Customer Reviews

Magnificent Butcher

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! You will find yourself thinking this quite often as you watch this great movie. I bought this without having seen it before based on some of these reviews and seeing it on some listmania lists as a great kung fu film. This was also the first Sammo Hung movie I had ever seen. I could not be more satisfied. I admit I was a bit skeptical, but after the first half hour I was thinking of how I had really scored with this one.

First off, Sammo Hung blew me away! I had no idea how quick, agile, and fast he was. His kung fu is flawless. Well, Yuen Woo-Ping doing the choreography certainly helps. Sammo does around six different styles himself and the other actors throw in about six more. Some unique ones are monkey pole and wild cat styles. There are plenty of fight scenes to keep the pace of the film high and always moving (probably one every ten minutes, sometimes even sooner). This movie also has good comedy for an old kung fu flick, not just silliness. The story of the movie is basic but still good. It is about how butcher Wing(Sammo Hung) gets into trouble when his master, Wong Fei Hung, is away and he must deal with it on his own. He is framed for a crime and must prove his innocence while trying to constantly defend himself from attempts on his life.

Well, the movie has no flaws so how about the DVD itself you ask. It's perfect. This is an extremely good digital transfer of the film. I am speaking of the Fox/Fortune Star version. I do not know about the HK version. The sound is excellent, Dolby 5.1 with no background noise at all(the english dubbed version that is). The voices for the dubbing are still the old original ones but they have a high sound quality. And contrary to another reviewer's statement, the picture IS in anamorphic widescreen(enhanced). Maybe they were referring to the original chinese DVD. Nearly all of Fox/Fortune Star DVDs are in anamorphic widescreen. Some other Fortune Star recommendations are Jackie Chan's The Young Master, The Prodigal Son or Knockabout both starring Yuen Biao, In The Line Of Duty 4 starring Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan, and The Duel to the Death.

If you are still questioning yourself whether to buy this or not I will help you out, Buy Magnificent Butcher, It Is Awesome!

There's not much more I can say that hasn't already been said about this movie. It's a great film and it's got Sammo Hung--enough said. The first copy I received (Tai Seng) had severe read problems from 3/4 to the end of the movie and it was unwatchable. Amazon replaced my DVD and I was able to watch the movie in its entirety. I placed it on a shelf for six months and one day I decided I'd watch it for the second time. The same problem cropped up! Either there is a problem with the process they use to make this particular DVD or the CD's they're using are flawed. I've not had any other problems with Tai Seng videos, so I am assuming it's a glitch in the copy process for this particular movie. Beware and check your DVD frequently, play it multiple times if you have to--to ensure yours won't go bad before the 30 day replacement/refund period. I'm resigned to the fact I'll have to order another copy. Don't let the fear of a bad DVD make you pass up this movie though. The picture and colors are wonderful--much better than any other Sammo Hung film I own. Buy it and enjoy. :o)

If someone where to ask me to name my top ten martial arts films this would would for sure be in there.From Yuen Woo Ping this is one of his greatest with jaw dropping fight scenes with star Sammo Hung AND OTHERS including a great video transfer .Add that all up and you get one of the few greats!

Excellent 70s style kung fu classic (actually 1979). Fresh plot with meaningful plot twists. Don't be fooled by the slightly cheesy title. And don't be fooled by Sammo Hung being in the movie. This is not one of his many comedic fluff pieces. There are excellent original inventive fight sequences throughout. Snake style, monkey style, drunken style, and even "cat" style are featured, including several weapon sequences. Sammo Hung, while light-hearted, is rather serious in this one and in top form. I would not have really thought of the film as a "comedy." The rival school master is immediately recognizable as the "exhibition" opponent/teacher to Gordon Liu at the Shaolin Temple in "Shaolin Master Killer," and many other first-rate films. The film far surpassed my expectations. I recommend it highly!

First off, I love this movie because it is a bit older and it competes with today's best. Secondly, Even though there is a bit of China-style slapstick, Lam Sai Wing is'nt pictured as the bumbling fool that most other Wong Fei Hung movies depict him as these days. According to history, Lam was Wong's best student. This movie doesn't try to defy that. Third, the Kung Fu is wireless and fluid. Reason number four is the appearance of Kwan Tak Hing. He is truly the best at doing Wong Fei Hung and it shows, especially in the calligraphy duel scene. Last but not least, some traditional Hung gar is displayed, and I like to see the style in a Kung Fu flick kept true. Oh, and there is a bit of humor and Sammo looks as agile as a cat.

