Rikisha Kuri (Rickshaw Driver/大車伕) is a 1973 Taiwanese revenge kung fu film directed by Joseph Kuo in his earlier directorial film, influenced by earlier interntaional success films with the likes of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury. The film stars Kuo's earlier collaborator Wen Chiang Long in a titular title, along with Taiwanese stars such as Tso Yen Yung, Lu Ping, Mark Long, Su Chen Ping and Shih Chung-Tien.
The film also features the earlier role of Bruce Li as one of the Japanese gang members.
Plot
Siu Lung (Wen Chiang Long), a local rickshaw puller, fights against the group known as The Invincible Four, who is responsible for killing Siu Lung's uncle, mother, and girlfriend. Siu Lung, who has nothing left, trains to become an expert to defeat the Invincible Four and their Japanese backers.
Cast
- Wen Chiang Long - as Mang Siu Lung
- Tso Yen Yung - as Siu Chung
- Lu Ping - as Japanese Boss
- Shih Chung-Tien - as Kendo
- Mark Long
- Su Chen Ping
- Chen Shen Lin - as Japanese Gang Member (Thug Leader)
- Bruce Li - as Japanese Gang Member (Extra)
Production and legacy
Like many of Joseph Kuo's earlier 1970s productions, the film features similar or nearly identical cast members, having Wen Chiang Long as a leading man with other cult following Taiwanese kung fu projects such as Triangular Duel (1972), The Death Duel (1972), and Iron Man (1973), before Rikisha Kuri. These films would also establish Kuo to discover many of the upcoming talents, such as Mark Long, Su Chen Ping, and Bruce Li, who would eventually have their household name on their career through their starter in Kuo's projects.
Release
The film had a very limited theatrical release in the United States and was widely released in the video market through rare VHS, Betamax, DVD, and VCD formats in the United States. A rare English-dubbed version was available on Amazon Prime until Amazon took it down in the mid-2010s. A bootleg DVD release often had a false advertisement of having [[Bruce Li] as a prominent feature star for the film, despite Li only appearing as an extra in the film.
The film would later see the proper remastered wide-screen 2K release by Mei Ah Entertainment and was widely distributed in many streaming services in Asia, countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
External Link
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