Recently, there is a documentary "Dragon Tiger Martial Master" released, due to poor scheduling, many people may not have seen it.
Dragon Tiger Martial Artist first came from the opera industry, and was later used to refer to the stunt stunt actors in the Hong Kong film circle.
If kung fu films are the label of Hong Kong movies, then Dragon and Tiger Martial Artists are a special kind of work created by Hong Kong movies.
In many action martial arts movies, dragon and tiger martial artists are usually used as stunt actors, either by the protagonist's punches to knock down the minions, or to complete difficult and dangerous actions for the star's big names.
All in all, dragon and tiger martial artists are a bunch of people who use life and adventure to achieve the artistic effect of film. The brilliance of Hong Kong cinema is inseparable from this group of people, but because most of them are relegated to the background, they are rarely known to today's audiences.
In the Hong Kong film industry, there are many outstanding dragon and tiger martial artists, and some of them have become superstars, such as Jackie Chan, Yuan Biao, and Hong Jinbao. Some have become excellent action film directors, such as: Yuan Heping, Yuan Kui, Liu Jialiang and so on.
Compared with these previous masters, the most underrated actor in the Dragon and Tiger Martial Arts Circle is Qian Jiale.
At the end of the 1970s, Qian Jiale entered the film circle with his brother Qian Xiaohao, and since 1983, he has been a dragon and tiger martial artist in the films of Jackie Chan and Hong Jinbao, and later became a senior action director and director, and has shot many classic action movies.
Qian Jiale was known for his good skills and was good at various difficult martial arts moves, so he was known as the king of action doubles.
At that time, there was a rumor in the industry that Jackie Chan and Hong Jinbao could not do the action, and qian Jiale would definitely be able to complete it!
In the movie "Flying Dragon Fierce General", the protagonist played by Jackie Chan has a swirling kick action in the final final battle, no matter how Jackie Chan does it, it is not as good as Qian Jiale's, and finally can only use a stand-in.
When Hong Jinbao filmed "Oriental Condor", there was a bridge section that flew from the hillside and landed in the truck, which was extremely difficult and dangerous, and finally Qian Jiale did it as a stand-in.
Because of his years of study in the action film circle, Qian Jiale later naturally became an action actor and martial arts director.
Speaking of the movie starring Qian Jiale, the one that impressed fans the most was the movie "Scorpion Warrior".
The supervising producer of the film is Hong Jinbao, also a kung fu film tailored for Qian Jiale by Baohe Company, in order to show his skills, the martial arts design of the whole film is brain-opening, the martial arts used by the characters are strange, the protagonist practices catfish gong and stir-frying skills, and the villain's scorpion gong is even more impressive.
In this issue of "Forgotten Hong Kong Films", let's talk about this kung fu film 30 years ago.
Scorpion Warrior
Operation Scorpio
The film is produced by Baohe Company, with Hong Jinbao as the executive producer.
Director Lai Tai Wai is an all-rounder in the Hong Kong film industry, dabbling in various genres.
The screenwriter is Wong BingYao, the royal screenwriter of Baohe Company, and also the deadly scissor foot in "Truant Weilong".
In terms of actors, the male protagonist is played by Qian Jiale, and the female protagonist is Luo Meiwei, who was not yet married to Jacky Cheung at that time.
In particular, the most brilliant character in this film is Yuan Zhen, the actor of the main villain.
Although his name is Won Jin and he is proficient in kung fu, he is not a member of Qixiaofu, he is actually Korean, a taekwondo and Aikido master, because of the influence of Bruce Lee, he joined the Hong Kong film circle as a dragon and tiger martial artist in the 1980s.
Yuan Zhen is especially good at leg gong, once had the title of "Korea's first leg", in this film he played the villain using a kind of vicious scorpion gong, the unexpected attack move is impressive, becoming the most colorful action design in this film.
Tell the story again.
In the early years of the Republic of China, the situation was turbulent.
The protagonist is a poor and hot-blooded young man Fei Yushu (Played by Qian Jiale), although born poor, but his personality is upright and kind, and he is keen on fantasy, often addicted to comic stories, fantasizing about being able to be a hero who can hoe the strong and help the weak.
