mercoledì 10 ottobre 2012

The Little Black Box (黑匣喋血记)(1986)

 

The Little Black Box (黑匣喋血记)(1986)

 

Dir: Huang Zhong-shu
Cast: Han Zhikai,Wen Xitai, Zhang Anji, Tang Junliang
Plot: Eve of the 1911 revolution, the government is trying hard to kill all the revolutionaries. The rebels from Wu Chang send the martial arts master Jin Biao to Guangzhou in order to deliver some important documents. A traitor will try to stop him and get those papers..
Year: 1986
Country:
Mainland China 
Trailer (Source Material: Original Mainland Dvd):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qUjlrSJ50M
Notes:  Released in East Germany with the name Das kleine schwarze Kästchen and in Spain on dvd with only Spanish audio, this flick became available recently on dvd in China. A big surprise waited me when I bought the movie: it has English subtitles forced in. Finally, a version with the original dub and accessible to every one. The director just made this action flick, his other works are just not suitable for this blog. On the other hand, Han Zhikai participated in movies like Arhats in Fury (八百罗汉)(1985) and Swords Meet (1988)( 天下第一剑).
Personal Opinion: while back (you can find our first brief review here in the blog, just browse it a little) we saw some scenes from the movie but now I had the chance, thanks to the dvd, to watch the full feature.
The story is pretty classic and simple: the government against the rebels. Most of the Chinese flicks are set during the Qing dynasty and this one is not an exception.
The fighting is pretty good, at least above average, the only thing I didn’t really like was the flying stuff. In my opinion they just didn’t fit there, especially for that stupid sound effect that goes along with them. When the guys (and the girl) are on the ground is price less, but on the air.. damn.
There is plenty of stuff that a martial art aficionado would love but maybe It just didn’t get me.
Overall, the movie is enjoyable and if you are in only for the fights, well, you can FF the dvd.