Eureka Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Starring Jimmy Wang Yu (The One-Armed Swordsman) and directed by LoWei, the man behind the smash-hit Bruce Lee vehicles The Big Boss and Fist Of Fury, A Man Called Tiger is a martial arts extravaganza released at the height of an international kung fu craze. Jin Hu (Wang Yu) is a formidable martial artist who suspects his father's apparent suicide was actually a cold-blooded murder. His desire for answers – an revenge – leads him to Japan, where he becomes entangled with the yakuza. With the aid of his fellow countryman Liu Hanming (James Tien, Hand of Death) and a nightclub hostess (Maria Yi, Fist of Fury), Jin Hu sets out to infiltrate Tokyo's underworld, expose a criminal conspiracy and uncover his father's true fate by any means necessary. Long rumoured to have been planned as the third collaboration between Lo Wei and Bruce Lee before Lee made his directorial debut with The Way Of The Dragon, A Man Called Tiger instead became a vehicle for another martial arts superstar in Jimmy Wang Yu. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film for the first time ever in the UK froma brand new 2K restoration. (112 Mins)

Joy Sales/Fortune Star HK DVD Synopsis: Lee Kwan Keung us a weirdo appears in Kyoto who uses to get troubles with triad members. However, he just wants to investigate the death of his father. In a bar, Lee saves Masako from Shimizu Group. He gets hotly pursued by Shimizu gangster but manages to escape through the help of a woman gangster, Chang. Soon, she introduces Lee to her boss, Shimizu, who quickly puts him in a high position among his organization. To impress his boss, Lee smashes a restaurant runs by his best friend, Lau. Since Lau knows Lee's plan, he infiltrates another underground body, to investigate the Yamaki Group. Lee and Lau find out Lee's father was jumped off the rooftop of the Pearl Pub, where he had lost all fortune to a gambler called Kushi. The property has now been transacted to Yamako, who owns the club. Though Yamaki's mistress, Lee finds out that his father's property was sold to him by a man called Nagatani, and he's the father of Lee's friend, Emi. Learning that it is Shimizu to blame for his father's death, Lee drives the underground boss to take a fatal plunge from the same rooftop at Pearl Club. (76 Mins)

Embassy US VHS Synopsis: In one of his most exciting modern day adventures, Chinese box-office superstar JIMMY WANG YU stars as Li, the son of an expert martial artist who was murdered by the underworld racketeers. The action is plentiful as Li avenges his fathers death by infiltrating the underworld and clawing his way to the murderers. Axe wielding killers, motorcycle murderers and a skyscraper battle are all part of this modern action thriller. (70 Mins)

Views: Originally created as the next Bruce Lee film and the third project between the star and director Lo Wei after The Big Boss (1971) and Fist Of Fury (1972), A Man Called Tiger would soon find itself in a spot of bother after the pair fell out after the latter. Interestingly, it is said that A Man Called Tiger originally started life under the title of Yellow Faced Tiger, yet Lo Wei would go onto make a film of that very same name soon after starring Don Wong Tao which would go on to be more widely known as Slaughter In San Francisco (1974) – the film that was often thought to be another project Wei had initially created with Bruce Lee in mind. So, with Lee having left A Man Called Tiger to make his directorial debut Way of the Dragon (1972), Golden Harvest and Lo Wei had to think quick in order to keep things going and soon remembered that they had the OG kung-fu star of Hong Kong cinema on their books – the great, late, and incredibly entertaining Jimmy Wang Yu!

Launching his career at the Shaw Brothers studio just less than a decade before, the controversial star had quickly became one of the biggest names in Hong Kong cinema with roles in films such as Magnificent Trio (1966), The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), Golden Swallow (1968), Return Of The One-Armed Swordsman (1969), and The Chinese Boxer (1970) – his directorial debut which would be his last for them. After a run of independent flicks including Zatoichi & The One-Armed Swordsman (1970), The Magnificent Chivalry (1971), The Sword (1971), and Furious Slaughter (1972), Wang Yu would join forces with the new Golden Harvest studios making the fantastic Invincible Sword (1972) and incredible self-directed One-Armed Boxer (1972) with them before starring in A Man Called Tiger. Clearly taking it easy after starring in 12 features over 1972, this would be only one of nine productions Wang Yu would star in in 1973 along with the Golden Harvest produced Lo Wei directed Seaman No. 7 and The Tattooed Dragon, as well as the awesome Beach Of The War Gods of which he also directed. Not to be tied down to any particular studio, Wang Yu would go onto work with Golden Harvest and Lo Wei at different times throughout his career with A Man Called Tiger proving to be one of their most exciting. Here, Jimmy plays the hero Chin Fu, the Golden Tiger, a suave looking James Dean/007 type character who joins a Yakuza gang in Japan to unravel the truth about the gangsters who were behind his father's murder. Crossing paths with new allies and enemies on his journey, as well as a bevy of women, Chin Fu finally comes face-to-face with his father's killer in a fight to the death. Shot in and around beautiful Kyoto, Japan, the film proves to be a very stylish affair with its colourful costume choices leaping off the screen, which often comes across very similar to the many popular Yakuza and Italian gangster movies from this period. Respectively, Jimmy Wang Yu quite possibly looks the best he's ever looked, sporting a new suit in almost every other scene while his co-stars come across as some of the best dressed thugs ever seen in Hong Kong cinema.

