Viewer Comments:The Boxer From Shantung
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I think "The Boxer From Shantung" is a decent movie with lots of good bloody action scenes and an okay plot. This might not be one of Chen Kuan Tai's better movies, but it's still very enjoyable and well worth checking out.
| A great old Shaw Brothers, republic era basher, starring Chen Kuan Tai as the rising gangster with great ambitions and iron fists.
What I've always liked about this movie is that even though Tai plays the anti hero here, he still retains a shred of dignity and morality, as he rises from pauper to boss. He doesn't go all Tony Montana, even though he loses his way. You still care about the character and sense the good in him throughout. The story is your typical gangster rise and fall tale. No big surprises here. It does have its slow spots, but it's all done well, with the usual Chang Cheh touch here and there. I actually liked Cheng Hong Yip's character the best. It is just one of maybe a thousand sidekick roles for him. But it was a little different than usual. He is sort of the moral compass to Tai's character, and they had great chemistry in this one. The action is standard basher stuff: brutal, bloody and raw. A nice mix of hand to hand, blades and axes. No stylized shapes in sight. And the end fight is awesome: long and bloody as hell. It's just one protracted and escalating slaughter, reminiscent of the showdown in VENGEANCE, just not quite as good. If you like movies like VENGEANCE, THE DUEL, KING BOXER, etc., you'll probably like this one. |
The story is very interesting, but the martial arts are nothing spectacular. Chen Kuan-Tai is great, but the movie is too long (~129 minutes) for a film made in the 70's. The end scene is brutal and bloody but just never seems to end. For every good thing about this movie, there is something which knocks it back from being great. In my opinion, this is a good movie, not a great one.
-William Giordanella (see my profile)
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| Y | If one is not impressed by Chen Kuan Tai, the movie is just as you say. I think higher of him than you do, and enjoy the film very much - but it could have been better with a little less filler. | Jeffrey Frawley |
Awesome movie! I feel like Brian De Palma drew some inspiration from this one in "Scarface" (Al Pacino). Really well done gangster movie from the east!
Chen Kuan Tai carries this movie. For once, the plot and actors' (no-martial) skill enhanced the movie. For a 1972 HK movie, the fighting was good. The entire package is well worth seeing.
Chen Kuan Tai's leading man debut and a pretty good kung fu/gangster flick--until the last 20 minutes, when it explodes into an all-out orgy of violence and mayhem with Chen Kuan Tai taking on the whole of the axe gang--has to be seen to be believed!!
In this Chang Cheh classic period piece, Chen Kuan-tai plays Ma Yang Chen, the main character, a poor guy from the country that tries his luck in Shanghai. After getting on the good side of one the cities “Bosses” (played by David Cheng), Ma begins a raise in power that later comes at a very high price.
Great fights from beginning to end, and a great plot to go with the film. The Boxer From Shantung is definitely a must-see classic.
Chen Kuan Tai at his best, just like most of his other movies, with a tragic finish.
This is the best showcase I know of Chen Kuan Tai's screen presence and powerful martial arts. He seems very comfortable playing a powerful but somewhat naive martial artist rising to the top with his fists and brought low by ambition: a somewhat unheroic tragic hero. Chen Kuan Tai appeared in several other films loosely paralleling this one, but this is the best.
-Jeffrey Frawley (see my profile)
Awesome! This movie is Shaw Brothers style at its best.
An excellent film chronicling the rise and fall of Ma Yung Cheng from pauper to would-be crime boss. A young Chen Kuan Tai delivers a great performance showcasing good martial arts skill. David Chiang has a good supporting role as a crime boss with timely advice that Ma comes to admire and respect. The moral of the movie is crime does not pay which leads to a tragic ending with an outstanding fight finale.
"The Boxer From Shantung" is an excellent early 70's classic Kung Fu/Chinese boxing film, and it remains one of my favorite Shaw Brothers films to date. Chen Kuan-Tai does a great job as the main character, Ma Wing-Jing; and David Chiang is also good in a brief supporting role. Chang Cheh was on point for this type of film, and I prefer these Chinese boxing pieces which take place in the 1920's over some of his earlier wartime period pieces like "The Heroic Ones". The choreography is also very good for its time, and the characters are also well established (something which Corey Yuen's loose remake "Hero" failed to do). It tells a classic rags-to-riches sort of story in good fashion, and like most of Chang Cheh's work. It ends with a grand finale of the "hero" taking on hordes of enemies in a violent bloodbath. Highly recommended!!
Hard hitting and rough storytelling from the golden era of HK cinema. If you aren't into "pretty" Jet Li type martial arts choreography and like your action more violent and realistic, then this is the movie for you. I call this flick "The Asian Scarface". If you see it, you'll know why.
-Johnnie Freeze (see my profile)
A true Shaw classic! Great storyline, fight scenes arent crisp and fast like later Shaw movies, but the story, acting are a great. A great early 70's old school kung fu movie.
The fight scenes are mediocre, I could have done it better, it's no wonder Bruce Lee became so famous at this time... His fighting scenes are like no other...I guess no one can be him...Still this movie is ok. David Chang is the only reason I stayed watching this film. I compare this to "Chinatown Kid", only "Chinatown Kid" was better.
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