- When I first heard the title of Jimmy Wang Yu's Master of the Flying Guillotine, I figured I knew exactly what I was getting into. Oh, how wrong I was. What the title fails to mention is that the eponymous master (Kam Kong) is an old blind assassin who has sworn to wield the flying guillotine (exactly what it sounds like) to kill the one-armed boxer (Wang Yu) who murdered his students. But instead of making sure he has the right man, the assassin just kills every one-armed man he comes across, decapitating a surprising number of innocent amputees along the way. (He finally identifies the right guy on the third try, in case you're wondering!) All of this is accompanied by a Krautrock soundtrack provided by NEU! and Tangerine Dream because being awesome doesn't always make sense.
- But wait, that's not all! The film also features a stable of goofy martial arts stylists, including a petite-but-masterful crane fighter (Doris Lung), a belching Thai boxer (Sham Chin-bo), a ridiculous monkey fighter (Wang Tai-lang), and a...guy who picks his nose (Lung Fong). My personal favorite is the Indian fighter (Wong Wing-sang) whose arms extend to impossible lengths, granting him what is traditionally referred to in boxing circles as "good reach." The film's most realistic character is a taciturn Japanese fighter nicknamed "Wins Without a Knife" (Lung Fei), whose tonfa sticks actually do conceal spring-deployed knives. Finally, I have to mention that the film's ending involves axe catapults and the villain tumbling dead into his own coffin. I admittedly haven't seen a ton of martial arts movies, but I am comfortable claiming that this is definitely the best one.
- Among those who have obviously seen this film: Quentin Tarantino and the makers of Street Fighter II.
