It opens with scenes of coolies working on shipping docks. Charles is the new guy. He gets bullied and fights back. This draws the attention of the boss, Tsai Hung. The boss meets with another big shot and it does not go well. He sends his thugs after the guy. Charles sees them about to beat up the other big shot and comes to his defense. Boss Tsai Hung meets with Charles to get him on his payroll.
Cut to a boy and little girl getting in trouble around the town. They witness the murder of the big shot. Charles is also on the scene of the crime. He is falsely accused and flees. At this point guns come out. Guns are historically accurate for this movie but I always complain that guns have no place in martial arts movies. We will see how that is handled. Initially, Charles takes one bullet to his left shoulder.
The big boss then personally kills two other men. I think one was Charles' father. The thugs then grab the two children but Charles saves them. He passes out from his bullet wound and they take him to a safe place.
1973 was Charles Heung Wah-Jeung's breakout year for martial arts movies. He starred in no less than 6 movies that year. I consider his high point as a martial arts actor in 1978 "Goose Boxer". He has since become a producer.
My copy is the Himagine release. It is wide screen and it has no subtitles. There is a fan version by Jamal that he added subtitles but it is not wide screen.
Charles' fights are mostly hand to hand. His fighting style is clean and efficient. Each technique is a simple, quick block followed by counterattack. I didn't notice any wire work or mini-trampoline jumps. I also found the story easy to follow despite the language barrier. There were no lengthy conversations and the pace moved right along.
Though I did not find anything bad about the movie I also did not find anything memorable or otherwise impressive to raise it higher than average for the year and genre. I recommend it only for fans of the genre as more of the same stuff you have seen before and will see again.
