Kung Fu, the Invisible Fist (1972) User Reviews

Wonderful Movies

[hk-50 · 7/10 · 13 February 2007]

I found this movies extremely pleasant to watch.

Outstanding fighting between the good guys and the bad guys made this really stick out.

The storyline was wonderful and well presented throughout the film mixed in with action scenes that made this a joy to watch.

The music/soundtrack was average, however it contributed to the films atmosphere and made a positive difference to the movie action scenes.

I personally taped this movie on VHS to watch again and I advise others to do the same.

I liked the idea of the Chinese and the Japanese against each other. It seems in this movie the Japanese were trying to take China over and there was a plot to do so with information on the army bases to attack. The good guys stop the information reaching the target and win the day.

I liked the guy known as Joker.

Kung Fu-The Invisible Fist

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 12 November 2009]

Chinese spies sent to Shanghai to infiltrate a mobster's empire, which includes white slavery and gun-smuggling. A well-disciplined martial arts instructor, and his body guard, are sent to Shanghai to join the mobster, as plans of a Japanese invasion of China is imminent. Others, including a shoe-shine boy, pickpocket, and Russian female orphan, get caught in the crossfire, helping out the spies, understanding that in order to thwart the criminal activities of the mobster, they will need to get involved.

As expected, you have laughable dubbing, loud sound effects which accompany swings and blows, low quality print, athletic bodies performing acrobatic and balletic fighting techniques, along with incredible stunts(..such as performers leaping from balconies and the roofs of buildings) and exhausting displays of physical prowess. The phenomenal climactic dual between Sing Chen(..as Chinese police soldier, nicknamed The Crazy Dragon, sent in by his superiors to halt the white slavery ring, instead uncovering the invasion plot)and Yasuaki Kurata(..as Japanese spy, nicknamed The Hungry Tiger, his role to prepare his government, through contacts, for the invasion, with maps which will assist them in targeting specific Chinese coordinates)will take your breath away. I've never seen such running, and these two battle throughout Hong Kong, barely catching a breath.

The film for Kung Fu-The Invisible Fist either suffers from the unfriendliness of time or wasn't taken care of properly because there are plenty of blotches and warps, and it seems even a few scenes are missing, including what appeared to be a dual between Chen and Kurata's body guard. The buildings and streets throughout Hong Kong are utilized quite well.

AN INNOVATIVE B.O. SMASH IN HONG KONG 1972!

[[e-mail] · 6/10 · 29 December 2020]

Successfully released in US as Kung-Fu the invisible fist in 1973 (it ranked among the 100 hits of that year), The Good & The Bad (official english title) was a B.O. smash in Hong Kong 1972, as one of the domestic top-ten hits. The reason is simple: director Ng See Yuen (a former Science professor turned filmmaker and the youngest in the wild bunch of Kung-Fu directors), didn't have the budget for FX or stuntmen and stunt-doubles, so hired real martial artists/actors like the late Chan Sing and Yasuaki Kurata (the only japanese actor who became a star in Hong Kong). The result was an hell of crazy fighting, the kind you can't perform without an hard training. Ng See Yuen made a string of movies like this, usually played by Chan Sing as the main hero, creating a new kind of martial arts for screen that local audience renamed "Dazai movie stars" (translatable as "neck-bones risking martial actors"). This movie fits perfectly the formula: almost no-plot (a simple cat-and-mouse play between chineses and japaneses secret agents), tons of combats played astonishngly furious by everyone, expecially the Good Chan Sing and the Bad Kurata in one of the longest final duel ever filmed. Of course no human being can fight for so long, but if you're at the game the entertainment is guaranteed! A collateral note: Yasuaki's henchman was real martial arts champion Chieh Yuen, chosen by Bruce Lee as co-star for Game of Death (as you can see in the found footage of that movie). Sadly the muscular Chieh Yuen died young too in 1976 for brain tumor. All in all Kung-Fu the invisible fist is a poorly made but riveting piece of dynamic action. Released in Hong Kong 12/6/72 and re-released internationally under several titles.

Chen Sing's best hero role

[ajoyce1va · 14 June 2007]

That doesn't make this a good movie, but it's a tiny bit better than his other pairing with Kurata, available through Netflix under the title "Rage of the Wind." So what's good about this one, and why would anyone want to watch it now?

First, there is the magnificent Chen Sing in his prime. As a short, powerfully muscled man, Chen was never a master of technique like Bruce Lee. Rather he carried his films with his burning intensity and what Lee called emotional content. The intensity is what made him a great villain in most of his films, and such a pleasure to watch in his few hero roles like this one.

Second, and equally impressive in a different way, is Kurata of the flamboyant eyebrows. Showing a constant air of boredom with the slow-witted Chinese around him, but turning instantly into a lightning-fast fighting machine when necessary, Kurata was the perfect counterpart to Chen's dogged tenacity.

Third, there's Irene Ryder, Hong Kong singing star of the early 70's, who made a couple of these movies as an adjunct to her main career. In this one, she had to act as well as look pretty. It doesn't work -- she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag -- but it's nice to see her at her most attractive.

