Average
Summary
There’s a heck of a lot of fighting and action in the film, and one of the more intense scenes is shot in and outside of a dangling cable car, which feels like it’s lifted right out of a 007 movie. In fact, the movie tries a bit to feel like a Bond film, and that’s where the movie has some of its success. Otherwise, A Man Called Tiger is merely a footnote in the annals of kung fu cinema.
Plot: A Chinese tough guy seeks vengeance in Japan where his father was likely killed by the yakuza.
Review: In China, Jin Hu (Jimmy Wang Yu, later in international crossover vehicles A Queen’s Ransom and The Man From Hong Kong) is a complete badass, stopping muggings, robberies, and dine and dashers on a daily basis. He really puts himself out there like some kind of daytime vigilante, smacking half a dozen guys around with ease, teaching not just a lesson, but HIS NAME: and DON’T YOU FORGET IT! He ends up in Japan, with just the clothes on his back and only a few yen in his pocket. He’s at a nightclub, looking like a sad sack when he hears a melancholy song sung by hostess (Maria Yi) that makes him angry because it’s such a sad song. She offers to cheer him up by singing a more upbeat song when a bunch of yakuza thugs bust in the joint, roughing everyone up, demanding “protection” money. Jin Hu casually waltzes forward and tells them all to bugger off, but he gets a fat lip for trying. But that’s not the end of it: He curls his fists and levels the floor with their leader and tells everyone HIS NAME. A few days later, Jin Hu is working for the yakuza because if they can’t beat him, they’d have him join them, and he turns out to be the best protection money collector they’ve ever had. But he’s exactly where he wants to be because it’s no mistake or coincidence that he’s in Japan: He’s there to infiltrate the yakuza and see why his father supposedly committed suicide after losing a ton of money in a gambling venture, which doesn’t sound right. Once he goes deep undercover, he’s able to maneuver himself into the high-end gambling circuit and he sees for himself how his father found himself trapped and unable to escape a situation where he was killed by the very people Jin Hu is now working for. Oh, boy: Get ready, because some guys are about to get beat to hamburger!
A Man Called Tiger was supposedly going to be a vehicle for Bruce Lee after The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, but I have my doubts because by the end of the film Wang Yu’s hero has gotten pretty jacked up and almost gotten one of his feet chopped off, which I just can’t imagine Lee ever allowing himself to be reduced to. As played by Yu, the main character consistently remains inherently unappealing with his gruff, no-nonsense approach to going through his life like a policeman without a hint of irony or self-awareness. He’s a perpetual stick in the mud, and despite being a chick magnet, he never comes across as a romantic hero in the slightest; he’s hypermasculine without any dimension, and he’s not “cool” just because he’s always smoking a cigarette and always has a tough guy line to deliver. Maybe it’s the way Yu played him, but I just didn’t like the guy. That said, there’s a heck of a lot of fighting and action in the film, and one of the more intense scenes is shot in and outside of a dangling cable car, which feels like it’s lifted right out of a 007 movie. In fact, the movie tries a bit to feel like a Bond film, and that’s where the movie has some of its success. Otherwise, A Man Called Tiger is merely a footnote in the annals of kung fu cinema. From director Lo Wei.
Eureka! has just released a premium Blu-ray edition of A Man Called Tiger, and it’s totally loaded with bonus features and two versions of the film to choose from. The 2K restoration of the movie looks sharp and proves that Eureka! is one of the best boutique home video labels in business these days, right up there with Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, and Shout Factory.
Bonus Materials
- Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling
- Limited edition reversible poster featuring original poster artwork
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration of the rarely seen uncut Hong Kong theatrical release version of the film, making its home video debut in the UK / US (112 mins)
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration of the re-release version of the film (79 mins)
- Original Mandarin and classic English dub audio options on both cuts of the film (original mono presentations)
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- Brand new audio commentary on the Hong Kong version by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and Michael Worth
- Brand new audio commentary on the export version by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Cutting Tiger, Hidden Subtitles – Brand new video essay by Brandon Bentley
- Do You Know What Sadness Means? + Because I Have Your Love – Music videos prepared exclusively for this release
- Textless opening
- Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
- Trailer
- PLUS: A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by writer and critic James Oliver, and a short essay by Brandon Bentley about the versions of the film presented on this release