Often you hear stories of a town divided by people living on different sides of the railroad tracks. That’s where the phrase, “The wrong side of the tracks” came from. Often times the split is socio-economic. The wrong side of the tracks is the poor neighborhood. There are also rules for being found on the wrong side of town. Mostly you just got the stared at and told to get back on your side. Sometimes there could be violence. The Kung Fu Instructor gives us the divided town of Ho Si that’s not split by train tracks. If a local steps onto the wrong side, there’s an extreme price to pay besides the side eyes.
Ho Si is split by a long ditch in the middle of the main dirt road. This line was drawn a long time ago when a feud started between the Meng and the Zhou clans. Each side knows their place. One day an old Zhou man pushing a cart of potato loses control and crashes on the Meng side of town. While he tosses his potatoes on the other side of the ditch, the Mengs come out. Turns out that people who step on the wrong side of the line get their leg cut off as a lesson. He will not be an exception to the rule. A fight ensues. The thing is the Zhou clan wants to stop this whole border garbage. Meng Fan (Five Deadly Venoms‘ Ku Feng) has no desire to cover up the line. In fact the head of the Meng clan wants to train his men so they can invade the Zhou turf and eliminate their foes. He wants to hire Wong Yang (A Better Tomorrow‘s Ti Lung) as a teacher. But Yang has no desire to leave his town. He just beat the living daylights out of his town’s top three martial arts instructors. They were pissed off that he teaches his students everything and doesn’t hold back his fighting secrets. This only makes Meng Fan want him more. Instead of upping their money offer, the Mengs set Yang up to look like he knocked up a local woman which elevates into a real criminal charge. Wang needs to split the city and Meng Fan invites him to hideout at his place in Ho Si. Yang slowly realizes that he’s not training students for the spirituality. He learns about the limb losing border and doesn’t like it. Can he stand up to Meng Fan knowing he’s a wanted man? What will he do about the Meng students that he taught everything?
Ti Lung is boss in this film with his goatee and Shaolin pole. He shows off all the moves when he’s training Zhou Ping (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin‘s Wang Yu). We really are getting a cool Kung Fu instructor demonstration on the screen. This is one of those movies that if you saw it as a teenager, your immediate impulse is to grab the kitchen broom and duplicate the attack strokes like Lung. You’re mom will be thankful you bought this film to watch at your own house.
The Kung Fu Instructor was the first film by the Shaw Brothers that employed a Steadicam. They don’t go completely out of control with single shot massive chases like Kubrick employed in The Shining. But the camera operator gets more active during the action scenes so that we’re stepping into the conflicts. The Kung Fu Instructor has the action thrills you crave in a martial arts flick without seeming like a boring class.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The HD transfer from the original negative makes the line in the middle of town extra obvious. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Mandarin mono. There’s also a LPCM 2.0 English mono dub track. There’s no hiss or pops as Ti Lung is popping guys with his Shaolin pole. The movie is subtitled in English.
Trailer (1:23) shows off Ti Lung’s pole fighting skills. This is from a 2006 re-issue.
Stills Gallery (1:50) includes press photos.
4 Collector’s Art Cards that are suitable for framing.
Slipcase with new art.
88 Films present The Kung Fu Instructor: Limited Edition. Directed by Sun Chueng. Screenplay by Ni Kuang. Starring Lung Ti, Yue Wong, Feng Ku, Angie Chiu, Lung-Wei Wang, Dick Wei, Tao Chiang, Fei Ai, Jamie Luk & Ching Tien. Running Time: 105 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 12, 2024.
