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Fist of Fury

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This article is about the 1972 film. For other uses, seeFist of Fury (disambiguation).

Fist of Fury
Hong Kong film poster
Traditional ChineseTinhVõMôn
Simplified ChineseTinh võ môn
Literal meaningChin WooTradition
Hanyu PinyinJīngwǔ Mén
JyutpingZing1 Mou2 Mun4
Directed byLo Wei
Written byLo Wei
Ni Kuang(not credited)
Produced byRaymond Chow
StarringBruce Lee
Nora Miao
Riki Hashimoto
CinematographyChen Ching-chu
Edited byPeter Cheung
Music byJoseph Koo
Production
company
Distributed byGolden Harvest
Release date
  • 22 March 1972(1972-03-22)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryBritish Hong Kong
LanguagesCantonese
Mandarin
BudgetUS$100,000[1]
Box officeUS$100 million[2]

Fist of Fury(Chinese:Tinh võ môn,also known asThe Chinese Connection)[3]is a 1972Hong Kong martial arts filmdirected byLo Weiand produced byRaymond Chow.The film starsBruce Leein his major role afterThe Big Boss(1971). Bruce Lee also worked as the film'saction choreographer.[3]In the film,Chen Zhen,a student ofHuo Yuanjia,fights to defend the honor of the Chinese in the face of foreign aggression and also exact vengeance responsible for Huo's death.[3]

The film was Lee's secondkung fu filmand also touched on sensitive issues surroundingJapanese colonialism.It also featured fairly realisticfight choreographyfor its time and also differs from other films in the genre for its historical and social references, especially toJapanese imperialism.[4]

Fist of Furygrossed an estimatedUS$100 millionworldwide (equivalent to over$700 millionadjusted for inflation) against a budget of $100,000. It was the highest-grossingHong Kong filmuntil Bruce Lee's following filmThe Way of the Dragon(1972).

Plot[edit]

In 1908Shanghai,Chen Zhenreturns toJingwu Schoolto marry his fiancée Yuan Li'er, but Chen learns that his masterHuo Yuanjiahas died, apparently from illness, which devastates Chen. During the funeral, people from a JapanesedojoinHongkou Districtarrive to taunt the Jingwu students. Wu En, translator and advisor for the Japanese dojo's grandmaster Hiroshi Suzuki, taunts Chen by slapping him on the cheek several times and dares him to fight one of Suzuki's protégés.

They present a sign to Jingwu School, bearing the words "Sick Man of East Asia",seemingly to insult Huo Yuanjia, describing the Chinese as" weaklings "in comparison to the Japanese. The protégé taunts the Jingwu students to fight him and promises," I'll eat those words if any Chinese here dare to fight and defeat me ". Chen Zhen wants to retaliate, but is prevented by Fan Junxia, the most senior student in the school. Shortly afterwards, Chen Zhen goes to the Hongkou dojo alone to return the sign. He winds up fighting the Japanese students, defeating all of them, including theirsensei,single-handedly. Chen smashes the glass on the sign and makes the students who taunted him earlier chew up the paper bearing the derogatory words, so as to make them literally "eat their words".

Later, Chen takes a stroll to a park, but aSikhguard refuses him entry, due to a posted sign that forbids dogs and Chinese in the park. After the guard allows a foreigner to bring her pet dog into the park, a Japanese man approaches Chen and tells him that if he behaves like a dog, Chen will be allowed to go in. Chen beats up the man and his friends in anger. After the fight, Chen breaks the sign. The guard blows his whistle to alert the police, but the citizens who watched the whole fight help Chen to escape the park. The Japanese students and their master retaliate by attacking Jingwu School on Suzuki's orders. After causing severe damage, the Japanese students leave. Wu, accompanying the Japanese students, warns Jingwu School to hand over Chen.

