In fact, the action is suprisingly good for a film from this era; there's some nice wire action which makes things exciting, but not so over-exaggerated as to put off most "purists", and it's quite bloody in parts. A personal favorite gibby moment is when one guy gets his eyes gouged out, and then later returns the favor (and, yeah, they actually show the bloody peepers hitting the floor). It's little bits like that which elevate King Boxer from just another "chop-socky" flick into the realm of classic kung fu action.

Five Fingers of Death tells the story of a young martial arts student named Chao Chi Hao (Lo Lieh). Chao lives with his adopted father and his niece Yin Yin whom he both loves very much. One night while walking through his village the old man Sing is attacked by a vicious group of thugs led by the evil baldheaded Wang. The old man fends off the attack, but barely makes it. When Chao and Yin Yin hear of the attack they run to Sings aid and like the wimps they are Wang and his crew take off. Back at home Sing explains to Chao that hes getting old now and he cant fight like he used to. Sing wants Chao to go with a family friend to a school to train. The school is owned by Chen Chin Pei. Chen Chin Pei is a kung fu master who can train Chao to be one of the best around. Chao doesnt want to leave but after Sing tells him he must win the kung fu tournament so Min Dong Chen and his thugs like Wang dont take over the province and ruin everyones lives. Chao then agrees to go.

We get a closer look at how much of a scumbag Wang is, when he encounters a beautiful young girl singing in the village. This girl is actually Chen Chin Pei's daughter. So Wang walks up to her and tries to get her to come back to meet Min Dong Chen. When she refuses, Wang grabs her and she pulls away again and runs off to a local bar. She runs over to our hero Chao who is relaxing having something to eat and drink. Chao sees shes in trouble and when Wangs thugs rush over to Chao, he doesnt even know what they want before they start trying to kick his ass. Chao fights off the thugs and shows his skills as a fighter. Even though hes not that great yet, he has potential. Afterwards, Chao and Chen Chin Pei's daughter leave the town and take a carriage through the countryside to Chen Chin Pei's school. Theres some heat between the two while they camp out that night. We can see the girl has the hots for Chao.

When Chao arrives at the school, Chen Chin Pei tests his martial arts skills, but he quickly sees that Chao isnt a very skilled fighter yet. He tells Chao he will give him a job working in the kitchen until he feels he is ready to train with the rest of the school. Theres some great scenes with Chao carrying buckets of water. Chen Chin Pei trains him by throwing things at him while he carries the water and Chao ends up falling over. Chao then tries to break a piece of wood with his hand, but when he strikes it and instead breaks his hand, Chen Chin Pei laughs at him mockingly. With an anger, Chao wacks the log again, this time breaking it. Chen Chin Pei throws spears at Chao the next day as hes carrying more water and this time Chao flips up into the air catching each spear. Chen Chin Pei is impressed and can see Chao is learning fast. He accepts him into the school to train.

We meet another young martial arts named Chen Lang who challenges a local fighter for some money. Chen Lang wins but before he leaves, he is met by Min Dong Chen a respected and feared local chieftain who owns his own martial arts school. Min asks Chen to join his school to train for the upcoming tournament. Min and his son Chin Sun know that if he can bring Chen Lang onboard Chen Chin Peis students will have a good chance of losing. Chen Lang agrees to sign on with Min. Now they have a secret weapon.

Back at Chen Chin Pei's school, Chao is training to be the best he can be. One night Chao goes out to get some wine for one of his fellow pupils. While at the local bar, he runs into Chen Lang and Min Dong Chens students. They call out to Chao and make fun of him calling him a stinky country boy. Chen Lang walks up to Chao and pours water on him and then takes his wine flask and throws it in the air. Chao flips into the air and manages to catch the flask using his skills, but doesnt fight Chen Lang, instead he just calmly walks away. When the students back at Chen Chin Peis school hear about this, they see Chao as a wuss and look down on him.

Chen Chin Pei calls on Chao to talk privately. What he tells him surprises him. Chen tells Chao he has considered him one of his best students and he wants him to learn the secret "Iron Fist" style. He gives Chao a secret book so he can study the method. He instructs Chao to remember to never use the Iron Fist for anything but honorable intentions. Chao agrees to this and begins to ready his body for the secret method by dipping his hands in hot burning sand. When one of Chaos fellow students challenges him to a spar, we can see Chao is beginning to show signs of emitting his invicible "Iron Fist" style. Whenever Chao begins to use it, we hear a loud siren like noise (the opening of Quincy Jones' Ironside TV show theme) and his hands glow firey red. One of the reasons I love Chang Cheh's heroes is because they always have some unique sound/visual effect that starts when they start to fight.

