KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM
(Hong Kong 1979)
Original Title: Jin Bi Tong (aka) Kid With The Golden Arms
Directed by Chang Cheh Produced by Runme Shaw Action by Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, Robert Tai Starring: Sun Chien, Lo Meng, Philip Kwok, Lu Feng, Johnny Wang, Chiang Sheng, Yang Hsiung, Helen Poon, Wei Pei Reviewing: Black Hill Pictures/Koch Media German Blu-ray Release Genres: Traditional Kung Fu / Adventure
Rating - 4.3 / 5
Blu-ray Synopsis: Feared throughout the land are the merciless four of the dragon gangs: silver spear, brass helmet, iron fan and steel arm - they are the hardest fighters in Asia - their trade is killing. A gold transport is on the way to Yunnan. To prevent the dragon gang from attacking him, the government has given him a battle-hardened couple. But they are not up to the first confrontation. Luckily, the drunkard Hai Tao turns out to be an excellent fighter. He was once acquainted with the four of the Dragon Gang, ie fighting machines of the Shaolin. Now all he has to do is fight for justice... (85 Mins)
Views: In 1979, while Lau Kar Leung was focusing on delivering some strong features with Spiritual Boxer 2, Dirty Ho, and Mad Monkey Kung Fu elsewhere in the Shaw Brothers studio, prolific director Chang Cheh was churning out double the amount of movies from Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung to The Kid With The Golden Arm. After all, he did have over twenty-five years more experience than his main competitor as a director yet, for me, I am often inclined to lean more towards the works of Lau from this period – with Cheh's films feeling very repetitive and formulaic at times. Lau had only left Cheh's team a few years previous, where he had worked religiously as his main fight choreographer since the late 60s. But Chang Cheh was determined to prove to his old friend that he was still the king of the studio, complete with a brand new batch of kung-fu stars who had already proven their worth in the previous years Five Venoms and Crippled Masters. Chang directed his first feature film in 1949 at the age of 25, but it would be another 15 years before he made the move to the Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong where he would spend a strong 16 or 17 years creating some of the most talked about films from kung-fu cinema...
While it may be one of his most talked about Venom movies, The Kid With The Golden Arm certainly doesn't win any awards for story – working off a simple plot that allows viewers to experience as many fight scenes as the director can possibly cram in. And that's most certainly not a bad thing, with Cheh giving his audience exactly what they want with a highly-enjoyable kung-fu adventure, backed by an awesome cast and some fantastic choreography. Super-kicker Sun Chien plays Yang Hu Yun, aka the Iron Feet Lad (or Iron Foot Lad), the chief of an escort agency who have been tasked with moving a hefty sum of gold from the local government to a distant area that has been stricken by poverty. Part of this journey involves passing through the Deadly Valley – a place filled with ninja-like assassins, poisoned traps, and lethal fighters – so Yang secures the help of two mercenary fighters, Yen and Fang, as well as heroic swordsman Li and his girlfriend Leng Feng. After making a splash with his debut performance in Chinatown Kid, Sun secured his place in kung-fu cinema (and Shaw Brothers) with The Five Venoms that would see him go on to star in a host of classics such as this, The Daredevils, Crippled Avengers, House Of Traps, Bastard Swordsman, and so much more. By the mid-80s, Sun would make a move into low budget ninja movies and martial-arts adventure films that saw his career take a bit of a dive, eventually retiring from the scene after a small role in the fun Jackie Chan produced Angry Ranger - of which he also co-directed alongside one of his co-stars, Johnny Wang Lung Wei. As one of the two mercenaries, the great Chiang Sheng plays the character known as Short Axe, alongside Suen Shu Pau who plays Long Axe. Starting life at the Fu Sheng Drama School in Taiwan, Chiang soon got into the film industry when Chang Cheh founded his own production company under the Shaw Brothers banner. After many supporting roles and appearances as an extra in titles such as Wild Tiger, 18 Shaolin Disciples, The Condemned, Hand Of Death, and New Shaolin Boxers, Chiang got his first real prominent role in Cheh's epic Shaolin Temple that kick-started a strong career at Shaw's from there on. After starring in titles like The Naval Commandos, Magnificent Wanderers, The Brave Archer, and Chinatown Kid, Chiang added a notch to his belt by doubling as the assistant director on The Brave Archer 2 before moving onto The Five Venoms and this. The year after, Chiang would continue to star and help