Four Riders (1972), starring David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kuan-tai and Wong Chung. Directed by Chang Cheh.

(All images courtesy of Celestial Pictures.)

MUST a movie make sense to be enjoyable? Not really, and don't believe any high-brow film critic who says different. (Once in a while, they like something a little illogical, too.) Even if there's a followable storyline, it doesn't take much from the filmmakers' side of things to unintentionally envelop the audience in a fog if they're trying to establish a particular look or style to their picture. Sometimes, the results can come back to bite them on the butt, artistically and financially; when they work out favorably, it can be a unique anomaly of cinema, if not a cult classic. That said, does the Shaw Brothers oddity Four Riders measure up with the other entertaining doses of yang gang from the formidable Chang Cheh?

Somewhere in South Korea, it's the end of the Korean War. A Chinese veteran of the conflict, Feng Xia (Ti Lung), drives to Seoul for some relaxation after collecting his pension (in American currency) and liberating a jeep from an army colonel (Lo Wai) he recently decked. Along the way, he picks up a fellow soldier, Gao Yinhan (Wong Chung), who's heading in the same direction to see Li Weishi (Chen Kuan-tai), a retired First Lieutenant recuperating at a hospital from wounds received in battle.

Not long after the two part company in the city, Xia stumbles upon some guys who've just pummeled an American GI to death; to be exact, they're members of a drug cartel run by Boss Hawkes (Andre Marquis), and they killed the man for his refusal to be a mule on his return trip to the US. Xia is overwhelmed by them before he can leave, and Hawkes' second-in-command, Lei Tai (Yasuaki Kurata), frames him for the crime. As fate goes, until a trial date is set, the injured Xia is confined by SK MPs in the prison ward of the same hospital where Yinhan's visiting Weishi. Yinhan is certain Xia is innocent, and since Weishi feels he has no chance at being found not guilty, he suggests Yinhan get a gun that his nurse, Song Hua (Ching Li), can smuggle to Xia and use for a quick escape.

Meanwhile, when Xia's army buddy, Jin Yi (David Chiang), reads of his plight in a newspaper, he knows something fishy's going on, too; based on all the time he's spent visiting lovely hostess Wensi (Lily Li) at the Hello John Club owned by Hawkes, he knows of the illegal activities going on. He calls out Tai about what's being done to Xia, but he's soon beaten up by him and Hawkes' other flunkies. Only Hawkes' brassy girlfriend, Yinhua (Tina Chin Fei) saves him from a premature demise; after a night of sex with her, he sneaks off.

After a few leads that go nowhere, Yinhan finally gets lucky when he's offered a gun...by Tai; Hawkes wants Xia dead immediately, and he says he'll pay anyone who'll do the task. (I'm guessing the payment consists of hot lead.) Shrewdly, Yinhan pretends to accept the offer, and before too long, Xia breaks out of the hospital with Weishi and Yinhan. Tragically, Song Hua is shot by Hawkes' men as she flees with them, to the horror of Weishi.

Eventually, Yi joins up with the three fugitives. On the run from the SK army (while keeping one step ahead of Hawkes' confederates), they devise a plan to bring down Hawkes' operation and exonerate themselves in the eyes of SK military justice. While Yi returns to the Hello John to look for incriminating paperwork, the other three confront Tai and Hawkes' other men in a free-for-all at a gymnasium. There's only one complication to all of this; unknown to the four, the SKs are now on their way to the gym, and they believe the Chinese are part of Hawkes' gang....

The title Four Riders (re-titled as Strike 4 Revenge in the US) comes from a scene when Weishi reads aloud his favorite piece of Biblical scripture to his nurse; it's the only time this reference shows up in the entire film. In turn, the only things these four heroes ride are jeeps, and they're more concerned with saving their own hides than unleashing an apocalypse on the world. It's their urgency to rescue Xia, along with the need for all of them to survive long enough to stop Hawkes and have their names cleared, which propels this testosterone-drenched melodrama (with a hint of swagger) that could've only been directed by Chang Cheh.

The kick I've gotten out of watching FR all the times I have (over a dozen, so far) does not distract me from the fact that some-where between the completion of the script (by Cheh and Ni Kuang) and the wrap-up of filming, the setting of South Korea in July, 1953, was forgotten in the process. Money appears to have been the main reason why, and if Cheh had a few movies in various stages of production at the time, it might also explain why the story never got reworked. Getting down to basics, with all the '70s hair, wardrobe and other trap-pings on the screen, the lapse of historical accuracy in FR doesn't detract from its entertainment value, and it shouldn't bother you, either. (Imagine it's one of those dramatizations on America's Most Wanted or the History Channel.)