When Min Dong Chen hears that Chao is learning the Iron Fist style, he knows he must do something to stop Chao from entering the tournament right away. One day while Chao is walking along the country road, one of his fellow students tells him someone wants to meet him under a tree nearby in the woods. When Chao arrives he is jumped by Chen Lang and a group of Min Dong Chen's thugs including two new hired Japanese recruits (seen as a dispicable act in Chinese culture). They wrap Chaos arms around a tree and proceed to break his hands with hard sticks. Chaos hands are now ruined and hes finished as far as the tournament goes.

Chao is discovered passed out by Chen Chin Peis daughter as they drive down a dirt road. They bring Chao back to the school and wrap his hands up in bandages. Chao is very distressed because he cant do anything else. He has been studying martial arts his whole life. After awhile, Chao's hands begin to heal, but hes not able to help Chen Chin Pei with Min Dong Chen, Chen Lang and his bullies. While Chao is recovering, Min Dongs men engage in a fight and rip out one of Chao's fellow students eyeballs so he cant see. When Chen Lang sees this, he realizes that Min Dong is too cruel for him to work for. On the country road, Chen Lang runs up to Chao and tells him hes sorry for everything he did before to him. He warns Chao to look out for trouble. With noone left to fight for him, Min Dong Chen is now going to lose the tournament.

Chao fights off Min Dongs men long enough to train once again to enter the big martial arts tournament. Chao shows his incredible fighting skills to all of the attendees and wins!! While the entire place cheers Chao and throws him up in the air, the defeated Min Dong walks over to Chen Chin Pei and seems to be humbled by his opponents honor and skill. Chen Chin Pei is then stabbed by the two faced bastard Min Dong Chen. Chao sees his teacher Chen Chin Pei has been stabbed and rushes over to him. Chao knows theres only one thing left to do: strike back! He confronts Min Dong Chen's students at the school and fights them all using his incredible Iron Fist style. Chao tears through them, and he even fights the two Japanese thugs who come at him with samurai swords. Since Chaos hands are made of Iron and he can now even fend off sharp metal swords and knives. When Chao confronts Min Dong Chen, like the coward he is, Min Dong kills himself with a large knife spraying blood everywhere. Chao saves Min Dongs son Chen Sun for last and while fighting Chen Sun he even punches right through a large tree!! Chao kicks his ass several times, blasting him right through the wooden walls in the village (The Big Boss Style!). When Chao finishes Chen Sun off, his main squeeze Yin Yin is there waiting for him and we see Chao has won this fight and he walks with his two friends into the sunset...

...Five Fingers of Death is one of the top kung fu films ever made. Its a very special film that was one of the biggest international hits which ushered in Kung Fu to America. It has everything you want in a great kung fu film: lots of excellent kung fu fighting, great characters (Lo Lieh rules in this!), supercool sound FX (that awesome Ironside theme!)and great direction by the master Chang Cheh. Every kung fu film fan should have a copy of this film!! A Grindhouse classic!

REVIEW
Lo Lieh gives a powerful performance in this masterfully crafted martial arts classic. Not to be confused with the lesser martial arts film of the same name which starred Yasuraki Kurata and was released a year before, King Boxer quickly became Lo Lieh's most successful film overseas and remains highly regarded by genre fans, even though the story itself was similar to many others from the same Bruce Lee era.

Lo Lieh stars as Ji Hao, a young martial artist who is sent by his master to train under an even more powerful master. Initially, it appears that Lo Lieh will be relegated to menial tasks due to his unimpressive skills. Yet, his new master is really prepping him to learn his own Iron Fist style in the hopes that the young man will be able to win an important martial arts competition. Also entering the contest is the brutal Tung Lam, son of an equally brutal martial arts master played by Tin Fung who was Bruce Lee's elder brother in Fist of Fury (1972). When Tin Fung learns that Lo Lieh could beat his own son, he has his men ambush Lo and beat his hands into a bloody pulp. This potentially crippling act proves ineffective as Lo recovers and completes his training in time to represent his school in the competition. However, Tin Fung's men lay in wait to delay the young man as he travels to the contest grounds, but a former adversary who has become disillusioned with Tin Fung's brutality intercedes and Lo arrives in time to defeat Tin Fung's son in the competition. Yet, Ting Fung has already had Lo's former master killed and manages to backstab his current master at the competition. This leads Lo to seek revenge against Tin Fung and his vicious Japanese cohort with hands so powerful they glow red!