Chen returns and realises that he has caused big trouble. His fellow students refuse to hand him over to the Japanese so they make plans to help him escape from Shanghai. That night, Chen discovers that Master Huo had actually been poisoned by Tian, the cook. Chen sees Tian and Feng Guishi, the caretaker, talking. Chen kills Tian, followed by Feng while trying to determine why they killed Master Huo. Chen hangs Tian and Feng's bodies from a lamp post. Yuan Li'er finds him hiding near Huo's grave and they share a passionate moment together.

Meanwhile, Suzuki forcesInspectorLo, to arrest Chen, but he eludes them. While Suzuki is entertaining his visiting friend Petrov, Chen kills Wu and hangs his body from the lamp post. The angry Suzuki heads to the Japanese Consulate and reports Chen, then on Tian's brother's advice sends his men to Jingwu School to kill everyone inside. That same night, Chen barges into the dojo to take his revenge, killing the students' master, Yoshida, Petrov and Suzuki. Chen returns to Jingwu School and finds most from Jingwu School and the Hongkou dojo dead, but a few Jingwu students - among them Yuan, Fan Junxia and Xu - are still alive, as they had also been searching for Chen at the grave site, acting on a tip from Yuan.

Inspector Lo arrives at Jingwu to arrest Chen, who agrees to surrender himself to Lo to protect his master's legacy. Lo tells Chen that he can always trust him since he is Chinese. As they exit the school, Chen faces a line of armed Japanese soldiers and Western policemen at the outer gate, all pointing their guns at him. Furious, Chen charges the line and makes a flying kick, whereupon the soldiers shoot him. As the shots are heard, the scene freezes while Chen is airborne.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Jackie Chanappeared inFist of Fury,both as an extra and as astunt doublefor the Japanese villain Hiroshi Suzuki (portrayed byRiki Hashimoto), particularly during the final fight scene where Lee kicks him and he flies through the air.[5][6]

Lee was not a fan of the director or his direction. According to Jackie Chan, he saw Lo Wei and Bruce Lee get into a verbal altercation that nearly escalated to a physical altercation. Lo Wei then hid behind his wife who was then able to calm Lee down.[7]

Title[edit]

Fist of Furywas accidentally released in the U.S. under the titleThe Chinese Connection.[3]That title was a means of tapping the popularity of another film,The French Connection(starringGene Hackman), released in the U.S. in 1971.[3]That title was intended to be used for the U.S. release of another Bruce Lee film,The Big Boss,which also involved drug smuggling. However, the U.S. titles forFist of FuryandThe Big Bosswere accidentally switched, resulting inFist of Furybeing released in the U.S. under the titleThe Chinese Connectionuntil 2005, whileThe Big Bosswas released asFists of Fury.[8]

Recent television screenings and the current official DVD release (by20th Century Fox,originally available inThe Bruce Lee Ultimate Collectionbox set) in the U.S. have restored the original titles of all the films starring Bruce Lee.Fist of Furyis now officially known asFist of Furyin the U.S.. The current DVD version also has a subtitle that reads "A.K.A. The Chinese Connection" when theFist of Furytitle appears on screen, as the source material is the Fortune Star digital remasters.[citation needed]

Chinese title Original English title Year Mistaken release title (a.k.a.[a]) Intended release title
Đường sơn đại huynhTong4Saan1Daai6Hing1,"Eldest Brother fromTangshan" The Big Boss 1971 Fists of Fury The Chinese Connection
Tinh võ mônZing1Mou2Mun4,"Chin WooTradition " Fist of Fury 1972 The Chinese Connection Fist of Fury

Dubbing[edit]

Sync soundwas not widely used inHong Kong cinemafor a long time so the voices (even on the original Cantonese track) for the film weredubbed.The voice of the Russian fighter Petrov on the original Mandarin track was dubbed by Bruce Lee, with addedreverb.[citation needed]

This film marks one of the few times that a DVD has an alternative new commentary.[citation needed]Media AsiaUK distributor Hong Kong Legends has released this film as a "Special Collector's Edition" and a "Platinum Edition". Bey Logan recorded two alternative commentaries for both releases. The usual process with re-releases on DVD is that the commentary is passed on to the next release. Logan decided to re-record his second commentary as he wanted to give it a new light, being an avid fan of this film. The re-dubbed theme song was played by Mike Remedios. Bey Logan had previously done a commentary track for the Media Asia Megastar DVD release, which is almost word for word the same as the commentary he did for Hong Kong Legends years later. Donnie Yen did the Cantonese language commentary on the same Megastar DVD.

