THE MAN FROM HONG KONG (Australia/Hong Kong, 1975) **½
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox (USA) / Rank Film Distributors (UK); Production Company: Golden Harvest Company / The Movie Company Pty. Ltd.; Release Date: 31 July 1975 (Hong Kong), August 1975 (USA), October 1975 (UK); Filming Dates: began October 1974; Running Time: 111m; Colour: Eastmancolor; Sound Mix: Mono; Film Format: 35mm; Film Process: Panavision (anamorphic); Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1; BBFC Cert: 18.
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith; Writer: Brian Trenchard-Smith; Executive Producer: David Hannay, Andre Morgan; Producer: Raymond Chow, John Fraser; Associate Producer: Michael Falloon; Director of Photography: Russell Boyd; Music Composer: Noel Quinlan; Film Editor: Peter Cheung, Ron Williams; Production Designer: David Copping; Art Director: David Copping, Chin Sam; Costumes: Sheng-Hsi Chu, Bruce Finlayson; Make-up: Rina Hofmanis, Yung-Hui Tu; Sound: Shao-Lung Chou, Julian Ellingworth, Peter Fenton, Tomash Pokorry; Special Effects: Dan Tyler, Gary Walker, Li Wing; Visual Effects: Roger Cowland; Stunt Co-ordinator: Peter Armstrong; Martial Arts Choreographer: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung.
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu (Inspector Fang Sing Leng), George Lazenby (Jack Wilton), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Morrie Grosse), Roger Ward (Bob Taylor), Rosalind Speirs (Caroline Thorne), Grant Page (Assassin), Rebecca Gilling (Angelica), Frank Thring (Willard), Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (Win Chan (as Hung Kam Po)), Deryck Barnes (Veterinarian), Bill Hunter (Peterson), Ian Jamieson (The Drug Courier), Elaine Wong (Chinese Girl), John Orcsik (Charles), Geoffrey Brown (Thug (as Geoff Brown)), Kevin Broadribb (Thug), Brian Trenchard-Smith (Thug), Peter Armstrong (Bodyguard), Rangi Nikora (Bodyguard), Bob Hicks (Bodyguard).
Synopsis: Hong Kong cop and martial artist Wang Yu travels to Sydney to extradite a drug dealer, but when the hood is assassinated on his way to court, everyone suspects Lazenby, an untouchable crime lord.
Comment: In this martial arts action thriller, Wang Yu is a Hong Kong inspector working with the Australian police to bring down local drug lord Lazenby. Plenty of neatly choreographed cartoon-like kung fu action with fantastic stunts and some interesting camerawork liven up the this otherwise thinly plotted and poorly acted tale. Good use of Hong Kong, Ayres Rock and Sydney locations. Theme song “Sky High” became a hit for Jigsaw. Wang Yu was dubbed by Roy Chiao. Originally intended as a vehicle for Bruce Lee. US title: THE DRAGON FLIES.