Yushu's father, Uncle Cai, made a living by helping people get haircuts, and for his son, who often caused trouble, he always hated iron and steel.
The father and son lived in the slums, and in order to supplement the family, Yushu sometimes worked as a porter with his father to supplement the family.
That is, while working, Yushu accidentally met Xiaoru (Luo Meiwei), a young lady in the local Inspector Hua's mansion, and the beautiful Xiaoru made Yushu feel good.
That night, Yushu quietly turned over the wall, wanting to peek at the goddess's every move.
Unexpectedly, Yushu thus witnessed a secret transaction being conducted in Washington.
Inspector Hua is a black policeman, not only corrupt and pervert the law, but also colludes with the local treacherous merchant Town Tiannan, doing the evil business of human trafficking, and specially tricking young girls into selling them to Nanyang brothels for huge profits.
This night, Zhen Tiannan talked about a deal with Inspector Hua, and the lustful Zhen Tiannan stared at the young and beautiful young lady Xiaoru.
The two were engaged in a criminal transaction, but unexpectedly, there were several uninvited guests from Washington, who turned out to be a few Nanyang merchants.
The other side showed a fierce color, broke into the Washington Hall, pulled out a gun at Zhen Tiannan, and asked him why he had pit himself in the last transaction. Obviously, the other party came to zhen tiannan to collect debts.
The two sides did not agree with each other and were ready to move, but they did not expect that the young man behind Zhen Tiannan was actually a top master.
The man was lean, with a strange braided head and bangs that covered half of his face, but he was dressed in a Zhongshan suit.
What is amazing is his super kung fu and flexible skills, this martial arts training is shaped like a scorpion, a right leg is high and upturned, the leg technique is even sharper, and in an instant, it knocks the bodyguard of the Nanyang merchant to the ground.
This young master is Zhen Tiannan's son, known as the Scorpion King's Sonny (Yuan Zhen).
Sonny's scorpion skill, the action move is very strange, completely do not follow the traditional routine, but the lethality is extremely strong.
Fei Yushu, the protagonist who was peeping outside, saw this scene, was greatly shocked, and casually drew the other party's moves, but at this time, the young master of Huafu wanted to flirt with Xiao Ru, and Yushu couldn't help but jump off the wall to stop it, and as a result, he was discovered by the people in Washington.
Inspector Hua overhears the noise in the courtyard and fears that his criminal dealings with Zhen Tiannan will be revealed, and secretly hints that his men kill Yushu's father and son.
Yushu had to flee with his father and Xiao Ru, and in a panic, he actually fled to a nearby Western boxing gym.
These muscular macho men also looked down on the arrogant Washington people, so they took the initiative to take in Yushu father and son to hide, led by the fitness coach Xiangbo, and even showed his amazing strength, stopping the Washington car that wanted to rush in with his bare hands.
Inspector Hua did not want to make a big deal out of the matter, so he had to temporarily order it to be closed, and Yushu's father and son were able to escape the disaster.
Uncle Cai did not want to cause trouble for the Western boxing gym, but now there is a family that dare not return, so he has to borrow the home of Master Ah Yi (Liu Jialiang), the owner of the nearby pho shop.
Master Ah Yi was not proud of his appearance, but he was quite righteous, and provided a lot of care for the Fei family father and son and Xiao Ru who were being hunted down.
In return, Yushu decided to help Master Ah Yi do some rough work of burning fire and fetching water, but he was a student who had not suffered hardships, and he was tired and breathless after not doing a few times. The slackened Yushu sneaked back to the Western Boxing Gym, hoping to find coach Chambord to learn the art.
Xiangbo's boxing gym mainly teaches modern martial arts, advocates the training method of exerting human physical fitness to the extreme, and believes that the core of the competition is still relying on absolute strength, so as long as the strength is trained to the maximum, it is easy to defeat the opponent.
Yushu followed Xiangbo through a day of strength training, forgetting that there was still work to be done in the store.