The film shot on location in SK by Kung Mu To is wonderful and fascinating to see, be it snow-covered ground or the narrow streets within Seoul. The scenery is so unique and refreshing (especially if you're not familiar with SK), when the movie cuts to a tell tale Shaw location (indoors or out), the contrast is great enough you feel cheated by this budgetary consideration because the SK footage makes the stuff shot at the studio look like crap. Anybody who gets easily bored with any studio-bound Shaw picture will relish this change of pace.

Each of the main players contributes good performances. Ti Lung exudes machismo as Xia, and the opening where he belts his former superior is a brilliant, dark-humored vignette that plays like an outtake from M*A*S*H. David Chiang is low-key and smooth as Yi, the brains of the quartet, though one of his early bits at the club (fine as they are) could've been dropped so he could join up with his comrades sooner to jumpstart the plot. As Yenshi, Chen Kuan-tai believably goes from the young guy in love with Song Hua to an anguished man who wants payback for her death. As Yinhan, Wong Chung (in his biggest role prior to being cast in The Deliquent) manages to avoid being the "fifth wheel" of the group with his athleticism and likeability, best illustrated by his first scene where he plays with some children. Only Lily Li (as Wensi) and Ching Li (as Song Hua) get short shrift with the usual type of parts Cheh often limited them to, but they elevate their minor contributions to another level through their acting.

Let's now give praise to the featured villain. Bypassing the laughable pastiness of Andre Marquis as Hawkes, Yasuaki Kurata is an inspired choice as Tai. During 1972, Kurata was relatively early into his career at Shaw, so his acting was still evolving, but the aura of suaveness he projected into performing "heavies" is already prominent. His martial arts moves are equally dynamic; he's into Lau Kar Leung and Tong Gaai's fight choreography with an intensity that threatens to overwhelm the abilities of the four leads. While his efforts only lose steam with his hilarious English dubbed voice (used when he talks to Hawke) and being (unconvincingly) clobbered by Chiang in one sequence, the man can successfully convey nastiness without overacting, which makes his work here (and in other movies) engrossing to watch.

For all the unevenness of FR, the picture doesn't lack in thrills and drama. Would FR be a better movie if Cheh had the money to make the production appear more authentic for the time period depicted? That notion can be debated, and Cheh's later historical epics like 7 Man Army, The Boxer Rebellion and The Naval Commandos are (for some) three good arguments that giving him bigger budgets didn't always yield better motion pictures.

Anyhow, I finished with trying to understand why Cheh let this film veer off course like he did a long time ago. I decided to stop making sense of FR and just enjoy it.

Brother Fang says: "Another 'sleeper' from Chang Cheh that's been nearly forgotten by people and shouldn't be! Warts and all, Cheh delivers the violence and suspense more than capably!"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - While you still can, purchase it at PlayAsia by clicking here.

Friends (1974), starring David Chiang, Fu Sheng, Lily Li and Frankie Wei. Directed by Chang Cheh.

(All images courtesy Celestial Pictures.)

IF you combine Rebel Without a Cause with The Bowery Boys, add a dash of Poor Little Rich Girl (in this story, a rich young man), and filter it through director Chang Cheh's "yang gang", the result wiil be Friends. It's the last Shaw Brothers movie Cheh would make in the "younger generation"-oriented vein, as his main focus shifted to the making of the "Shaolin" pictures. Though it was one of those very films (Heroes Two) that introduced HK moviegoers to new star Fu Sheng in early 1974, Friends was actually the first one (with him in a lead role) completed. Its release would be held up until the summer, and while it's only a good guess it did OK box office, what can be confirmed is the "Best Young Newcomer Award" the movie won at the '74 Asian Film Festival. The recipient: Fu Sheng.

After a prologue where we find the title characters have gathered for a reunion, their backstory (the rest of the film) is related as a flashback. Going back to ten years ago, there are just the nine of them (give or take), a bunch of twenty-somethings living a lower-class existence of doing menial jobs by day and raising hell at night; all of them desire to advance their standing in the world and live a better life. The bond of friendship manages to see them through bad times and good. The guys are also fortunate to find the spare time they can to keep their kung fu skills up to snuff, because they're necessary in a big city like HK.

Their unofficial leader is Hua Heng (David Chiang), an advertising sign painter who aspires to become a famous artist. His girlfriend is Gao Xin (Lily Li), a bargirl who might get forced into prostitution by the loan sharks she owes money to if she doesn't pay off her debt of $20,000 [HK].

