Bruce Lee rose the top of the Hong Kong box office with The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. While Lo Wei directed both films, too many people get the idea that Bruce Lee called the shots and Lo Wei was only there to make sure the crew gave his star exactly what he wanted. This could be slightly true since Lo Wei was noted for not being the most focused of filmmakers. The classic story is how he was a serious gambler and would be more engrossed in listening to horse races on the radio than watching his actors during a take. After two hits for Golden Harvest, Lo Wei thought he’d get to make a third movie with Bruce Lee. He developed a concept with Bruce going to Japan. Bruce had other ideas. He got the studio to let him direct Way of the Dragon. Wei didn’t get shut down and sent to the track. He was able to get Jimmy Wang Yu, the other major male star at Golden Harvest to make the project.
Jimmy Wang Yu had been part of Shaw Brothers stable and became a wuxia superstar with The One-Armed Swordsman. A few years later, he was part of the martial arts revolution with The Chinese Boxer. But he had issues with the studio and split. This break up got legally nasty. Part of the settlement was that Jimmy Wang Yu couldn’t make films in Hong Kong. Golden Harvest didn’t have a massive studio complex and didn’t mind making movies around Asia. Yu scored a massive hit by basically merging both of his iconic roles into a single character for One-Armed Boxer. He played a martial arts fighter who loses his arm and learned how to do twice the damage with his existing fist. A Man Called Tiger was the perfect project for him since it would be shot in Japan.
Chin Fu (Jimmy Wang Yu) shows up on the streets of Kyoto, Japan eager to clean up the various hoods and rackets. He busts up the Japanese version of three card monte. He takes on a group of mobster kids with switchblades using only his belt as if he was Pootie Tang. He shows up at a Yakuza controlled nightclub and finds himself involved with a Chinese singer Keiko (The Big Boss & Fist of Fury‘s Maria Yi). When the Yakuza force her to pay to perform, Chin inserts himself in the conversation and kicks their asses. This leads to a job offer by the head of the Yakuza to be one of his major collectors. Chin goes around to various clubs and Pachinko Parlors shaking down what’s owed for protection. The only time he’s a bit reluctant is when he’s got to pay a visit to a struggling Chinese restaurant run by Liu Han Ming (The Big Boss & Fist of Fury‘s James Tien). He goes through with roughing up Liu, but later has money secretly sent over to pay for the damages. Turns out Chin and Liu are connected. Chin is in Kyoto on a mission. His father ran a well-respected martial arts school in the city. He had collected a large sum for a charity. Instead of properly donating the money, the father lost it gambling at a casino and promptly committed suicide by jumping out of the building. Chin is there to uncover what really happened and clear his father’s name. Is the Yakuza going to let him get close enough to discover the truth.
Jimmy Wang Yu is so right as the stranger in town that moves very quickly up the Yakuza organizational ladder. He looks like trouble especially when he unhooks his belt. While the belt scene looks like it was the inspiration for Pootie Tang, the version released in America was a heavily clipped 80-minute version that didn’t include the opening scene. The truncated tale is mostly about the major fights and all the ladies that throw themselves at Chin. The 113-minute-long version is much more involving as Chin gets to the truth.
The longer version of A Man Called Tiger lets us appreciate Lo Wei as a director. He has two really great fight scenes that are more complicated and riskier than anything in Big Boss and Fist of Fury. He has Jimmy Wang Yu taking on goons in moving a cable car. Not to completely give it away, but part of the battle has Jimmy and a goon hanging onto the cable car outside rail while exchanging kicks over the water. It’s a long drop. A later scene has Jimmy fighting a group of men that are swinging axes at him. He’s wearing a white outfit so you can see blood staining his pants and shirt. While Jimmy Wang Yu wasn’t known for amazing martial arts skills, he looks convincing swapping blows and blocking axe heads. Lo Wei could make things look good for his star during fight scenes. A Man Called Tiger showed that Lo Wei was an action director and didn’t merely take directions from action stars.
The Video is 2.39:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer is taken from a 2K restoration of the uncut Hong Kong theatrical version. The Audio is Mandarin LPCM 2.0 Mono and an English dub in LPCM 2.0 Mono. The English subtitles on the movies are newly translated.
The Re-Release Version (79:58) is missing a lot including the original title sequence. The audio has Mandarin LPCM 2.0 Mono and an English dub in LPCM 2.0 Mono.
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring artwork by Darren Wheeling
Limited edition reversible poster featuring original poster artwork is suitable for framing.
Audio commentary on the Hong Kong version by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng and Michael Worth. The two were producers on the recent Enter the Clones of Bruce documentary. Frank explains the title in Chinese meant Gold Face Tiger and Kyoto Travels. The film was 7th highest grossing film in Hong Kong for the year. Enter The Dragon only ranked #2 because movie fans thought it was too Hollywood. They get into how Golden Harvest cut it down for the second re-release version. There’s also talk about how the Yakuza controls the Pachinko parlors.
Audio commentary on Hong Kong version by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. The two get into how Bruce Lee and Lo Wei had a fall out that led to Bruce not making a third film with the director. The history of Jimmy Wang Yu is brought out. He was probably more gangster than any of the mobsters depicted in this film. Plus a story about accidentally being served blowfish in a Japanese restaurant.
Cutting Tiger, Hidden Subtitles (6:55) has Brandon Bentley talk about how the film was originally 2 hours long. While the deleted footage is missing, there is a subtitle script that includes the snipped dialogue. We get the moment right before the snip and Brandon reads the lines with the subtitles on the screen.
Music Videos for “Do You Know What Sadness Means?” (2:39) + “Because I Have Your Love – are specially made for the Blu-ray release. They feature clips from the movie of Maria Yi with her guitar even though Francis Yip is singing. Put these on for when you want a romantic evening with that special someone. These would have been perfect on MTV with Martha Quinn’s introduction.
Textless opening (2:04) lets you enjoy all the action without the titles all over the screen. This includes the Pootie Tang belt beatdown.
Trailer (3:44) lets us know that Kyoto isn’t so quiet and beautiful.
Limited edition collector’s booklet has an essay on the film by writer and critic James Olive. Brandon Bentley writes about the versions of the film presented on the Blu-ray. He talks about restoring the audio tracks to achieve the longer cut. He deserves thanks for such a fine job.
Eureka! Entertainment presents A Man Called Tiger. Directed by Lo Wei. Screenplay by Lo Wei. Starring Jimmy Wang Yu, Kawai Okada, Kuro Mitsuo, Tien Feng, James Tien, Nakako Daisuke, Kasahara Reiko, Han Ying-Chieh, Minakaze Yuko, Maria Yi – Keiko, Lee Kwan & Lo Wei. Running Time: 113 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: August 27, 2024.
