Member Alexandra Posted July 1, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 1, 2011 It has been 40 years since the release of The King Boxer (1971). The movie was directed by Kung Meng, with action direction of Lau Kar Wing and Wong Pau Gei. Shot in Thailand and Hong Kong, with an great cast: Meng Fei, Yasuaki Kurata, Lee Lam Lam, Wong Ching, Lau Kar Wing. This movie was the Meng Fei's cinema debut. His point of departure of his great career. Plot (spoiler alert) Chow, the King Boxer (Meng Fei) is off in Thailand visiting a female friend. Chow asks the girl to take him to see a muay thai match and she does, introducing him to her brother, who's one of the fighters. Before the match, the brother is approached by some Thai thugs who try to bribe him to throw the match. He refuses and ends up knocking his opponent out. Later on, they are attacked by the same thugs and while the Thai boxing brother handles most of them, he needs Chow's help to beat the leader. Chow offers to teach his special kung fu to the brother. Meanwhile, back in China, a Japanese karate master (Yasuaki Kurata) hears stories of the "King Boxer" and desires to challenge him. He goes to Chow's school, but Chow is still in Thailand. The Japanese master and his lackeys beat up the Chinese students and break their signboard, which is a grave insult in kung fu cinema. The Japanese master is also smitten with Chow's sister, and invites her to dinner some time later. Chow returns just in time to stop his sister from giving in and challenging the Japanese fighter to a fight. He whoops the Japanese master, who slinks away to plan his revenge. That revenge does come, at a brothel/tea house which leads to a big fight and Chow's ultimate death. Shortly thereafter, Chow's friends from Thailand show up and the Thai boxing brother vows to take revenge. Meng Fei looks great in this movie. I wonder if this movie and later Five Shaolin Master were the only two movies that Meng Fei made for Hong Kong cinema industries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 6, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 6, 2011 Speaking about King Boxer and continuing with the subject "women that worked with Meng Fei in movies", here a little info about Maggie Li Lam Lam. She was born in 1948 in Hong Kong (Li Yueh Ling) Married with David Chiang, moved to Canada in 1988. She made 37 films for Shaw Brothers. Maggie Li Lam Lam also played with Meng Fei in Prodigal Boxer (Fang Shih Yu) in 1972, directed by Choi Yeung Ming, with the action direction of Lau Kar Wing. Then, she played another character with Meng Fei in The Young TIger (1973) directed by Wu Ma, with the action direction of Lau Kar Wing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted July 6, 2011 Member Share Posted July 6, 2011 It has been 40 years since the release of The King Boxer (1971). 1971? Methinks you may have jumped the gun. The HK release date is April '72. Where did this film get a 1971 release? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 7, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2011 1971? Methinks you may have jumped the gun. The HK release date is April '72. Where did this film get a 1971 release? If you have the exact release date, and the source as you said (and perhaps a nice picture of a magazine), post it and will be helpful and informative. I ve found the basic info in HKCinemagic and in IMdB, but this last one, states 1º january 1971, maybe this date is not correct. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0234035/releaseinfo Miss Parwana obtained the title of Miss Thailandia in 1970 so, I guess, the film could be shot in 1970, and then, released in 1971. In several countries of Europe like Italy was released in 1973 (others says 1974). Ah, and explain your "you may have jumped the gun". As a castillian speaker is difficult sometimes to understand some language differences, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted July 7, 2011 Member Share Posted July 7, 2011 Yeah, sorry Alex. "Jump the gun" means premature; like in a footrace where someone jumps out ahead before they fire the starting gun. In this instance, I meant the 40th anniversary is a year early. IMDb is a great resource but not the most accurate when it comes to obscure films (like the ones we discuss here). They are getting better though thanks to the fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 7, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2011 Yeah, sorry Alex. "Jump the gun" means premature; like in a footrace where someone jumps out ahead before they fire the starting gun. In this instance, I meant the 40th anniversary is a year early. IMDb is a great resource but not the most accurate when it comes to obscure films (like the ones we discuss here). They are getting better though thanks to the fans. Whoaaaaaa! Now I have the point! IMDb gave to me fake info ...oops! Anyway if you are researching about this subject, that will be interesting to read, next year in your article. Saving my error, we can say () that Meng Fei worked in King Boxer in 1971 and this date (year) is the "point of departure" of his career... so I thought, 40th anniversary of the real work on scene... hewww... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member slazenger_7 Posted July 13, 2011 Member Share Posted July 13, 2011 Alexandra is CORRECT. Meng Fei's THE KING BOXER (aka Hands Of Death) was released in 1971. There were TWO films entitled KING BOXER: Lo Lieh's KING BOXER (aka Five Fingers Of Death) was the film released by Shaw Screen in 1972. There was a discussion about this way back in 21st June 2010 in posts # 178 and 179 between myself and a fellow member. HOLA Alejandra. Salí de este panel de discusión en lugar no en forma abrupta, porque estaba muy molesto con usted de todos modos. No quiero transmitir esto, es por eso que lo he escrito en español. He utilizado un traductor de idiomas online. Así que por favor no se rían de mi español. Si todavía podemos ser amigos en línea, por favor, acepte mis disculpas si te hubiera ofendido de ninguna manera. --Slazenger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted July 13, 2011 Member Share Posted July 13, 2011 Ah yes, so I think I jumped the gun here (haha). I got my KB flix mixed up! I know the Meng film better as King of Boxers (not to be confused with Wang Yu, King of Boxers - which came out in '73; I believe). Alexandra is CORRECT. Meng Fei's THE KING BOXER (aka Hands Of Death) was released in 1971. There were TWO films entitled KING BOXER: Lo Lieh's KING BOXER (aka Five Fingers Of Death) was the film released by Shaw Screen in 1972. There was a discussion about this way back in 21st June 2010 in posts # 178 and 179 between myself and a fellow member. I was reading those posts (below) and I first have to mention that tantao is a pretty knowledgeable chap. Anyhow, other than IMDb, I am a bit curious to what source you have that provides the 01/01/1971 release date? (Now, other sites may list this date - probably because they're only copying what they found at IMDB, so they're just regurgitating this info.) HKMDb lists it as 03/10/1972. (Not saying the Jan 1 date is right/wrong just that, as I mentioned earlier, IMDb is not very reliable for these films.) Would be great to see some of these mags tantao mentions (as they would make for a good fact checker) but I don't have any Cinemart issues from '71-'72 and since its a non-Shaw film, there's no point of researching my Southern Screen collection. I reviewed the HK box office numbers for both '71 & '72, looking for all the aliases, but unfortunately neither year mentions this Meng Fei flick -- so that scratches out all my resources. Thanks and look forward to your comments. The King Boxer was released on 1s January 1971 in Hong Kong. It preceded the release of Bruce Lee's The Big Boss which opened on 3rd October 1971. The King Boxer was filmed in 1970 when MENG FEI was 18/19-years-old! I cannot positively confirm that the MENG FEI starrer--The King Boxer/Hands Of Death/King Of Boxers--was released on 1st Jan 1971 or sometime in 1971 because I was not there in HK then. I'm only going by most of the literature that I came across on the internet about it, and 1971 is the year most listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member slazenger_7 Posted July 13, 2011 Member Share Posted July 13, 2011 It is good to be back here after a year's hiatus. Anyway, speaking of the year 1971, here is an interesting copy-paste from a website: [copy-paste] The title in Chinese “QUAN JI “literally means FIST DUEL, the colloquial Chinese term for boxing. DUEL OF FISTS became the biggest Blood Brothers hit ever as Chang’s innovative choices paid off. DUEL did not match the earlier box office success met by the CHINESE BOXER