There is actually a lot more to this story that all comes together in a neat little package. A lot of peripheral characters such as a woman who falls in love with Lo and a rival who is responsible for Lo's original beating all help fill out a surprisingly meaty tale. The whole revenge plot is certainly not original and many other aspects of the film have been used before. The success of this film comes from the competent execution of the story and the satisfying camera work and choreography, partially led by Liu Chia Liang.

As an actor, Lo Lieh rates much higher than most of his contemporaries. In King Boxer he exhibits a subtle, yet wide range of emotion. His success lies in his understated performance coupled with a admirable display of 'hard" Chinese boxing. King Boxer deserves its reputation as a cult classic for managing to stand out in a deluge of post-Fist of Fury retreads.

An old Kung Fu teacher, Shen Wu, is assaulted by a group of thugs from a rival school. He fights them off, but is concerned after the attack. There is an upcoming prestigious martial arts tournament and Shen Wu does not want his rivals to win. So Shen Wu sends his best pupil, Chao Chi-hao (Lo Lieh), for additional training at the respected martial arts school run by master Shen Jin Pei. Chao Chi-hao also happens to be engaged to Shen Wu’s beautiful daughter, Ying Ying (Wang Ping). Chao Chi-hao and Ying Ying say goodbye, and he leaves to make the journey to Shen Jin Pei’s martial arts school.

Meanwhile, the evil leader Meng (Tien Feng) is grooming his son to win the tournament. Meng uses his thugs to eliminate anyone who gets in the way of his sons chances to win the tournament. Meng enlists the aid of a powerful martial arts bully named Chen Leung. Chao Chi-hao finally arrives at Shen Jin Pei’s school and appeals to the old master for guidance. Instead of allowing him into the school right away, he assigns Chao Chi-hao menial tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and errands. One day during martial arts classes, Chen Leung breaks into the school and beats up the pupils, until old master Shen drives him away. Chao Chi-hao is sent on an errand to a nearby tavern (which happens to be a hang-out for Meng’s goons), and bumps into Chen Leung. They immediately get into a fight, with Chao Chi-hao getting the best of Chen Leung.

After seeing his top dog, Chen Leung, get beat by Chao Chi-hao, Meng recruits the skills of a group of Japanese assassins, led by Mr. Okada, (Chao Hsiung). This deadly trio perform Meng’s bidding, and go around murdering anyone connected to Chao Chi-hao, including his future father-in-law, Shen Wu. After master Shen Jin Pei is injured by Meng’s thugs, he decides to teach Chao Chi-hao the secret of the Iron Fist. With this new technique, Chao Chi-hao will be unstoppable. A jealous student of Shen Jin Pei hears this revelation, and runs to inform Meng. Knowing that if Chao Chi-hao learns the Iron Fist technique, he will easily win the tournament, they set a trap for him. Chao Chi-hao falls right into their trap, and after he is overwhelmed by Meng’s thugs, they crush and mangle both his hands. This assault not only breaks Chao Chi-hao’s hands, but it breaks his spirit as well. The tournament is rapidly approaching, and his will to compete is gone. Of course, there is more at stake here than just the tournment; Meng’s thugs and the Japanese assassins must pay for all the people they have killed. Master Shen Jin Pei must find a way to motivate him, so that Chao Chi-hao can use his five fingers of death to win the tournament, and stop the multitude of villains.

Despite the lack of a Bruce Lee or a Jackie Chan, FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH struck gold at the U.S. box office. The star, Lo Lieh, was not a big box office draw like Lee or Chan, because he does not have the charisma of those stars. But he does possess a certain steely presence. Lo Lien also received a screenplay credit for the film, so he is talented beyond the martial arts. Lo Lieh went on to star in some genre films such as MASTER OF DEATH (1975), BLACK MAGIC (1975), THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978) and has appeared in modern Hong Kong films like SEX AND ZEN (1992). The supporting performances are also better than average, and the actors and actresses emotions are not lost in the translations.

