"The Hero" is the original Taiwan title but it also goes by "Rage of the Master", "The Destroyer", "Rage of the Tiger", "Wang Yu - The Destroyer", "Rage of the Masters", "The Killer Boxer", and "The Killer of Boxer". There is a German version and a version by Flash Legs Kungfu that are wide screen. The other versions are typical VHS conversions. The first copy I had of this movie was such a bad VHS conversion it became too tiresome to watch to the end. I obtained a better copy before writing my review. This copy has the title screen "Wang Yu - The Destroyer" plus about three exclamation points. It plays as wide screen on a HDTV but is not true wide screen and seems to have been zoomed and then cropped. The resolution is less that standard DVD but watchable. It is dubbed in English by voices I do not recognize but they are adequate. I always begin my reviews with a description of the opening scenes to confirm we have the same movie.
Lisa Chiao Chiao and her father watch the students practice martial arts. An expelled student returns with his gang to settle his grudge and kills father. The son and daughter want revenge and it seems Jimmy is their man. He is taking care of his mother and has promised not to fight.
The story line here at IMDB does not seem to fit this movie. I am not going to change it though.
Jimmy Wang Yu broke his contract with Shaw Brothers and went to Taiwan. His first two years, 1971 and 1972, he was making almost a movie every month. Most, but not all, are above average. I consider this one just below average. I also find it interesting that Lisa Chiao Chiao was also in this movie. She played the character who rescued him after he lost his arm in "One-Armed Swordsman". This was the movie that made him a big star at Shaw Brothers. It seems she also left Shaw Brothers and followed him to Taiwan. I wonder if they had a personal relationship.
The plot of this movie is "the fighter who will not fight". This is the same plot as in Bruce Lee's film "The Big Boss" a.k.a. "Fists of Fury". The plot's weak point is that it requires a slow start. This movie starts slow plus has a cock fight and casino sequence that are needless and should be cut. Jimmy's first fight is a brawl at about 35 minutes in and it is average. The fighting really begins with the tournament at about 56 minutes. This was an opportunity to show different styles of fighting but that did not happen. Jimmy gets into action a bit later in a brawl. This is his strength as he does brawls better than anyone. See one of my other reviews for some details as to how he does this.
Again, I rate this as just below average for the year and genre based on not enough fights and not the best fight choreography. This movie, at this point in time, is only suitable for hard core fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984 who want to say they watched every movie made by the legendary Jimmy Wang Yu.
