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The Kung Fu Instructor (88 Films) Blu-ray Review

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    Ian Jane
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  • The Kung Fu Instructor (88 Films) Blu-ray Review

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    Released by: 88 Films
    Released on: November 12th, 2024.
    Director: Sun Chung
    Cast: Ti Lung, Wong Yu, Ku Feng, Angie Chiu Nga-Chi
    Year: 1979
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Kung Fu Instructor – Movie Review:

    Directed by Sun Chung from a script by the insanely prolific Ni Kuang, 1979’s The Kung Fu Instructor stars one third of the Shaw Brothers’ Iron Triangle, Ti Lung, as, shockingly a kung fu instructor named Wang Yang. He and his fake facial hair run a martial arts academy in a small town where two warring clans, the Zhous and the Mengs, have been battling it out for as long as anyone seems able to remember. So divisive is their feud that the town has literally been split into two different sides with the understanding that should members of one clan intrude on territory claimed by the other, they’ll have their arms and/or legs cut off as punishment.

    Realizing that things aren’t exactly going well, the Zhou Clan hopes to talk the Meng Clan into a ceasefire of sorts, but the leader of The Mengs, Meng Er-da (Ku Feng), wants nothing to do with peace at all and, in fact, decides that the best course of action would be to hire Wang Yang to help train his crew in the martial arts and give them a leg up on their rivals.

    Wang Yang, not wanting to find himself in the middle of a war, declines the offer but Meng Er-da isn’t one to take no for an answer and so he sets out to see Wang Yang framed for a murder that he didn’t commit. Meng Er-da’s plan here is to use his standing to get Wang Yang cleared of the murder charge, should he change his mind and teach his clan the deadly arts of kung-fu, and it works, until it doesn’t. Meanwhile one of Wang Yang’s students, Zhou Ping (Wong Yu), sneaks his way from Zhou turf onto Meng territory to secretly watch the titular kung fu instructor strut his stuff, figuring observing Yang’s techniques will improve his own fighting abilities. Let’s hope he doesn’t get caught…

    Borrowing heavily from Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and, simultaneously, Sergio Leone’s A Fistful Of Dollars, The Kung Fu Instructor is a solid martial arts picture that deals in equal parts action and intrigue, even if it never feels especially original given the derivative nature of its basic plot. That said, it delivers some great fight sequences, with the martial arts choreography from Tong Kai, prolific not only as a fight choreographer but as an actor as well (he also directed the excellent Opium And The Kung Fu Master, starring Ti Lung, for Shaw Brothers in 1984 as well as Shaolin Prince Shaolin Intruders, both worth seeing, for the studio a year earlier in 1983), really stealing the show. The last third of the film features some really impressive fight scenes, particularly one Ti Lung’s character busts out the staff and goes to town on the bad guys.

    The acting is also pretty solid here. Ku Feng, who made dozens of films for Shaw Brothers during the studio’s boom years, is a lot of fun as the villain here, chewing just enough of the scenery to make you take notice of his role, while Wong Yu also does fine work as the student of Ti Lung’s character. This is, however, Ti Lung’s show pretty much from start to finish, and he makes the most of the role. It’s a good part for him, and it sees him play the noble instructor with style and dignity. We like Wang Yang and, as the story progresses, admire his intelligence as well as his fighting abilities, two qualities that Ti Lung really brings to the forefront with his performance in this film.

    The Kung Fu Instructor – Blu-ray Review:

    88 Films brings The Kung Fu Instructor to Blu-ray framed in 2.35.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition taking up 25GBs of space on a 50GB disc using an “HD transfer from the original negative.” Colors are reproduced quite nicely, looking bright and bold without appearing oversaturated or artificially boosted and black levels are good. Skin tones look nice and natural in terms of colors. There aren’t any problems with noticeable compression artifacts or edge enhancement and the image stable and very clean, showing no real print damage, dirt or debris. Overall, this looks pretty good.

    Mandarin and English language 24-bit LPCM 2.0 Mono options are provided with optional English Subtitles for the Cantonese track. There’s a tiny bit of sibilance in a few spots but otherwise the audio is fine regardless of which track you go for. The score sounds pretty decent and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion.

    Extras on the disc itself are limited to a still gallery, a trailer for the feature, menus and chapter selection options. That said, this release comes packaged with a nice metallic slipcover (it really looks very nice!), some reversible cover sleeve art (featuring newly created art on one side and the original one-sheet art on the reverse) and, tucked away inside the clear Blu-ray keepcase, a selection of four postcard-sized art cards.

    The Kung Fu Instructor - The Final Word:

    The Kung Fu Instructor won’t win any awards for originality but the story moves at a quick pace and the movie offers up a strong mix of action and intrigue to go alongside some impressive right choreography and nice performances from the main cast members. The Blu-ray release from 88 Films is light on extras but it looks and sounds quite good. Recommended for martial arts fans and Shaw Brothers enthusiasts alike.



    Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized The Kung Fu Instructor Blu-ray screen caps!

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