The Champion (4½ Stars)

This film, made in 1973, has undergone so many title changes over the years that I hardly know what to call it. The name on the label of my Blu-ray is "Karate King", but I've decided to stick with "The Champion", because that's the title in the film's opening credits. Over the years the film has also been called "Shanghai Lil" and "Shanghai Lil and the Sun Luck Kid". Those titles seem false, because the woman pictured above isn't called Lil, and there are no indications that she comes from Shanghai. The film takes place in North-Eastern China, 2000 miles from Shanghai, and we can assume that she's a local girl. So what's her name? In the English subtitles she's called Ah Chu, but that's not what I hear when her name is spoken in the original Mandarin dialogue. It sounds like her name is Chin.

That's a trivial problem that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the film, so I'll jump into the review.

The film takes place in the early 1930's. Lu Fu and Lu Te Piao are two brothers. Their father runs a martial arts school, and the two brothers become skilled fighters. Lu Te Piao commits some sort of crime, which isn't specified, but Lu Fu takes the responsibility out of love for his older brother and is sent to prison for five years. During this time their father dies, so Lu Te Piao closes the school and takes charge of the town's coal mine. He allies himself with the Russians, who make him the town's leader.

When Lu Fu is released, Lu Te Piao sends assassins to kill him. He hates his brother, because he was his father's favourite. This is where Ah Chu (or whatever her name is) comes in. She was the school's best student, and she swore to the father on his death bed that she would defend his heir, Lu Te Piao, from harm. She knows that Lu Te Piao is evil, but her promise has bound her all these years. When Lu Fu is released from prison she feels that she's free from her promise, because Lu Fu's honesty and integrity makes him the rightful heir.

Even with Ah Chu's help, Lu Fu can't defeat his brother, so Yung Tien, a Japanese businessman, offers his assistance. He says that he'll send his best fighters to defeat Lu Te Piao, as long as Lu Fu agrees to sell 10% of the mine's coal to Japan. That's a deal with the Devil. Yung Tien intends to kill Lu Fu as well, take control of the mine himself and make the townspeople his slaves.

This is a very good film with the non-stop fighting that I enjoy so much in the Shaw Brothers films of the early 1970's. The film's premise is explained as briefly as possible, and then the fights begin. More than half of the film is taken up with extended fights. Both Lu Fu and Ah Chu are able to defeat 20 warriors at a time. In one of the scenes Ah Chu, unarmed, fights her way through 40 Japanese swordsmen, and she leaves their bodies scattered on the floor. That's the sort of girl I like!

I strongly recommend this film to fans of the classic martial arts films. It's been released in Germany on Blu-ray with both German and English subtitles.

Here's the film's title screen. I'm curious to know what the Chinese title means. Can any of my Chinese readers please leave a message in the comments box below?