When Taekwondo Strikes (1973)

After discovering a Korean patriot (Carter Wong) who refuses to bow to the invading authorities, a gang of tyrannical Japanese fighters corner him in a church and look set to kill him. However, the Western priest there steps in and, with the help of his tae-kwon do fighter niece Mary, manages to force them out of the church. While the Japanese are re-grouping for another attack on the church, the priest's Korean gardener reveals himself to be famed patriot Lee Chung Tung (Jhoon Rhee) who has been planning his next attack on the resident powers. Before the aggressors can return, the original Korean fugitive along with Lee Chung Tung and sympathiser Mary flee the scene and meet up with Chinese fighter Wan (Mao). Product Description

Hapkido in Action!

If you are wondering about the quality of this DVD edition, get it! This is the best version out there aside from the VCD print. It was great to finally see this movie in it's original widescreen scope.There isn't too many movies with hapkido displayed and taekwondo master Jhoon Rhee staring in it. It begins with action and ends with hapkido mayhem!Angela Mao Ying is awesome followed by an all star cast ,Sammo Hung,Carter Wong, Whang Ing-Sik and more. April 21, 2008

Best Edition Yet of Classic Martial Arts Film

Finally, kung fu fans can see WHEN TAEKWONDO STRIKES (1973) for the first time in its intended version--letter-boxed and in its original Mandarin language (with English subtitles)--in a new legit, high-quality edition from the Fortune Star/Legendary Collection line of classic Golden Harvest titles. Throw out your old VHS tapes and bootleg discs of STING OF THE DRAGON MASTERS, the film's English-dubbed version, released only in pan-and-scan/cropped editions where you couldn't see half of the action in any fight scene and which featured a patched-together soundtrack where the music (mostly cribbed from Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra," the bombastic theme used in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) frequently drowned out the dubbed dialogue.

This is one of the two best showcases for the considerable martial arts talents of Angela Mao, the 1970s' reigning kung fu diva (known for playing Bruce Lee's sister in ENTER THE DRAGON). Here she plays a Chinese hapkido expert living in Seoul, Korea during the Japanese occupation in the 1930s who winds up helping the Korean resistance led by Li Jundong (Taekwondo expert Jhoon Rhee). Two of Li's students join the effort, including a young Korean (Carter Wong) and a French girl (Anne Winton) whose uncle is the local Catholic priest (played by Golden Harvest executive Andre Morgan). There are six fight scenes in the first 43 minutes, three of them inside the Catholic church and three involving Angela. The Japanese are played by Japanese, Korean and Chinese martial artists. One of the lead villains is Sammo Hung, later a frequent co-star of Jackie Chan and a prominent kung fu movie director in his own right. (Curiously, everyone in this Korean setting--Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French--speaks Mandarin. And although it's set in the 1930s, the costumes and sets look at least a hundred years older. There are swords aplenty but nary a car or gun in sight and only rarely a military uniform.)

The one thing that keeps this from being Angela's very best showcase is that she has to share the stage with so many other prominent martial arts performers and doesn't get the spotlight as often as her fans would like. Still, the other performers are exciting to watch as well and the film boasts a compelling story, interesting characters, and plenty of superb fighting action involving karate, taekwondo, hapkido and possibly one or two other forms I'm not familiar with. This film represents quite a contrast with the rival Shaw Bros. kung fu adventures of the era, which rarely depicted such a diverse array of different martial arts forms in one film and rarely employed non-Chinese martial artists. The film's original trailer is included on the disc and identifies each of the martial artists featured in the film and their particular specialty.

The Fortune Star/Legendary Collection line has also given us a new DVD edition of Angela's absolute best showcase, BROKEN OATH (1977), in which Angela maintains center stage throughout, and which I've also reviewed on this site.

January 15, 2008

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