The Fugitive: Viewer Comments

'The Fugitive' (1972), no relation to the popular U.S. TV show created by Roy Huggins and starring David Jansen (or the Andrew Davis-directed 1993 film version) or the Japanese sci-fi TV show 'Fugitive Alien', is about a sharpshooter, anti-hero bandit named Liao Fei Lung (Lo Lieh). Liao and his partner in crime, Ma Tien Piao (Ku Feng), loot banks by day and they party with prostitutes by night. When the authorities corner Liao and Ma in the whorehouse, the two split up. Liao is captured by the police and Ma goes into hiding. Liao's prostitute girlfriend helps him escape from prison, but she gets shot up by the cops, unfortunately! After escaping from prison, Liao goes on a journey to find Ma Tien Piao. On his journey, a bandit (portrayed by a young Sammo Hung) tries to molest and rape Ming Ming (Li Ching), an innocent orphan who is the goddaughter of Mr. Chen and Siu Ba (a young Dean Shek). Liao intervenes and he saves Ming Ming. He looks into Ming Ming's flying saucer eyes and he's...in love, dude! Of course, Liao and Ming Ming keep their romance chaste.

Possible spoilers:
Liao finds out that Mr. Chen is actually Ma Tien Piao: he's started a new life under a new name and he's splitting his stolen goods (stolen goods that Liao helped him steal) with other bandits. For some reason, Ma tries to silence Liao when he finds out that he's alive! Ming Ming and Siu Ba find Liao's battered and torn anatomy after Ma sets a trap for Liao. They try to nurse him back to health. When Ma finds out that Liao is still alive, Ma tries to force the answers out of Siu Ba and Ming Ming. When neither of them will tell him of Liao's hiding place, he beats and kills them both! A clan leader (Shih Kien, "Mr. Han") helps nurse Liao back to health. With a broken heart over Ming Ming's death and a thirst for revenge, Liao wants some payback! Now, this is where 'The Fugitive' loses some points. Watching Li Ching getting beaten and shot to death by bullets was an unpleasant sight (this is the first film that I've seen where Li Ching's character dies)! No one kills Li Ching and gets away with it! It was like this time down in Mexico when I would play with this adorable, innocent, crusty, white kitten. I loved that kitten; it didn't even have a name. It survived on a diet of table scraps that I shared with it. I was so heartbroken when it got ran over by an automobile. I'll probably feel worse if and when the real Li Ching leaves us (god forbid).

In defense of 'The Fugitive', it has some brutal gunplay and some kung fu tinged brawls. The gunplay actually overwhelms the film compared to the kung fu brawling. The gunplay may not be as breathtaking or technically-advanced as a 1980's Heroic Bloodshed film, but it still packs a good punch. Director Chang Tseng Chai even throws in some nice, female nudity. Some viewers may cringe at the gratuitous female nudity, but some viewers may end up with no complaints at all. Hee, hee! There's also canned music from Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in the West' and a few 007 flicks. I almost thought Jason Robards was going to pop out of the blue and request some coffee. It works quite well for a dark, gritty, kung fu-tinged, period action-crime drama. This film takes place in the early Chinese Republic (judging by the cop uniforms, hairstyles, and horses). Pretty, conservative actress Ouyang Shafei appears as a woman who gets mugged by Liao Fei Lung. At a mere 76 minutes, this film's story doesn't have much of a chance to develop well enough.

'The Fugitive' is nothing special...but it's a decent, downbeat, 1970's HK actioner that packs some layers into a standard revenge plot.