Into their lives arrives Tu Jiaji (Fu Sheng), the only child of the wealthy Tu Dongtai (Lo Dik). Practicing martial arts only does so much for him; he's unhappy and bored living a sheltered life. One day, when he jumps in to help Heng fight off some street thugs, he's excited to meet someone closer to his age who's cool and can take care of himself. In turn, Jiaji (like a neglected puppy craving attention) trails after Heng to an abandoned warehouse, inadvertently introducing himself to Heng's other friends when he crashes through a sky window above their makeshift gymnasium in the basement.

It doesn't take long for Heng and the others to warm up to Jiaji; they think he's down on his luck like they are. Indeed, when he innocently asks why don't they work out at a "better gym," they think he's kidding around, and they nickname him "Young Master". With this new name, he doesn't bother bringing up his real one. He's also in no rush to go home, so he calls his dad, saying he's spending a few days with some "future" capitalists and not to worry. Concerned as Dontai is, he convinces himself Jiaji's all right and leaves him be.

Once Jiaji hears of Xin's money problems, he's resolved to get her out of trouble with help from another of his new friends, Lin Sibao (Lee Yung-git). While Jiaji pretends to sell some of Heng's paintings, he actually has Sibao get the money from his father (being sure not to mention he is Dongtai's son), using a ring of his (personally given to him by his father) as a means to getting the cash without a hassle. Of course, the instant Dongtai recognizes the ring, combined with the asking for money, he thinks Jiaji's been kidnapped, and he readily gives Sibao the full amount. For all the madness behind Jiaji's method (also driving his father mad), Xin's dilemna is resolved, and Heng comes off like a hero in the process.

Unfortunately, the recently unemployed Sibao is hurting for money, and in an act of weakness, he uses the ring again to extort more money from Dongtai. Worse, he's an acquaintance of the loan sharks, and when he flashes his new wealth in front of them, they can't help but wonder how he got rich all of a sudden. When Sibao tells them, showing them the ring, they realize the "Young Master" is the son of Dongtai, thanks to a newspaper ad he put out in hopes of communicating with the (then non-existent) kidnappers. Under orders from their boss (Frankie Wei), they kidnap Jiaji for real... with assistance from Sibao!

Once Sibao finds out Jiaji will be killed upon the collecting of the ransom (a triple dip into Dongtai's wallet), he finally sees the error of his ways, and he runs off to tell Heng what has occurred. Heng has since found out what Jiaji did for Xin, so once Sibao fills him in on the details of who Jiaji is and his current plight, he makes a frantic dash to rescue Jiaji from his captors, while Xin and Sibao round up the remaining friends for extra support in a race against time.

The most common complaint about Friends centers on how David Chiang and Fu Sheng interact as the leads. Some sense a lack of dynamics between them, which doesn't ring true with the assertion they are supposed to be friends. People forget that Jiaji and Heng get introduced to each other under tense circumstances, and Jiaji doesn't help matters when he ruins Heng's portrait of Xin by smashing it over his chauffeur's head! Further, Heng's trying to break out as an artist while juggling a girlfriend and a job at the same time. For all the friends he has now, the sudden surfacing of Jiaji (who appears to have no friends at the beginning of the film, except his sifu Wang, played by Tung Choi-bo) seems to be one friend too many for him to handle. Once Jiaji gets to meet Heng's other friends, any burden is lifted off his shoulders and distributed to everyone else; only then does he begin to see Jiaji's a nice guy. Significantly, what we are observing is the beginnning of a friendship over the few days' time covered in the film, and by having seen the prologue, we know it will still be thriving ten years later (and counting). As the start of friendships go, Chiang's performance rings true, and it compliments the one delivered by Sheng.

Allowing for the usual Shaw script deficien-cies, the screenplay by Cheh and Ni Kuang is pretty good, but more character development would've been beneficial to the story. (Among the precious few pearls we're given, Bruce Tong's vignette where he dreamily ogles women while working at a pool hall is very funny.) As this is a Cheh movie, we're lucky to have what characterization there is, and while there's more violence here than in Young People, also like that film, nobody dies, so we should appreciate any restraint Cheh decided to use. Even so, our "suspension of disbelief" is tested by how Jiaji gets the money to pay off the loan sharks and what leads to his being abducted. Most importantly, if this happened in the real world, Sibao would wind up in prison for being an accessory to kidnapping!

