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Fist of Unicorn (1973)


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DragonClaws
Posted
Just now, ShawAngela said:

Is it Chin Fei who kicks Bruce Lee ? I don't remember that she had some fights in the movie...

 

Thats her, its so long since I watched it I dont recall if she has any fight scenes either.

 

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Posted
On 1/25/2020 at 4:39 PM, DrNgor said:

I finally sat down to watch this. It's not very good, and suffers from some really bad pacing issues. Unicorn Chan doesn't even fight until about 54 minutes into the film. I was hoping that it would be better than "typical early 70s basher," but it isn't. Yasuaki Kurata, Whang In-Sik and Ji Han-Jae rise above the rest of the cast, but Whang is woefully misused and Ji shows up in a single cameo to kick and throw people around, and then disappears. Had he teamed up with Unicorn for the finale, I might be better disposed toward the film.

And the film gives us not one, but two annoying characters that studder: the lecherous Chin Ti and a young Mars. And the scene with Chin Ti and the hookers is pretty uncomfortable, for multiple reasons. Those first two prostitutes that Chin insults might not have been minors, but they sure looked like they were. And then the tranvestite...and the mere idea of Chin Ti having sex...*shudders*

Unicorn Chan isn't very convincing as an action hero--and to think that he had choreographed about a half-dozen films before starring in this. I look at him and can't help but see him getting knocked out the Italian in Way of the Dragon ("Jimmy! Jimmy!" "Ah Lung! It's always *Ah Lung!*"). The last time I saw Unicorn Chan was in one of his last films: the 1983 Taiwanese/Korean co-production Shaolin Drunk Fighter, where he plays a supporting villain. By that point, he wasn't so much a "has-been" as a "never-was."

My full-length review after a second watching ended up being much of the same:

https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2022/03/fist-of-unicorn.html

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Posted
On 7/7/2017 at 4:12 PM, Killer Meteor said:

This film made me a Pink Floyd fan!

That's enough for me to take a peek :thumbsup. Must be Echoes or On the Run. Top 2 or 3 band for me.

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Posted

needs a full on restoration this one. The Unicorn Palm :monk_swinging:

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Killer Meteor
Posted
9 hours ago, AlexanderFu said:

That's enough for me to take a peek :thumbsup. Must be Echoes or On the Run. Top 2 or 3 band for me.

"One of These Days" actually!

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Posted
5 hours ago, Killer Meteor said:

"One of These Days" actually!

Doh! :cool: Appreciate that, thank you! I was trying to think of The Floyd songs I've heard in these movies. That one would fit for sure! it must be the bass line. I can't wait to check it out now!  Man, Gilmour sounds like a chainsaw in that song :thumbsup. This made my day as I've been heavy on the Floyd lately. 

(Chainsaw starts at @3:44 for anyone looking for a good time.)

 

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Posted

i'll repeat my annual plea for a fully uncut 3 disc 4k limited edition of this classic.

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Posted
On 1/9/2024 at 10:42 PM, saltysam said:

i'll repeat my annual plea for a fully uncut 3 disc 4k limited edition of this classic.

3 discs? What would be in each of them except the movie ?

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Posted

I juat watched this again today for the umpteenth time.A towering achievement, a Bruceploitation film made while Bruce was alive. Fantastic cast, politically incorrect ( a stammering contest) a rap sequence featuring Chin Ti that probably inspired Dr Dre and Eminem, tension filled sequences ( i was sweating when Kurata was searching for the girl in the old lady's shack) Unicorn's superb somersault ability ( why did Bruce use Yuen Wah when Unicorn was available) the lethal unicorn palm technique, fantastic dubbing (Kurata to Unicorn- "for a boxer you make a great long distance sprinter") Ji Han Je turning up,cleaning house,then disappearing for the rest of the movie.Western baddie staple Alexander Grand,Paul Wei, just an epic effort. I really hope a remastered restoration shows up for this one.

e

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Killer Meteor
Posted

It's a pretty trashy film, redeemed by a great performance from Kurata and a fantastic soundtrack - John Barry, Ennio Morricone and Pink Floyd, together at last!

