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神打 (1975)
The Spiritual Boxer


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 12/10/2004
Summary: Better than expected

The movie i expected a more "mr Vampire" type movie but instead i find it's a story about con man who do the right thing for society.

This is a feel good movie, with a little comedy put into it. I think Wang Yu does well in his role, i think he's a little underrated but i do not consider him on the big SB stars.

The action is average but i sense this movie is more about morals than another thing else

Quite enjoyable

7/10


Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 10/22/2004
Summary: 7/10

***1/2 THE SPIRITUAL BOXER: Lau Kar Leung's directorial debut was apparently the first film that could be classed as a "Kung Fu Comedy", and was clearly an influence on Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung (particularly Drunken Master and Encounters of the Spooky Kind), but fails to be as enjoyable as those two classics for whatever reason. Well, the main reason is that Wang Yu doesn't have the charisma or comedic ability of either of the Golden Harvest luminaries - and the fact that the film is in Mandarin doesn't help him (the language is simply not as well suited to broad comedy as Cantonese, IMO). He's a good enough martial artist though, and the film is most enjoyable when he's being possessed by various spirits and fighting in their styles. In between it's good enough, but not "classic" level.

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: battlemonkey
Date: 12/21/1999

A drunken master and his students try to convince townspeoplethat their clan are masters of spiritual boxing, which makes them completely invulnerable. They end up protecting the town from bandits despite being shams themselves. Liu Chia Liang's first film. Yung Wang Yu's first film. One of the first kung fu comedies ever made. Needless to say, it's a classic.