Cheh with directing as well as turning his hand to that of a martial-arts director – much like the rest of his co-stars would do eventually. Leaving the Shaw Brothers studio with Chang Cheh in the mid 80s, Chiang went onto star in a number of fun titles for a few more years including Attack Of The Joyful Goddess, Five Fighters From Shaolin, Shanghai 13, Ninja Kids: Kiss Of Death (a personal favourite), Ninja USA, and Exciting Dragon, eventually retiring from the screen by '89. Although his career and skills were highly praised and loved by kung-fu fans the world over, Chiang's life in the film industry came to an abrupt halt when his wife forced him to give it up – only to divorce a year later. Chiang soon sank into a world of alcohol and depression, sadly passing at the age 40 in 1991 with a broken heart. His body was found by his friend and co-star Ricky Cheng after lying alone for 3 days. Actor and martial arts director Suen Shu Pau started life with the Shaw Brothers in the mid-70s in films such as Marco Polo, Seven Man Army, and The Condemned, going on star in a host of Cheh's titles for the next few years. Aside from his role here, Suen would depart the studio to star in and choreograph more independent titles such as 7 Commandments Of Kung Fu, The Bone Crushing Kid, Dreaming Fists Slender Hands, and Legend Of The Owl, with a role in Robert Tai's Shaolin Vs Ninja being his last to date. It would be almost 4 decades later before Suen would return to film with his directorial debut of the little-known action-thriller Fox Spy, starring Eva Huang, Eric Tsang, and Waise Lee. The wonderful Wei Pei stars as swordsman Li Qing Ming, in what would be his final role for the studio before heading-off to Golden Harvest for greener pastures starting with John Woo's Last Hurrah For Chivalry the very same year. Apart from suffering a deadly blow from Dick Wei in a brief cameo, Wei is joined by the lovely Helen Poon who starred in previous titles such as Crippled Avengers, Heroes Of The East, and Dirty Ho, as his sword-swinging girlfriend Leng Feng...
Before they head off on their journey, the escort guards are made aware of the feared Che Sa gang who are intent on stealing the gold. The gang is led by four chiefs- each of whom get the chance to display their styles in the films opening sequence. Lo Meng leads the way and is as fantastic as always as the titular character of Golden Arm. It's a role that seems quite similar to his one as the Toad Venom in The Five Venoms but there are also call-backs to Crippled Avengers too, such as when he gets blinded towards the end. But I guess that was part of the charm of Chang Cheh's Venom Mob movies. For the most part, each of them played like a live-action comic book with bizarre and fantastical characters that seemed to have jumped right-off the pages from any of Tony Wong's Jademan Comics. As the toughest of the ruthless bandits, Meng impresses with his kung-fu abilities, proving his worth as a master of unarmed combat. This accountant-turned-actor joined the Chang Cheh train in Shaolin Temple after he watched introduced to the director by one of the Shaw brothers. Meng followed the same path as the rest, eventually starring in many other titles for Shaw's such as Hex Vs Witchcraft, Lion Vs Lion, Human Lanterns, and Bastard Swordsman. In the mid-80s, he would start appearing in more modern works such as Michelle Yeoh's Magnificent Warriors, Hard Boiled, Return To A Better Tomorrow, Ebola Syndrome, Sex & Zen 3, and the fun Anna In Kung Fu Land – eventually finding a resurgence of sorts in the film world when he was cast as Master Law in Donnie Yen's Ip Man 2, followed by Gallants, The Grandmaster, Vampire Clean-up Department, and returning as Master Law for Ip Man 3 & 4.The brilliant Lu Feng comes in second as the deadly Silver Spear, as well as doubling-up again as one of the fight choreographers. It's another great role for Feng that allows him to show his acrobatic skills, as well as delivering some great kills with his weapon of choice. After starring in his first real prominent role in The Five Venoms, Lu went onto star in many of Chang Cheh's films from there on in. After Cheh's departure from the studio, Lu tried to keep busy with roles in his films like Attack Of The Joyful Goddess, The Demons, and Shanghai 13 before going on to appear in some fun films like Fight Among The Supers, Ninja Kids: Kiss Of Death, Death Ring, Ninja Condors, and a cameo in Cheh's Ninja In Ancient China before retiring from the scene in the mid-late 90s. The awesome Johnny Wang Lung Wei stars as the 3rd chief, Iron Armour Wei Lin – the tough bastard with the iron fan who gets to have an impressive showdown with Philip Kwok. Although he was never really seen as a Venom as such, Johnny starred alongside the team for a good majority of their journey with Chang Cheh – often going up