Best Kungfu movie in China: Master of the Flying Guillotine (1975)
By admin on 2014-12-26

Directed by Jimmy Wang Yu
Produced by Cheuk Hon Wong
Written by Jimmy Wang Yu
Starring Jimmy Wang Yu
Kam Kang
Lung Chung-erh
(as Kun Yee Lung)
Liu Chia Yung
(as Kar Wing Lau)
Philip Kwok
Music by Hsun Chi Chen
Cinematography Yao Hu Chiu
Editing by Ting Hsiung Kuo
Distributed by Epoch Entertainment (Cinema Epoch) & Pathfinder Pictures
Release date(s)  February, 1977 24 May 2002
(restored version)
Running time Original: 81 min.
Restored: 93 min.
Country Hong Kong/Taiwan
Language Mandarin
Preceded by One Armed Boxer
For the album by music artist Jumpsteady, see Master of the Flying Guillotine (album).

Master of the Flying Guillotine is a 1975 Taiwanese / Hong Kong martial arts film starring Jimmy Wang Yu, who also wrote and directed the film. It is a sequel to Wang's 1971 film One Armed Boxer, and thus the film is also known as One-Armed Boxer 2 and The One Armed Boxer Vs. the Flying Guillotine.

Plot

The film concerns Wang's one-armed martial arts master being stalked by an Imperial assassin, the master of two fighters (the Tibetan Lamas) who were killed in the previous film. When the One-Armed Boxer is invited to attend a martial arts tournament, his efforts to lay low are unsuccessful, and the assassin soon tracks him down with the help of his three subordinates competing in the tournament: a Thai boxer, a yoga master, and a kobojutsu user.

The title refers to the assassin's weapon, the "Flying guillotine" which resembles a hat with a bladed rim attached to a long chain. Upon enveloping one's head, the blades cleanly decapitate the victim with a quick pull of the chain.

Soundtracks

Musical tracks used in the film include "Super" and "Super 16" by Neu!, portions from Tangerine Dream's album Rubycon, and fragments of "Mitternacht" and "Morgenspaziergang" from the Kraftwerk album Autobahn. The source of the music is variously uncredited or credited to a Chinese composer, depending on the presentation. However, because of the film's recent[when?] resurgence in popularity, the bands whose songs were used illegally in this film have begun to charge companies licensing fees if they want to show Master of the Flying Guillotine with the theatrical music track. While the film's US distributor, Pathfinder Pictures, paid for the licenses for the Region 1 DVD and US theatrical releases, Australian DVD company Eastern Eye refused to do so, and instead created a new synthesizer soundtrack.