Tai quan zhen jiu zhou (1973)

Director:

Feng Huang

Writer:

Feng Huang (writer)

Release Date:

July 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | War | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Invasion | Korean | Tae Kwon Do | Japanese Occupation | Martial Arts

Cast

Angela Mao	...	Wan Ling-ching
Jhoon Rhee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Chan
Chi Chu Chin
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
Kenji Kazama
Ching-Ying Lam
Andre Morgan
Wilson Tong
Lai Wang
Ing-Sik Whang
Anne Winton
Carter Wong		(as Carter Huang)
Biao Yuen

Also Known As:

Heuggwon (South Korea)
Kickmaster
Sting of the Dragon Masters (USA)
Taekwondo Heroes (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Toi kuen jan gau chow (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
When Taekwondo Strikes (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:91 min | USA:95 min

Country:

Hong Kong | South Korea

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Company:

An Yang Films Co. Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)

very bland

I won't waste your time by describing the plot for this, the other reviewer already did this quite well. I will however give you my opinion of this movie. This movie is basically anti japanese propoganda. The japanese are portrayed as incredably evil b**tards who have respect for nothing, as well as having very poor martial arts skills (groups of japanese men get there asses kicked by single women on more than one occasion.) The fact that the japanese fighters lose almost every (if not every) fight in the movie kind of takes away the suspense. The plot is actually quite solid and perfect for a kung fu movie though. The problem lies in the fact that there's not much fighting. When there are fights some of the fighting is quite good, but other scenes are choreographed badly. One scene angela mao takes on six japanese in a church and kicks all their asses. The problem is they show her fighting them one by one when they're all supposed to be attacking at the same time. I gather this movie was incredably cheap considering how cheap some of the sets are. They use the same village set for when they are in korea and when they are in china without changing it at all. Some scenes are filmed at real locations though, and they look good. Overall the only real problem with the movie is it's slow moving and uninteresting plot. Since there are few fight scenes we have to rely on the plot for entertainment and, well, I wasn't entertained.

one and a half stars out of four