What you can you say about this masterpiece that hasn’t already been said? This film may not be Jimmy Wang Yu’s best film overall, but it is absolutely the best film he’s ever directed. A disgruntled Wang Yu left the Shaw Brothers studios (following the success of the classic ONE ARM BOXER) due to creative differences. He then went to work for rival studio Golden Harvest for a short stint before joining First Films, a company only more than willing to let Wang Yu contribute both behind and in front of the camera. In short, with First Films Wang Yu had total control. MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE was conceived as a sequel to ONE ARMED BOXER, and Wang Yu rounded up the same cast and crew from his previous directorial effort, RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER (1975). He got the esteemed character actor Lung Fei (BEACH OF THE WARGODS, GREEN JADE STATUETTE, STORY IN TEMPLE RED LILY) and the hulking Taekwondo expert Kam Kong (BLAZING TEMPLE, IRON MONKEY, THE LEGENDARY STRIKE) to play key roles. Like nearly all of Wang Yu’s films where he has creative input, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE features a lengthy fighting tournament. Watch for early appearances by Jack Long (7 GRANDMASTERS, MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING, THE UNBEATEN 28), Phil Kwok (FIVE DEADLY VENOMS, MASKED AVENGERS, KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM), Lau Kar Wing (KING BOXER, KUNG FU PUNCH OF DEATH, SHAOLIN MANTIS), Cheng Tien-Chi (CHINESE SUPER NINJAS, BLAST OF THE IRON PALM, HOUSE OF TRAPS), Robert Tai (INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN, CHINATOWN KID, INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MISSION) and Wang Li (FLAG OF IRON, TEN TIGERS OF KWANGTUNG, USURPERS OF THE EMPEROR’S POWER) as participants. In 1977, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE played in American Grindhouses and Drive-ins, much to the delight of Kung Fu lovers everywhere. After the fall of the Drive-in circuit, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE became a jewel in the bootlegging underground, as the movie possesses tremendous cross-over appeal—a perfect introduction to the madness of martial arts filmmaking for genre outsiders. Perhaps that is why Pathfinder Pictures choose MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE to undergo the restoration process and book it around college campuses and on midnight showings across the U.S. Now, Pathfinder Pictures finally releases MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE on DVD, uncut for the first time. They also enclosed just enough extras to truly justify this as a MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE ULTIMATE EDITION.

Fung Sheng Wu Chi (Kam Kong) is a blind master of the Flying Guillotine (an aerial weapon which beheads its victims) in the employ of the corrupt Ching Dynasty. When the One Armed Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu) dispatches Fung’s two disciples in self defense, the Master of the Flying Guillotine swears to avenge his compatriots. Meanwhile, the One Armed Boxer is teaching martial arts at a nearby school. He demonstrates to the students the ‘Flying’ technique, which allows the person who masters it to defy gravity. The class stands in awe while the One Arm Boxer gives a display. Suddenly, a messenger bursts into the school and announces that Teacher Wu’s Tiger Claw school is sponsoring a no-holds-barred fighting tournament. Word of this event quickly spreads and soon martial artists from all over Asia are turning up on the doorsteps of Teacher Wu’s school. Meanwhile, Fung is traveling through China in the guise of a monk, vowing to kill any one armed men that he comes across. Fung also buys off some of the tournament entrants with low morals to assist him in finding and destroying the One Armed Boxer.

The One Armed Boxer refuses to participate in the competition, but he attends it as a participant. He observes all the various clashes of martial arts styles and watches Teacher Wu’s daughter (Doris Lung) defeat her stronger male opponent. When Teacher Wu suggests that One Armed Boxer join the fracas, he politely refuses and mumbles something about Kung Fu not being used honorably. He dismisses himself and heads back to the school, and moments later Fung shows up looking for the One Armed Boxer and disrupts the tournament. Teacher Wu is first to try and put Fung in his place, but he is no match for the fury of the Flying Guillotine. Teacher Wu’s daughter witnesses her father’s death, and instantly pledges herself to take down Fung no matter the cost. Fung uses some strange fire pellets to burn down the Tiger Claw school and heads into the village to find the One Armed Boxer. Fung’s enhanced senses lead him the school and he gets the jump on the One Armed Boxer, who can only run away from the fury of the deadly device. The One Armed Boxer realizes that mere combat is not enough to destroy the superhuman Fung, so he teams up with Master Wu’s daughter to come up with a plan to kill Fung. The plan involves him purchasing a coffin shop! But before the One Armed Boxer has a chance to trap Fung, he must deal with Fung’s deadly minions, including a Japanese samurai (Lung Fei), a Thai boxer (Chi Fu Chiang), and a Yoga master (Lau Kar Wing).

This 90 minutes of martial arts adrenaline is written and directed by Jimmy Wang Yu, whose vision and creativity overshadows his martial arts ability. He knew he was limited in this capacity, and he was sure to surround himself with the best the genre has to offer (like Liu Chia Liang, Phil Kwok, Kam Kong, Lung Fei, Robert Tai, Jack Long, Liu Chia Yung, etc.) ensuring that MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE was something truly special. During this period, Wang Yu was experimenting with supernatural elements in many of his films and this over-the-top surreal element gives the picture a shot in the arm, and combined with the creepy score and bizarre sound effects, depicts MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE as something truly unique. Though the plot is somewhat thin, Wang Yu comes up with some great dialog and characterizations. His alter ego, the One Armed Boxer, is actually a Han rebel with strong spiritual belief in the martial arts. Wang Yu plays his role as quiet, cerebral, and determined. Kam Kong’s character is totally blind, but due to his enhanced senses he is actually a superior martial artist than a man with sight. Kam Kong’s portrayal as a blind man is quite unique, and we see him wiggling his thick eyebrows and flexing his ears to detect sound of motion. Fung’s appearances are accompanied by some wonderfully surreal noises which instantly fill the audience with awe and dread. The success of MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE made a star out of Kam Kong.

Jimmy Wang Yu’s script also calls for many supporting players to serve as fodder for the tournament scene (which takes up about 30 minutes of screen time) with each fighter representing a different nation or style of martial arts (Wang Yu did this before with RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER). So we get to see Karate vs Kung Fu, Praying Mantis vs. Snake, Monkey vs. Tiger Claw, etc. MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE is choreographed by Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing (2 of the best choreographers in Hong Kong ever) and they do a tremendous job displaying each style in all its glory. Most of the supporting players show up in the tournament, and don’t really deliver any break-out performances, except for Lung Wei as the Japanese fighter named Yakuma. Some subplots are never followed up on, like Doris Lung’s revenge angle, but a movie like this needs dominating action sequences and Wang Yu and company really deliver in this area! Though it ain’t the first movie to feature the legendary weapon of the title, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE is the best movie of it’s type, even upstaging the nearly martial arts-less Shaw Brothers epic, THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (1974).

From the Special Features menu, you can view three different trailers:

1. The original 1976 Mandarin language theatrical trailer
2. The original 1977 English language theatrical trailer
3. The restored 2001 English language Pathfinder Pictures trailer

All three trailers are great, but I really mark out for number 2.

There are also some nicely written bios for:

• Jimmy Wang Yu
• Lau Kar Leung

There is also a production gallery consisting of 13 behind the scenes photographs, cast shots, and international ad campaigns (with artwork).

Don’t forget the audio commentary by Wade Major and Andy Klein, two mainstream film critics who give this movie its due, and conclude the importance of MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE in the evolution of the Hong Kong cinema. It’s obvious that their knowledge of the genre is limited, yet they give a good breakdown of the production and the main cast members.