but easily bested Wang Yu’s second kung-fu movie ONE-ARMED BOXER (which incidentally featured a pair of Thai kick-boxing henchmen) and in the end rose to become the top ranking movie of 1971. This was a success that would have splendidly capped the great year Chang Cheh and his fighting boys had, but an event on the October 31st changed this. Golden Harvest, Shaw Brother’s fledgling rival, released a kung-fu movie of its own, “THE BIG BROTHER FROM CHINA” (5) , whose star was a promising newcomer making his martial-art film debut. The film itself was a mediocre production but its star was anything but. His name; Bruce Lee Besides a spellbinding charisma as well as white-hot intensity, “Little Dragon Lee” (6) brought a power, grace and authentic “vibe” to his fight scenes that were totally electrifying. Nearly overnight he generated a level of excitement among both the viewing audience and the film industry that shook H-K cinema to its foundation and made Lee the biggest movie star Hong-Kong ever had. In the end the Bruce Lee film not only topped the box office charts but also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor; DUEL, 3.2 million to 1.7. Naturally it totally eclipsed Chang Cheh, David Chiang and Ti Lung’s own respectable achievement. Bruce Lee’s earthshaking arrival broke Chiang and Ti Lung’s Blood Brothers movies popular momentum. Two more were made, including a sequel to DUEL titled THE ANGRY GUEST (Feb. 72), but neither of them added anything new. Thus DUEL OF FISTS had seen the cycle reaching its creative apex. Chang Cheh, Ti Lung and Chiang therefore moved on, the first to help launch kung-fu medalled champion Chen Kuan-tai as Shaw’s answer to Bruce Lee but that’s another story. Within two years Bruce Lee died while Chiang and Ti Lung enjoyed lengthy film careers in martial art cinema and beyond. Director Chang Cheh himself continued to be an innovative martial-art director for most of the decade but past the mid-seventies his movies never enjoyed the popularity they had from 1967 to 1972. Over the years Ti Lung developed a following in the West among Hong Kong cinema fans, while David Chiang on the other hand became one of the most overlooked k-f star-players. Some fans it seems even developed a strong deprecating view of him, questioning his looks, acting and screen-fighting skills. They were a bit annoyed by his usually wily and perpetually smirking screen persona and strongly resented that Chiang regularly upstaged Ti Lung in the fights or as the film’s real dramatic focus. DUEL OF FISTS probably helped to develop such ill appreciation. Indeed, while in the film a bare-chested Ti Lung delivered a fierce, gruelling and authentic looking fighting performance in the ring, swingy arms Chiang on the other hand was seen easily besting half a dozen opponents at a time in those stylized whirlwind fights. It was also the slender Chiang who was given the film’s final showdown against karate powerhouse Chen Seng while Ti Lung was on the sideline. Finally, as the film was set in the early seventies, Chiang was forced to wear some of period’s most horrendous examples of garish fashion run amok, not the best way to make a good impression . [end copy-paste] ------------------------------------------------------------ This excerpt is from the 1971 time capsule flick DUEL OF FISTS. Film review by Yves Gendron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 13, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 13, 2011 Así que por favor no se rían de mi español. Si todavía podemos ser amigos en línea, por favor, acepte mis disculpas si te hubiera ofendido de ninguna manera. --Slazenger Leaving for a while the subject King Boxer date release... Ay Dios mio! Boys!!! Slazenger, jamás me burlaría de tu español. Es un idioma muy difícil y has sido muy valiente en escribir directamente aquí acerca de tus problemas personales en vez de haberlo hecho por vía privada. Hemos tenido diferencias, dejémoslas de lado, ya han pasado, no soy rencorosa. Estoy muy contenta, ciertamente, de que haya regresado al sitio dedicado a Meng Fei. Lamento mucho las penosas circunstancias por las que has pasado. Espero que ahora estés bien. Back to the fellows: I heard about Five Fingers of Death, of Lo Lieh, but if I am not wrong, Meng Fei skills is fight with four fingers, a "technic" called "four fingers of fury". When the title was translated for european