VividSimon Simply Perfect

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

William_x_Lee Actually, Jimmy Wang Yu's Chinese Boxer came out two years earlier. Although "Fingers' aka, King Boxer is a better film, it was not the first. If you want to get technical about it, Kwan Tak Hing was doing kung fu films in the early 1900's. In fact, Lo Lieh appeared as a villain in The Chinese Boxer, which makes this tale all the more ironic. Wang Yu was also by no means, a kung fu expert. he had some limited training in karate, but his film was basically an "experiment" by the Shaw brothers to see if films other than colorful Swordplay epics, direct copies of Japanese Cinema, could make a buck. truth be told, Lo Lieh also had little in the way of Kung Fu training, he simply had more experience in martial arts films, and a more creative choreographer and director in charge, by the time he shot "King Boxer". The appellation of first kung fu film, should be amended, in that it was the "considered" as first successful kung fu film of the world wide "kung fu boom" of the 70's.

A_Different_Drummer When you do the math, you will find that, prior to Bruce Lee, there were very few avenues for westerners to discover the "kung fu" production line films being cranked out of Asia by companies like Shaw Brothers (and others). The only way I am aware of was being fortunate enough to live in a cosmopolitan city with a substantial Asian population, which, generally, gave you access to theatres playing these films. And EVEN THEN the subtitles accompanying these films were in every conceivable language EXCEPT English! Which in turn meant that plots were optional for the dedicated Kung Fu or Wushu fan. This film in 1972 changed all that. Understand there is nothing "special" about this film. Pretty standard plot, pretty standard cast, pretty standard quality. Even the "iron palm" technique is not new and would pop up in these films every few years. (Based of course on real ancient texts -- I recall a Youtube video of an actual Iron Palm practitioner, in real life your hands double in size because of the constant bruising and healing). So what makes this film special? It was the first film of its type to be "tested" in the N.A. release channel to see if there was a market for a typical product from Asia, dubbed. Did it work? Do bears (^(++ in the woods? Many more followed and ultimately the western studio saw a market they missed, leading to films with Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and many more..

simnia-1 This is truly a kung fu classic. This film appears to have influenced martial arts films for decades. The Spanish guitar background music, the competing schools, the impossibly high leaps onto the edges of rooftops, catching thrown spears, cheating in tournaments, the secret training for an exotic karate technique, themes of patience and perseverance, and more were copied by many later films such as "The Karate Kid" (1984), "Hero" (2002), "Kill Bill Volume 2" (2004), and "Kung Fu Hustle" (2004).I feel lucky to have first seen this film in 1972, shortly after it was released, just before kung fu films became mainstream and before Bruce Lee became a household name. I saw it with two buddies of mine in a downtown San Diego theater frequented by sailors, and although the scenes of the glowing red hands and gouged eyeballs got some laughs, clearly the audience was getting into it, as was our little group. It was a very memorable movie for me. Decades later I could still recall several specific scenes, even after I had forgotten the film title. This film is extra special to me now because one of those two buddies with whom I first saw it (sailor Kenneth Lee Hines of the Kitty Hawk) has since passed away, so this film serves as a memento of that day together before we took judo and karate lessons in subsequent years.Relative to kung fu films, I'd rate this film as 10/10. But since I have to keep the larger film audience in mind, I'll more objectively rate it as 8/10, due to obvious technical flaws. I just recommend that neophyte viewers consider those technical flaws to be proof of its vintage nature and of its authenticity, and then merrily proceed to enjoy its testosterone-charged mayhem.

kstro This is my favourite kung fu movie. It has a very authentic flavour, seasoned by an eerie music score (of tradition chinese instruments, I think), and some wonderfully over-acted melodramatic moments contrasted by heavily affected comedy. Indeed, while attempting to create their own "Western" (i.e. Cowboy film) genre, the Chinese concocted a whole new animal, marked by kung fu fighting and its associated sound effects.The story of Five Fingers of death is simple, a story of revenge (for killing a loved one) and the pursuit of the main character to master the "iron-fist-technique" that will enable him to wreak holy vengeance on his enemies. There is even a love interest, though the awkward, polite kind (found in most Chinese films of the period). The end result however is great and much more authentic than any Bruce Lee movie.