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Powerful

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER is a superior kick-fest that beats any early Jackie Chan film hands down. With the likes of this, THE VICTIM, and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND, I'm surprised that martial arts supremo Sammo Hung didn't earn more respect and international stardom than his frequent co-star. His early offerings provide superior entertainment that do away with the tired clichés and chop-socky action of Jackie Chan's Lo Wei flicks and give the viewer a rollicking good time. THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER is an epic kung fu flick which offers everything you could ever want from such a film. There's a complex, twist-a-minute plot, plenty of comedy – of the low-brow, gross-out variety that is nevertheless ten times funnier than any American PIE movie – drama, suspense, horror and, of course, kung fu. As you'd expect from director Yuen Woo-ping, the fights in this flick are outrageously good, always fluid and fast-moving, and best of all, with a minimum of editing; you can actually see what's going on, and that means this film has an edge to all modern-day martial arts films.Sammo Hung is an intensely likable lead, and he admirably holds his own amongst the ensemble cast here. He's athletic, energetic, and willing to take a beating as well as dole one out; he's certainly one of the top five martial artists of all time, and watching him fight is a real pleasure. Lee Hoi San is also excellent as the fleshed-out villain, complete with a 'burning palm' technique that has to be seen to be believed, really doling out the punishment in this one. The supporting cast is chock-a-block with familiar faces: Fung Hark-On, later routinely typecast as a heavy, has his best role as the truly dastardly villain of the piece, whilst Yuen Biao is briefly on hand to show off his acrobatic style. Stealing the whole show, though, is Fan Mui Sang, cast as a drunken beggar; he's a real hoot, funnier even than Sam Seed in DRUNKEN MASTER, and his sheer presence and OTT acting adds to the film no end.Western audiences are often left feeling bemused or annoyed by eastern films, especially on first acquaintance. The eclectic MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER will no doubt confuse some people, mixing as it does solid belly-laughs with moments of high drama and tension that wouldn't be out of place in an adult thriller; for instance, the attempted rape sequence is near the knuckle and pretty shocking. In the end, though, the comedy wins outright, especially with the hilarious sequence in which Hung tries to master the 'Iron Palm' technique – little realising that the instructions he's being fed are for pickling pig's trotters, not a new martial arts style! The highlight of this whole film is the ferocious moment when Hung takes his revenge on Fung Hark-On, in which the screen feels like it is crackling with energy. Watch out for that 'Weird Cat' guy as well – a real psycho.

Very good movie. Fun to watch. Very funny. Entertaining. Great fights. Really good fighting in this. My only gripe is that there doesn't seem to be enough characters. Perhaps not enough Master Wong. Too much Bum. And....Maybe a few deaths and things I consider unnecessary. Although the fight scenes are good the main reasons for the fights in this movie after the first are weak. I mean....There are so many unrealistic things in this movie to nit pick about. So excuse me for nitpicking because that is all I am doing, and I am imagining it being 'better' or different, but maybe that is not fair for me to do. In any even this movie is definitely not perfect or could be better, but it is fun for me to watch, and funny so I would have to recommend it anyway and regardless of what I consider to be a few flaws in this movie. Pointless fighting, pointless deaths, and decisions by multiple characters throughout the film that do not make sense for them to make at the time. Like Master Wong leaving when things were getting hot. Crazy Cow holding on to a man with a knife and not properly defending himself. Skinny Pig killing such as such in front of many different witnesses and not being reported to authorities. What gives? Is there no law in that town? And the main antagonist is rich but has no guards that can fight better than him? What? That's like a rich man today being the best shot among his guards and only having 2 guards when he can afford 4 or more. This man is supposedly rich yet almost never has an entourage- or at least he does until they get beat up and then all of a sudden they disappear and are never seen again in key parts of the film where he should be protected. It makes no sense. Such a rich man who is a mediocre fighter walking the streets alone and killing alone? It's unlike any other Martial Arts movie in that sense which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good cause it focuses on individual fights and bad cause it's unrealistic for his character to be alone.

With the movie called 'Magnificent Butcher' I thought we would see at least some scenes of Sammo Hung's character practicing his trade. Boy, was I let down. They call him 'Butcher Wing' and I don't think Sammo cut one slice of meat. Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York was dicing up a piece of raw meat (human or otherwise) in almost every scene he was in. Butchering was made integral to the character. That doesn't happen in this movie. I think we see Sammo carry around a couple of dead pigs in the first few minutes and that's it. Disappointing. This has some great Kung-fu fights and funny comedy but it really came up short in the butchering department.

Without the aid of their buddy Jackie Chan, the icons of Hong Kong cinema demonstrates that kung fu comedy exists before and after Jackie appeared on the scene. Magnificent Butcher is one of the many examples of great Kung Fu minus the action superstar, the story follows many strands of the Kung Fu genre with masters and schools coming against eachother, complete with climactic battles and a heavy dose of boys own humour that is the template of this succesful era of kung fu. What makes this one of the greats is its simple charm, Yuen Woo Ping breathes so much life into this movie by treating the audience to a feast of distintly Hong Kong movie ideas. Only in Hong Kong action could their contain a scene whereby a characters uses the infamous farting technique to shame his opponent, or a blind begger mistakes a water vase being held by Samo as a toilet, and in the same movie contain an attempted rape, knives being plunged into the stomachs and the lead actor smashing his enemies head with a pray stone in extra slow-mo. Only in Hong Kong would a director attempt to gel these distinctly contrasting scenes and attempt to convey a cohesive story. And in Magnificent Butcher we have something close to success, as Samo effectively conveys emotions of comedy and extreme outrage in the blink of an eye. What is strange is how quickly these charaters forget their injustices and gripes which eventually lead to the climactic fight sequence where everything ends in triumpth, as we the viewer dispel with the plot and relish the movies subsequent closing. Magnificent Butcher, or Lin shi rong, is part of the era of Hong Kong movie making whereby anything that makes the audience laugh and cry for its duration was deemed a success, as the emphasis of movies made in this era was fun twinned with an element of truth, and this calloboration between Yuen Woo Ping and Samo sets the precedent for nearly everything that has been great about Hong Kong cinema ever since. Kung fu comedy at its most shameless, an undeniable classic for fans of Hong Kong cinema.