Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Idiot-Deluxe Well to start things at the very beginning, we have the movies title: Master of the Flying Guillotine, which certainly gets my vote for the BEST movie title ever - but it hardly ends there.When viewing this wickedly clever and innovative martial arts classic from the mid-70's (making it an early entry in the post-Lee era), it's apparent from the movies opening credits with it's oddball music selection (Kraut-rock), that it's star/director Jimmy Wang Yu was clearly thinking outside-the-box. "Master of the Flying Guillotine" is the sequel to the "One-Armed Boxer" and it's superior to it's older counterpart in pretty much every way, not that the One-Armed Boxer is bad - not at all, but The Master is an absolute classic of the martial arts genre and once you've seen it you're likely not to forget it.Basic plot structure revolves around a grandiose martial arts tournament and a group of half-a-dozen, vengeful, martial artists from various regions of the East, who along with an old blind priest, who actually is (as it will quickly be obvious) the master of the flying guillotine; they conspire against a certain karate dojo and it's renowned master, the one known as the one-armed boxer. In the first movie titled "The One-Armed Boxer" Jimmy Wang Yu (it's star and director, the same as in this movie, it's superior sequel) kills two of the old blind priest's disciples and when upon finding this out, the old priest seeks to avenge thou who hath slayed his students and what transpires over the course of the next 90 odd, very odd, minutes is perhaps the most creatively colorful and most entertaining of all martial arts films. Starting with Jimmy Wang Yu's stylish sense of direction, Master of the Flying Guillotine works so well in so many ways, from it's tight editing (it's action sequences vantage from this immensely), to it's remarkably unusual and effective soundtrack (an all Kraut-rock soundtrack in a martial arts film was UNHEARD OF at the time and boy does it work well here), plus there's great deal of variety among the villainous ranks of evil martial artists, which showcases many different styles. The long and the short of it is this, Master of the Flying Guillotine is a martial arts film that's simply exemplary in it's combination of style, innovation, humor and creative energy and is said to be the pinnacle of the directors Wang Yu's long career. In fact this great film has SO MUCH style, that it often finds itself bordering on the realm gimmickry, but yet it never does cross the line, nor does it descend into the painfully cringe-worthy depths of supreme idiocy that some movies have gone (such as the reviling "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" for instance).Brimming with no fewer than six individual fight scenes and a lengthy martial arts tournament, Master of the Flying Guillotine has all the action you could ask for (and then some). But with this movie, it's really more about the Quality of such scene's, not the Quantity - though to be accurate about it, it's really both at the same time, LOTS of ass-kicking's (of high artistry) are dealt-out in this unbridled classic of martial arts mastery. The films of this genre are not known for going with the most realistic sound effects (for the kicks and punches, etc.) and this movie has some of the loudest and punchiest sound effects of them all; for instance merely twitching your wrist left to right a few times, will cause loud and dramatic atmospheric turbulence (i.e. loud wind). The finale is, not surprisingly, between: the one-armed boxer (once again the movies star and director) and the master of the flying guillotine himself and let me tell you the flying guillotine is one HELL of a weapon when wielded by the master, a real terror; but our crafty hero the one-armed boxer, cleverly defeats said weapon with his own wit, wisdom and guile. The fight between these two is epic and sprawling in nature and takes place in no fewer than three different locations - I think you'll find the last locale (which Mr. One-Arm has rigged, in advance, with spring-loaded booby-traps) to be wickedly ironic. A ruthlessly intense fight, often in very close confines, finally ending with a POWER PUNCH, which sends us literally THROUGH THE ROOF and then downwards we tumble, head-first, into an open coffin! Sweat is beading on the brow! Yes, there's rarely a dull moment in this one, but Jimmy Wang Yu was considerate enough to include a few slower scenes to this masterwork, in order to establish a few key plot-point's and to let us catch our breath..... OK, it's not full-speed all the way (what movie is?), but almost.On the matter of the movie's preservation, unfortunately The Master seems to have been in rough hands over the years and hasn't aged particularly well. The film has a significant amount of scratching and a few, very minor audio issues. My guess is that in China thing's are seen as being more dispensable and are generally less cared for, then they are over here. But really, just how hard is it (in China) to make some prints and then store properly. I've seen literally one-hundred year-old American-made films with less scratching.Strong Points: Highly-stylized action and SFX, razor-sharp editing, great soundtrack and sound effects (The Master's an orgy for the ears, as well the eyes) and an AMAZING finale.Weak Points: No specific's, other then to say, it's modest budget prevents it from having an overall "oppulent" visual presentation - with more money it would have been even better.One last thing to mention: It's a fact that The Master has a lofty, A-List ally in the form of director-extraordinaire Quentin Tarantino, he champions this movies innovative bad-ass-ness. Now obviously, this doesn't mean you have to like it - but HE does.....

