Invincible Obsessed Fighter (1982)

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Invincible Obsessed Fighter (1982)

a.k.a Mu-Rim Beggar Warriors

Director- Kim Jung-Wong

Fighter Choreographer- Mike Wong Lung

Starring- Elton Chong, Chan Lau-Lei, Fei Wan, Mike Wong Lung, Kim Yong Wan, Lung Yuen.

Plot Synopsis- Fat Ho(Kim Yong Wan) is a Martial Arts Master & supporter of the righteous General Ching. One of Ching's rivals Eagle, hires a skilled stone-cold killer to seek out Ho and murder him. Only Ho has a son (Elton Chong), armed with the Eight Chopper Fist style he aims to deal with the killer and the man who hired him.

This film is by far the craziest I’ve reviewed for this month’s Filmark special. It had to be most far out with the king of old school Korean Kung Fu comedy Elton Chong(The Snake Strikes Back) being the star. He might not be the most popular old school screen fighter, but in this film he does show off some nice Martial Arts skills between the over the top slapstick routines. There are some really talented Martial Artists who I sadly cannot identify in this production. Some of the faces I’ve seen before in smaller roles in other Korean flicks. Only finding information about them online has in some cases been impossible. Some of these guys have really amazing kicking skills that helped raise the quality of the fight scenes. In some cases I'll describe them by their appearance onscreen rather than reference them by name.

One of the talents I can name is Fei Wan who plays the stony faced killer hired to kill Fat Ho. Wan shows of some great skills that make you wish he'd had a longer film career. This was his second and last appearance on screen. His other role being in the similar Magnificent Natural Fist, that almost has the exact same cast too. His character is introduced by fighting his way through the gang leaders lackeys in a nicely choreographed sequence. One highlight see's him deal with three fighters at the same time. His encounter with Fat Ho is another stand out moment including the gruesome use of a clothes line.

This brings me onto the subject of the films highly energetic Martial Arts action. Some fans might not like the slapstick or the under cranking, which can be a bit too much at times. If you can overlook this or don't mind it then you will be treated to some great moves and decent choreography. The movies villain played by Mike Wong Lung, is also the films sole fight choreographer. He does a fine job here but sometimes the quality is a little inconsistent. The hit or miss comedy and slapstick being the main cause of this. What helps is the high standard of some of the performers in the smaller roles. A lot of these Filmark movies have some really poor and inept villains. Invincible Obsessed Fighter thankfully does not suffer from this. Mike Wong is more than capable as a screen villain who has a worthy assortment of back up. One of the lackeys that sports a big 70's style hair cut in the film, shows off some very skillful and well executed leg work. I think he's played by Joo Ki Wan but I'm not 100% sure so don't quote me on that one.

One good example of his ability can be seen when he confronts Elton Chong about not having a permit for fortune telling. There's also a shaven headed lackey who sports some of the most outrageous facial hair I’ve ever set eyes on. He has side burns that could be almost as lethal as his boot work. This guy is also equally gifted with some exceptional kicking skills. At first I thought it may have been Jack Lam but after seeing the whole film I wasn't too sure. Anyone else on the forum know who the above two guys might be?. The final showdown gives you your money’s worth with the two leads putting on a better than average performance. With Lung's skillful villain looking like he could beat Chong's lesser skilled hero. It this underdog versus the super skilled fighter theme that's been the highlight of many of Jackie Chan films. Elton Chong made his living trying to replicate Chan's style for Korean audiences, and he does it effectively in this fight. He really shows off some good-looking kicks, especially in the film’s final chapter.

As you might expect there's no shortage of odd characters and random moments in this film. There's a scene where a young girl in drag is seen hitting pine cones with some odd looking floppy bat. Chan Lau Lei plays the young girl who befriends and helps Elton Chong's character. She doesn't appear to be a Martial Artist but she did have a brief but short movie career in the early to mid 80's. Then there's Kim Wong Yan's maggot eating wizard or the ghost fighter as he's referred to. He's hired to deal with the hero of the story and walks around with half of his body tanned. I'm not sure if that's a side effect of his odd eating habits or just lazy sun bathing?. He has a strange style of fighting that's very stiff and robotic. Like Chong's Eight Chopper Fist style it’s never really explained. This is one of the few Asian Kung Fu flicks I’ve sat through that does not feature any traditional training sequences. Which is why we don't get much detail about the fictional techniques on display.

There's also hunchback ginseng expert that appears to be hiding a replica of mount Everest under his shirt. Sadly he has little more than a short minor role. There's a scene where our hero uses a large bush to disguise himself. It reminded me of the moving forest sequence in Roman Polanski's big screen version of Macbeth. Only the scene in Invincible Obsessed Fighter is much funnier. Any Filmark movie would not be complete without some hooded assailants. They attempt to get some retrieve some gold that's been hustled from their boss. Is it me or do all these films have to feature some scenes featuring men in hoods/masks of some kind?.

Archive

Internet Archive, in More feature films

Licence or status

CC BY-ND 4.0, as the Internet Archive states it.

Credit

KonCategoryIII

Language

English

Who can watch

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