Fist of Fury II

Fist of Fury II (Chinese: 精武門續集, aka Chinese Connection 2 and Fist of Fury Part II), is a 1977 Hong Kong kung fu film directed by Iksan Lahardi and Tso-nam Lee, and starring Bruce Li and Lo Lieh. It is the sequel to Bruce Lee’s 1972's Fist of Fury.

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The lead role of Chen Shan, played by Bruce Li, who goes to Shanghai to mourn his brother's death who was killed at the hands of the Japanese. Chen Shan then avenges his brother by killing the Japanese.

The final fight between Chen Shan and Miyamoto, played by Lo Lieh, is generally thought of as disappointing compared to other fights in the film as it is slow and long. This film is generally regarded as one of Bruce Li's other better films. It wasn't as well received as its predecessor but was thought to be much better than Jackie Chan’s New Fist of Fury. Another sequel was released in 1979, titled Fist of Fury III (aka Chinese Connection 3).

Plot

After Chen Zhen's execution in Shanghai, the Japanese feared that his death would unite all Chinese kung fu schools against them. Fearing this, the Japanese gave orders to the head of the Hong Ku School, Miyamoto (Lo Lieh) to suppress all the Chinese schools including the Ching Wu School. Miyamoto sends the Japanese along with their interpreter to the Ching Wu School ordering the leader & students to leave the School. When they refuse, the Japanese beat up the students and destroy the school. Meanwhile, one Chinese man learns about the destruction of the Ching Wu School when he goes to Shanghai to visit Chen Zhen's grave. This Chinese man is the only one who has the guts to fight the Japanese, this Chinese is known as Chen Shan (Bruce Li) who is the brother of Chen Zhen and he vows to avenge his brother's death and end the terror of the Japanese once and for all.

Cast

Bruce Li as Chen Shan

Lo Lieh as Miyamoto

Chan Wai-lau as Wang Bar

Ti Fung as Tin Man Kwai

Kun Li as Lee Shun

Yasuyoshi Shikamura as Yanagi Saburo

James Nam as Souto Jyo

Chao Kin as Inspector Chiu

Shin Nam as Policeman #1

Shiu Yu as Policeman #2

Mui-shao Sui as Sister

Kam To as Kam Fuk

Kin-ming Lee as Cheung S’mg Hung

Cheng-hai Ching as Shun Chui

Shun-chiu Bo as Ching Wu’s Brother #1

Fa-yuan Li as Ching Wu’s Brother #2

Chiang Li as Ching Wu’s Brother #3

Ze-tin Ku as Japanese Knight #1

You-pin Liu as Japanese Knight #2

Hau-bao Wai as Japanese Knight #3

Chiu-hong Seng as Japanese Knight #4

Tai-kin Yin as Japanese Knight #5

Chan-sum Lam as Japanese Knight #6

Wai-hung Ho as Japanese Knight #7

To Wai-wo

Reaction

In 2001, Bruce Li fanzine Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, Carl Jones spoke favourably of this film:

"Li's martial skills are in top form here and his fights are well choreographed by veteran Tommy Lee. The final duel with Miyamoto is well staged and takes place at the Ching Wu school All in all a worthy sequel to a great Kung Fu classic."[1]

Also admiring is Dean Medows, who wrote in his three-part Bruceploitation essay in Impact Magazine:

Fist of Fury 2 is a movie that is still regarded as one of the very finest examples of Bruce Lee exploitation cinema. With martial arts skills constantly improving, including his earlier limited nunchaku use, Li was now firmly established as the pioneer of Bruceploitation."[2]

Trivia

The adventures of Chen Shen were continued in the 1979 film Fist of Fury III.

Bruce Li has said that out of all the movies he made, this was one of only three that he liked (the other two were Dynamo and The Chinese Stuntman.[3]

There is some debate as to when this film was released. IMDb lists the release year as 1977, but the Hong Kong release date on 5 April 1979 (which is also the year that the Hong Kong Movie Database lists). Some websites say the film was from as early as 1976.[4]

IMDb credits the directors as Iksan Lahardi and Tso-nam Lee, while the Hong Kong Movie Database credits Siu Fung, and other websites credit Jimmy Shaw.

Nora Miao's part in Fist of Fury is played in this movie by a different woman (she is the only woman in the film) whose face is concealed by a hood, she killed herself near the beginning of the film.

While veteran Fist of Fury actors Nora Miao and Han Ying-chieh acted in the "official" sequel in 1976 film New Fist of Fury (with the former playing her same character while Han played a new character), fellow veteran Fist of Fury actors Tien Feng and Li Kun reprised their roles for this film.

The set of the Ching-Wu school, seen in Fist of Fury, was recreated for this film, and appears very similar to the original film.

There is an infamous moment in some prints in where Chen Shan takes a pair of nunchaku out of a Ching-Wu student's hands and the nunchaku suddenly disappear. This is due to a ban on nunchaku scenes in the United Kingdom. The UK video version has apparently been the source of the US DVDs but some UK tapes were released uncut. Ironically, one of the most widely seen publicity photos from this film involves Bruce Li holding said weapon.

Due to Fist of Fury III being released on video in the US by Video Gems under the title Fist of Fury II, there has been frequent confusion as to which film is really the first sequel to the original Fist of Fury. However, the Chinese title of this film translates as "Jing Wu Men sequel".

Contents

Plot

Cast

Reaction

Trivia

References