Easily the best 70's collaboration between Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao minus Jackie as far as martial arts goes. ZU WARRIORS takes the cake for spectacle and story but MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER gives a non-stop flurry of kick-butt kung fu that I can only compare to YOUNG MASTER. Watch it widescreen on your projector and get ready to rumble!

I bought this movie because I like to watch the mind boggling acrobatic martial arts work done by Yuen Biao, and his photo is very prominent on the cover of the movie. However, Biao has a fairly minor role in this film with one excellent fight sequence towards the middle while he is defending Master Wong's school with Wei Pei. "Magnificent Butcher" is directed by Yuen Woo Ping, who helped Keanu Reeves with the martial arts scenes in "Matrix". Woo Ping also directed the popular Jackie Chan film "Drunken Master". "Magnificent Butcher" features excellent martial arts moves, and although Samo is not the slimmest guy around, he is amazingly fast and agile. The odd movie title comes from the fact that Samo's character is pork vendor "Butcher Wing". The movie is billed as a comedy and it does have many lighter moments, but theses are mixed in with an attempted rape, a woman being suffocated, and a fatal stabbing. Actor Kwan Tak-Hing is always elegant and interesting to watch as Wong Fei- Hung. Lam Ching Ying has a cameo role. The slimy, bad guy is played to perfection by Fong Hak-On, who has played a villian in several Jackie Chan Movies including "Police Story". Samo portrays a martial arts student learning under the tutelage of Master Wong, while master is away Samo is framed for the murder of the goddaughter of the opposing school's teacher. A liquor swilling hobo tutors samo in various new martial arts forms and prepares him to defend his name and honor. If you like watching martial arts, this movie has many extended fight sequences. Myriad classic martial arts weapons are used including paintbrushes, fans, swords, and staffs. I liked the "cat" style of kung fu shown, but there are several other excellent matches throughout. This movie seems to extend into a second movie filmed almost at the same time "Dreadnaught" was also directed by Yuen Woo Ping, has the same martial arts school setting, uses Kwan Tak-Hing again as Master Wong, and Fong Hak-On as the villian. Yuen Biao takes the lead role in this movie. If you like "Dreadnaught" you will enjoy "Magnificent Butcher", and if you like "Magnificent Butcher" you should definately buy "Dreadnaught".

Sammo Hung in "Lin shi rong" is one of Sammo's most entertaining Films;(Directed by Woo-ping Yuen,Director of "Tai-Chi 2","Twin Warriors","Iron Monkey","Dreadnaught","The Buddhist Fist",e.t.c). The action hardly gives up,and most of the fighing appears to be well choreographed. Sammo blends his usual agile skill,and speed,with some genuinely funny comedy moments.I think this Film works well,and rates higher among the usual mediocre kung fu Films in the Eighties,for these reasons; it blends the small amount of comedy very well,into a more serious story,with better than average acting.You will find the scene involving a paintbrush(!)fight between the two School Masters an example of these things.This is one of times when you'll reach for the remote,not to fast forward to look for the next good fight;but to rewind! EYES:Correctly framed in the 2.35:1 Scope Ratio,the picture suprised me,i did'nt think it could be as sharp as it was,and this is maintained,throughout.Only the occasional dot or speckle of dirt was apparent.I noticed 1 scratch,it lasted about 3 seconds!Overall,an excellent Job has been done.Not Enhanced for 16X9 Televisions. EARS:Great,for once,virtually no hiss,distortion,or background noise.And i did not have to turn up the volume to hear the speech,and down again when there was a fight!The English Subtitles are not very well done!They are not bad,but some words are missing a letter,and some sentences are incomplete,this is not a common occurence,and did not spoil my enjoyment. Overall,i really liked this Film,Sammo was funny,almost every fight was memorable,especially the paintbrush one!If your'e a Martial Arts fan,i'd recommend you buy this one,without renting,you'll want to keep it!