Being a Shaw Brothers film meant that the budget was higher than most martial arts films of the time. The higher budget really shows here, with the largest cast of characters ever assembled for a martial arts production. The set design and art direction are also first rate. All of this means nothing without a decent story, and the scriptwriters really come though with an intriguing premise that comes off more like an ensemble piece, compared to the singular narrative that the Bruce Lee films have. The villains all get as much screen time as the heroes, and by the end of the film, you really want to see them dead. The filmmakers manage to give the film an epic scope, while retaining the human aspects like Chao Chi-hao’s relationship with his fiancee. Besides the violence and action, there are also underlying themes of devotion, loyalty, and sacrifice.

The fights are fast and furious. Whether it’s a critical life-or-death struggle, or just a student practicing Kung Fu, the fight choreography is inspired. There is plenty of leaping and jumping mixed in with the combat scenes, and it's all believably presented without any cuts. Speaking of cuts, the amount of violence and bloodshed in the movie is staggering. There are decapitations, bloody knife fights, eyeball plucking, sword-slashing that spews blood, flying headbutts, bloody faces and foreheads, people getting thrown though walls, and arterial spraying. You probably don’t want to watch this one with the kiddies.

SIGHT
Steeplechase presents FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH in an uncut, widescreen transfer (2.35.1). The image seems to be a direct port of the VHS transfer, minus the analog anomalies attributable to the VHS format. Because of this, the transfer lacks that smooth digital sharpness we expect from DVD, and there is some bleeding, too. But the color holds up really well. The black level is perfectly calibrated, but there are still some problems seeing the action in the night scenes. You’ve got to understand this is a 30-year-old low budget film, from mediocre source elements. There is an abundance of speckles and scratches, especially where the reel changes occur in the source print. You really can’t fault Steeplechase for the problems here. Truth to tell, the movie just looks great in widescreen, and I’ll put FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH up against any other widescreen martial arts flick put out on DVD (by Tai Seng, Crash Cinema, and Xenon) from this time period. The cinematography looks magnificent, with the period production design taking you back a couple hundred years to ancient China. Though the film has a dark tone, there is some cool lighting tricks used by the filmmakers that enhances the photography. The fight scenes are perfectly captured in their widescreen glory. Then there is the violence and blood. The bloody special effects are pretty convincing for the time and are well preserved in the transfer. The detail level is not as polished as I would like, but it gets the job done. The fight scenes take place mostly indoors, and you can clearly see the floorboards give way when someone is flipped, and dust rising when someone is hurled through the walls. Until someone like Criterion gives FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH a complete and thorough restoration (yeah, right), this is the best the film will ever look on home video.

SOUND
The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. This stereo soundtrack is little more than a remixed mono soundtrack, so don’t expect powerful fidelity. But the sound elements (sound effects, dialog, score) come through clear and crisp and without any dropouts or distortion. There is no background noise or hiss. Bass is evidently lacking, but the movie does not really require any low end activity. You can clearly hear the martial arts strikes, flips, tosses, and the screams of the fighters. The dubbing is actuality not too bad, and its those same group of voice actors that dubbed hundreds of these films, so you’ll recognize many voices. At least the dubbing is consistent. For instance, they have old men dubbing the old masters, and they have young women dubbing the pretty young girls. The music is by Chen Yung Yu and Wu Ta Chiang. Their music is a combination of authentic period music with an almost rock-based motifs consisting of some primal drums. Though the music lacks CD fidelity, it sounds great in the mix and works wonders with the visuals, drama, and action sequences. Though not a strong stereo mix, it more than gets the job done, and beats the mono sound of most classic martial arts DVDs.

FEATURES
No extras, but check out the flashy menus and DVD authoring:

CONCLUSION
Despite the flaws to the source material, Steeplechase’s DVD of FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH is hard to beat for the price. Though the film is not the greatest martial arts film ever made, it was highly influential in making this particular type of genre film acceptable to the U.S. public. If you were to purchase only one classic martial arts on DVD this year, I would recommend FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH. It’s got a great story, an honorable hero, a plethora of larger-than-life villains, bloody violence, and nonstop action. This film (along with THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS) are Steeplechase’s first foray into martial arts DVD releases, and according to the packaging, may be first in a new series of widescreen martial arts films on DVD. Personally, I welcome the idea. Hopefully, they’ll learn and get better and release some overlooked Kung Fu classics on DVD.