Hapkido (1973)

Really Surprised!

Overrated

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I have seen this film twice and I believe it to be way ahead of its time as, firstly, it features a woman as the main martial arts star when this was almost unheard of and, secondly, features a martial art very few people would have heard of in the West and Hapkido was given the title Lady Kung Fu in America to reach a wider market.Basically Hapkido is the story of three students of Hapkido, a Korean martial art like a cross between karate and jiu jitsu, who are persecuted in thirties China by the Japanese who set up karate schools and try to ban non Japanese martial arts. Obviously this being a martial arts film there are some spectacular fight scenes between the Japanese and the Koreans, particularly the end fight where Angela Mao and Hwang in Sik take on two Japanese senseis, one of whom is a dab hand with a sword, and fight them to the death, Angela Mao having a unique figthing technique that involves her pigtails.The main drawbacks are fairly poor dubbing on the version I've seen, Angela is given a corny American accent, the very cheap sets and poor acting. However, the quality of the fight scenes cannot be faulted and Angela Mao is as good as Bruce Lee.

I've seen this movie first time as "Lady Kung Fu" (a.k.a. Anjera Mao no Onna Kassatsu Ken) in a movie theater in Asia, and was impressed with Angela Mao's skills.The movie is bit like the "The Chinese Connection" in that Japanese oppression is part of the topic. Korean Hapkido school goes against the Japanese Karate school. The bad guys are of course the Japanese.This movie came out 6 month after the sensational success of "The Chinese Connection", both by Golden Harvest, so similarity is not surprising. Angela Mao was hot commodity for Golden Harvest at the time, and she takes the lead in this movie. She has this unique school girlish looks that makes her stand out in any movie she's in. Very young Sammo Hung also stars in this movie. It seems that he hasn't gotten a hair cut between this movie, and the time he stared in the "Enter the Dragon" the following year. He's also gained lot of weight between this and the "Enter the Dragon".This movie looks better now than when I first saw it. It has aged pretty well over 40 years. Still a great kung fu action movie, and recommended for viewing.

Lady Kung Fu is one of the greatest movies to watch if you like martial arts films. There are scenes in the film that take a while to pass (boring), but other than that, is packed with fantastic Hapkido skills from Angelo Mao, Grandmaster Ji Han Jae, Carter Wong, Sammo Hung, In-Sik Whang and the others. The end fight-scene between a black-bear student and Yu-Ying (Angela Mao) has a great choreography blend from the beginning of the fight till the point when Yu-Ying's eldest classmate jumps in to take on the black-bear student's teacher. It is a bit disappointing to see the teacher use a sword against Yu-Ying's classmate, because of the limitations of techniques the classmate can do without a sword. You can't have a great sword-fight with only one sword! Apart form that, the whole movie's fantastic!

Raymond Chow produced "Lady Kung-Fu," a no-holds-barred martial arts action flick from the early 1970s directed by Feng Huang, and contains shades of nearly every Bruce Lee movie from that time. When I looked at it last night, I saw a number of interesting parallels between this flick and Bruce Lee's "The Chinese Connection," as both films were released in 1972. Most notable is that the plots bear some resemblance to one another and there is a strong sense of conflict between warring martial arts schools. Unlike "The Chinese Connection," however, the enemy, the Japanese, are portrayed in a flagrant, one-sided, racist, and xenophobic light; they are sometimes referred to as "Japs" by the main Chinese characters (I know this film is set before World War II - I wonder, did such racial epithets exist before then?). But I'm getting off track. Angela Mao, Carter Wong, and Sammo Hung star as three Chinese gong-fu students studying martial arts in Korea under a famed exile (Hapkido Grandmaster Han Jae Ji). They take their Hapkido training (called "kung-fu" in the film) back to China and attempt to set up their own school, only to face opposition from the ruling Japanese occupational forces, who seek to promote their art of Judo (founded in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano). That's about all there is to the plot, and then we have the fights. During the opening credits, we're treated to one incredible sequence with Wong drubbing a band of thugs. Next, there is a training sequence with Angela Mao. Then, Han Jae Ji himself demonstrates his unique Hapkido fighting art. In "Lady Kung-Fu," there are a number of familiar faces from Chow-produced martial arts action flicks too. Mao is probably my favorite fighter, since she is mostly famous for her tragic portrayal of Bruce Lee's sister in "Enter the Dragon" (1973). On a side note, I am currently studying Hapkido and I encourage anyone else interested in it to check out this flick.An enjoyable martial arts romp.8/10