Martial arts extravaganza directed by Lo Wei and starring Jimmy Wang Yu.
Presented on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration, it’s available NOW for the first time ever in the UK, and in North America (Blu-ray debut), as part of the Eureka Classics range. And of course you can also find it on Amazon!
Trailer
Cast
The first superstar of Chinese cinema Jimmy Wang Yu, stars as “Chin Fu”. Until the emergence of Bruce Lee, Wang Yu was the box office king of Hong Kong movies. He had a string of hits such as the “One Armed Swordsman”, “The Chinese Boxer”, “One Armed Boxer”, and “Master of the Flying Guillotine”.
In later years he appeared in Sammo Hung’s “Millionaires Express” and Donnie Yen’s “Dragon/Wu Xia”. In 2011 Wang suffered a stroke that caused him to lose much of his strength in the left side of his body. Wang Yu worked vigorously in physical therapy, even exceeding the doctor’s recommended pace. He would reportedly lift his arm 1000 times a day instead of 200, and walk three times the suggested distance. As a result of his efforts he regained most of his ability to walk and talk, and he could lift his left arm, though he could no longer use its full strength.
Since his recovery Wang tried to live as normal a life as possible, and had even returned to film work. In an interview he admitted to driving to his physical therapy session with the use of only one arm, but explained that his daughter put a stop to it when she found out, and that she had hired a driver for him. He passed away on 5th April 2022 at the age of 79.
A veteran of Hong Kong movies, appearing in over seventy productions, James Tien plays “Liu Han-Ming”. Well known for his appearances alongside Bruce Lee in “The Big Boss” and “Fist of Fury“, he also featured in classics such as “Hand of Death“, “The Iron-Fisted Monk“, “Spiritual Kung Fu”, “Magnificent Bodyguards”, “The Fearless Hyena“, “The Prodigal Son”, “Dragon Fist”, “Yes Madam”, “Millionaires Express“, “Winners and Sinners”, “Eastern Condors“, and many more.
Maria Yi stars as nightclub singer, “Keiko”. She had previously appeared in director Lo Wei’s hits “The Big Boss” and “Fist of Fury”, starring Bruce Lee.
Veteran actor Tien Feng plays “Boss Yamamoto”. In a career spanning over forty years, he acted in or directed over 120 films. He is best known to martial arts fans for his roles in movies such as “King Boxer”, “Fist of Fury“, “The Fate of Lee Khan”, “The Young Master”, and “Miracles”.
Plot
A MAN CALLED TIGER Original 1973 Trailer
Chin Fu is a formidable martial artist who suspects his father’s apparent suicide was actually a cold-blooded murder.
His desire for answers – and revenge – leads him to Japan, where he becomes entangled with the yakuza.
With the aid of his fellow countryman Liu Han-ming and Keiko, a nightclub hostess, Chin Fu sets out to infiltrate Tokyo’s underworld, expose a criminal conspiracy and uncover his father’s true fate by any means necessary.
Action
From virtually the first frame, Wang Yu wanders the streets of Japan, beating several shades out of gangs of thugs. Although presented in short bursts, Wang Yu demonstrates a nice variety of techniques, using his fists, feet and even his trouser belt!
When Wang Yu is attacked by a biker gang there are some quite dangerous looking stunts on show. Wang Yu himself is clearly in the thick of it, with the motorcycles whizzing by just a few centimetres from him.
Wang Yu’s hard man credentials are further reinforced with a pretty brutal bar fight, with plenty of claret being served!
A youthful James Tien absolutely batters a group of henchmen, before facing Wang Yu one on one. The restaurant setting has plenty of chairs and tables for the fighters to spectacularly smash into and land on.
“This is Just a Warning” Movie Clip
A fight in an office sees Wang Yu flying across desks to drop kick the gangster’s henchmen. He even uses a telephone, Jack Reacher-style, to beat the boss into submission. Wang Yu performs an impressively high drop from a roof to the concrete below, with no apparent safety measures. He also performs an especially high fall from a cable car into the water himself.
“Fight Scene In The Car Park” Movie Clip
A derelict warehouse is the setting for an absolutely blistering fight with multiple assailants. The extra space allows the camera to capture the action a little wider, with some cool dolly shots and whip pans accentuating the energy of the choreography.
“Let’s See Who Is Really Calling The Shots” Movie Clip
Wang Yu never looks especially flexible or elegant when performing his fights, but he certainly looks tough! Aside from the occasional use of a trampette or reverse filming, the raw, rapid way that Wang Yu fires off his strikes gives the fight scenes a touch of hardened realism.
The finalé is an all out brawl featuring a vicious axe gang. James Tien gets an opportunity to shine whilst the introduction of the axes brings a real sense of jeopardy for our hero. Wang Yu is far from invincible in the final battle, taking a very bloody beating, literally fighting to survive.
Summary
Coming from director Lo Wei, who hit the big time with “Fist of Fury” starring Bruce Lee, this is an interesting far eastern gangster flick.
Jimmy Wang Yu effortlessly plays the Steve McQueen-like tough but cool hero. He always looks believable when he is dishing out a beating, even if his techniques are not the prettiest.
As a story, I could easily see this being remade with someone like Jason Statham in the lead role.
One major complaint I have is that this film is about twenty minutes too long. A little tighter editing of some superfluous exposition or just unnecessary scenes that do nothing to develop the characters or story, could have made this a nicely-paced action film.
A MAN CALLED TIGER Unboxing Video
As usual with Eureka’s reissues of these classics, the picture and sound quality are excellent.
There are two great commentaries from Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, and also Arne Venema and Mike Leeder.
There is a featurette with Brandon Bentley analysing the original subtitle scripts that reveal several missing scenes and elements. There are also two music videos featuring Francis Yip singing the songs from the movie.
If you are fan of Jimmy Wang Yu’s hard man routines, “A Man Called Tiger” is essential viewing!
Trivia
- “A Man Called Tiger” is rumoured to have been planned as the third collaboration between Lo Wei and Bruce Lee. Lee chose to make his directorial debut with “The Way of the Dragon” instead.
- Director Lo Wei has a cameo as an undercover agent.
