The Tournament; or, Angela Mao vs. Thailand
This week’s review will be about a movie from Angela Mao
Ying’s golden years at Golden Harvest Productions. In the early 70’s she
starred in such martial arts classics as Hapkido (1972), When Taekwondo Strikes
(1973), and The Tournament (1974) (not forgetting about her small fighting role
in Enter the Dragon). As I have accidentally stumbled upon The Tournament, I
thought it would be a good idea to review this somewhat overshadowed film by the awe
of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.
Release Info
Directed by: Wong Fung Starring: Angela Mao Ying, Carter Wong, Guan Shan, Got Heung-Ting
Language: Cantonese Original Title: 中泰拳壇生死戰 Movie Industry: Hong Kong Runtime: 94 min
Plot
A sister of a martial arts student is kidnapped by
gangsters. They are willing to give her back in exchange for ransom, which the brother does
not have. However, he heard about Thai boxing matches for money. Thus, he goes
to his master (Got Heung-Ting) for help. The master has doubts about going to
Thailand and putting out Kung Fu against Thai boxing, but he eventually agrees.
Unfortunately, the student dies on the ring and ashamed master Liu returns to
Hong Kong. The Martial Arts Association turns its back on him and revokes his
membership. Devastated master commits suicide. Nevertheless, his daughter Lau
Siu-Fung (Angela Mao) and son (Carter Wong) decide to avenge their father by
taking on the oblivious members of the association and Thai boxers. Some sorry
asses are about to get kicked!
Hail to Kung Fu
Surprisingly, The Tournament is a pleasant watch and it
delivers its main premise: Angela Mao beating up random thugs back to Qin
dynasty. The beginning is very slow-paced and a bit confusing, so you have to
pay attention to details, but it perfectly establishes the drama (master Liu’s
loss of honour) and the emotional motivation for the character of Feng. As a
result, it is all the more enjoyable when the real fighting starts 40 minutes
into the film.
In addition, in a similar fashion to Hapkido (1972), the
movie contains anti-Japanese undertones as Feng not only has to face fellow
Kung Fu masters, but also Karate students who want to take over her house.
This creates an explosive mix halfway through the movie and an excellent opportunity
to display some of the best battles with Angela. We see her beating the living
hell out of the Chinese, the Japanese, and… Sammo Hung himself (another time when Sammo
got bashed by Angela was in When Taekwondo Strikes (1973)).
When hordes of opponents finally give in, Feng and her
brother finally to travel to Thailand (accompanied by a catchy incidental music
that might have inspired Lalo Schifrin when composing Rush Hour score) and,
obviously, go against the Thais. Sadly, Carter Wong is nothing more than just a
punching bag in the story and the whole burden of saving the day rests on
Angela’s shoulders. This is especially visible in the boxing matches (very well
choreographed) as well as in the finale in Ayutthaya (thumbs up for shooting on
the real location). However, Golden Harvest had to utilise yet another stereotype
by putting Angela against (some random but intimidating) foreigner towards the end of the film. Still again, it’s a joy to watch her in action.
Recommendations
If you are tired of re-watching Bruce Lee flicks, you can
safely turn to Angela Mao. The Tournament is one of my personal favourites from
Angela’s repertoire and I safely recommend it to anyone who is in dire need of
great (but not unbelievable) kung fu battles. In my view, Angela was incredibly
fluent, vibrant, and convincing in her fighting scenes. Needless to say, I have to agree with the opinion of others that Angela Mao was indeed the real deal and the true Lady Whirlwind.
Overall score: 8/10
