Opening scene is a coal mine. Cut to a man released from prison. He could have kicked a hole in the wall and escaped if he desired. Cut to opening credits. Back to lead Chin Han and eight men try to kill him. He returns to his home town where things are bad. Lung Fei is the villain behind all this. Plus – they are brothers! Shih Szu enters fighting but loses to a sucker punch. The plot is further complicated by the Russians and Japanese. It all builds to a brief training sequence then a final fight with Shih Szu and Chin Han against all the villains at the coal mine.
My copy is almost wide screen in English but low resolution with the title of "Karate King". Other alternate titles include "Chivalrous Guest". Some sources list this as a Shaw Brothers movie but I am not sure of that. Chin Han and Shih Szu were certainly Shaw Brothers stars in 1973. The movie was certainly a big budget production back in 1973. Critically, I consider it as good as any other martial arts movie made in 1973. Yet for all the budget and worldwide release it quickly faded into obscurity. It took me years to track down a copy.
I rate it 6 out of 10 and recommend it to all fans of the genre but the only place a fan can watch it is at my house.
