cityonfire.com | Incredible Kung-fu Master

	Incredible Kung-fu Master "...a quickly filmed low-budget schlock..." - Perkele Incredible Kung-fu Master (1979) AKA: They Call Me Phat Dragon Director: Joe Cheung Tung-Cho Cast: Dong Wei, Sammo Hung, Lee Hoi San, Chong Fat, Chan Lung, Mang Hoi, Lam Ching-Ying, Mars Running Time: 90 min. Plot: See Perkele's review below. Reviews PERKELE'S REVIEW: This used to be hard to find tape [to my concern, it was only available from Holland] but now Xenon has released it under the title "They Call Me Phat Dragon"! Just what kind of idiot came up with THAT title?!? I understand that via the success of the hip hop group Wu Tang Clan many people have started to show interest towards kung fu films, but that ain't no reason to twist the films' names to sound more "streetwise" or something. That includes changing every ending "er" to "ah" [i.e. Killer comes Killah] and "f" to "ph" [like in the case here] plus "s" to "z". The most ridiculous titles I've discovered yet are maybe "Wu Tang Ho's, Thugs and Schrillah" and "Wu Tang Matrix" [the original titles being nothing alike]. Anyway, I found it too difficult to seek out the Dutch version, so I checked out the Xenon tape instead. The new title irritated the shit out of me, especially 'cause they decided to replace ALL the original credits with the badly designed new title [so my list of the cast members includes just people I recognized]. And there should be even a fight scene during the opening credits we don't get to see! The film "The Incredible Kung Fu Master" itself is rather stupid and slow-paced traditional kung fu caper lift above the average by Sammo Hung's action choreography. The first hour or so drags badly [even the fights are boring] but the last 30 minutes contain some fast & ferocious fight action. The comedy is bad as usual and the film's soundtrack certainly earns my vote for the most grisly soundtrack ever to appear in HK kung fu film [the other firm nominee is "Dragonball - The Movie"]. There seems to be two songs that they constantly play during the film: the first sounds like horrible Spanish folk music and the other is ripped from some 20's comedic silent film. Though the movie features many soon-to-be familiar faces [the main hero being Dong Wei, the kid Bruce Lee taught some lessons at the beginning of "Enter the Dragon"] , this isn't a Golden Harvest production, but a quickly filmed low-budget schlock from the director Joe Cheung [who has directed such all-time classics as... ahem, for example... "Killer in White"]. Still, see it for the finale, I taught the Sammo vs. Lee Hoi San fight was better here than in "Magnificent Butcher" or "Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog!". PERKELE'S RATING: 5/10

Incredible Kung-fu Master

"...a quickly filmed low-budget schlock..."

- Perkele

Incredible Kung-fu Master (1979)

AKA: They Call Me Phat Dragon

Director: Joe Cheung Tung-Cho

Cast: Dong Wei, Sammo Hung, Lee Hoi San, Chong Fat, Chan Lung, Mang Hoi, Lam Ching-Ying, Mars

Running Time: 90 min.

Plot: See Perkele's review below.

Reviews

PERKELE'S REVIEW: This used to be hard to find tape [to my concern, it was only available from Holland] but now Xenon has released it under the title "They Call Me Phat Dragon"! Just what kind of idiot came up with THAT title?!? I understand that via the success of the hip hop group Wu Tang Clan many people have started to show interest towards kung fu films, but that ain't no reason to twist the films' names to sound more "streetwise" or something. That includes changing every ending "er" to "ah" [i.e. Killer comes Killah] and "f" to "ph" [like in the case here] plus "s" to "z". The most ridiculous titles I've discovered yet are maybe "Wu Tang Ho's, Thugs and Schrillah" and "Wu Tang Matrix" [the original titles being nothing alike]. Anyway, I found it too difficult to seek out the Dutch version, so I checked out the Xenon tape instead. The new title irritated the shit out of me, especially 'cause they decided to replace ALL the original credits with the badly designed new title [so my list of the cast members includes just people I recognized]. And there should be even a fight scene during the opening credits we don't get to see!

The film "The Incredible Kung Fu Master" itself is rather stupid and slow-paced traditional kung fu caper lift above the average by Sammo Hung's action choreography. The first hour or so drags badly [even the fights are boring] but the last 30 minutes contain some fast & ferocious fight action. The comedy is bad as usual and the film's soundtrack certainly earns my vote for the most grisly soundtrack ever to appear in HK kung fu film [the other firm nominee is "Dragonball - The Movie"]. There seems to be two songs that they constantly play during the film: the first sounds like horrible Spanish folk music and the other is ripped from some 20's comedic silent film. Though the movie features many soon-to-be familiar faces [the main hero being Dong Wei, the kid Bruce Lee taught some lessons at the beginning of "Enter the Dragon"] , this isn't a Golden Harvest production, but a quickly filmed low-budget schlock from the director Joe Cheung [who has directed such all-time classics as... ahem, for example... "Killer in White"]. Still, see it for the finale, I taught the Sammo vs. Lee Hoi San fight was better here than in "Magnificent Butcher" or "Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog!".

PERKELE'S RATING: 5/10