Hard Bastard ( A Godfrey Ho Joint)

KonCategoryIII

Hard Bastard 1982 Tian long lan Directed by Godfrey Ho Traveling street peddlers are pressured to pay protection money to the mob and refuse. Meanwhile, a rich college student learns that his father has ties with gangsters. The young man joins the poor gypsies against the criminals. HARD BASTARD (aka RAGING RIVALS) dirs. Godfrey Ho, 1982 Hong Kong/South Korea. 95 mins. With trembling and battered hands (of lightning), this mile-a-minute unauthorized kung fu remake of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY carves THE HARD onto that film’s lodestar in blood… and a hell of a lot more. Directed by cut-and-paste auteur Godfrey Ho (UNDEFEATABLE, CAT-MAN ON LETHAL TRACK, RAGE OF NINJA), HARD BASTARD tracks two traveling musicians in “the darkest period of Shanghai”, muxing inimitable 70s fashions (white-toned shoes, insanely popped collars) with a backdrop of feudal poverty – perhaps anticipating KUNG FU HUSTLE? They pick up a beautiful girl as a shipment of gold pulls into the pier; the map plotting its coordinates is cut into three pieces, and a chase ensues. Meanwhile, a well-to-do college student (played against type by legendary kickboxer Hwang Jang Lee, of SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW) returns to his hometown… only to discover his father’s dojo has become a canasta joint for the mobsters running the city. HARD BASTARD culminates in a beachside battle royale which, like the climactic moments of so many other cheap-ass genre grenades of the 70s & 80s, accidentally tip-topples itself into the realm of the avant-garde. “Contemporary martial arts remake of “the good, the bad and the ugly”, although with a wooden, unlikeably incompotent hero, and little morality of any kind… Hwang Jang Lee portrays an immoral card-sharp with a strong sense of self preservation, and kicks his way through a few dullish fight sequences. Unremarkable, but reasonably high energy film with more emphasis on betrayals and double crosses than on conventional kung-fu action.” – Clockwork Avocado, IMDB “Although the production values were appalling and the dubbing gave the impression that this was a carry on film a few beers or whatever your poison may be and you will laugh so much you will nearly crap yourself. ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To kick sh#t out of them’” – george crowther,