If you don't dig too deep into it, the movie works well within its low budget, from the photography by Miyaki Yukio (a.k.a. Kung Mu To) to the bone-crunching kung fu co-ordinated by action directors Lau Kar Leung and Tong Gaai. The casting works from the leading roles (though Lily Li is underused) to the supporting players. (As noted previously, the late Chen Wo-fu has a few moments here as Jin Bing-da, a mechanic; hindsight or not, his unique prescence is compelling enough you wish he had a bigger part.)

Out of all the pictures Cheh made, Friends qualifies as his top "sleeper". One look at it, and you'll understand why other Shaw fans pass this up in favor of his bloodiest classics. It's as close as he ever got to doing a "little" film, and at the same time, he conveys his recurring themes of brotherhood and "yang gang" in the most accessible way better than he ever did in his biggest epics. He takes his discovery Fu Sheng and gives him a modest showcase in which to display his bubbling talents. Sheng is up to this early challenge, bringing Jiaji to life as an engaging person. He's rough around the edges with respect to his acting and fighting skills, but any noticeable lapses are smoothed over with his winning personality and (especially for the ladies) sex appeal. Anybody who likes Chang Cheh, Fu Sheng or wanting a break from the "average" Shaw martial arts movie needs to buy (or rent) this.

Brother Fang says..."Fu Sheng fans: BUY this! Everyone else: Give it a test run (rent or borrow one) before investing in a copy!"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - Purchase it from DDDHouse by clicking here.

Young People (1972), starring David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chen Kuan-tai. Directed by Chang Cheh.

WHOEVER is still holding out on purchasing a copy of Young People for non-economical reasons, let me reassure you that as widespread as the opinions are on the Shaw Brothers film, this is a special release from director Chang Cheh and script co-writer Ni Kuang worth getting. After its availability as a download (and an illegal one at that), what are the chances this will seriously be reissued again on DVD or VCD (even BD) after it goes out-of-print? Even though Cheh has a following around the globe, it's not a huge one, so it's probable his lesser-known releases shall fade away into the ages, while newer generations of fans and film scholars will dissect a selection of his movies (like One-Armed Swordsman, Vengeance!, The Duel or The Five Venoms) ad nauseam. If you feel my theory has some merit, then buy Young People now, 'cuz the window of opportunity may be closing.

Flavored with a lot of location filming at Chung Chi College (a Christian college founded in 1951, affiliated with the Chinese University of Hong Kong), YP is Cheh and Kuang's scattershot attempt to understand college-age young adults. (Our heroes are never seen in classes, by the way.) They are all over the map when comes to their presentation of what they think makes the minds of men and women in their earlier twenties tick. YP can only be safely classified as a Cheh movie; to categorize it as something else is pointless because it's fragments of genres and homages to other films, all of them tied together with a very basic plot.

To simplify the story, which has been re-counted many times in other reviews, it's the jocks (led by Ti Lung) versus the martial arts club (led by Chen Kuan-tai), with the performing arts club (led by neo-hippie David Chiang) somewhere in the middle. While the basketball players and purveyors of kung fu vie for the school's honor (not to mention Lung and Kuan-tai competing for the charms of fickle Irene Chan), the dancers and "band geeks" prepare for the school's anniversary celebration. How does Chiang unite these two hot-headed guys in friendship? Through peace, go carts and dance choreography!

So, what is there to enjoy in YP? Let's start with some intentional things:

1) Irene Chan! From her first scene onward, she makes you want to see the movie to the end. Anyone who has said there isn't any comedy in this wasn't paying attention to her work. The sequence where she barges into the mens' locker room before the big basketball game is a riot; her facial ex-pressions as the guys hurriedly cover up are priceless. She goes from Kuan-tai to Lung (and back to Kuan-tai) without much thought put into it beyond the fact they won trophies, which seems to be what draws her to them. When she loses both guys, you know she deserves this comeuppance, yet you can't help but feel sorry for her because for all her charms, she's still a ways off from being  a mature woman. Chan's combination of sexiness and fine acting in the role of Princess is one of the better peformances of a leading lady in any Cheh movie out there.

2) Bolo Yeung! One favorite Bruce Lee nemesis is (mostly) cast against type as one of the jocks. Not only can he play basketball, he is also adept at comedy; his scene where he and Wong Chung make fun of Kuan-tai's speech patterns (he speaks no more than three words at a time) is pure goofy fun. He's a sight to see with his crewcut and wearing those way-out '70s fashions. (Dig that visor!) He's not a constant presence in the picture, but when he's on, he easily catches your attention in an atypical part.

