Critic Reviews
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V.A. Musetto, New York Post
For old-fashioned raw energy, it's tough to beat.
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Elvis Mitchell, New York Times
Once you find the groove of this delectable cheese fest, you'll realize how influential Guillotine has been.
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Nick Rutigliano, Village Voice
Snags the viewer's attention by lacing its martial-arts high jinks with a compelling weirdness.
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Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
A gem of its genre.
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Michael A. Smith, Nolan's Pop Culture Review
A staple of Kung Fu television.
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Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World
One of the greatest (and weirdest) Chinese martial arts movies of the 1970s
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Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly
A Chinese martial-arts master defends himself with the wackiest weapon ever, East or West, giving new meaning to the term "head shot."
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Jon Popick, Planet Sick-Boy
Will there be a ridiculously entertaining orgy of punching and kicking and wonderfully bad dubbing? Lord, yes.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A film that depends more on its imagination than on its special effects, and more on wide, clear action scenes than the choppy, shaky brand, making it entirely unique in this summer's crop of entertainment.
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Max Messier, Filmcritic.com
It stands as the pinnacle of 1970s martial arts films.
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Kim Morgan, Oregonian
In the title sequence alone, you feel you may just see one of the greatest kung fu films ever made.
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Wade Major, Boxoffice Magazine
Those sufficiently attuned to appreciate its magic and majesty, Jimmy Wang Yu's restored masterpiece may very well be the archival discovery of the decade.
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George Wu, culturevulture.net
One of the preeminent examples of 1970s kung fu pulp.
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Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine
It's raw and it's dusty, just as a good martial arts movie should be.
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Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
Despite its cult reputation, this is a silly film with very little to recommend it, even to kung fu zealots.
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Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, L.A. Weekly
With its nonstop flurry of fighting, ersatz bloodletting and incidental hilarity, this remains [Yu's] signature work.
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Andy Klein, New Times
It's refreshing and unusual to see clever strategy trumping ritual honor in a film of this genre, even if one of the tricks seems gratuitously brutal.
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Joey O'Bryan, Austin Chronicle
Sure it's silly, but it's also campy, brainless fun.
Read all 18 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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Baddest old guy in a kung fu flick ever. Baddest weapon ever created. Indian guy that stretches his arms....i could go on and on.
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I feel like I've just been let it on a secret.
One of the coolest, purest and craziest kung fu films ever made.
The flying Guillotine is one of the most WTF weapons in the genre. Imagine a bladed bee keepers helmet on a chain and it's being wielded by a blind blood thirst… More
I feel like I've just been let it on a secret.
One of the coolest, purest and craziest kung fu films ever made.
The flying Guillotine is one of the most WTF weapons in the genre. Imagine a bladed bee keepers helmet on a chain and it's being wielded by a blind blood thirst monk on a revenge kick.
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Well it is a bit to bizarre with someone getting choked out with hair and extending arms but it was still pretty badass. The final fight scene was between an old blind nazi and a one armed boxer, so it's out there. Some great Kung Fu choreography and it's well made. And even… More
Well it is a bit to bizarre with someone getting choked out with hair and extending arms but it was still pretty badass. The final fight scene was between an old blind nazi and a one armed boxer, so it's out there. Some great Kung Fu choreography and it's well made. And even though one guys a nazi murderer you really don't know who to root for. My favorite part was the tournament itself though, actually really cool to see everyone's reaction, it was a great set of scenes.
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Old school kung fu fun (& a Tarantino & Samuel L Jackson favourite) as the one armed goody fights a variety of quirky baddies. Apparently there's a remake in the pipeline for 2010. Noooooo!
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This is a really masterfully done movie for the era. The soundtrack and background music is amazing and really adds to the film. The fight scenes are superb and the vast array of martial arts specialists that comes to the tournament is impressive. A lone monk receives a letter from 2… More
This is a really masterfully done movie for the era. The soundtrack and background music is amazing and really adds to the film. The fight scenes are superb and the vast array of martial arts specialists that comes to the tournament is impressive. A lone monk receives a letter from 2 of his disciples who are tracking a one armed boxer to kill him. If the monk gets the letter that means that the boxer killed them instead and they wish the blind monk to avenge them. He burns down his home and makes a pact to avenge them or die. He is the master of an elusive style called the Flying Guillotine that involves a weapon that has a long chain and a vale at the end that covers the head and then he yanks the chain and sharp razors cut your head off. A great movie with a cast that involves a few people who show up in some main stream kung fu and martial arts films.
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Great, fun film with an awesome theme song. Oddly, the Master of the Flying Guillotine is actually the film's villain and the one armed boxer is the hero.
The fight scenes in this are highly entertaining, especially the introduction of the Thai kickboxer, and the extended… More
Great, fun film with an awesome theme song. Oddly, the Master of the Flying Guillotine is actually the film's villain and the one armed boxer is the hero.
The fight scenes in this are highly entertaining, especially the introduction of the Thai kickboxer, and the extended competition scene reminds me a lot of the excellent extended training scenes in 36th Chamber of Shaolin, in the sense that it totally steers away from the films narrative (maybe not so much in 36th Chamber) to deliver awesome kung fu action. And to think all the critics were praising Fargo for it's scenes that don't involve the plot!
You can't go wrong with this film if you are a martial arts fan, and listen to the commentary if you have the DVD. It's entertaining and informative.
Read all 8 featured audience ratings
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