Rent Mad Monkey Kung Fu / Five Superfighters (1979)
3.4 of 5 from 47 ratings
3h 31min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Two more films from the final years of the Shaw Brothers studio, proving that while the end was nigh, these merchants of martial arts mayhem weren't going to go out without a fight!
Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979)The opera troupe in which Chen Po and his sister Cuihong are members is engaged by the villainous Duan Zhangyuan. Duan becomes jealous of Chen's Monkey Kung Fu, and frames him by arranging for his wife to compromise him. Chen has his hands smashed as a result, and his sister must remain as Duan's concubine. Chen now leads a miserable existence, performing in the streets with his pet monkey, only to see his meager gains grabbed by the local ruffians. One youth, however, Xiao Hou, befriends him and brings him food. One day, as Chen has no money to pay off the gang, they kill his beloved monkey. Xiao Hou offers to take the monkey's place and the new act is warmly received, until the ruffians reappear. Xiao Hou tries to fight them, but Chen restrains him. Upset by Chen's apparent cowardice, Xiao Hou takes on the gang single-handed, and is severely beaten up. His courage moves Chen to teach him his own Monkey Kung Fu techniques, and soon Xiao Hou feels ready to tackle the gang again. This time they are forced to bring him to their boss, Wu Caihe, who manages a brothel for Duan. Duan himself happens to be present, together with his wife and his concubine, Chen's sister. Cuihong realizes that Xiao Hou is her brother's disciple, and saves him when he is overpowered and tortured by Duan. Xiao Hou must later return to the brothel to retrieve his hat, a treasured gift from Chen. There he finds Cuihong, aware now that her brother was framed, and eager to help attack Duan. But their attempt fails. Xiao Hou escapes, while Cuihong dies violently soon afterwards. When Chen learns the whole story, he vows to take revenge. He perfects Xiao Hou's martial skills until, as a team, they seek out Duan. After a spectacular fight, Duan meets the death he deserves.
Five Superfighters (1979)
Ma Ran-dian, an arrogant scoundrel expert in all kinds of Chinese boxing, likes to provoke fights. One day, without cause, he bullies an old man, Wan Dianxin, who lives by selling medicines. Even though Wan's three apprentices, Wang Fu-zhong, Zhang Tian shao and Zhen Liu-ji all fight against him, they are defeated. Considerably humiliated, they leave their master and split up in an effort to perfect their martial skills elsewhere. Zhang Tian-shao encounters a widow who is adept at Chinese boxing, Under her guidance and through tiring practice he masters her special kung fu kicking skills. Zhen Liu-ji accidentally falls into a fight with somu gamblers. He escapes with the help of a cripple, under whom he subsequently practices hard at tho techniques of crane boxing. On his way through i fishing village, the by now starving Wang Fu-zhong is caught stealing food by a fisherman who is expert at pole fighting. Wang stays with him to learn the art. Wan Dianxin, in the meantime, can no longer live off his drug-peddling, and is now being looked after by an old man who brings him food and wine, Being frequently drunk, Wan is always challenging the old man, himself a kung fu expert, to fight, These constant bouts serve only to perfect his own martial knowledge and skills. On Wan's birthday, to his surprise, his three apprentices return to congratulate him. To show off their newly-acquired skills, they challenge Ma to a fight, but even thil attempt at revenge fails. Finally Wan, who is an usual drunk by this time, overpowers Ma by his own particular technique of "Drunken Fighting".- Actors:
- Chiu-Sing Hau, Siu-Hung Leung, Austin Wai, Mo Yuen, Feng Kuan, Mei-Mei Wong, Jamie Luk, Hui Huang Lin, Fat Wan, Chi Ping Cheung, Hsi Chang, Siu Kai Chan, Ka Sang Cheung, Han Chiang, Kang Chu, Ping Fong, Ging Man Fung, Shang He, Chien Hua Hsu, Yung Huang
- Directors:
- Mar Lo, Chia-Liang Liu
- Producers:
- Run Run Shaw, Mona Fong
- Writers:
- On Szeto, Kuang Ni
- Aka:
- Feng hou (Fung Hau / Mad Monkey) / Tang shan wu hu (The Drunken Fighter / Superfighters)
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Comedy, Drama, Sports & Sport Films
- Countries:
- Hong Kong
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 21/11/2022
- Run Time:
- 215 minutes
- Languages:
- Cantonese LPCM Mono, Dubbed, English LPCM Mono, Mandarin LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English, English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Brand new commentary for 'Mad Monkey Kung Fu' by martial arts cinema experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth
- Newly filmed appreciation of 'Mad Monkey Kung Fu' by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
- Interview with actor Hsiao Hou, filmed in 2004
- Shaw in the USA, a brand new featurette on how Shaw Brothers broke America featuring Grady Hendrix and Chris Poggiali, authors of 'These Fists Break Bricks'
- Hong Kong and US theatrical trailers for 'Mad Monkey Kung Fu'
- Hong Kong theatrical trailer and UK VHS promo for 'Five Superfighters'
- Image galleries for both films
