Worlds collide as an ex-Bond parodies both the 007 franchise and gritty Dirty Harry cop thrillers and the martial arts trend. To this end, two film nations that have never worked together before join forces: Hong Kong and Australia. All this is directed by a filmmaker who used to be mainly concerned with cutting eye-catching trailers.
The result: “The Man from Hong Kong”, an over-the-top action satire that was only shown in cinemas in many countries and was even banned in some countries. In Germany she was on the index for a long time, but has now been rehabilitated. This week, “The Man from Hong Kong” celebrated its German HD premiere – as a 2-disc limited media book, which also includes the 4K world premiere of the film:
In addition to the media book with a German title image, which is limited to 1,250 pieces, there is also one on Amazon Alternative cover with international motif*. This variant is limited to 333 copies and runs under the American title of the film, which is now uncut for ages 16 and up: “The Dragon Flies”.
Both editions are identical in terms of content and feature all kinds of extras, including the documentary “Not Quite Hollywood” as a bonus film about the crazy history of Australian exploitation cinema.
“The Man from Hong Kong”: madness in front of and behind the camera
Inspector Fang Sing Leng (Jimmy Wang Yu) is on a mission in Australia. There he is supposed to convict a drug runner, but he is killed before Fang Sing Leng can catch him. So he now goes looking for the responsible tug-of-war. However, this puts him in the crosshairs of the ruthless drug lord Jack Wilton (George Lazenby) and his sinister accomplices…
An explosive mix of creative people is responsible for “The Man from Hong Kong”: Lazenby, who appeared as the righteous and sensitive James Bond in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, pulls out the leather as a villain here. Martial arts star Jimmy Wang Yu, who lashed out with humor and harshness in “A Fist Like a Hammer” among other things, focuses on heroes of Western cinema. And after cutting countless trailers, Brian Trenchard-Smith wants to prove he has a future as a director – which is why he unpacks in this action-packed fireworks show!
The film opens with a stubborn brawl on Uluru’s inselberg (commonly known as Ayers Rock). As a sequel to extra long chases by car and helicopter, Lazenby catches fire for once (!) and the protagonist beats up an accomplice played by the director. Reportedly, Wang Yu intentionally landed real hits in the fight, which was played on (!) an elevator, as he had previously fallen out with Trenchard-Smith.
The risky stunts culminate in intricate hang gliding passages, for which celebrated stuntman Grant Page, who later coordinated the stunts in the first “Mad Max” installment, was partly responsible. By the way: The action attack, which does not take itself or other genre representatives seriously, was only brought to the cinemas in Great Britain and the USA in a shortened form.
In Sweden and Finland, the restless stunt parade, with excavations at the rough police “Dirty Harry”, is even banned. In contrast, in Germany, “The Man from Hong Kong” was released uncut before the film, originally designed as a Bruce Lee vehicle, was banned from the index for 38 years.
The film is now celebrating its 4K world premiere in German home cinema, meaning the action madness can be experienced more sharply than ever in your own four walls. Whether you can see the panic in Lazenby’s eyes when the fire stunt went wrong and Wang Yu’s anger at the director, or whether you’re just imagining it, that’s up to you to decide.