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Hapkido
Two martial arts schools battle it out in Huang Feng’s action classic (aka Lady Kung Fu), starring long term collaborator and combat master, Angela Mao.
Director: Huang Feng
Overview
Three martial artists, Yu Ying (Angela Mao), Kao (Carter Wong) and Fan (Sammo Hung), return from Korea to Japanese-occupied China to set up a school teaching the Korean martial art, hapkido. But their efforts are thwarted by a rival Japanese academy, who deem Hapkido inferior to their Japanese fighting style. As tensions rise and attempts to defeat the new school escalate, a series of intense showdowns ensue as the trio fight defend their school and their honour.
Angela Mao and director Huang Feng were a superstar pairing that produced an incredible series of kung-fu classics including Deadly China Doll and When Taekwondo Strikes. With a similar plot of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury - the canny filmmakers capitalising on Mao's reputation as the "female Bruce Lee” - Hapkido was a huge hit upon release, especially in the USA where it was released as Lady Kung Fu and briefly overtook Lee’s Enter the Dragon at the box office.
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