Customer Reviews

Prodigal Boxer: The Kick of Death

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE PRODIGAL BOXER is an above-average kung fu movie about Chinese folk hero Fong Sai Yuk (aka Fong Si Yu), the subject of dozens of Hong Kong kung fu films. Here the role is played by the underrated Meng Fei as a callow, unschooled youth whose attempts to avenge the death of his father result in his being badly beaten. His martial artist mother puts him through rigorous training and an herbal bath that makes him invulnerable, setting the stage for a final battle with the Iron Fist brothers, played by formidable kung fu villains Yasuaki Kurata and Wang Ching.

The available tape/DVD is made from a beautiful wide-screen print, flawlessly transferred in all its letter-boxed glory. The film itself is quite good-looking with excellent cinematography and action staged on lavish indoor sets and sprawling outdoor vistas (rare in Hong Kong kung fu films). It also includes the film's original Chinese music score and boasts above-average English-dubbing. The film is also known as KUNG FU: PUNCH OF DEATH.

This is a nice little movie to add to the collection if you are a fan of the older style martial arts films as I am. Definitely a bargain and not a waste of a few bucks. A similar plot seen before featuring revenge. A guy repeatedly goes after the martial arts masters who pretty much cripple him each time he attacks them. What's weird about this one is you're kinda glad the punk keeps getting his butt kicked and has to be taken home in a wheel barrow. You kinda root for the masters who always let him off by not killing him. He did after all kill a student of the masters. :)

A YOUNG MARTIAL ARTIST [MENG FE] WANTS REVENGE AGAINST THE MARTIAL ARTS MASTERS THAT KILLED HIS FATHER. HAS GOOD FIGHTS AS ALWAYS, BUT THE DUBBING'S BAD AND THE STORY JUST [LIKE MOST MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES FROM THIS TIME PERIOD] GETS TOO THIN. BUT, I'VE SEEN MOVIES THAT'RE 10 TIMES WORSE THAN THIS. AT LEAST IT IS WORTH A WATCH.

This is a fairly enjoyable old-school kung fu flick with a story similar to Fists of the White Lotus(guy gets repeatedly beaten by the villain until his repeated training helps him eventually to defeat his enemy). The lead is fine, but the fights are a little on the slow side, which is expected from an early 70's movie. The dvd has a nice widescreen transfer, a Casper cartoon short(don't know why either), short trivia game and dvd dictionary. Overall not a great movie or extras, but if you're a die-hard collector(and at this price with really good dvd picture quality) you might still want to pick it up.

btw, the reviewer from CA a couple reviews back is obviously reviewing something else.

This movie is in widescreen witch is good. The picture quallity could have been better but it's 10 times better than alot of other flicks that cost 10-25 dollors and it's worth buying for [this price].The old jappanese guy who fights Jet Li blinde folded in FIST OF LEGEND is in this movie, of corse 30 yrs younger. I think this movie is about FONG SAI YUK but it dosen't say it on the box. In the flick the main character's name is Fong siu Yi, don't know if there is two ways of saying the name but some one reading this will know.

My husband love this movie and had it on video cassette, i surprised him with the DVD. The movie arrived right on schedule, even arrived earlier than expected.

Disclaimer: The version of 'Kung Fu Punch of Death' that I watched is included in VidioAsia's Grindhouse Experience vol. 1 (currently unavailable on Amazon). As such, I cannot comment on the quality of the package on this product page - my review is concerned with the entertainment value of the film itself.

Whoever is in charge of such things knew what he or she was doing by changing the title of this film from 'Prodigal Boxer' to 'Kung Fu Punch of Death'. I'm little interested in 'Boxer', but 'Kung Fu Punch of Death' draws me in like a fly toward a flytrap. It's the sort of title I like to toss out during certain film conversations: "Yes, Kurosawa's films have their charms, but on the flip side, have you seen Kung Fu Punch of Death?"

Hey, I liked this movie- don't let my wishy-washy three stars fool you. As a relative newcomer to Hong Kong cinema from the seventies, it's very possible that my regard for the film is based on its freshness to me, but it isn't as if I've never seen these types of films before, and I think this one has several positive points. For starters, and I think this is a key for me when it comes to martial art movies, is that it has a logical story, with characters that act consistently within the framework of the film. I know that the primary reason for these films is the martial arts display and the action - but that doesn't preclude a logical plot. It doesn't have to be TOO complex, or else it might morph out of its reason for existence, but it's important to me that characters react in a believable manner.

'Punch of Death' is essentially a revenge-driven picture: Fong Sai-Yuk (pronounced Su-Yi in the dub) kills a prominent student of a local martial arts academy, and the school's teachers (one known for his kicks and the other for his punches) decide that they must teach Sai-Yuk a lesson or else their school will be shamed. When they go to the Fong house, Sai-Yuk isn't there, but as the teachers try to intimidate the family, they kill Sai-Yuk's father. It's on then, as Sai-Yuk impulsively rushes to meet his father's killers, despite the warnings from his mother, who is also his trainer. Finally, after failing twice, he does what he should have done from the start -- listen to his mother. She trains him to withstand his adversaries attacks, and when he faces them for the third time...well, no spoilers here, so you'll just have to watch and see for yourself.

Fong Sai-yuk is a figure from Chinese folklore, and the film seems to follow the general conventions behind the stories. His mother is a martial artist herself, and responsible Sai-Yuk's prowess, and the actress playing her is both attractive and competent. The dub is actually pretty good -- most of the voices sound believable, and while there is the unavoidable mis-match of lip movement and sound, it wasn't nearly as bad as I've seen before. There's also very little silliness in this film, such as comedy relief, or fantastic ninja tricks, like flying through the air. Instead, it's pretty straightforward, with decent acting and very nice sets. (There is an almost other worldly look to the sky in the studio shots that I thought was visually intriguing.)

My biggest knock on this film, which is a big one considering that it is a martial arts movie, is that I thought the fight scenes were only average. Whether this had to do with the choreography, or filming techniques, or the style of the period, I don't know, but only the final moments have any sort of 'wow' factor to them. All the best acting and logical plot in the world can't lift a film like this above the average if the main event is below par. The action isn't bad, just nothing special. This film is what it is, and there's no reason to expect more from it than what it was designed to be -- so as a 1970's low-budget martial arts film from Hong Kong, I'd say it entertains, though I think it could have been more, even given its limits. Three stars.

VideoAsia's version, included on the Grindhouse Experience, is actually a decent enough edition, although you would never call it a good transfer. It's obvious this copy came from a VHS tape, but it's well-lit and comprehensible, even if the music overwhelms the dialogue a few times near the beginning. Unfortunately, the 20 film Grindhouse Experience set is probably too expensive for this film alone unless one was interested in some of the other titles also. The best value for those looking specifically for this film could be Martial Arts: 4 Film Favorites, though I have not seen it to compare.

This has a great acting performance by Mang fei and Kuratu did all he could with the direction he was under , but doees't hold up to his performances in his later years like heroes of the east, legend of a fight4er and fist of legend.

This is "Kung Fu, the Punch of Death," but under another name. The Diamond Entertainment version is probably a little cheaper and has a better quality picture transfer than the Crash Cinema release. See other film reviews under the other name.

This movie was pretty decent. The only drawback to this DVD was the picture quality. If you like to watch your movies full screen (or as close to as possible) and thus utilize the zoom feature on your DVD player then the picture quality becomes very substandard. If not, and you don't mind half your TV screen being black bands then the picture quality is good enough. It just seems as though it was a straight transfer from VHS to DVD!! I guess for $4.99 what else can you expect?