against them as the hard-as-nails villain – with Heaven & Hell in 1980 being his last title for the director. Robert Yang Hsiung completes the team as Copper Head, the muscle-bound fighter with a copper headband who enjoys delivering a good headbutt wherever he can. Although he had been in the business a few years before, Yang joined the Shaw Brothers studio in 1976 when cast as an extra in Chang Cheh's Shaolin Temple. From there his roles got bigger as he starred alongside the majority of this cast in most of Chang's titles that followed, eventually moving into independent titles and Lau Kar Leung's studio movies from 1980. Yang would also join forces with Alexander Lo Rei and Robert Tai, going on to star in some of their movies such as Devil Killer, Shaolin Vs Lama, Shaolin Vs Ninja, Shaolin Chasity Kung Fu, and Super Ninja – as well as starring in a host of fun titles such as A Fistful Of Talons, A Heroic Fight, Kung Fu Wonder Child, Widow Warriors, Brave Young Girls, Island Of Fire, and so much more. And finally, the awesome Philip Kwok plays drunken sheriff Hai To – the man who takes no crap, loves a drink, and is out to stop the bandits of Deadly Valley with his deadly moves. This is probably one of my favourite Kwok roles and, as usual, he impresses with some incredible acrobatics and moves that confirm why he was always my favourite Venom. Kwok started his film career with roles in Chang Cheh's The Fantastic Magic Baby, Marco Polo, Boxer Rebellion, and Seven Man Army, also appearing in outside titles such as One-Armed Boxer Vs The Flying Guillotine, Hand Of Death, and The Traitorous. 1976 was a crazy busy year for Kwok, appearing in 10 titles in all including Cheh's New Shaolin Boxers and Shaolin Temple, going on to follow his friend and co-star Chiang Sheng with the same run of titles (for the most part) over the next few years. After co-directing, choreographing, and starring in Ninja In The Deadly Trap with some of his Venom brothers, Kwok spread his wings when it came to the end of Chang Cheh's contract and appeared in other Shaw studio titles such as Holy Flame Of The Martial World, Demon Of The Lute, and Crazy Shaolin Disciples. As the late 80s crept in, he moved into modern action with memorable roles in The Big Heat, The Peacock King, Seven Warriors, In The Line Of Duty 6: Forbidden Arsenal, Story of Ricky, and the epic Hard Boiled – as well as many others. Of course, Philip had also been keeping himself busy over the years doubling-up as a martial-arts director and action-choreographer which began in the late 70s with Chang Cheh's Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung, The Daredevils, Magnificent Ruffians, and others, before going on to handle the action in many modern hits such as A Chinese Ghost Story with Tony Ching Siu Tung, The Peacock King, Erotic Ghost Story, Tiger Cage 2, Zen Of Sword, The Bride With White Hair 1 & 2, Hard Boiled, and worked with Michelle Yeoh on her international breakthrough role in Tomorrow Never Dies as well as her self-produced adventure, The Touch.
Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, and Robert Tai return as the fight choreographers for The Kid With The Golden Arm, delivering a constant flow of fantastic martial arts battles. For me, the fight between Philip Kwok and Johnny Wang Lung Wei was amazing, with the latter dying in the most painful way imaginable as his spear is rammed up his ass while he descends from a jump. And then of course, there is the lengthy finale that sees Kwok take on Meng's Golden Arm Kid as well as Sun Chien's Iron Feet. It's a brilliant end battle with some surprises, but definitely stands out as one of my favourites from the team. Prolific writer Ni Kuang teams-up with Chang Cheh for the umpteenth time to provide the script, with Chiang Sheng also working as assistant director once again. Cho Wai Kei, who was the DOP on Just Heroes and The Untold Story, captures the films neat cinematography and had been working for the studio since the early 70s from The Lady Hermit and The Long Chase, through to Journey Of The Doomed and Johnny Wang Lung Wei's directorial debut of The Man Is Dangerous in 1985 before going on to shoot films such as Armour Of God, As Tears Go By, Miracles, and Prison On Fire. While I must say that I found it odd that Chang would set the title of his film based on a villain (and to see Lo Meng in a rare bad guy role as that character), it's fair to say that Cheh and his team bring fans yet another tremendously fun kung-fu classic that may not have the most original of plot lines, but it still delivers some incredible martial arts action!
Overall: Action-packed and a lot of fun, The Kid With The Golden Arm is well worth the watch!
Blu-ray Extras: Alternate German Theatrical Version (77 Mins), Trailer, Photo Gallery
Watch my unboxing video of this Koch Media release HERE
