Wu Tang Magic Kick
CAST

John Liu
Ko Fei
Stephen Tung Wai
Suen Yuet
Wong Chi Sang
Tong Bo Wan

ACTION
Stephen Tung Wai
Chan Chia Kai
WRITER

Wei Shen

PRODUCER
Ting Chung
DIRECTOR

Ting Chung

RATING
   Wu Tang Magic Kick
Wu Tang Magic Kick
AKA : Mar's Villa || Rocky Lee
Year : 1979     Reviewer : Phil Mills

Mar Tien Liang (Liu) and his wife are two of the richest people in the local province thanks to several successful businesses they have built up.  Amongst these is a kung fu school in which Mar teaches his infamous Magic Kick that has given him notoriety throughout the land.  Sadly, with success comes jealousy and he is constantly hounded by challengers to his superiority in the martial arts.  When things go horribly wrong and he accidentally kills one of his opponents the relatives of his victim come seeking revenge.  Vastly outnumbered, Mar and his wife are taken captive and Mar is driven to the brink of insanity by constant  torture.  Will Mar recover his senses in time to save his wife from certain doom and exact punishment on his tormentors?

 

 

In terms of plot, 'Wu Tang Magic Kick' is certainly a traditional kung fu movie in every sense of the word.  Littered with all the attributes we have come to expect from a movie in this genre (Martial Arts school rivalry, training sequences and a revenge scenario) this could easily have been marked down as just another cliché-ridden old school flick if it weren't for the fights.  Riddled with examples of why Hong Kong is truly the maestro of kung fu action sequences, John Liu et al take the viewer on a rollercoaster ride of high kicking, intricately choreographed fights that remind you exactly why you enjoyed martial arts movies in the first place.

 

 

Forget the suspect dialogue and over-familiar plot, this is a no holds barred fight-fest from start to finish and offers another chance to catch a glimpse of the mesmerising skills of one of the greatest kickers of all time - Mr. John Liu.

Distributor : Eastern Heroes
Region : 2 (PAL)
Running Time : 89 mins
Video :
The master for this DVD has obviously been poorly kept as heavy damage is present throughout. Scratches and the occasional noticeable discolouration are prominent but its the blurred lines during the latter parts of the movie that are dubious. These could be put down irreparable damage to the print itself or it could be bad transfer techniques causing pixellation, but whatever they are they are extremely distracting. On the plus side though, it is letterboxed with very strong, bright colours and good detail levels.
Audio :
Mono English and German dubbed soundtracks only. The English track is very quiet and muffled which is odd when compared with the German track which is so much clearer.
Extras :
- A Ko Fei (or Phillip Kao as he is known here) interview which has been seen before on Eastern Heroes VHS releases
- Biographies and Filmographies for John Liu, Ko Fei, Stephen Tung Wai and Ting Chung
Notes :
N/A
Wu Tang Magic Kick
Wu Tang Magic Kick
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