Golden Harvest, Shaw Brothers first major competitor for Martial Arts action, hit it big when they landed Bruce Lee in The Big Boss. Could they strike again with a female leading lady, Angela Mao Ying?
Yes. Yes, they could. It helped when director Huang Feng (The Shaolin Plot) jumped ship from Shaw Brothers and joined Raymond Chow’s team as he swiftly launched the career of hers, a Taiwanese actress who was ready to become one of Hong Kong’s toughest action icons of the 1970s, with this film.
Since Shaw Brothers had ignored Cheng Pei-pei in favor of Chang Cheh’s vision of male-dominated Chinese boxing, Feng knew he could easily bring the Taiwanese actress into the limelight. Alongside Sammo Hung’s excellent fight choreography, she, in the role of Tien Li-Chun, is teamed up with Chang Yi for a round of ass-handling beatdowns which never disappoint.
But it starts with her arriving at a countryside gambling joint in order to draw Chang Yi out. You see, she’s on a mission to kill him for leaving her sister to suicide and she’s furiously pissed about her death. But the men in the casino don’t take too kindly to her winning so much money, either.
And, as a fight spills out from the casino and into the street, we see that there might be some room for leniency from Tien Li-Chun, thanks to the villainous roles of Tung Ku (Pai Ying) and his jealous whip-wielding wife, who is excellently played by Liu Ah-Na.
But, as this revenge tale slides deeper into Western territory, it is Angela Mao Yang who we gravitate more toward. Her role is mysterious and fierce and, as she’s basically playing the Clint Eastwood part, very mysterious and deadly. Chang Yi is great here, too, but when they Double Dragon it, well, all bets are off.
And, boy, do they ever deliver in Lady Whirlwind, which is now on blu-ray thanks to the restoration efforts of Fortune Star and Arrow Video. The release, because one is never enough, also features a brand new 2K restoration of Hapkido (which will be reviewed in a later Chop Socky entry!) and hours of supplemental items.
Directed by Feng and featuring another fun performance from Hung as one of the goons of Tung Ku (Pai Ying), Lady Whirlwind features no wuxia swordplay. Instead, producer Raymond Chow doubles down on the open air fights which dominated The Big Boss and gives plenty of room for trampoline jumps and reverse jumps as dummies are thrown across the room and out of windows.
It might not be perfect but, honestly, when the film is having this much fun kicking ass and making us laugh at the bad guys, there’s little to criticize.
Home Video Distributor: Arrow Films
Available on Blu-ray - January 17, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English; English SDH
Video: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono; English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; two-disc set
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Lady Whirlwind, directed by Huang in 1972, sees Mao dead set on avenging the death of her sister, only to find herself fighting a common enemy alongside the man she wants revenge on. Hapkido, made the same year, sees her once more pitted against a gang of Japanese thugs, alongside fellow soon to be kung fu legends Sammo Hung (Knockabout) and Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) as disciples of the titular Korean fighting style, studying under real life hapkido grandmasters Ji Hanjae (Game of Death) and Hwang Inshik (The Way of the Dragon). Originally released in the US as Deep Thrust and Lady Kung Fu respectively, these two restored martial arts classics show Mao at her mightiest – every bit as formidable as the great Bruce Lee, whose sister she played in Enter the Dragon the following year.
Video
Lady Whirlwind arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow Video sporting an HD remaster sourced from the original 35mm camera negatives and looks wonderful. Interiors are strong. Colors pop throughout, but it is the blood effects - burning bright in the transfer - which seal the deal on this one. It’s full of great atmosphere thanks to the quick-footed script and looks visually eye-popping due to the 1080- upgrade. Black levels are strong throughout, bringing out nice details in both the loud and quiet moments of this epic adventure. The tracking shots are glorious to behold in 1080p. Blacks are solid and shadows maintain their lines. Even the costumes are noted stitch by stitch.
Audio
The original lossless Mandarin mono audio is present, plus a lossless English dubbed mono audio track, too.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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See below for the breakdown as this release, containing two films, is loaded with goodies.
Special Features:
Along with the films, fans get two discs of supplemental items (including a total of six commentaries!!!), an Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the films by critic James Oliver, and a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady!
Disc One:
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
- Commentary by Samm Deighan
- Lady Whirlwind Speaks, the first part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
- Kung Fu Cooking, a newly filmed conversation with Mao’s son Thomas King
- Alternate English credits
- Hong Kong theatrical trailer, plus US theatrical trailer and radio spot
- Image gallery
Disc Two:
- Three options of English dub: vintage “kung fu” and “hapkido” dubs in lossless mono, plus 2006 DVD dub in 5.1 surround
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
- Lady Kung Fu Speaks, the second part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
- Archive interviews with Angela Mao, Carter Wong and Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao
- Original vintage featurette showing Ji Hanjae teaching the lead actors hapkido, newly restored in 2K by Fortune Star
- Three alternate opening credits sequences (textless, English and US)
- Hong Kong theatrical trailers plus US theatrical trailer and TV spot
- Image gallery
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Composite Blu-ray Grade
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MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 88 mins
Director: Feng Huang
Writer: Yi-Chung Hua
Cast: Angela Mao; Yi Chang; Ying Bai
Genre: Action | Drama
Tagline: They Should Have Stayed in Detroit... Where it was Safe.
Memorable Movie Quote: Forget it. I just didn't want somebody else to kill you.
Distributor: Golden harvest Company
Official Site:
Release Date: June 1, 1972 (Hong Kong)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: January 17, 2023
Synopsis: A young woman determines to help a man who is being pursued by gangsters, so that she would have the pleasure of killing him herself as revenge for causing the death of her sister.
