Tweet
Released by: Pathfinder Pictures
Released on: 12/7/2004
Director: Jimmy Wang Yu
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Chin Kang
Year: 1977
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Following up their good but flawed original release of everyone's favorite kung fu film, Pathfinder Home Entertainment hits us with a new, color corrected remastered version of Master Of The Flying Guillotine that comes in a fancy new two disc special edition.
The plot goes something like this: Fung Sheung Wu Chi (played by the inimitable Kang Kam and his mesmerizing eyebrows) is a blind master of the evil martial arts. His weapon of choice is the 'flying guillotine' which is more or less a kind of weird hybrid between a beekeepers helmet and a hatbox except that it's got a retractable serrated blade in it that chops off the recipient's head. The 'flying guillotine' is attached to a chain that Fung swirls around his head and basically lassos his enemies with. When he pulls the chain, off come their noggins.
Anyway, he had two disciples who he had hoped to have carry on his fighting style after his death, who were dispatched by the One Armed Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu, one of the original bad asses of 70s Kung Fu) in a fight that doesn't actually happen in this film. He's understandably upset over this so he kills a chicken, flies through the roof of his house, blows it up with a grenade (killing his pet monkey), and swears vengeance on the One Armed Boxer, who now operates his own kung fu academy on the other side of the province, trying to live a quiet life will periodically taking the time to walk up walls and meander across the ceiling from time to time.
Meanwhile, the Boxer decides that it would be a great educational experience to bring his students to the local 'fight to the death' kung fu tournament happening in town. They arrive to watch the events unfold, which are shown in the film for about a half an hour where all manner of insane combatants duke it out for first prize, highlighted by a fight involving an eastern mystic who's hands stretch out like Plastic Man and other nutty fighting styles that really need to be seen to be believed. There's some great use of weapons and a myriad of different fighting styles on display in the tournament scenes - something for everyone, you might say.
Fung shows up at the tournament, adorned in a Shaolin robe (complete with a swastika on the front), and a few of the more sinister combatants in the tournament side with him and decide to take out the Boxer and his students. What results is one of the most insane fight scenes ever filmed in any movie ever made.
This movie is so completely and utterly out of control that you just can't help but immediately fall in love with it. Everything is perfect, at least by kung fu movie standards, and I can't think of a better movie to initiate those not into martial arts theater with than this one here.
Kang Kam is definitely the highlight of the film, and brings a larger than life sensibility to his portrayal of the evil blind master, while Wang Yu, as the One Armed Boxer is both noble and deadly throughout. He plays his role with a calm and cool demeanor that gives his character instant respect. If an evil blind monk were trying to chop my head off with a flying guillotine, I'd run away crying, but not Wang Yu. He's not afraid, and that makes him cool.
The supporting cast of characters is probably the greatest (well, if not the greatest at least one of the most eclectic!) of any kung fu film and they will constantly have you wondering what they'll do next. Gaze in wonderment as they fight with an unpredictable and unbelievable enthusiasm that easily transcends the boundary from the screen to your living room - an enthusiasm that will have you cheering on your favorite characters and booing at your favorite bad guys.
Master of the Flying Guillotine is not going to win any Academy Awards. This is not Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that we're talking about here - your mom probably won't like it very much at all and nobody really floats across tree tops. It is it's own breed of totally unique kung fu film, deftly blending a totally effective but totally unintentional sense of humor with an uncanny knack for on screen violence. This, combined with the two great performances from the central antagonist and protagonist ultimately results in one of the most entertaining films you will ever see in your life.
Video/Audio/Extras:
This new 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is still in rough shape in a few spots but is a marked improvement over the first release of the film on DVD. Not only is the anamorphic enhancement an added bonus but the print has been color corrected and appears to have been cleaned up quite a bit as well. There is still print damage throughout and some color fading to be scene but there is a lot less grain and dirt noticeable throughout the film. Edge enhancement and mpeg compression aren't a problem, and the black levels remain surprisingly strong throughout. That's the good news, here's the bad - there is some sort of odd smearing affect present throughout the film that gives the picture a somewhat murky look. So while there's less print damage and stronger colors, the murkiness kind of takes away what was added to make this a better looking image.
Disc one has the film presented in its original Dolby Digital Mono Mandarin mix, and disc two has the film in a Dolby Digital Mono English dubbed mix. As far as the English mix goes, there are a couple of spots where the track isn't dubbed and during these scenes the mandarin mix kicks in. Aside from some mild hiss and background noise, typical for a track of this vintage, these mixes don't sound too bad. Again, like the video, the audio tracks sound a little bit cleaner than the previous DVD release. English and Spanish subtitles are also included for both versions of the film.
In addition to both the English and Mandarin versions include on this set (these two versions do differ from each other), Pathfinder has dug up a few other nice supplements as well.
Wade Major and Andy Klein once again contribute an audio commentary. It's a very active track and full of information about the film and its cast from start to finish. There are two video interviews with Jimmy Wang Yu included on the disc as well. The first, and lengthier of the two, was recorded at a Japanese screening of the film in 2002. Both interviews are quite interesting to watch and given the fact that there aren't really a lot of 'Wang Yu' related extra features on any of the other DVD releases his films have received so far, fans should get a kick out of hearing him talk about his work and his career in these two segments.
Rounding out the extras are a trio of trailers, a nice stills and promo art gallery, and some liner notes that contain a history of the Flying Guillotine on the screen and bios for the majority of the cast.
The Final Word:
Despite the inconsistencies in the transfer, this release does have better audio and better extra features. This two disc release of Master Of The Flying Guillotine is a nice package overall and is worth checking out.