After being expelled from his kung-fu school for being a total suckass, Diao (Hsiung Chao) returns from Japan having trained in Judo for several years. His goal is to destroy the school and start his own (with a gambling house next door as a side hustle). Luckily, the master of the school beats Diao’s ass and sends him on his way. But Diao ain’t done yet. He returns with Kitashima (Lieh Lo), a deadly fighter and a total psychopath, and some of his brutally cruel and highly skilled Judo cohorts. They kill or maim just about everyone in the school including the master. Lei Ming (Jimmy Wang Yu) isn’t the only survivor of this slaughter, but he’s the only one willing and able to stand up to Diao and his thugs. Lei spends months training his body to build up the mad skillz he needs to funk stuff up. Fellas! Fellas, please! Can’t we just talk things over?

The legendary actor Jimmy Wang Yu had already starred in over a dozen films before stepping into the director’s chair for this one. Does he succeed as both the lead and the director for this film? Yes. Big YES. I’m glad that I finally got around to The Chinese Boxer (1970), one of the most influential martial arts films of all time. It starts off deceptively tame (except for that rape scene – yikes!), especially if you are more accustomed to the wilder excesses that kung-fu cinema would explore by the mid to late 1970s. But fear not, The Chinese Boxer gets plenty crazy before the final showdown pops off. There’s a ton of bloody fight scenes all lovingly photographed by Shan Hua, who would go on to direct some bizarre stuff like Infra-Man (1975) and Kung-fu Zombie (1981).

88 Films finally doing some Region A releases? That pleases me very much. I’m one of those stubborn people who hasn’t gotten a region free player yet, so this was a long time comin’. Send a letter to me saying how silly I’m being, and I’ll think about it. As for the quality of this particular Blu-ray, it is top notch. Seriously, The Chinese Boxer looks and sounds like a brand-new film! You can watch it in either its original Mandarin with English subtitles or dubbed in English, both options are presented in LPCM* Mono 2.0.

For extras, there’s an excellent commentary track by author Samm Deighan. There’s also an interview about the film by journalist David West. Both of these will fill your brain with trivia and at least a dozen more martial arts films that you need to see.  I really enjoyed the interview with veteran action star Wong Ching. I hope I look that good when I’m in my 70s. I look like I’m in my 70s now, so this is unlikely. There are various trailers and TV spots for The Chinese Boxer, including one under its “Hammer of God” title. The Limited Edition of this one comes with a slipcover, a double-sided poster, and a booklet with an essay by Andrew Graves.

*(LPCM stands for Laser Protected Cellular Mixology in case you didn’t know.)