Thursday, July 26, 2018

Mystery Movies Solved! The Kung Fu Edition



In the past couple of years we've identified a number of martial arts movies that played in the U.S. under alternate titles, including LADY LEE'S REVENGE, BLACK BELT ANGELS, REVOLT OF KUNG FU LEE, KUNG FU COPS, KUNG FU KIDS and the legendary DRAG-ON TOKER: KUNG FU SMOKER. Here are 10 more that we've recently ID'd...

WHEN DRAGONS COLLIDE first surfaced on the kung fu track in 1983 from Elmark General Film Corp., a short-lived company headed by jazz pianist J. LaMont Johnson, who also ran Twin World (BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD) and Artisan Releasing (THUNDERFIST, DON'T LEAVE GO MY HAND). We couldn't figure this one out, so we asked for help on Facebook and -- within minutes -- the combined efforts of Kristopher J. Law, Brian Bankston, and John Grace produced the answer: TOU DU KE (1973) a.k.a. THE RENDEZVOUS OF WARRIORS, directed by Jimmy Shaw Fung and starring Ying Bai and Betty Ting Pei. Thanks, guys!

(Top: Orlando - November 18, 1983; Below: New York - March 16, 1984)


Next, a correction to the Internet Movie Database...


FISTFUL OF THE DRAGON is credited as an alternate title for FISTS OF FURY PART II, but it's actually FIST OF FURY III -- which the IMDb claims is a 1979 film, but here it is in Louisville on December 23, 1978...


Moving on to a double bill in Philadelphia on March 5, 1982...


LEE VS. THE BROWN BOMBER is LAO TOU QUAN TOU DA MAN TOU (1979) a.k.a. AGAINST RASCALS WITH KUNG FU. The second feature, FINGER OF IRON, is TIE TOU TIE ZHI TIE BU SHAN (1977) a.k.a. SHAOLIN IRON FINGER, RENEGADE MASTER and IRON HEAD, IRON FINGER, IRON CLOTH.


WIZARD OF KUNG FU is a Filipino movie called THE BLOOD HERO (1975)


DRAGON'S TWIN BROTHER is PI LI LONG QUAN (1978) a.k.a. MY NAME CALLED BRUCE. The ad above is from the Tallahassee opening on December 12, 1980.


KUNG FU MYSTERY KICKER is ZA MA (1978) a.k.a. MYSTERIOUS FOOTWORKS OF KUNG FU


BRUCE VS. THE RED-EYED MONSTER, which started playing the U.S. kung fu circuit in 1981, is GUAI QUAN GUAI ZHAO GUAI SHI ZHUAN (1978) a.k.a. BOXING WIZARD a.k.a. DRUNKEN MASTER STRIKES BACK a.k.a. IRON FIST BOXER (Above: Ft. Myers, Florida - February 5, 1982).


SHAOLIN DOUBLE DEMON is the supernatural horror/kung fu hybrid SHAO LIN SI CHUAN QI (1981) a.k.a. ABBOT WHITE


Lastly, MASTER OF VIOLENCE is HONG YI LA MA (1978) a.k.a. RED CLOTHES LAMA a.k.a. SHAOLIN RED MASTER a.k.a. SHAOLIN TOUGH KID

2 comments:

Martin Brooks said...

HONG KONG STRONGMAN

is

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164465/reference

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server5000/yshlhd/products/11146/images/130841/full.hongkongstrongman___04037.1512010131.1280.1280.jpg

Martin Brooks said...

ALL THE YOUNG MASTERS

is


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164444/reference


https://cdn1.bigcommerce.com/server5000/yshlhd/products/10951/images/130698/alltheyoungmasters_26660__35540.1512010077.1280.1280.jpg