In 2021,Fist of Furywas dubbed intoNoongar,a native Australian dialect. It was the first film to be dubbed into said language.[7]

Release[edit]

The film was released on 22 March 1972 in Hong Kong byGolden Harvest,and first released in the United States on 7 November 1972 in New York[citation needed]before Lee's first major film,The Big Boss,was released there.[9]

The film was originally distributed in the U.S. byNational General Picturesbeginning in 1973, shortly before the release ofEnter the Dragon.Columbia Picturesacquired the U.S. distribution rights to the film, after the demise of National General Pictures, in 1980 and re-released it, along withThe Big Boss,as a studio-sanctioned double feature with the tagline "What's better than a Bruce Lee movie? Two Bruce Lee Movies!"[citation needed]

In Japan, the film was released on 20 July 1974. Several scenes in the Japanese version were censored due to Raymond Chow's concerns over how the film'santi-Japanese sentimentswould be received by Japanese audiences.[10]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Upon its Hong Kong release,Fist of FurygrossedHK$4,431,423,[11]beating the previous box office record set by Lee'sThe Big Bossin the previous year.[12]During its initial run, it grossed more thanUS$5 millioninSoutheast Asia[13]andUS$15,000,000(equivalent to $109,000,000 in 2023) across Asia.[14]

In the United States and Canada, the film topped the box office in June 1973,[15]and earnedUS$3.4 millionindistributor rentalsby the end of 1973,[16]equivalent to an estimated box office gross revenue of approximately$12,000,000(equivalent to $82,000,000 in 2023).[17]Upon its July 1973 release in South Korea, the film sold 317,780 tickets in the capital city ofSeoul.[18]The film was also a success in the United Kingdom, where it released on 19 July 1973, a day before Lee's death.[19]In France, it became the 12thhighest-grossing filmof 1974 (below two other Lee films in the top ten,Enter the DragonandWay of the Dragon), with 3,013,676 ticket sales.[20]In Spain, the film sold 2,034,752 tickets.[21]

In Japan, despite the film's negative portrayal of Japanese villains, the film went on to be a surprise blockbuster in the country. Most Japanese audiences did not identify with the Japanese villains who they perceived as "unreal" and "stupid" but instead identified with Lee's "Chinese warrior" spirit which reminded them of thebushidospirit depicted in olderSamurai cinema.[10]Fist of Furybecame the year's seventh highest-grossing film in Japan, with¥600,000,000(equivalent to ¥1,300,000,000 in 2019) in distributor rental earnings.[22][23]

Against a tight budget of $100,000,[1]the film went on to gross an estimatedUS$100 millionworldwide[2][24](equivalent to approximately$730 millionadjusted for inflation), earning 1,000 times its budget. It was the highest-grossing Hong Kong film up until Lee'sThe Way of the Dragon(1972).

Critical response[edit]

Upon release in Asia, a review forVarietymagazine in November 1972 called it a "Naive Hong Kong-mademeller,of little U.S. commercial appeal "despite the" charm of Lee's invincible heroics. "The reviewer felt that it was an" exuberant novelty act "unlikely to findWesternappeal but that Lee's "aggressive boyish charm" could "prove appealing to U.S. femmes."[15]