tomgillespie2002 A staple of the exploitation circuit, the martial arts movie played a fundamental role in the 1970's as a prime form of action cinema. It not only had its own stand-alone sub-genre, but was also essential to even the blaxploitation market. In the west the Kung-Fu movie was enlivened by Bruce Lee, and particularly Enter the Dragon (1973), and despite his early death, left a legacy that turned this obscure form of action cinema into a western phenomenon that is still highly evident today. Unlike Bruce Lee's usually modern-set movies, the tradition of period films found their way onto the exploitation market, and Master of the Flying Guillotine sits within this context. Set in the 18th century, this film follows on from Yu Wang's 1971 The One-Armed Boxer, and centres on a mission to avenge the killings that the one-armed boxer (Yu Wang) committed in the previous film by Fung Sheng Wu Chi (Kang Chin), the blind master of the titular weapon (an infamous tool that has the ability to severe a human head with very little effort).There is very little in the way of narrative in the film, and focuses its attentions of the fight choreography, which is at times spectacular. A particular favourite is the Yoga expert, who has the ability to extend his arms in battle, leading to some hilarious sequences. It's a testament to Chinese cinema, that the film makers were able to use humour even within fight sequences (something that Hollywood action cinema rarely does (and really didn't do until the 1980's), something that Jackie Chan took to new levels in the late 1970's and 1980's. There are a few times where the fighting becomes a bit repetitive, but I guess that will happen, considering that about 95% of the screen time is spent of fight sequences.Whilst there are many funny sequences, and the fighting looks amazing, there was something that just didn't feel right about it as I viewed, and couldn't immediately put my finger on it. Growing up in the 1980's, the Kung-Fu genre was an important part of growing. Not only were there great action sequences, but they're incredibly fun to watch, but seeing this in my adult life highlighted a function that was missing with this film: The English dub! I saw Guillotine in its original language (Mandarin), but was struck at how much funnier they are when over-dubbed into English. But besides this rather trivial complaint, Master of the Flying Guillotine is a hoot.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Scars_Remain I never considered getting into the kung fu genre until I saw Kill Bill and loved it. Granted, Kill Bill is just an homage to the genre but it opened the door for me. I just finished watching Master of the Flying Guillotine and loved it. I haven't seen The One Armed Boxer yet because it virtually doesn't exist on DVD right now but I'm yearning to see it since I liked this one so much. I think kung fu will be my next favorite genre.The transfer is pretty bad at parts but the disclaimer at the beginning of the DVD says that it's the best version thus far so it's fine with me. The fight choreography is brilliant as well as the effects, storyline and acting. The fight scenes are some of the best that I've seen in film. I loved everything about! I can't wait to dive deeper into the kung fu genre and I think I will be finding more great films. Be sure and see this one!

MartianOctocretr5 A typical kung fu extravaganza, where two mighty warriors, one an evil and blind mystic, who "senses" the presence of his enemy (in a Starwars "force" way), stalks his nemesis and rival, a one armed fighter who represents the good. The catch is that this evil mystic wields a unique weapon that he uses ruthlessly (can you possibly guess what from the film's title?). The action is exciting, but there are some areas where the movie gets downright cheesy. In some places it's overdone with the impossible moves you often see in movies like this (jumping 30 feet in the air, catching weapons thrown at you, acrobatic rolls that defy gravity, etc) The "Zzzziiiinnnngggg!!!" of the guillotine is used too much, and becomes funny. The makeup on the Master of the Flying Guillotine is very fake, especially in close-up shots of his face (used frequently), showing that this old man is being played by a guy maybe 25 yrs. old. The numerous preliminary fights with lesser fighters are well choreographed and enacted, but become redundant--you know pretty much when the attacker is going to get killed. And then it's on to the next fight. There is almost no plot; you know that the two experts will have their showdown sooner or later. The dialog is ripe and silly with its stoic pontification, one of the many kung fu movie clichés used.The final match is nicely done, goes on for a long time, utilizes several strategies by each combatant, and is just a lot of fun to watch. In gets campy because it's so overdone, but still fun.