Works somewhat like a Sergio Leone spaghetti western, this satisfying martial arts action drama set in centuries-old Shanghai sets a poor ‘newbie’, a boxer with ‘fists of fury’, against a world of rampant corruption and injustice.
Review #2,809
Dir. Chang Cheh & Pao Hsueh-Li
1972 | Hong Kong | Action, Crime, Drama | 125 min | 2.35:1 | Mandarin
Not rated – likely to be NC16 for violence
Cast: Chen Kuan-Tai, Ching Li, Cheng Kang-Yeh
Plot: A young Northern Chinese man’s fearsome boxing ability allows him to muscle his way to the top of the Shanghai underworld. But when he refuses to become an assassin for the city’s leading gang, he finds life on Shanghai’s mean streets far riskier than the boxing ring.
Awards: –
Distributor: Shaw Brothers
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Rags-to-Riches; Martial Arts
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Normal
Audience Type: Mainstream
Viewed: MUBI
Spoilers: No
Running at around two hours, this is one of the longer Shaw Brothers martial arts movies of its time. Rest assured, there is no wasted second in this one as co-directors Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-Li, with stunt coordinator Lau Kar-Leung, deliver an action drama that is surprisingly buff on plot and story.
Closer to a Sergio Leone spaghetti western than most people would give it credit for, The Boxer from Shantung takes its time to build relationships between characters, whether allies or enemies, drawing a rather complex picture of rival gangs and insidious power plays in centuries-old Shanghai.
This is the story of a poor man, Ma Yong Zhen (Chen Kuan Tai), the eponymous boxer from Shantung with fists so lethal that the film could have been named ‘Fists of Fury’ if Bruce Lee hadn’t released his in the same year, who aspires to be a rich landlord with power.
With a loyal buddy in tow, he values power and status not to exploit but to empower and to right wrongs in an unjust world.
Spruced up by several stunning action sequences that become bloodier as the film progresses, The Boxer from Shantung cumulates in a climax of pure desperation and resilience as Ma takes on way too many crooked men for his liking.
“I’ll make a name for myself one day.”
The best thing about the film that some audiences may take for granted is that while Ma is portrayed as near invincible as he rises the ranks and gains more territory, there is still a good measure of anxiety that we feel for the character.
This is, say, unlike Neo in The Matrix Reloaded or Revolutions where tension is generated through film language (e.g. editing, music) rather than character development.
So to the filmmakers’ credit here, Ma is developed so well (at least in the context of a genre movie) that his flaws come from his lack of worldly experience rather than physical prowess.
He may be street-smart but the bad guys in this one operate at levels of strategic one-upmanship beyond his imagination. The climax brings it all together with aplomb.
Grade: B+
Trailer:
Eternality Tan 
Great reviews as always. I have never heard of this movie before, but your review has definitely compelled me to check it out. I’m a huge fan of Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti westerns which you cited as being an inspiration for this film. I feel Leone made the kind of old-fashioned epics that simply aren’t seen in the film industry anymore. I love all his westerns but have a precious place in my heart reserved for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. It’s the film that introduced me to my love for the genre.
Here’s why I loved it:
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