The Boxer from Shantung

1972 [CHINESE]

Action / Crime / Drama / Romance

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 84% · 1 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 84% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 1735 1.7K

martial arts shanghai, china gangster gang leader hong kong mob action

Plot summary

Leaving the poverty of his life in Shantung to seek fortune in Shanghai, The Boxer is instead drawn into a world of corruption, gang warfare and evil... Where his only protection is his famed fighting technique.

Director

Cheh Chang Photo
Cheh Chang

Top cast

Li Ching Photo
Li Ching as Chin Ling-tzu
Pak-Kwong Ho Photo
Pak-Kwong Ho
Hark-On Fung Photo
Hark-On Fung as Tan's assistant
Fat Wan Photo
Fat Wan
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
968.13 MB
1280*522
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles cn  
24 fps
2 hr 14 min
Seeds ...
1.8 GB
1920*784
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles cn  
24 fps
2 hr 14 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Jeremy_Urquhart 7 / 10

A very enjoyable martial arts movie

There are a few issues with The Boxer from Shantung that keep it from being a great martial arts movie, but when it's firing on all cylinders, it's thrilling stuff. It's hard to even remember many of the problems after the huge final battle, which takes up basically the last half-hour of the movie, and features just about every surviving character getting absolutely drenched with blood and/or sweat, all the while tearing apart the interior of a restaurant to the point where I was surprised the fight didn't end with the building imploding. Anyone who's seen Kill Bill Vol. 1 might come away from this finale thinking Tarantino was heavily influenced by The Boxer from Shantung's best action sequence (it wasn't shot-for-shot remade in Tarantino's movie, but the build-up, location, and some of the specific shots looked very similar).At 134 minutes, The Boxer from Shantung does feel a little overlong. It has a premise that sometimes feels a little simplistic, while at other times feeling a little convoluted. It's easy enough to follow that it's about gang warfare and territorial disputes, but some of the plot specifics are a little harder to fully understand. When it comes to the action though, it largely delivers, and I'd say even those who find the first 90 minutes or so a little rough around the edges should stick with it for that finale.Once the fighting's over, the ending to the movie itself also feels a little tacked on and rushed, but it's a nitpick, at the end of the day/movie. If you want very exciting (and very bloody) martial arts action and a decent gangster storyline, I reckon this one largely delivers. I always like it when a martial arts movie saves what's easily its best action scene for the end, and in that regard, The Boxer from Shantung really satisfies.
Reviewed by sidyaqub 8 / 10

Rags to riches... but is it all that it's made out to be??

This 1970's Shaw Brothers studio epic from legendary director Chang Cheh still seems to be as increasingly watchable to this day.Chen Kuan Tai stars as Ma Yong Zhen, a street urchin in 1930's Shanghai who gets by washing carriages for the upper-class. But he desires more, he wants to have his own power, wealth and status in the city of Shanghai. After a couple of errands with the Four Dragon's gang, Ma gets the recognition he yearns for and is seen as a saviour to the poor and begins his parade by taking over districts in Shanghai. Soon the power and status he has craved for begins to crumble the inner-happiness he has longed for.The film has proved to be very influential to this day, as John Woo was assistant director and the Four Dragon's gang was also used in Stephen Chow's 'Kung Fu Hustle' (but known as the Axe Gang), the finale of Ryo Seung Wan's 'City of Violence' also bears resemblance to the finale of 'Ma Yong Zhen'. Chen proves to be a worthy lead as his appearance and performance comes as very empathetic and proves quite adequately in fight sequences. Chang Cheh regular David Chiang plays a small role but sadly shows very little martial arts skills. The fights are somewhat average, if not very bloody but the story line, the central performances, the cinematography and the music score make this film stand out as an evergreen classic. What drew me into this film was it's cool and slick opening sequence (kind of like Chang Cheh's 'Vengeance') it creates the atmosphere of mystery, danger, rage and excitement.All I can say is if you can see a worthy version of this movie (sadly there's no DVD released in the UK yet) go and see it. But I'm sure other DVD distributors in other countries have released the full uncut version of this classic.
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