Fourth, ladies, there's junior lead Bruce Leung at his most handsome. He gets to duel with Kurata's lieutenant, and handles himself quite well.

Fifth, there's slimy old Chiang Nan as the bandit chief working a human trafficking racket, who accepts Kurata as a paying guest, and Chen as a hard-fighting new gang member. Chiang was one of my favorite character actor villains in the early 70's, and it's still fun to watch him.

Finally, there's the great confrontation battle between Chen and Kurata. Endurance and courage against speed and viciousness. It's still worth waiting through the usual bad writing and endless series of small match-ups to see it.

There are some amusing continuity errors. The time frame is supposed to be the late 1920's, but at one point when the Hong Kong Police are about to make a raid, they arrive in vehicles of the 1960's. Also, clothing styles are a mixed bag (these films were very, very low budget) and never believable as period costumes. To show that Kurata and his bud are Japanese, they wear cheap summer vacation Happy Coats as a substitute for kimonos.

The worst part of the version available through Netflix, apart from the awful title "Kung Fu: the Invisible Fist" is the English dubbing. I first saw this film with a Chinese sound-track in New York's Chinatown in 1972. As awkward and unbelievable as the dialog is when you see it in subtitles, it seems much worse when you have to listen to it.

Holds up remarkably well...

[poe426 · 7/10 · 17 November 2008]

One of the very first martial arts double features I ever saw was DUEL OF THE IRON FIST and KUNG FU- THE INVINCIBLE FIST. While David Chiang managed to keep fighting with half a dozen hatchets in him in DUEL OF THE IRON FIST, it was Kurata and company whose movie I remembered more fondly. It's good to find that it still holds up. And it's interesting (to me, after so long) to see that Chieh Yuen played one of the heavies. It was Yuen who played James Tien's overly-enthusiastic buddy in the footage Bruce Lee shot for THE GAME OF DEATH. (See BRUCE LEE: A WARRIOR'S JOURNEY.) He had a fairly big part in THE GAME OF DEATH- but isn't to be found at all in the lousy American version mis-directed by the late Robert Clouse. There's plenty of satisfying action in KUNG FU- THE INVINCIBLE FIST, and I have no qualms at all about recommending it highly.

Kinda like a Kung-Fu version of "The Departed"

[acs0592 · 6/10 · 11 June 2011]

I saw this movie on the "Fists of Vengeance" box set with 4 discs of old kung fu movies. This movie concerns the Japanese (good guys) and Chinese (bad guys). The Japanese want someone in with the Chinese mob because they believe China is trying to take over Asia. So several cops infiltrate the gang with various methods of kung fu and Chinese boxing. So its kind of like "The Departed" but the mob doesn't have anyone inside of the police.

Acting/fighting wise, the fighting all looks OK, and most of the fighters are Bruce Lee clones, so there skill leaves some to be desired. Not a lot else going on in this one besides the fighting.

Really a crazy movie with tons of fighting. The print quality I saw was lacking, many flickers, and it wasn't very clear. The subtitles as expected were pretty bad, but the generous fighting made up for it. I liked it because of the fighting, but its definitely not for everyone.

Solid kung fu showing with a great fight climax

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 3 May 2017]

KUNG FU, THE INVINCIBLE FIST must be one of the earliest of the kung fu films made in Hong Kong after the success of Shaw's KING BOXER. The film has a 20th century setting and posits the Japanese as the stereotypical villains of the piece, planning an invasion of China, here spearheaded by the reliable Yasuaki Kurata who to my mind is one of the greatest Japanese martial artists in existence. Although the likes of Bruce Leung and Chan Wai-Man appear in smaller roles, this movie really belongs to the great Chen Sing, this time playing the heroic role of the undercover Chinese spy.

Sing was a well-known presence in Hong Kong cinema throughout the 1970s, typically cast as a brooding villain. Not so here: he's the righteous good guy, often bare-chested and showing off his rippling muscles, and a powerhouse in the various combat scenes. The familiar plot is an excuse for the action, which is standard until the great, extended climax between Sing and Kurata; this final bout goes on for about half an hour and features numerous types of weaponry as well as settings. It's a top way to end what is otherwise a solid kung fu movie.

Two real karate guys in a final fight

[ckormos1 · 8/10 · 21 May 2015]

This movie suffers from too many titles: Kung Fu – The Invincible Fist, Tiger vs Dragon, Kung Fu – The Invisible Fist, or Death Rivals of Shaolin, and maybe more. It also suffers from poor preservation. I can only hope that somewhere is a decent original copy and it will be restored for digital but that will never happen. The story is easy to follow and all the minor characters and stunt men pull their weight. The only fault I found was sometimes the kicks and punches were about a foot off the mark. I blame that on a cheap budget, it was either another "take" or no lunch today for the crew. Film used to be expensive. So it all comes down to - Chan Sing versus Kurata Yasuaki in the final fight on "Ponte #2".Two real karate guys fight it out bare fists and karate weapons and it was superb. In this reviewers humble opinion, after watching nearly 2000 martial arts movies, that was possibly the best fight filmed in 1972.