very suspicious indeed. But it was all part of the fun. The fashions were sensational too; Lazenby's lambchop sideburns, 70s porno moustache, and exposed hairy chest were all fabulous!

I wouldn't say that The Man From Hong Kong was groundbreaking in any way, but it was refreshing to see an Asian leading man in a Western setting, particularly when it might still have been taboo in those times to see an Asian guy get it on with Caucasian/European women, which I might add, Wang Yu does with gusto! Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon was a much better Hong Kong-Western co-production, but Lee was never much into love scenes, and certainly could never have got Rebecca Gilling's gear off as well as Wang Yu ;)

I really enjoyed this film and would certainly recommend it, if only for a slice of 70s Aussie/Hong Kong action nostalgia. Just keep an open mind and enjoy the chop-sockiness for what it is!