The Fury of the Black Belt (1973) User Reviews

Standard kung fu fare, nicely presented

[michaeldecker · 6/10 · 28 December 2006]

Obviously extremely low budget and formulaic, this film nevertheless manages to be entertaining throughout. There's a lone hero, a wicked gang terrorising the village folk, a vow to the dying, and lots of inner conflict before good triumphs over evil.

Oddly, the soundtrack for the English dub exclusively uses the soundtracks to The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in the West as well as a couple of other Ennio Morricone works. I have a feeling they didn't ask Ennio's permission - not sure if the music has been used in the original version or just the later English dub.

It's a bit of fun, and will provide distraction for a couple of hours if you're in the mood for classic kitsch seventies kung fu.

A SHOWCASE FOR HENRY YU YANG

[[e-mail] · 5/10 · 7 January 2021]

Henry Yu Yang was one of the few Kung-Fu actors survived to the ending of the genre (he acted also in Horror like BLOOD REINCARNATION, or comedy like 77 HEARTBREAKS). He debuted in Chang Cheh's DEAD END (1969) and by 1973 made a string of low-budgeted films like FIST OF DOUBLE K/FIST TO FIST and this THE AWAKEN PUNCH, that's all in all not better and no worse than many others released in the Golden Era of the genre. As usual the soundtrack is illegally stolen from occidental composers (it's funny to read users still wondering if those movies asked for Morricone's or any other western composer's permission). The movie was released in Hong Kong from 5/23/73 to 5/29/73 (a fair amount of days if you consider the very fast theatrical distribution policy reigning in Hong Kong then: if a movie was a flop they retired it after one day only!). This grossed a good 439.000 HK dollars (more or less 90.000 US dollars) against a cost of less than 100.000 HK dollars (more or less 20.000 US dollars), so it was a locally quite fair business for production company Empire (KUNG-FU THE INVISIBLE FIST, TOUGH GUY, THE BLOODY FISTS, all starred by the late Chan Sing). Local TV star Nancy Sit (Stranger from Canton; Flatfoot in Hong Kong) plays the love interest; Yuean Wah (who served Bruce Lee as stunt-double) and his camerade Jackie Chan are among the acrobats. Regular badguys' duo Fong Yau and San Kway, do their wicked duty as usual. Tien feng (Fist of Fury; King Boxer) and Kenneth Tsang (John Woo's The killer) also appear. Also released as VILLAGE ON FIRE, THE FURY OF THE BLACK BELT (US theatrical title), BUDDHIST SHAOLIN AVENGERS (dvd title).

Cheap kung fu movie feels like it was rushed out in a hurry

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 14 April 2017]

VILLAGE ON FIRE is one of many low budget kung fu films shot in Hong Kong after the kung fu boom was kick-started with the likes of KING BOXER and the Bruce Lee hits. It's as nondescript as the rest of the competition, featuring an avenging hero going after the criminal gang responsible for the death of his family, and most of the cast are undistinguished. Tien Peng's reliably villainous turn as the bad guy of the piece stands out, but the hero is entirely unprepossessing.

The film features plentiful fight scenes which are watchable enough, if not spectacular. Where it falls down is in the all-too-familiar nature of the narrative, which simply goes through the motions and is, as such, as unmemorable as the rest of this era's fare. The most interesting thing for the kung fu fan is seeing various future greats in bit parts, including Fung Hark-On, Kenneth Tsang, Mars, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Wah.

A kung fu movie that defies all kung fu movie convention.

[ImmortalKnight · 8/10 · 21 July 2014]

Okay so first let me start off by saying that this movie defies all known logic of kung fu movies.

First, we have a main character who beats the crap out of guys in the beginning of the movie, as opposed to getting his ass beat as is the norm.

Fast forward a bit, and he's suddenly getting his ass kicked by random guys he should be kicking the ass of.

Fast forward even more, and after getting his ass beat by the main villain, he finds a new inner strength (and glowy hands) by breaking his dads headstone for some reason. AND HE STILL GETS HIS ASS KICKED ANYWAY.

Finally he somehow manages to kill the main villain and get revenge (as per the norm in kung fu movies)...and GETS FREAKING ARRESTED FOR KILLING PEOPLE.

Yes you heard that correct. A kung fu movie hero GETS ARRESTED for and I quote "taking the law into his own hands".