countries, changed "four" for "five", so, in France was "Les cinque doigts de la mort", in Germany "Karato fünf tödliche finger", in Italy (the only country that counted "four"!!!) "Le cuattre dita della furia"... in USA and HK "King Boxer", and Argentina...."Venganza Sangrienta".... I leave the debate of the release date with those of know about this subject very well.... I ve read that the movie was exhibited in Cannes in 1973 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member slazenger_7 Posted July 13, 2011 Member Share Posted July 13, 2011 What surprised me about Meng Fei is that he was poised for screen superstardom in martial arts films with back to back releases of King Boxer and Prodigal Boxer in the early 70s. His career seems to have followed the pattern a la Jean Paul Belmondo, in that Meng Fei started portraying more light-hearted onscreen characters. Belmondo did this in '64 with L'Homme De Rio. Prior to that, he was part of the French Nouvelle Vague. Maybe that is why Chang Cheh supposedly made the comment that "there was no room for two Fu Shengs at Shaw Brothers..." I don't know how certain this comment was, but only Mr. Fei can answer that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member slazenger_7 Posted July 13, 2011 Member Share Posted July 13, 2011 It is amazing that Fu Sheng and Meng Fei only appeared together in ONE FILM: Five Shaolin Masters (1974). In contrasting their styles, I must disagree with the legendary Mr. Chang Cheh. Fu Sheng and Meng Fei have two very different screen personas. Fu Sheng came across as just plain UNASSUMING and INNOCENT. Senor Fei, on the other hand, had a little bit of devilishness in his character portrayals. However, I can never quite forgive the maestro Chang Cheh for short-changing Meng Fei in Fei's ONLY Shaw Brothers venture: Five Shaolin Masters. Since Meng Fei has forever been so strongly associated with the Shaw Brothers epic FSM, it is hard to imagine that FSM was his only Shaw film. I recently viewed the YouTube uploaded GREEN JADE STATUETTE with Chi Kuan Chun and Meng Fei. It was TERRIFIC. Meng Fei really paired well with both Chen Kuan Tai (in SHAOLIN KING BOXER) and Chi Kuan Chun. Chi Kuan Chun really surprised everyone with his portrayal of a not-so-scrupulous hero in GJS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 16, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 16, 2011 Karato Fünf tödliche Finger Auf Deutsch! Zwei filmszenen, mit Meng Fei und Yasuaki Kurata. HQQi3R7YGEE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 23, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 23, 2011 About actresses Meng Fei's partners, Parwana Chanajit in King Boxer She played the character of girlfriend's protagonist (Meng Fei) She won the award Miss Thailandia 1970 and shot some films, hired by Shaw Brothers by Duel of Fists (shot in Thailand, 1971) and for King Boxer (1971/1972),Bloody Fight (1972), Roaring Lion (1972), the four films for Shaw Brothers, after that only one for Golden Harvest and retired from this industry. She embodies the beauty of end of the sixties, naïve, natural, romantic. Others names: Lan Ying Liu | Lan-ying Liu | Parwana | Liu Lan Ying | Lua Lan Ying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 23, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 23, 2011 Some shots of King Boxer. Meng Fei and crew with Miss Parwana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted July 28, 2011 Author Member Share Posted July 28, 2011 Take the Rap (1983) Direction: Wang Yu. Original story: Gu Long. Meng Fei, fan fighting, fan finesse 2fq_61Hgzn4&feature=channel_video_title Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted July 28, 2011 Member Share Posted July 28, 2011 Don't know if already mentioned, but Meng Fei will be in new film released later this year 2011, but called "The Harbor 2012" or "港都 2012". Don't know what it is about or how big Meng Fei's part is, but Dennis To from Ip Man; Legend is Born is doing the choreo, so maybe it will have a fair bit of action? Maybe Meng Fei might fight? Who knows, we can only wait & see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted August 2, 2011 Author Member Share Posted August 2, 2011 It was a dream, for me, just open a thread, a space for appreciate Meng Fei's career, and now, a group of friends made this place a real recognition place for a movie