''The Thundering Mantis'' ( zh, c=癲螳螂) (Also known as ''Mantis Fist Fighter'' in USA) is a 1980 Hong Kong

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Teddy Yip, starring

Bryan Leung Bryan Leung Kar-yan (Chinese: , born 20 January 1948) is a Hong Kong film and television actor and film director who has played roles in numerous acclaimed martial arts films. He is affectionately known as "Beardy" due to his trademark facial ...

, Cheng Feng and Eddy Ko Hung.

Plot

A martial artist Ah Chi (

) who often gets in trouble while goofing around gets in trouble as he is saving the neighborhood. He later then meets a crafty kid and finds out that the kid's uncle is the thundering mantis-style master. Curiously, Chi goes off to challenge him and the uncle wins without trying. Later on, he comes against the Jade gang whom he easily beats but soon he is up against Hsia (

Eddy Ko Eddy Ko Hung (; born Ho Yiu-sum (); 13 December 1937) is a Hong Kong actor and martial artist. He has appeared in over 150 film and television roles since his debut in 1969. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Chan Chung in the 1984 Hong K ...

) the master of the gang. Humiliatingly, Hsia beats up Chi who for the second time is beaten shamelessly, the first came from the mantis master. Desperate, Chi runs to find the kid whom he befriended earlier on and his uncle. Time passes and the uncle decides to teach both the kid and Chi the thundering mantis style. After Chi finishes training he goes to wander around with the kid. Meanwhile, to the uncle's surprise, Hsia arrives and duels with him. Initially, the uncle gets the upper hand only to lose stamina and ends up getting wounded. Hsia takes advantage and uses his full strength to finally kill him. The climax has the kid and Chi caught by Hsia and the Jade gang, after the kid is tortured and killed Chi goes insane and suffers from a mental breakdown. Thus, breaking free and killing every single Jade gang member. In the end, he goes up against Hsia for the second time and while fighting, he mixes his insanity with the mantis style and brutally kills Hsia.

Cast

as Ah Chi, a fishmonger * Cheng Feng as Shu Len * Eddy Ko Hung as Shiao Tse-tung * Wong Yat-lung as The Kid * Chin Yuet-sang as Uncle *

Lee Kwan Lee Kwan or Li Kun (18 February 1930 – 12 March 2008) was a Chinese actor. He joined Shaw Brothers in 1957 and acted in Mandarin films. He later played supporting roles in Bruce Lee's ''The Big Boss'' and ''Fist of Fury''. Later he became a ...

as Fish shop owner * Fang Mian as Shu Len's Dad * Suen Lam as Pharmacy boss * Ma Chin-ku as White suit

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

* Shih Ting-ken as White Suit's lead thug

Home media releases

VHS

* In the United States the film was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

23 February 1999 by Xenon. * In the United Kingdom the film was released on VHS 11 March 1996 by Eastern Heroes and later again 18 June 2001 by Mia.

DVD

* In the United States the film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on 26 February 2002 by Xenon, fullscreen. Later 8 July 2003 Xenon re-released a digitally remastered version of the movie, widescreen but with cuts. * In the United Kingdom the film was released on DVD on 25 July 2005 by Mia. * In Austria the film was released on PAL DVD by NSM Austriain 2013, 1:85:1 widescreen, uncut.

References

External links

*
The Thundering Mantis at Hong Kong Cinemagic.com
1980 films 1980s Cantonese-language films Hong Kong action films Hong Kong martial arts films 1980 action films 1980 martial arts films Kung fu films 1980s Hong Kong films {{1980s-HongKong-film-stub