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Sadly Over-hyped

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Both the DOP Russell Boyd and his assistant on the film, John Seales, went on to win Academy Awards; Boyd for 'Master and Commander' and Seales for 'The English Patient'.For a film with a budget of $550,000 ($50,000 of which paid for the rights to the theme song Sky High)the production values are very high.Also great to see some wonderful views of Hong Kong in 1975 in the credits sequence. Much of the Victoria Harbor water fronts on both Kowloon and Hong Kong sides have subsequently been reclaimed and extended into the harbor. The tall white building on the waterfront with the round windows is Jardine House which is now approx. 250 meters from the new shoreline.

If it's plentiful action, you're after, and you like some nice sights of Sydney, set your sights on this flick. It a full on non stop, wonderfully orchestrated action extravaganza, you must witness, some violence here and there, but again I reiterate, action packed. The film is so cool, as in the way it's real one note plot, is manipulated and stretched by all the action sequences. taking up most of the film. I've never got more exhausted, looking at Ayers Rock for one thing. Here's what the simple plot consists of. Heavyweight Asian cop comes to Sydney to assist with the operation of a drug muel, busted at the Rock. Forced to testify, against drug czar, Jack Wilton (Lazenby, ruthlessly fantastic) due to some heavy persuasion on Inspector Fung Sung Ling's part (Jimmy Wung Yu) he's shot. Now the rest of the film, the one note plot, has Wang yu, trying to get to Wilton, where he encounters a few obstacles, which finally becomes a mission of revenge, plus an explosion encore. This film is just an action showcase, but it's a brilliant action showcase, on a high scale, but that's it. That doesn't constitute for a good film. It just constitutes, for bubblegum action escapism, and it works tremendously. But just watching it, you may become fit, because it's an exhausting action fare. Too, watching Jimmy Wung Yu, is quite fun, but he's not the best of leading men or ones that can act.

Funky soundtrack, tight sound effects, great action. Knife play, guys on fire, tons of exploding cars. Ridiculous 70s haircuts, mustaches, tight pants on men--it's camp gold. Special Inspector Fang of Hong Kong police is sent to Sydney after the Sammo character gets caught doing a heroine deal with an Aussie. And it turns out that the mastermind behind the operation, Sammo's boss, is an Australian kung fu master. The final showdown between them is slightly disappointing. The putative Aussie kung fu master catches on fire and has trouble getting his sport coat off. Why doesn't he just roll on the ground? Instead he sustains severe burns, making him easy work for Fang to finish off. The whole thing is laced with not-so-subtle nationalism, as the Australians continually compliment Fang's toughness and smarts, saying things like, "I really admire you. Chinese people are exceptional." Inspector Fang is a kind of Asian James Bond, and he meets beautiful Australian girls both in Hong Kong and Sydney, one of whom teaches him to hangglide.Note that Sammo's role in the film is quite small.

It's 1975. A time of funky pants. Muscle cars. Ridiculous sideburns. Porn-star moustaches. Bruce Lee still rules the world of action movies (despite being dead), and I haven't even been BORN yet.Sydney. Jack Wilton (The Laze) is a bad-ass crime lord with a penchant for cravats, orange velvet sofas and all things Oriental. Under the cover of his legitimate import/export business, he runs an international drug-smuggling outfit with connections in Hong Kong. Two federal narcotics cops, Grosse (Hugh Keays-Byrne, Toecutter from Mad Max) and Taylor (Roger Ward, Fifi from - er - Mad Max) manage to catch Win Chan (Sammo Hung), a member of this Hong Kong connection, following a well-staged--yet amusingly pointless--fight sequence atop Uluru (sorry, Ayers Rock). Chan is to be extradited, as soon as he testifies against Wilton. But the Aussie cops hadn't counted on the extradition officer being a certain Inspector Fang Sing-Ling (Jimmy Wang Yu), of Hong Kong Special Branch ("What's so special about Special Branch?" you ask? Watch the movie and find out!). Fang is a loose cannon, to say the least, and is intent on bringing down Wilton's entire operation himself, no matter how much of Sydney he has to destroy in the process.This was the first (and as far as I'm aware, only) Australia/Hong Kong co-production, and it's an unusual (but highly entertaining) hybrid. It's full of excellent martial arts sequences, choreographed by Sammo, and amazing stunt work, thanks to chop-socky god Jimmy Wang Yu and Aussie stunt legend Grant Page. But Brian Trenchard-Smith (who went on to direct the classic BMX Bandits, featuring one of Australia's finest acting talents: David Argue) has injected it with a heavy dose of laid-back, tongue-in-cheek Aussie style. It also has some touches reminiscent of Hollywood action movies, in particular the brilliant car chase, in the course of which we see a brand new Charger (That's a VALIANT Charger, not a DODGE Charger, for all you Yanks out there) gradually reduced to a smoking wreck. It must be seen to be believed.Jimmy Wang Yu appears to be almost completely lacking in both charisma and humour, but this may have something to do with the language barrier. He doesn't seem confident speaking English much of the time. He does, however, play "p--sed off" very well, and this gets him through. Besides, The Laze has more than enough charisma to go around, and there's plenty of humour provided by the cops (particularly Keays-Byrne, who's obviously enjoying himself). The film is also intentionally peppered with bits of political incorrectness, sending up the attitudes of the day ("Talk about the bloody yellow peril!" quips Grosse, surveying the aftermath of one of Fang's escapades).But the fun doesn't stop there! No, siree! There's babes! There's hang-gliding! There's...babes hang-gliding! There's assassinations! There's a young, svelte Bill Hunter! There's fake blood! There's Grant Page RIPPING HIS PANTS! There's nice scenery! And, of course, there's the obligatory pre-dawn kung fu practise on top of a hill overlooking a nice beach.The only sore point, for mine, is the terrible "hit" theme song by Jigsaw. The rest of the music's great. Very period. Very funky. But that song...well...it just...sucks.As a lover of cult cinema, a fan of kung fu movies, someone who's proud of Aussie filmmakers (when they get it right), and someone who just loves to be entertained for an hour or two without having to do very much, this movie is almost impossible to fault. If you're a wowser who believes in political correctness at any cost, or someone who faints at the sight of orange paint (when substituted for blood), steer well clear. But I happen to enjoy this sort of thing. So DON'T GIVE ME ANY S--T!