Back at the pho shop, his father blamed Yushu for not doing the right thing, and Yushu did not think much of his father's complaints, believing that learning kung fu was the right thing to do. However, Xiao Ru persuaded him to be a man to know the reward of grace and tell about his hard life, which greatly touched Yushu.
As a result, Yushu was no longer naughty and determined to follow Master Ah Yi to concentrate on learning to make pho.
Who knows that it seems simple to do but not easy, Master Ah Yi can easily carry a large pot and stir-fry on the fire.
Yushu could only follow Master Ah Yi, starting from the most basic of carrying water, turning pots, and washing dishes, and gradually learned to look like a model.
In the blink of an eye, three months passed, and Yushu returned to the boxing gym again to find coach Xiangbo.
The coach deliberately tested Yushu and let him try a punch, but he didn't expect that Yushu's casual punch had a strong force.
This ordered the coach Chambord to no longer despise Yushu, so he began to teach him some training skills, which made Yushu's confidence increase, so Yushu carried out various physical training while helping the cook at the pho shop.
As Yushu's cooking skills became more and more skilled, Master Ah Yi temporarily entrusted the shop to Yushu's management, and he returned to his hometown to visit his relatives.
However, soon trouble came to the door, Yushu was busy going to the boxing gym to learn art, so he threw the shop to Xiao Ru to manage.
On this day, Xiao Ru was in the shop, and sangni, an enemy who had been looking for Xiao Ru and Yushu's father and son.
Xiao Ru saw the situation and hid, Sonny did not find Xiao Ru, just in the shop to fight, but also wanted to smash the pho shop signboard, just when Master Ah Yi returned, Sonny deliberately humiliated Master Ah Yi and asked him to drill through his crotch.
In the evening, Yushu triumphantly returned home, only to learn that the pho shop had been smashed, and his father was angry and beat Yushu.
The self-condemning Yushu burned the cartoons he had drawn before, planning to be a down-to-earth person in the future, but at this time, Master Ah Yi took the initiative to stand up and encourage him, since he wanted to learn kung fu, he had to be down-to-earth.
Yushu did not understand, Master Ah Yi told him that the stir-frying and frying he usually taught him was all kung fu!
The enlightened Yushu decided to follow Master Ah Yi to concentrate on learning fried rice noodle kung fu and began to learn the art in the kitchen.
Washing pots, cutting mounds, tying horses, kicking winter melons... in short, everything in the kitchen is kung fu.
Yushu also shows a high degree of understanding, he learns from daily life, often staring at the squirming movements of eels, thinking about how to apply them to kung fu.
Just when Yushu's martial arts were advancing by leaps and bounds, Xiao Fat, a friend at school, suddenly came to him, saying that his family had been taking care of his own servants, and he was also abducted by Zhen Tiannan, and wanted to say that Yushu would go to the rescue together.
The lecture-giving Yushu took coach Xiangbo to the rescue together, thinking that with Xiangbo's strength, it was enough to cope with Sonny's scorpion skill,
As a result, Xiangbo was seriously injured, and Yushu had no choice but to flee with Xiangbo.
And this storm even more affected Master Ah Yi's pho shop, the other party not only arrested Xiao Ru, but also set fire to the pho shop.
This encounter made Master Ah Yi determined not to be patient anymore, and he planned to personally go to Zhentiannan Province to save people.
At this time, the true identity of Master Ah Yi was revealed, and it turned out to be the former Qinglong Gang's first killer, Broken Dragon.
Therefore, the two masters and apprentices broke into the town of TiannanFu at night, just in time for the bully to try to occupy Xiao Ru, but Yushu broke through the door.
Zhen Tiannan himself did not know martial arts, and was beaten to death by Yushu's several punches, until Sonny appeared before he saved him.
At this time, a group of family members rushed to the rescue, and Master Ah Yi and Yushu joined forces to start a scuffle.
Master Ah Yi showed his might, and the family members could not stop Master Ah Yi and Yushu at all.
At this time, Sonny finally struck out and began a duel with Master Ah Yi.
Master Ah Yi is an old jianghu, he has long seen through the flaws of Sonny's leg skills, and before he comes out of his feet, his shoulders will move.