Upon release in North America, John Gillett of theMonthly Film Bulletinreviewed a 106 minute dubbed version of the film in May 1973.[25]Gillett commented on Bruce Lee stating that he had "somewhat rudimentary and charmless acting style (all curled lips, sinister glances and clenched fists), but he performs his main function—that of keeping the action going through a series of furious karate fights—with considerable aplomb and proves as adept with his feet as with his fists."[25]While finding the story "extremely naive" and that the "anti-Japanesebias is more rather more pronounced "while the fight sequences" are staged with tremendous vigour (and a judicious use of slow-motion) "concluding that" the production values are only moderate, with a rather uneasy fusion of studio interiors and real street locations, and the English dubbing is unusually inept. "[25]

On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,the film has an aggregated review score of 83% based on 18 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[26]OnMetacritic,the film holds a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on four critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[27]

The film may have been the only one whichChairman Maowatched three times.[28]

Themes[edit]

Fist of Furydeals with topics of injustice, grief, revenge and consequences. Chen Zhen goes through a great deal of grief after the death of his master. This grief eats away at Zhen as well as the injustice he and his peers deal with from the Japanese racism towards them. The movie shows Zhen going out to get revenge but the cost is dear, losing the majority of his peers and his freedom.[7]

Home media[edit]

In the United Kingdom, the film was watched by 600,000 viewers onChannel 5in 2009, making it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on Channel 5.[29]

Sequels and remakes[edit]

Further information:Chen Zhen (character) § Appearances in media

The film spawned three sequels: One starringJackie ChantitledNew Fist of Fury(1976), followed byFist of Fury II(1977),Fist of Fury III(1979), and the South Korean spin-offLast Fist of Fury(1979). The film also has comedy calledFist of Fury 1991(1991), and a loose remake titledFist of Legend(1994) starringJet Li.A year after, the film spawned the television seriesFist of Fury(1995) starringDonnie Yenas Chen Zhen. Donnie Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen on the show’s 15th anniversary inLegend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen(2010).

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^also known as (a.k.a.)

References[edit]

