Man from Hong Kong, The (Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1975) aka Dragon Flies; wr. Brian Trenchard-Smith, dp Russell Boyd; Deryck Barnes, Rebecca Gilling, Bill Hunter, Hugh Keays-Byrne, George Lazenby, Grant Page, Ros Spiers, Frank Thring, Jimmy Wang Yu (Wang Yu), Roger Ward, Phillip Avalon
The first important actioner; Grant Page does stunts. Includes unarmed combat on Ayer's Rock (Uluru): you'll never see that again.
The numerous martial arts films both starring and directed by Wang Yu in Hong Kong were renowned for the ingenuity and bloodiness of their violence, and The Man From Hong Kong sustained this image: weapons ranged from meat-hooks to javelins and the villain is dispatched with a hand grenade thrust into his mouth. From the opening scene of a kung fu fight on top of Ayers Rock intercut with a helicopter chasing a speeding car in the nearby desert, the emphasis is on comic-strip action, which the Bulletin, 13 September 1975, aptly described as 'live-action Tom and Jerry'. Pike & Cooper: 288.
Garry Gillard | New: 17 November, 2012 | Now: 13 December, 2019