Not even bad in a good way

Let's be realistic.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The Japanese have taken over China (well, this part of China at least) and are throwing their weight about the place, making the locals none too happy (except for the locals who side with them). It's up to our hero and his female sidekick and their teacher, and some other guys (one of which is a young man in an old man mask - don't ask) to sort them out.However, the Japenese ain't daft and set up a fighting tournament so that their best guys can waste any good fighters in town, therefore eliminating any threats to them. So you get kung fu versus karate, sumo and judo, which isn't something you encounter often in martial arse films.There's not much story but plenty of fighting, and a good few mega-massacres to keep you going. Our hero is also a bit handy with a sword so that gets the bodies piling right up too. Very violent, even for a kung fu film.There's never a dull minute in this one and it was a nice surprise for me to pull a film out at random and have it turn out to be this good.

This movie was decent only because it maintains a steady flow of action.There's a pretty generic plot of a town being subjugated by a corrupt ruler, in this case it's the Japanese army during World War II. Of course our hero is an amazing fighter but is reluctant to enter a battle.My version was horrendously dubbed to the point where at times I didn't really understand what was going on. But I'm not hard to please and the film delivers plenty of kung fu fighting.There's nothing funny in the plot, but there were several instances of campy dialogue and general poor production that were unintentionally hilarious.If you have 90 minutes to kill and you like kung fu movies, you can do a lot worse.

Given that this is dubbed and contains a number of stereotypes in it, this isn't a bad plot. I would have rated it a bit higher if the political incorrectness wasn't so obvious, with no comment on whether it is realistic or not.The dubbing is fairly well done and is not terribly noticeable. Lots of fight scenes and other than being rather one sided in the outcome, the choreography is fairly realistic. Weapons include a scale mail cloak, Japanese and Chinese swords, knives and bayonets on rifles in addition to numerous makeshift items.Fighters include Japanese specialists in judo, karate and sumo fighting local champions. Character development is reasonable and the invaders are put to rout. No real comic relief anywhere in this movie. Abrupt ending in the cut I saw.

This film is set during the Japanese occupation of China circa WWII. In it, the Japanese occupiers (and the Chinese Quislings who work for them) are portrayed as total monsters who kill children and rape all women. The heroes are resistance fighters who oppose the occupation.My transfer of this film is not of very good quality, and the pan and scan is terrible, cutting out a lot of the action. The dubbing, however, is better tan most films of this type.The acting and character development are remarkably good, despite the dubbing. The fight scenes are well done, and feature some interesting weapons work (in one scene, the female lead uses a cloak lined with sharp discs as a weapon). The tournament that fills the last 30 minutes of the film has some interesting contrasts in styles, pitting Chinese Boxers against judo, karate, and sumo stylists.All in all, this is a passable feature, and will please fans of the genre, especially if your copy is of better quality than mine.