King Boxer - Rumble in Hong Kong

This hugely successful martial arts film, packed with brilliantly choreographed action, was not initially well received by the American film press, who found the slow-motion action scenes in particular ‘too extravagant and needlessly wild’. The public’s reaction, however, was quite different: the film was enthusiastically embraced everywhere, including in the US. Quentin Tarantino regards King Boxer as one of his eleven favourite films. The American film press has also changed its tune and now regards the film as the groundbreaking catalyst for the 1970s kung fu craze.

The promising martial arts student Chao Chi-hao is sent by his master, Sung Wu-yang, to the even more accomplished master Shen Chin-pei to further hone his martial arts skills. This is primarily so that he will be able to defeat the unscrupulous martial arts villain Meng Tung-shan at an upcoming tournament. If he succeeds, he will be allowed to marry Sung’s daughter, Ying-ying. But Meng has no intention of being defeated and will stop at nothing to stop Chao.