Magnificent Butcher DVD (Region 1)

7.6	Listal rating

Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Release date : 22 July 2003
Number of discs : 1
EAN : 0024543078449
UPC : 024543078449

Hong Kong (2), Martial Arts (2), Comedy (1), Kung Fu (1), 1979 (1)

Description

DescriptionHailed as one of the greatest kung-fu movies of all time, Magnificent Butcher is a powerhouse of martial arts action starring Hong Kong Legend Sammo Hung ("Martial Law" - hit TV series), and directed by Yuen Woo-ping who brought his highly inventive fight choreography to blockbuster hits "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "T Description
Hailed as one of the greatest kung-fu movies of all time, Magnificent Butcher is a powerhouse of martial arts action starring Hong Kong Legend Sammo Hung ("Martial Law" - hit TV series), and directed by Yuen Woo-ping who brought his highly inventive fight choreography to blockbuster hits "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Matrix". A student at master Wong-Fei-hung's martial academy, chubby and likeable butcher Lam Sai-wing (Sammo Hung) constantly lands in trouble - no more so than when he comes to the rescue of Kao Da-Hoi (Yuen Biao), the son of Master Ko (Lee Hoi-san) who heads opposing kung-fu school the Five Dragons. The good-hearted Sai-wing never suspects that Da-hoi is plotting against him by orchestrating a series of events to frame Sai-wing for murder of Da-hoi's half-sister. Hot for vengeance and to clear his good name, sai-wing first faces off against Da-hoi, leading to the ultimate martial arts showdown when Sammo Hung launches his 'five animals' against lee Hoi-san's 'five elements' fung-fu style!

Fans of The Matrix who exclaimed over the fight sequences staged by Yuen Woo-ping should get a load of what he can do when he's really in his element, deploying classic martial arts moves with an updated body-slamming intensity. In Magnificent Butcher you also get a sketch history of Hong Kong action cinema along the way. The plot is a mishmash about the kidnapping of the daughter of a local merchant; the fun is in the character turns and the electrifying combat scenes. Aging martial arts star Kwan Tak-hing returns to the role of real-life Cantonese nationalist folk hero Wong Fei-hung, a character he owned in the 1950s in a long string of B movies. Sammo Hung stars as Butcher Ah-wing, Wong's number one student, the character played by the even tubbier Kent Cheng in the Once Upon a Time in China series, to Jet Li's upright younger version of Wong. Kwan wisely leaves the hard action to his younger costars, but he does some deft, elegant tricks with furniture and calligraphy brushes, proof positive that he still has all the chops of a kung fu master, everything but the brute strength. (He actually makes mere strength look rather crass.) --David Chute

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