These are highlighted even more so through the lens of the talented Chris Chen Ching Chu – the same cinematographer who captured Lo Wei's biggest hits, The Big Boss (1971) and Fist Of Fury (1972), and after this would go onto work with him on titles such as Back Alley Princess (1973), Kung Fu Girl (1973), The Killer Meteors (1976), A Queen's Ransom (1976), and Half A Loaf Of Kung Fu (1978), as well as King Hu's The Valiant Ones (1975), Joseph Kou's World Of Drunken Master (1979), and other Jackie Chan projects such as All In The Family (1974), 36 Crazy Fists (1979), The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982) – also known as The Young Master In Love. Once again, the great and prolific Joseph Koo composers the score for the film while the equally talented Peter Cheung does a great job with the editing. Interestingly, this would only be his 7th film as an editor after starting his career in Golden Harvest with Lo Wei's very own film The Hurricane (1972) and Fist Of Fury (1972). Classics such as Lady Whirlwind (1972), One-Armed Boxer (1972), Hapkido (1972), and Way Of The Dragon (1972) would follow with Cheung going onto edit most of Golden Harvest most well known action films including those from Lo Wei and Jimmy Wang Yu, as well as the biggest hits from Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and others.

A fun cast joins Wang Yu on-screen such as Japanese actors such as the lovely Okada Kawai who also starred with the legendary Toshiro Mifune in Red Lion (1969), Nakako Daisuke from Fire & The Law (1966), The X From Outer Space (1967), and The Five Billion Dollar Legacy (1970), Kasahara Reiko from films such as Island Of Horrors (1970), Gamera Vs Zigra (1971), Lone Wolf & Cub: Baby Cart At The River Styx (1972) and Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972), and Kuro Mitsuo. They are joined by Hong Kong stars such as the prolific and great Tien Feng who stars as one of the big Japanese baddies. Of course, Feng had starred with Wang Yu in his earlier Shaw Brothers hits and would be recognisable to many as the master of Jackie Chan in The Young Master. The brilliant James Tien stars in his umpteenth Lo Wei feature as Jimmy's old friend who gets to bust some moves, and look good doing it. Although he was initially supposed to be the leading man of The Big Boss (1971), Tien's role was quickly side-tracked and rewritten to allow Bruce to show his stuff. Unfortunately from there, James Tien has never really found his way back onto the path of leading man and has starred in a host of classics over the years as a c-star or bad guy including a few more with Jimmy Wang Yu as well as Hand Of Death (1976) for John Woo, Iron Fisted Monk (1977) for Sammo Hung, The Fearless Hyena (1979) and Dragon Fist (1979) for Jackie Chan, and many more Hong Kong classics alongside the biggest of stars. A host of other Lo Wei regulars co-star throughout including the often hilarious Lee Kwan who appears as the nightclub manager where Wang Yu often resides. Although his comedy is kept at a minimum here, Kwan still entertains and is always a joy to watch. He is aided by his Big Boss (1971) and Fist Of Fury (1972) co-star, the beautiful Maria Yi,who would go on to star with many of the cast members here in Wang Yu's Seaman No. 7 (1973). Director Lo Wei himself appears in yet another obligatory appearance, and fight choreographer Han Ying Chieh co-stars as the tough-as-nails right-hand-man who takes offence to Wang Yu creeping in on his gang. And finally, eagle eyed viewers should keep an eye out for a young Lam Ching Ying, Chin Yuet Sang, and Luk Chuen – all of whom no doubt aided Han with the great action seen on screen.

Together, they deliver a host of exciting rumbles that sees Jimmy Wang Yu lash out in street fights, bar fights, restaurant fights, office fights, and more. Highlights for action fans can be found in the opening fight scenes that see Jimmy Wang Yu use a belt as nunchaku, long before Jet Li could be seen doing it in the awesome Fist of Legend (1994) and later again in Hitman (1998). Then there's an epic showdown in an abandoned factory between Wang Yu and fight director Han Ying Chieh with both actors displaying some strong brutality and fun moves. That same fight soon makes its way onto a moving cable-car as our hero gives chase to some of his minions, pre-dating a similar scene from the James Bond's Moonraker (1979) by about 5 or 6 years. It's a pretty exciting showdown that sees our hero plunge from a great height into the lake below before re-appearing to swim away – although odds are it was a cleverly filmed shot using a weighted dummy as champion swimmer Wang Yu lay in wait. Then, of course, there's the grand finale that sees Jimmy Wang Yu and James Tien unleash fury in a private gambling den as they go up against an army of axe-wielding gangsters, eventually moving to the rooftop where an injured Wang goes one-on-one with his father's killer. It's a fight that cranks the brutality up a notch and, in true Jimmy Wang Yu style, doesn't fail to entertain right down to it's final moments...

Of course, this all depends which version you are watching with the heavily cut 79 minute export version proving to be the most accessible in the west and missing a chunk of action – especially that of Wang Yu's fun introductory scenes and opening fights. Now though, thanks to the stunning restoration released by Eureka Video, the full 112 minute uncut Hong Kong version is finally available for all to see delivering over 20 minutes of extra drama and action which helps make previous plot-holes a little more understandable. And while the film itself and actions on screen show shades of Bruce Lee elements throughout, it's hard to imagine what would have been had he went ahead with it. As it stands, A Man Called Tiger is absolutely a Jimmy Wang Yu movie and in terms of his modern works, is definitely one of his most entertaining pieces that is worth checking out!

Overall: A great martial-arts thriller that entertains and makes Wang Yu look the slickest he's ever looked, A Man Called Tiger is a worth while watch with some brutal action!

Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng & Michael Worth, Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Alternate Export Version (79 Mins), Video Essay by Brandon Bentley, Music Videos, Textless Opening, Trailer

Joy Sales DVD Extras: Trailer

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