WHEN TAE KWON DO STRIKES/STING OF THE DRAGON MASTERS was one of those must-see martial arts movies from The Golden Age of Martial Arts Movies (the 1970s). Jhoon Rhee comports himself well enough as the rebel leader, and his kicking is outstanding (of course), but it's the angelic Angela Mao Ying who steals the show: she does most of the heavy lifting in this one (which was a surprise to those of us who'd read about Rhee and knew that HE was the ostensible star of this movie). Rhee, in fact, engages the Japanese (led by Sammo Hung) only twice in the movie- and very briefly both times. (An interesting aside: Rhee's HANDS are shackled during his climactic battle with the Japanese, thereby "forcing" him to rely on his vaunted kicking.) Carter Wong (one of the "Three Storms" in John Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) has a minor part, but he doesn't have a lot to do.
Review of When Taekwondo Strikes