3) "The Blood Brothers!" Well, at the time, Lung, Chiang and Kuan-tai were yet to be in that '73 film, but if you happen to watch TBB after seeing YP, you'll never look at the former movie again in quite the same way. The guys are cast to type; Lung is the BMOC, Kuan-tai is the soft-spoken karate expert and Chiang is the drummer who feels all the world needs now is love, sweet love. As silly as the film is, the trio give their all and make the situations feel somewhat plausible. (If you think Lung is bad in this, please reacquaint yourself with his spot-on John Cassavettes imitation in Black Magic [1975], and stand corrected!)

What elements enhance YP by accident, if not design? They would be:

1) The music! For a flick that's designed to appeal to youthful moviegoers, the sound-track is as big as Woodstock: Snoopy's friend, not the festival. After the opening where Chiang does an "edgy" drum solo, we get three watered-down folk songs from Agnes Chan, the younger sister of Irene. She's cute and competently sings (in English) "The Circle Game", "You've Got a Friend" and a bad lyrical rip-off of "What the World Needs Now is Love". Except for an ambitious MTV-like interlude in "YGaF" (pictured), she's showcased with meaningless background dancing and a finale (set during the great anniversary assembly) where she seemingly enters and exits by way of crane or hot air balloon! Another performer (even a mere dude with a guitar) would've added variety to the production, but since Agnes got a HK hit with "TCG", somebody thought she was all the film needed (and could afford). To top it all off, the recordings she lip-syncs to are of a lower fidelity than the rest of the incidental music; to hear how her songs sound, you'd swear records were directly dubbed onto the film's audio track.

2) The "big events!" Besides running too long, the basketball game suffers from bad foley work; where are all the squeaking tennis shoes? (Also, Fan Mei Sheng gets a billing in the movie, yet he's barely seen in his sole appearance as a bench-warmer in the game! Fu Sheng gets more screen-time in all his little cameos combined.) The go cart competition is slightly better with some filming taking place during a real race. Chiang, Lung and Kuan-tai are actually driving in many parts, which is a big plus; only the race's conclusion will make you roll your eyes. The anniversary show is just bizarre, featuring dancing inspired by West Side Story (and a precursor to the dancing in the "Earth" portion of Heaven and Hell), more drumming by Chiang, and little Agnes; it's the HK version of a Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney musical! The karate tournament comes off best as Kuan-tai dazzles all with his skills; Lau Kar Wing and Tong Gaai co-ordinated the fighting action, so all the other principals who had to bust a move here (or in other parts of the picture) were well trained to do so.

3) The "hip" script! Whoever did the lion's share of work on the story, Cheh or Kuang, doesn't matter; there's plenty of blame to go around about the using whatever it took to make YP appear on the "cutting edge" and "with it"... by 1972 standards. The clothes, the walkie talkies, a David Cassidy poster (in Agnes Chan's room), the music (kinda), product placement (7Up, Schweppes and Viceroy cigarettes), go carts and a dune buggy add to your viewing enjoyment by being so woefully out of date from the first day YP played in HK cinemas right into the 21st century. Anyone who has attended college in the past 30 years knows the only bit of college they got right in YP is when Chiang and his friends take a beer break!

Though the main characters in YP are stereotypes, all that unfolds in almost two hours' time doesn't stoop to the level of an Archie comic. (Wu Ma with a "crown" like Jughead's would be too much.) The plot (and the humor) seems to have been inspired (or stolen) from American International's "beach" movies (with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello), especially Beach Blanket Bingo. (Observe the comedic fight of the jocks against the martial artists, and substitute go carts for skydiving.) In fact, this is the only Cheh movie that could be rated PG (PG-13 if you think the violence harsh) by today's standards, so if you have to play a Chang Cheh film with your grandma present, this is the one. Those who prefer their "yang gang" fix with Shaw blood all over the widescreen will want to pass on this.

The IVL DVD is the usual slick, bare bones package. An original HK trailer would've provided some insight in how YP was sold to movie patrons back in '72, but all the promos on the disc are produced by Celestial. The new English subs are hilarious in two spots where the Mandarin translator throws in more recent slang; relish Ti Lung saying "homeboy" and "hommie" (SIC)!

After Susanna, YP is one of my favorite Shaw "guilty pleasures." If you don't try to compare it to Animal House or The Paper Chase, you'll have a good time wondering how Chang Cheh became the unofficial spokesman for the younger generation of Hong Kong...if not the world!

Recommended by Brother Fang!

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - Purchase it from PlayAsia by clicking here..