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DragonClaws
Posted
20 hours ago, saltysam said:

I juat watched this again today for the umpteenth time.A towering achievement, a Bruceploitation film made while Bruce was alive. Fantastic cast, politically incorrect ( a stammering contest) a rap sequence featuring Chin Ti that probably inspired Dr Dre and Eminem, tension filled sequences ( i was sweating when Kurata was searching for the girl in the old lady's shack) Unicorn's superb somersault ability ( why did Bruce use Yuen Wah when Unicorn was available) the lethal unicorn palm technique, fantastic dubbing (Kurata to Unicorn- "for a boxer you make a great long distance sprinter") Ji Han Je turning up,cleaning house,then disappearing for the rest of the movie.Western baddie staple Alexander Grand,Paul Wei, just an epic effort. I really hope a remastered restoration shows up for this one.

e

 

Not forgetting Hwang In-Sik, it would have been great to see Bruce Lee in a genuine cameo in the film. Even if was just him as a blind beggar in one of the street scenes. Or even better, if he had come on board as an action director, I wonder just how much input he had on that side of the production?. If Unicorn Chan on-screen fighting was as good as his acrobatic skils, then it might have been a minor classic?.

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Killer Meteor
Posted
2 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Not forgetting Hwang In-Sik, it would have been great to see Bruce Lee in a genuine cameo in the film. Even if was just him as a blind beggar in one of the street scenes. Or even better, if he had come on board as an action director, I wonder just how much input he had on that side of the production?. If Unicorn Chan on-screen fighting was as good as his acrobatic skils, then it might have been a minor classic?.

The problem is that Unicorn Chan isn't much of a fighter, is a bland hero, and not much of a looker either!

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Posted

I rewatch this film a lot more than most kung fu flicks, i've grown to love it.Music, locations, rapping,Alexander Grand, Paul Wei with a Hitler tach, Mars, Kurata,Mang Hoi,Bruce Lee, Ji Han Jae,Whang In Sik.Buy the german DVD before it sells out or goes OOP.

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Posted
On 4/7/2024 at 10:14 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

 

nice and wide but cut

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Posted
On 12/28/2024 at 12:13 PM, saltysam said:

nice and wide but cut

 

The search continues, but it will do for now. I have a feeling this is going to turn up on a future Bruce Lee related release. I also dont think it will be too long until we get The Orphan, some HD clips were screened at U.K Bruce Lee Convention this year. I think it was the Dragon Rising Convention up North?.

 

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Killer Meteor
Posted
On 12/28/2024 at 9:13 PM, saltysam said:

nice and wide but cut

I think this version shows the effects of Lee's legal threats as he is pretty much totally missing from this version.

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Posted

I believe I’ve seen the Mandarin version (though I don’t recall if Lee was incorporated into it) and scanned through the German version, which seemed different at the start. It uses what looks like a moving still of Lee smiling as Unicorn talks to him—if I’m remembering correctly. It’s very much in the style of Brucesploitation, and we all know how delightfully daft their choices tend to be! 😄

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saltysam
Posted

I think That YouTube version is missing the opening where unicorns mum and dad are killed when he's a kid

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Killer Meteor
Posted
1 hour ago, Knetan said:

I believe I’ve seen the Mandarin version (though I don’t recall if Lee was incorporated into it) and scanned through the German version, which seemed different at the start. It uses what looks like a moving still of Lee smiling as Unicorn talks to him—if I’m remembering correctly. It’s very much in the style of Brucesploitation, and we all know how delightfully daft their choices tend to be! 😄

Something like that is used in the English version too, further compounded by the audio being way-out-of-sync in that version as someone was presumbly told by legal to not have the footage of Bruce talking. Lee's double for the scene appears to be Mars.

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Posted

i wonder if 36 styles could make a t-shirt displaying Unicorn performing the unicorn palm from the movie :laugh

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