Therefore, Master Ah Yi braked with static brakes, and could easily dissolve Sonny's scorpion leg every time.
Moreover, Master Ah Yi also showed more powerful shadowless feet, and Sonny gradually fell into the downwind.
Unexpectedly, at this time, the dying Zhen Tiannan sneaked in with a gun and injured Master Ah Yi, making Master Ah Yi powerless to fight again.
At this point, the story finally ushered in the ultimate showdown.
Although Yushu had achieved little success in kung fu, he could not prevent it at all in the face of Sonny's Scorpion Gong.
Fortunately, Yushu loves to draw comics, once drew Sonny's scorpion skills into a caricature, and when he saw Sonny's leg method at this moment, he immediately thought of the decomposition action in the comic. In this way, every move equivalent to Sonny was clearly seen by the Jade Book.
With the defense, he found the flaw, and Yushu also used his unique learning at this time——
Only to see him creeping to the ground, squirming like an eel, and even created his own eel skill.
Sonny had never seen this kind of playing, and the Scorpion Gong encountered the Eel Gong of the Jade Book, and there was no way to get off the foot.
Yushu kills the teacher with a fist, can flash and move in the most incredible movements, and can also attack.
Sonny was negligent, and his thigh was pressed by Yushu's body, and this force was so strong that it crushed the leg bone to pieces.
At the end of the story, Sonny is defeated by Yushu, who is awarded the Medal of Honor by the Empress dowager and is able to return to school for his bravery.
"Scorpion Warrior" is one of the representative works of Baohe Company in the later period, but just like the "One Knife in the City" in the same period, when the film was released that year, it was catching up with the flood of various high-flying martial arts films on the market, and the traditional hard bridge hard horse kung fu films were no longer popular in the market, resulting in the film being seriously underestimated.
The film was released in 1992, and the result was only 510,000 Hong Kong dollars at the box office, and the investors lost blood, which was a tragic blow to such a work with a plot and martial arts!
Of course, from the current point of view, this film can definitely be regarded as a very wonderful hardcore kung fu film. The film also has another name "Comic God Fist", comic-style exaggerated sense of ridicule throughout the film, such as the way the protagonist defeats the enemy at the end, that is, the analysis of the scorpion gong in the form of a comic, and the picture corresponding to each action is very accurate and creative.
The most outstanding part of the film is undoubtedly the action design, Yuan Zhen is extremely stunning in the display of "Scorpion Gong", Yuan Zhen's movements are flexible and strong, leaning over the ground, holding up with both hands, hind legs are hooked, indeed like a big scorpion, and Yuan Zhen's leg skills during the fight have also been fully displayed, and the action moves of the whirlwind leg of the one-word horse + in situ side flip body are very cool.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that as a kung fu film, the behind-the-scenes lineup is quite strong, the martial arts director is One of the Seven Little Blessings, Yuande, who serves as a martial arts consultant, Liu Jialiang and Yuankui, and Liu Jialiang himself also plays the image of a kung fu master in the film.
From the current point of view, behind this "Scorpion Warrior", it actually implies the dispute between the concept of new and old kung fu films in the Hong Kong film industry at that time. In the movie, Master Liu deliberately showed the "shadowless foot" in the authentic Southern Fist Kung Fu, obviously intending to compete with the Xu Ke version of "Huang Feihong" that was on fire at that time.
Because when Xu Ke filmed "Huang Feihong" that year, he invited Liu Jialiang, who was a descendant of Huang Feihong, as an action director, Master Liu also gladly agreed at first, but he did not expect that the two had a disagreement in the preparation.
According to Xu Ke's vision, he hoped to let Jet Li kick seven feet in the air in the movie to show the power of the shadowless foot, but this exaggerated action design made Master Liu of the authentic Southern Fist extremely dissatisfied, claiming that such a funny design would make 100,000 Southern Fist disciples laugh out of their teeth, and the two sides eventually broke up unhappily.
However, it turned out that Master Liu still lost to reality, and the "Scorpion Warrior" of the hard bridge and hard horse was far inferior to the "Huang Feihong" series in the same period at the box office, and "The Scorpion Warrior" became an untimely kung fu film masterpiece.