To paraphrase an old beer commercial. “Salvador Dali doesn't make Kung Fu movies. But if he did…” “The Miracle Fighters” might possibly be the most surreal martial arts movie that you will ever witness. The beauty of it though is that it is absolutely intentional, unlike a lot of the oddness we can see in kung ku cinema. Strap yourself in as Eureka Entertainment bring a restored version to Blu Ray. This is going to be a journey unlike any you will have witnessed before.
Buy This Title
on Terracotta by clicking on the image below
The story is set in 1663 during the Qing dynasty. Kao Hsiung (Eddie Ko) the Chief instructor of the eight-banner army is arrested for marrying a Han woman in defiance of the law. Finding himself confronted by Sorcerer Bat (Yuen Shun-yi) and facing execution, there is no option but to fight his way out. Taking the prince hostage results in tragedy and when we next see him in 1677, Kao Hsiung has been reduced to a drunken wreck. His pupil Shu Gun (Yuen Yat-chor) tries to look after him and inadvertently runs into two Daoist masters (Leung Kar-yan & Yuen Cheung-yan). Sorcerer Bat discovers Kao Hsiung's hideout and captures Shu Gun in the mistaken belief he is the prince. Shu Gun escapes, leading to a confrontation with the Daoist masters.
Surreal does not even begin to describe the madness that we discover in “The Miracle Fighters”, which is often linked with Sammo Hung's comedy horror classics such as “Encounters of the Spooky Kind” despite the lack of horror elements. This link is largely unfair as the feature is one that truly stands out on its own. Made in 1982 during the comedy kung fu genre surge “The Miracle Fighters” is a movie that could only have emerged from Hong Kong. The careering tonal shifts are a classic trope of the region where scripts would be less inclined to follow the standard three act structure. The mix of drama, comedy, action and magic provides a structure more in tune with a circus performance, with each scene presenting a different tone. Given the theatrical background of the Yuen clan, this should not be a surprise. What is, though, is the total commitment to the insane visuals we are witness to.
If you like The Miracle Fighters, check also this video
It starts four minutes in when we are introduced to a man in a giant fortune jar, dubbed over by a young child, armed with a cardboard sword with legs and arms sticking out the side with a head emerging from the top. It's our first glimpse into the world we are presented with. Before the film concludes we will be offered paintings of waterfalls that pour water, talking fish, paper bridges that have snakes' underneath, three-legged kung fu and many more weird sights. It's a constant barrage of creative action that just blows the mind. You are wondering what they were taking when it was made.
Central to the comedy is Yuen Cheung-Yan and Leung Kar-yan. Like many sifus in the comedy kung fu genre, they are a twisted perversion of the classic teacher archetype. They are a pair of grotesques that delight in insulting each other as much as training Shu Gun. Leung Kar-yan is virtually unrecognizable in his role. A true chameleon who never had any actual martial arts background, he would normally be very serious in his roles. Here, he just goes as broad as it is possible in a kung fu comedy. He's matched by Yuen Cheung-yan who appears in drag like a viscous kung fu fighting pantomime dame. It just makes perfect sense in this world of Peking opera meets the Looney Toon cartoons.
Eddie Ko, until he exits at the end of the first act, is the straight man of the piece. He brings his own intensity to the part even though ultimately his story is a pure McGuffin that goes nowhere. Yuen Yat-chor seems to be having a blast in the student role. His line “I've sorted your piss poor knife blades with just one fart” deserves to be in a hall of fame and probably encapsulates this film better than anything. Yuen Shun-Yi as always makes for a great bad buy, although at times gets lost amidst all the chaos being thrown at the screen.
Kung fu comedy is a tricky genre to get right. For the most part, “The Miracle Fighters” judges it just right. Invariably, there is a lot of violence and there are some quite severe sequences here. The snake's scene is naturally going to be uncomfortable for many, but the tonal shifts never quite jar fortunately. Eddie Ko gets the majority of the serious “acting bits” and once he is killed off, the film just shifts into a series of skits. There is a perfectly judged in-joke involving certain relation to the Yuen clan involving rice wine that is a nice wink to the audience. The man in a fortune jar gets a surprisingly empathetc moment which registers strongly. We even get a lovely little moment where a fraudulent Daoist gets his comeuppance.
The final 20 minutes, which are given to the tournament is pure Peking opera with flair and acrobatics. It's a sheer tour de force for Yuen Woo-ping, as he gets to show his creative side in conjunction with his family. If you enter watching this feature expecting your standard Kung Fu feature, then prepare to have your eyes blown wide open. This is martial arts at its most creative. A surreal trip of an action feature that creates a world of magic and chaos and then proceeds to just up the ante scene by scene, until you are just left breathless. One of the most unique action movies ever. Cannot be recommended enough.
