Overview: From the golden age of Kung Fu movies, the legendary Shaw Brothers bring you an action-packed tale of revenge, mayhem and flying fists. When his martial arts school is viciously attacked by a rival gang of Japanese thugs, Lei Ming swears to bring them down with violent justice.

Written, starring and directed by Jimmy Wang Yu, The Chinese Boxer (1970) is a fabulously fast-paced feature full of exquisite set-pieces and mind-blowing fight choreography.

A huge influence on the likes of Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003) and Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury (1972) this entertainingly savage story of resilience, skill and a battle against the odds, is one of the first true modern classics of the genre, focusing as it does on physical prowess and athletic proficiency over the more mythical elements of the wuxia era.

An undoubted cult classic, this is a must for any serious collector of extreme Asian cinema and martial arts madness.

Blu-ray Verdict: The Chinese Boxer (aka The Hammer of God), unsurprisingly bears some similarity to Jimmy Wang Yu’s other popular franchises- The One Armed Swordsman and the One Armed Boxer.

This time Jimmy takes on the baddies with both arms. It’s a simple morality play, he’s good, they’re bad and after inflicting pain upon him, his family and his village, they’re going to have to pay.

What makes it so damn entertaining, is the style, and dare I say it, the passion that has gone into it. Ignore the bad dubbing (the Australian version has an atrocious British accented soundtrack) the awkward panning and scanning of various external scenes (Shaw Scope!), and sit back and enjoy a true classic of HK cinema.

You’ll also enjoy learning traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy in the manner with which it was intended. Take note of the traditional themes of Chinese cinema - Honor, family values, retribution.

Oh and listen out for the quick sample of one of John Barry’s Bond themes in some of the action sequences too!

Also, Lo Lieh plays a brilliant bad guy in this movie. He is one of the few leading men who had real martial arts experience before he started acting. His career began with hero roles but he subsequently turned to villains. So, even now, he is probably better remembered as a villain.

His background was in karate so was a perfect fit for this role. Chan Sing is another villain in this movie. He also has a background in Goju-Ryu karate. He actually fights Jimmy at about half an hour into the movie and, if you are paying attention, most of the fight choreography is actually genuine karate for the first time in this movie!

In conclusion, this movie has my highest recommendation for viewing even today, because it is still very much a landmark film that had social and cultural influence beyond the movie world and thus is mandatory viewing for any fan of this genre. This is a Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

• High Definition (1080p) Presentation in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
• 2.0 DTS-HD MA English Soundtrack
• 2.0 DTS-HD MA Mandarin Soundtrack with newly translated English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Critic and Author Samm Deighan
• Interview with Wong Ching
• Open Hand Combat - David West on The Chinese Boxer
• US Hammer of God TV Spot