Sammo Hung stars as Butcher Wing, the famous student of Wong Fei Hong, and Master Wong is played by Kwan Tak Hing! Kwan would be the standout performer, except for the fact that he only has a cameo and the rest of the cast does such a good job. When Sammo's brother comes to town, he gets fooled by Fung Hak-on and has to fight for his life when he doesn't give Hak-on his money. His wife gets kidnapped for Hak-on's own personal pleasure, and Sammo goes to take down who he thinks the kidnapper is, a drunken master character (played by Fan Mei Sheng) based on Simon Yuen from Drunken Master. When the drunk tells Sammo all that has happened, Sammo goes to rescue his brother's wife. He also rescues a girl who is actually Master Ko's daughter. Ko is the master of the rival kung fu school of Wong Fei Hung and Sammo must now battle Master Ko's men after Hak-on frames Sammo for killing Ko's daughter.

The story is good, but the action is out of this world. This is Sammo's best fighting performance of his career, but the rest of the cast is just as good. Lee Hoi San gives maybe his best performance ever, Chung Fat's Cat's Claw puts even Jackie Chan to shame, and Lam Ching Ying (he uses a fan to fight with) shines brightly in his first major fighting role. After making about 100 movies playing Wong Fei Hong, KWan Tak Hing is probably the brightest spot in the whole movie. He is old, but his single fight scene is just as good as the others. Similiar to Drunken Master and Dance Of The Drunk Mantis, the stunt doubling for Fan Mei Sheng's drunken character is very fun to watch. Usually when I watch a movie that everyone says is great, it rarely meets my expectations. 'The Magnificent Butcher' is one of the rare exceptions. It is a kung fu fan's dream movie. The cast also includes Yuen Biao and Wei Pai (the snake from Five Deadly Venoms), and a lot of character actors from Sammo and Yuen Woo Ping's other movies. Yuen Biao has maybe the best fight of the movie against Lam Ching Ying, but there are so many great fights to choose from.

5/5

Make sure you get the Deltamac or Fox/Fortune Star version. Both have very good sound and picture quality.

Though this movie is considered a classic, I had seen the first few minutes of it about a decade ago, and really wasn't interested. There are a few of the so-called classics that I never really cared for: "Drunken Master" comes to mind. Don't hate it, it just does nothing for me. Knowing that this movie was made by the same director (Yuen Woo Ping) that made "DM", I figured that it didn't deserve a 2nd chance. Knowing also that it starred Sammo Hung, who was famous for kung fu comedies, strengthened my assertion that I was right. After watching and enjoying Sammo's "Prodigal Son" and (to a lesser extent) "Warriors Two", I decided to give "Magnificent Butcher" a serious try. It also helped that I had seen and loved Woo Ping's "The Buddhist Fist", from around the same time period. I applied the "grain o' salt" method and finally watched it. All I can say is "Holy Crap!" Why did I waste so much time not loving this movie?!?

Sammo plays Lam Sai Wing, one of the more famous students of Chinese healer, pugilist, and hero, Wong Fei Hung. It's very difficult to get into the story (though it is easy to follow) without giving anything away. So I ain't sayin' nothin' 'bout that. What I will tell you is that the fights and styles represented here are crazy, cool, and a whole lotta fun. Wild Cat was my personal favorite, though it's not too easy on the ears. For every one thing in this film that annoyed me, there were about 50 other things that I absolutely loved. Most interesting is the casting of veteran actor and White Crane master Kwan Tak Hing as Wong Fei Hung. Known for his many portrayals of Master Wong (he holds the record for one actor playing the same role ALL-TIME, in around 70 films), he still shows his chops with a calligraphy brush at just under the age of 75! The entire cast is recognizable to old-schoolers and many of the actors deliver some "best-ever" moments.

20th Century Fox gives us a well-remastered picture and an audio option of an English or Cantonese soundtrack with, or without, subtitles. Some silly bonus features are also included, but likely won't excite fans. Goofy as this movie is, it has moments of deadly seriousness. Some things would be better left hinted at and not shown, but I have seen worse and it's a minor complaint. I don't have an official top-ten (my list is in no particular order), but if I did, "Magnificent Butcher" would certainly be included. 4.5 out of 5 and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

1979