The Man from Hong Kong

A man is arrested in Australia and believed to be connected to Sydney's criminal underworld. Inspector Fang Sing Leng is sent for from Hong Kong to question him. The suspect is killed before he can give a statement. Fang begins hunting those responsible with the Sydney police, running an investigation that fits none of the local methods. Brian Trenchard-Smith's film is one of the first meetings of Hong Kong martial-arts cinema and Australian action. The narrative is simple but the stunt work is very ambitious for its time; there is hang gliding, car chases, and fights staged on the faces of buildings. An actor actually being set alight in one scene became the most told story of the production. Jimmy Wang Yu plays Fang and George Lazenby plays the head of the criminal organisation. Hugh Keays-Byrne is also in the cast. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1970s action, Australian genre films, and martial-arts cinema. Who it's not for: The narrative is thin and the characters are types. The film's view of women and of race also runs in the troubling shapes of its period.