Master of the Flying Guillotine (1977)

Funny, well paced and endlessly entertaining The One Armed Boxer Part 2 gets better with every viewing. Watch the bizarrely dubbed version, which only adds to the film's charm.The colourful characters have been shamelessly ripped off by movie, manga and video game directors and producers who like me, saw this gem in their student days.Well choreographed fight scenes, despite the obvious low budget and complete lack of special effects.This film is a treat for all but the most hardened film buffs and I urge everyone to watch this at least once.

I want to give this movie a 4 out of 10 for wasting my time, but I also want to give it a 6 out of 10 since I watched about an hour and a half of it and endured it for that long.The good about this movie: The opening scene. Looks interesting. Looks very good. Unfortunately it doesn't turn out to be very good.The illegal fights. Most fights I have seen have 'no eye-gouging' etc. This is a no holds barred match and a fight to the death. Unfortunately as unusual as that is to see in a martial arts film or match it is not at all entertaining to see in this movie. Cringe-worthy in some parts, yes, but so was Riki-Oh cringe-worthy and that had entertaining fights. This one did not.The music and colorful scenes, jokes on the characteristics of Thai, Indian, and Japanese fighters are all very interesting. What I have noticed: This movie was done in 1976. I know it must have influenced Tarentino somewhat in his music/colorful scenes for Kill Bill. I know this movies Indian character must have influenced the creators of Street Fighter for their Indian character can stretch as well. I know this movie may have influenced Punch Out! with the stereotypes within (cause that game and this movie makes fun of race cultures a bit without making the race/culture weak. You have to be familiar with this movie or that game to know what I mean.The bad things about this movie: Matches in this movie are mediocre and unexciting. The movie is VERY predictable except for maybe 1-2 parts and even then it's not like great 'wow that surprised me what a great movie!' suspense, but like 'heh. Wasn't expecting that. meh. Oh well'. It's just a boring movie all through out. Boring fights, and predictable ending where the protagonist wins in the end against the antagonist.

If you read all the reviews here you can see the affection for this unique and bonkers cult classic martial arts movie. I've seen loads of martial arts movies but there ain't nothing like this. I bought it for £2 only because the box art looked intriguing . The best two quid ever !I wont repeat what every body else has said but here are the little things that made this one stand out for me.SPOILERS AHEAD. *One of the baddest villains ever - no talking or fancy speeches, you just loose your head and thats it ! Did I mention he's a blind pensioner. *The signature incidental music for each character *The crazy plot - it is essentially a blind but lethal vengeful pensioner relentlessly pursuing a mild mannered one-armed man who apparently murdered his two disciples. Forget about disability benefit! *The way the cast members play it with straight faces throughout the ridiculous sequences - eg the one-armed boxer teaching his class how to perform 'the flying jump' ! *The extended tournament sequence , with each character more bizarre than the next. *The punk rock intro sequence with pastel coloured freeze-frame montages in a period Chinese movie ?! Its noisy but cool. . . *The slight super natural overtones - stretchy arms, a character who casually walks up walls, another manages to rotate his head 360 degrees without breaking a sweat. *The clever ways the charismatic one-armed boxer uses to defeat his unusual and varied foes ! And more . . . This film is a little delight , its a fast paced plot with not a single dull moment. In fact it might just be the worst film ever made but I give it 10 out of 10 for effort !

Wang Yu can play a good guy like no other actor and he shows his style in this movie too. Part of his one armed boxer series, this time he battles a blind monk with flying guillotine. Being an old school kung-fu movie, there's not much to the story, and lot of kung-fu action, but because it's directed by Wang Yu, the fight scenes are better than average. A blind monk with flying guillotine is after Liu Ti (Wang Yu) to kill him. Not knowing about this, Liu Ti goes on his daily affairs as a master of a kung-fu school. When he realizes that he's been targeted for assassination, he prepares to counter the monk's attack.This is not part of the original Flying Guillotine saga made by Shaw Brothers, and is a stand alone piece. The quality, while acceptable, is not par with the original Flying Guillotines, and its sequel Flying Guillotines II.Some of the skills Wang Yu teaches to his students, while appearing preposterous to the westerners (like walking on the wall) was known have been taught by actual Chi-Kung master named Lee in the 18th century, so it's not completely without basis in the annals of Chinese martial arts.Not much in the way of the plot, but this movie contains some good fight scenes, and is worth a watch.