Back When Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!

The first love affair between American mainstream moviegoers and the martial arts film genre was a short one, lasting from 1973 to 1975. Ironically, it was a TV series that piqued the curiosity of American audiences and, unknowingly, primed them for big screen battles with crunching fists and crushing feet. That TV show was Kung Fu, of course, which debuted as a made-for-TV movie in 1972 and evolved into a weekly series later that year. Future martial arts superstar Bruce Lee tested for the lead role, but lost the part to David Carradine. The amount of fight footage in the series was actually minimal and often filmed in slow motion.

Hands that glow in 5 Fingers of Death.

In 1973, though, moviegoers got a taste of the real thing when Warner Bros. imported the Shaw Bros. Hong Kong sensation 5 Fingers of Death (known elsewhere in the world as King Boxer or Tian xia di yi qyuan). For martial arts film aficionados, the film still serves as a prototype of some of the genre’s most popular plot devices: conflict between rival martial arts schools and a defeated hero who overcomes his opponent by learning a new fighting technique. For casual moviegoers, though, it was the exciting, tightly-choreographed fight scenes that kept them glued to the screen. But there was one thing missing in 5 Fingers of Death--and that was a charismatic leading man with whom American audiences could identify.

Lee fights a rival school by himself
in The Chinese Connection.

Bruce Lee filled that void nicely with Fists of Fury (aka The Big Boss), which was released the same year. Some filmgoers recognized Lee from his short stint in the 1966-67 superhero TV series The Green Hornet. That introduction didn’t prepare them for Lee’s big screen animal intensity, his stunningly choreographed fight sequences, and his quiet charm. By the time Lee’s second film, The Chinese Connection (aka Fist of Fury), was released that same year, he was an international superstar. His meteoric rise came to a shocking end when he died of unknown causes in 1973. By that time, Lee had completed two more films: the English-language Enter the Dragon (his biggest U.S. hit) and Return of the Dragon (retitled statewide from Way of the Dragon to capitalize on Enter the Dragon).

Wang Fu as the One-Armed Boxer
in Master of the Flying Guillotine.

In the wake of Lee’s death, kung fu cinema struggled to another superstar. The first performer to be marketed as the heir apparent was Wang Yu, renamed Jimmy Wang Yu for English-language audiences. Ironically, Wang Yu had been a huge star in Hong Kong cinema before Bruce Lee in hits like The Chinese Boxer and Golden Swallow. Despite his Asian fame, Wang Yu projected a bland personality and stiff fighting style--especially compared to Lee--and Americans never embraced him. However, he encountered some minor success stateside by directing and starring in two exciting “tournament films”: The Chinese Professionals (aka The One-Armed Boxer) and Master of the Flying Guillotine (aka One-Armed Boxer 2). Both films feature him battling multiple villains, each with a unique fighting style. As for Wang Yu, well, he loses an arm in the first film and still manages to crush his opponents using the “iron fist” technique. The second film expanded the premise and features better fights in better locations. It has since evolved in a cult film with fans like Quentin Tarantino, who used a music clip in Kill Bill.

Angela Mao in Enter the Dragon.

The only other Asian stars to achieve even fleeting fame with Western audiences were Angelo Mao and Sonny Chiba. While Angela Mao lacked the feminine appeal of future Asian action stars like Michelle Yeoh, moviegoers enjoyed watching a young woman beating up men twice her size. She scored three modest hits with Lady Whirlwind, When Taekwondo Strikes, and Hapkido. Their success earned her a small role in Enter the Dragon and even an interview on television’s 60 Minutes. As for Chiba, he achieved notoriety in 1974 when his Japanese import The Street Fighter was the first film to rated X solely for violence.

Other established Asian stars, like David Chiang and Ti Lung, tried to keep the kung fu craze alive in America. And ABC even tried to a launch another TV series with Men of the Dragon, a pilot with Jared Martin that appeared on the ABC Movie of the Week in 1974. But, without Lee, popular interest in the kung fu craze fizzled as quickly as it had begun. It would be almost two decades before U.S. would embrace another martial arts superstar: Jackie Chan.