  1. ^abThomas, Bruce (1994).Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit: A Biography.Frog Books. p. 135.ISBN978-1-883319-25-0.Like the previous film,Fist of Furywas made for $100,000.
  2. ^abKrizanovich, Karen (2015).Infographic Guide To The Movies.Hachette UK.p. 19.ISBN978-1-84403-762-9.Fist of Fury(1972) estimated worldwide gross $100,000,000
  3. ^abcdeWeiler, A. H. (8 November 1972)."The Screen: A Chinese 'Fist of Fury':Stark Tale of Revenge Opens at Pagoda Shanghai Is Setting for Kung-Fu Combats".The New York Times.
  4. ^Kato, M.T. (2007).From King Fu to Hip Hop: Globalization, Revolution and Popular Culture.State University of New York Press. p. 12.ISBN9780791480632.Retrieved27 July2019.
  5. ^abThomas, Bruce (23 February 2012).Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit.Pan Macmillan.p. 279.ISBN978-0-283-07081-5.Retrieved19 March2022.
  6. ^abHavis, Richard James (3 October 2021)."Being a stunt double for Bruce Lee made Jackie Chan want to be a star".South China Morning Post.Retrieved19 March2022.
  7. ^abcBlaine Henry (20 July 2021)."Fist of Fury Review: Revenge, Injustice, and A Dark Path".Fight-Library.
  8. ^"Alternate title confusion - The Big Boss (1972) - Chinese Kungfu Kaleidoscope".Cultural China. Archived fromthe originalon 21 August 2016.Retrieved25 June2016.
  9. ^"Film reviews: Fists of Fury".Variety.27 June 1973. p. 34.
  10. ^abShuk-ting, Kinnia Yau (1 October 2005)."Interactions Between Japanese and Hong Kong Action Cinemas".In Morris, Meaghan; Li, Siu Leung; Chan, Stephen Ching-kiu (eds.).Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema.Hong Kong University Press.pp. 35–48 (44).ISBN978-1-932643-19-0.
  11. ^Fist of Fury - Hong Kong Film Archive database[permanent dead link]
  12. ^"Film Production and Financing - Golden Harvest".Orange Sky Golden Harvest.Archived fromthe originalon 23 August 2010.Retrieved27 November2015.
  13. ^Lewis, Dan (22 April 1973)."Newest Movie Craze: Chinese Agents".Lima News.p. 30.Retrieved15 April2022– viaNewspaperArchive.They're made in Hong Kong and the biggest hero of them all at the moment, surely the biggest box-office attraction there, is a face pretty familiar to American television audiences. Remember Bruce Lee, the swift, agile oriental chauffeur in "The Green Hornet"? (...) Lee already has starred in three Chinese boxer (another label) pictures and there are several dozen others available to the international market. They reportedly are sweeping the European market and have just started to infiltrate the American scene. (...) The first two pictures grossed more than$5 millionin Southeast Asia alone, according to Weintraub.
  14. ^Blanchfield, Cecilia (1 June 1979)."Game of Death: milking the Bruce Lee legend".Calgary Herald.p. 25.Retrieved18 April2022– viaNewspapers.The Big Boss grossed over$15 million,an Asian box office record. Fists of Fury raked in$15 million,another record.
  15. ^abDesser, David (2002)."The Kung Fu Craze: Hong Kong Cinema's First American Reception".In Fu, Poshek; Desser, David (eds.).The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity.Cambridge University Press.pp. 19–43 (22).ISBN978-0-521-77602-8.
  16. ^"Big Rental Films of 1973",Variety,9 January 1974 p 19
  17. ^Vogel, Harold L. (2010)."Table 3.4. Motion picture theater industry statistics, 1965–2009".Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis.Cambridge University Press.pp. 88–9.ISBN978-1-139-49732-9.1970 (...) U.S. + Canadian rentals % of BO (...) 28.6
  18. ^"KOFIC 영화관 입장권 통합전산망".Korean Film Council(in Korean). September 2018.Retrieved8 November2018.
  19. ^Bowman, Paul (2010).Theorizing Bruce Lee: Film-fantasy-fighting-philosophy.Rodopi.p. 18.ISBN978-90-420-2777-0.
  20. ^"Charts - LES ENTREES EN FRANCE".JP's Box-Office(in French). 1974. Archived fromthe originalon 27 March 2019.Retrieved27 November2018.
  21. ^Soyer, Renaud (28 January 2013)."Bruce Lee Box Office".Box Office Story(in French).Retrieved30 June2020.
  22. ^"ドラゴン giận り の thiết quyền ／ tinh võ môn ( 1972 )".KungFu Tube(in Japanese). 2 October 2010.Retrieved30 November2018.
  23. ^"キネマ tuần báo ベスト・テン85 hồi toàn sử 1924-2011".Kinema Junpo(in Japanese): 322. 2012.
  24. ^Waugh, Darin, ed. (1978)."British Newspaper Clippings – Showtalk: The King Lives".Bruce Lee Eve: The Robert Blakeman Bruce Lee Memorabilia Collection Logbook, and Associates of Bruce Lee Eve Newsletters.Kiazen Publications.ISBN978-1-4583-1893-0.Lee first found success in The Big Boss and followed that with Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon which grossed an outstanding 100,000,000 dollars and firmly established itself as one of the world's all-time top films in commercial terms. Lee went on to top this with The Way of the Dragon and the cameras had barely stopped rolling when he began what was to be his final film Game of Death. (...) Now director Robert Clouse has completed Game of Death.
  25. ^abcGillet, John (May 1973). "Fist of Fury".Monthly Film Bulletin.Vol. 40, no. 472.British Film Institute.p. 96.
  26. ^"The Chinese Connection".Rotten Tomatoes.Fandango Media.Retrieved12 July2023.
  27. ^"Fist of Fury Reviews".Metacritic.Fandom, Inc.Retrieved12 July2023.
  28. ^Raymond Zhou (17 December 2010)."The Man who was Mao's Hero".China Daily.
  29. ^"Statistical Yearbook 10"(PDF).UK Film Council.2010. p. 91.Retrieved21 April2022– viaBritish Film Institute.

External links[edit]

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