star. Including Miss Oropesa, whom fullfilled this space with her words and shared with us interesting life's stories. What a great star Meng Fei, we love you! 51.000 can't lie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted August 22, 2011 Author Member Share Posted August 22, 2011 Don't know if already mentioned, but Meng Fei will be in new film released later this year 2011, but called "The Harbor 2012" or "港都 2012". Don't know what it is about or how big Meng Fei's part is, but Dennis To from Ip Man; Legend is Born is doing the choreo, so maybe it will have a fair bit of action? Maybe Meng Fei might fight? Who knows, we can only wait & see. You are right my friend. The movie "The Harbor 2012" was released in Taiwan, and I don't know the date for western countries. It is a drama. The teaser is (obviously) too short (only 20 secs) and do not tells too much about the plot. Seems for me an action movie but I don't know the character of Meng Fei. The director is Zhou Shou-Yun, and as you said, Dennis To Yue-Hong, Chin Kai-Wei... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted August 27, 2011 Author Member Share Posted August 27, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mengfan Posted August 29, 2011 Member Share Posted August 29, 2011 Hello everyone, I've been away from this forum for quite a long time. i just finished catching up on my reading and I have seen and learnt so many new and interesting things. I am grateful for this forum. Everyone here is so dedicated, well educated about and appreciated Meng Fei. I was busy having a baby. looking after the little ones can be challenging as a mother as I have to feed the precious angel during the first few months. It is great to see all the old members and a few new ones. Welcome to the new members. Hello Alexandra, Mars Harmony, Athena and welcome back Slazenger_7, so good to have you back. Boy!, meng Fei still look good at his age, still very handsome and all. Last night I found Enter The Whirlwind Boxer on Youtube and I watched it. Not the best of quality , but, still watchable. It was the very first movies I saw with Meng \fei years ago and I became a fan then and there. can anyone help me with something?. Is The secrets of the Shaolin poles a continuation of Enter the whirlwind boxer?.. The same girl who was the daughter of the villlian in ETWB is in Secrets of the Shaolin poles and I don;t quite get her name in Enter the whirlwind boxer, so I would like to know. I know the character was Miss Chow in ETWB but that was all, I never got a first name. By the way, I think both those movies rate amongst the best of Meng Fei's movies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted September 8, 2011 Author Member Share Posted September 8, 2011 Is The secrets of the Shaolin poles a continuation of Enter the whirlwind boxer?.. The same girl who was the daughter of the villlian in ETWB is in Secrets of the Shaolin poles and I don;t quite get her name in Enter the whirlwind boxer, so I would like to know. I know the character was Miss Chow in ETWB but that was all, I never got a first name. By the way, I think both those movies rate amongst the best of Meng Fei's movies First and foremost: Congratulations "mamma"! I hope you all the hapiness with your son! Second: Enter the Whirldwind Boxer (1975) is of course the Fang Shih Yu 's history. Directed by Au-Yeung Chung, is a spectacular Meng Fei's acting. His fan skills are fantastic. With the action direction of Lau Brothers, could not be better. The girl I guess you mention is Doris Lung (Chung Erh Lung), with Meng Fei they were the "golden couple of the screen". Then came Secret of the Shaolin Poles (1977), also directed by Au-Yeung Chung, in the same character, and I can't say if this film is a sequel, only that is related with Fang Shih Yu. Again in this movie show up Doris Lung but with the nick "Cherry Lung". Same person. The Lau Brothers also made the action direction of the movie. Great movies indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member CKCgirl Posted September 16, 2011 Member Share Posted September 16, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member CKCgirl Posted September 16, 2011 Member Share Posted September 16, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member CKCgirl Posted September 16, 2011 Member Share Posted September 16, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.