by Chris Watson
Jimmy Wang Yu is one of the most fascinating actors in Asian cinema. At times, one of the most popular actors, but his personal life is more interesting and made a life-changing impact on the path of his career. Wang Yu has been accused (and, in some cases, brags) of beating his wife, having affairs with directors’ wives, bar brawls, and murder. On set, he was well known for making actual contact during fight scenes and stunts. Wang Yu may not have been the favorite of cast and crew members, but he built enough of a following that he was able to maintain a steady career. He launched to fame with The One-Armed Swordsman. The Shaw Brothers production would spawn sequels, including The Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, that also starred Jimmy Wang Yu. Unfortunately, Wang Yu broke his contract with the legendary Shaw Brothers, lost a lawsuit and was blacklisted. Wang Yu went to Taiwan to try and capitalize on his one-armed box office prowess.
Jimmy Wang Yu struck one-armed gold again when he teamed up with Golden Harvest for One-Armed Boxer. The story is about dueling martial arts schools. Everything changes when the villains hire a team of unique fighting professionals; they include Japanese karate experts, Thai kick-boxers, Tibetan Monks, and Indian Yoga experts. The team takes out all of Yu’s school, but, unfortunately for them, they only karate chop off Yu’s arm (you read that right and it happens not once but twice!). Obviously, the movie does get goofy at times. The team is purposely filled with distinct, oddball characters. Luckily, the movie makes up for the goofy moments with some pure badass moments. Yu’s one-armed training sequence is the best. The determination Yu has to make his hand strong by consistent burning is cringe worthy, yet gives you an insane respect for his character. The dialogue doesn’t disappoint either. Upon the first sighting of Yu, the villain says, “So, you’re still alive.” Yu answers stoically, “Hell sent me back.” The version I saw topped it off by featuring a Shaft-like soundtrack.
Jimmy Wang Yu and David Chiang (Shaw Brothers’s one-armed replacement star for Wang Yu) team up in 1976’s One Armed Swordsmen. The two actors also team up to co-direct. Yu and Chiang know what their audience wants; the film features seven one-armed swordsmen. In the opening sequence alone, Yu slices off multiple men’s arms. One Armed Swordsmen is filled with severed limbs, false arms, and one-armed fights — with and without weapons. The movie drags at times, but does feature a couple of large fight scenes. The difficulties of creating a flashy fight with one-armed characters are evident in this film. However, the film has a redeeming value that it probably didn’t want. One Armed Swordsmen is simply absurd. The abundance of missing arms is one thing. The skill of all the one-armed characters is fine. What takes One Armed Swordsmen to a ridiculous level starts with absurd plot twists. Any viewer will be stunned by the plot revelations, but for the wrong reasons. The final fight scene tops it off — chickens are obviously thrown at the men as they duel. Imagine one of the many classic fight scenes with rain pouring, but replace the rain with chickens and you have the final fight scene of One Armed Swordsmen.
The year 1976 also brought One-Armed Swordsman Vs 9 Killers. Jimmy Wang Yu returns, but uses his fists against swords. The action is mindless in this one. The wonderful story of the Chang Cheh original is missing. Like One Armed Swordsmen, the film is filled with silly moments as the son of a slaughtered minister seeks revenge. There’s a goofy fight scene with four men that has comical music playing over it. Wang Yu fights a man/woman monk. During another fight scene, Wang Yu’s opponent uses a six-foot sword. The final fight scene reveals that Wang Yu actually had two arms, but only after he loses one for real.
1976 was truly the year of one armed movies, but the film that has stood the test of time is the wu xia flick The One-Armed Boxer Vs the Flying Guillotine (also known as Master of the Flying Guillotine and One-Armed Boxer 2). Much like its predecessor, the One-Armed Boxer, the film is filled with fascinating, yet cheesy characters. The movie wastes no time setting the tone with an introduction to Fu Sheng Wu Chi. He has the kung fu sensei look — older male with a long, white beard. As if his look wasn’t enough, they make him blind. Need more? His weapon of choice is the flying guillotine. American audiences often think of The One-Armed Boxer Vs the Flying Guillotine as the origin of the weapon, but it had appeared in numerous hit films before. However, Wang Yu’s decision to arm his villain with the weapon is another step in making the film memorable. Actually, the character of Fu Sheng Wu Chi says everything we need to know about the movie; Wang Yu is throwing every wild, badass character trait he can come up with into the movie.
Fu Sheng Wu Chi is out to kill the one armed man responsible for killing two of his disciples. Of course, to keep the action going, he plans on killing every one-armed man he comes across until he finds the right one. To find the right one, he gets assistance from three fighters. Wang Yu is careful, avoiding a character cliché to be as simple as hero versus villain. Instead, he adds in a bevy of side characters that take the film to another level. The most memorable henchman is the Indian whose arms extend. When the arms come out, even when you know what’s coming, the character is absurd, laughable, but undoubtedly memorable. Also assisting Fu Sheng Wu Chi is a Thai boxer and a slew of characters with interesting twists — one uses hair as a weapon, another has a comical mustache, and one has Executioners from Shaolin-style iron testicles. The villains and side characters were enough for a dozen different movies, but the movie needs a hero to take on all these odd characters.
Last, there’s the One-Armed Boxer himself. Played by Jimmy Wang Yu, the One-Armed Boxer is introduced training his students. After a seemingly simple task of jumping, Wang Yu effortlessly walks upside down across the bottom of ceiling. Forget an introductory fight because this one-armed bad ass can walk upside down. Wang Yu has successfully established the villain and hero, notifying the audience up front that they are in for an absurd martial arts film.
The viewer gets unapologetic absurdity. The reality is that this film is not for everyone. Film snobs will be turned off by its high level of trashy antics. Trash film snobs may be turned off by the high level of borrowing from other classics. It’s hard to fault Wang Yu for taking his and others’ best moments and throwing them into one movie. After all, the man was blacklisted from a well-known movie studio that had made him famous. In an odd way, The One Armed Boxer Vs. The Flying Guillotine becomes a bastardized, Tarantino-esque love letter to Jimmy Wang Yu’s one-armed stardom. The film takes great moments of trashy to pretentious films and meshes them into one, action-packed script. Simply, the level of badassery is only surpassed by the infamous, off-screen Wang Yu.