Synopsis
The Boxer from Shantung (馬永貞, 1972) is available to watch online on iFILM — a Hong Kong crime action film from Shaw Brothers, co-directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-Li, starring Chen Kuan-Tai as Ma Yongzhen.
Young Ma leaves rural Shantung for Shanghai with no money and no connections, only an extraordinary ability to fight. A brawl with the Four Champions gang hands him his first slice of criminal turf. Local mob boss Master Tan takes notice. The ascent is fast. Shanghai in the early twentieth century has its own rules about how far an outsider can climb, and it always collects eventually.
At 134 minutes this runs longer than most martial arts films of the period, and Chang Cheh uses the extra time to let the tragedy build. The closing fight sequence influenced practically everything that followed in the genre. Stream The Boxer from Shantung (1972) online on iFILM.
Starring
Recommendations
Comments 0