Proving that it's NEVER a good idea to screw with Jimmy Wang Yu, even if he's playing a Nice Guy.
Rage of the Master, also known from its multiple International telease titles includingThe Destroyer, Rage of the Tiger, Rage of the Masters,note The Killer Boxer (possibly a reference to Jimmy's The Chinese Boxer released earlier) and Jimmy Wang-yu, The Destroyer is a 1971 martial arts film starring Jimmy Wang-yu (who else?), Lisa Chiao, and Li Yi-min.
The powerful mob boss, Chow, and his gang operates the largest casino in Shanghai, with his mob dominating the city with absolute power. When Master Fang, head of a martial arts school who opposes Boss Chow ends up being murdered by Boss Chow's minions, the deceased master's daughter and star pupil, Miss Fang Yun-ku, seeks the assistance from Fang's old friend, Master Wong, a retired martial artist and fighter who lives in the rural countryside. However, Miss Fang ends up discovering that Master Wong is long dead, leaving behind his wife and son, known only as Tiger Wong (Jimmy), who had taken in an oath of peace as his father's last request.
This film's climatic finale bears some striking similarities to the ending of Kill Bill; apparently both movies are set in a universe where guns doesn't exist and people fight solely using melee weapons, with the protagonist marching straight into the heart of a posh club owned by a mob boss, and slaying everyone who got in their way in the process. Considering Quentin Tarantino is a fan of Master of the Flying Guillotine and would've seen several more Jimmy Wang-yu movies, this one included, that's hardly a surprise.
Rage of the Tropers
- Actor Allusion: Jimmy Wang-yu and Lisa Chiao (Tiger Wong and Miss Fang) previously starred in the One-Armed Swordsman movies as lovers. Here they are Just Friends.
- Actor IS the Title Character: One of the film's many foreign release titles is called "Jimmy Wang Yu, The Destroyer".
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Boss Chow is the leader of the gang operating the casino. Naturally he's also the best fighter and Tiger Wong's very, very last opponent.
- Beach Bury: A variation; in the final showdown against Boss Chow and a handful of his Elite Mooks on a beach, one of said mooks gets his head shoved into the sand with his legs and lower body remaining in this state for the rest of the fight. As the fight then focuses on Tiger Wong against Boss Chow, it's left to assume that said mook eventually suffocates under all that sand.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Tiger Wong is the most polite, meek and affable character portrayed by Jimmy Wang Yu, to the point of refusing to even hurt a fly. But when he's out of options, he ends up taking names by the multiple dozens.
- Decapitation Presentation: After Tiger Wong decapitates Chow's Number Two, and he's facing Boss Chow:Tiger Wong: [holding the guy's head in a sack] "Tomorrow afternoon I will put this swine's head at the foot of my mother's grave, then by the evening we shall meet at the beach and finish this once and for all!"
- Decoy Protagonist: The movie has plenty of build-up that either Miss Fang or her brother is the protagonist, being actively seeking to avenge their school's massacre and their master's death in the hands of Boss Chow. Tiger Wong is merely an alleged legendary martial arts master Miss Fang is seeking for help, but by the end of the second act, Miss Fang, her brother, and all her fellow warriors are killed by Boss Fang, and the entire third act including the final battle is solely on Tiger Wong.
- Disney Death: Miss Fang Yun Ku's eventual demise, by falling off a cliff after unsuccessfully defending herself from Boss Chow's mooks. It's not graphic and can only be seen from a distance.
- Dual Wielding: Tiger Wong uses twin knives in the final battle, as do a few Elite Mooks.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: While the movie dedicates a lengthy funeral scene for Tiger Wong's mother and the final battle is dedicated to Wong avenging her demise, however Wong's friends Miss Fang and Fang's brother are prompty forgotten after their deaths.
- Illegal Gambling Den: Boss Chow's main business dominating the entire city and ensuring
- Martial Pacifist: Tiger Wong, honoring his deceased father's request to stay out of fights and to never take a life.
- Off with His Head!: Boss Chow's Number Two suffers this fate, with Tiger Wong breaking his spine and then grabbing a nearby ax to rip off his cranium, in revenge for the Number Two killing his mother.
- One-Man Army: Tiger Wong in the casino climax. If he needs to kill 90 people to get to Boss Chow's Number Two, so be it.
- Outside-Context Problem: Tiger Wong to Boss Chow and his illegal gambling operations; the only heroic members of society opposing his gang is Miss Fang and her fellow comrades, Tiger Wong is merely some quiet guy who lived with his mother in the outskirts of the city, not even within his jurisdiction. There's no way Chow or any of his minions could expect Tiger getting dragged into stopping their operations at any chance.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: At least one of the film's international versions have it's opening title saying "''Wang Yu - The Destroyer!!!" (yes, there are three exclamation marks) as if to emphasize on who is the main star of the show.
- Rage Breaking Point: Tiger Wong keep his hands clean for the entirety of the film until villains after him ends up killing his mother. Shit gets very real after that, if the subsequent casino massacre is any indicator.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Tiger Wong's final rampage against the Chow casino, where he single-handedly kills over 90 people in an uninterrupted 15 minute duel, is for avenging his mother who died in the third act when Chow's minions coming after him ends up stabbing his mother instead.
- Suddenly Always Knew That: Tiger Wong spends much of the movie shying away from fighting or action. But when he needs to kick ass, he turns out to be really good at it, slaughtering a bloody path across Boss Chow's casino single-handedly.
- Villainous Valour: Boss Chow, after witnessing Tiger Wong killing a hundred of his mooks, had Tiger demanding for their showdown to be postponed to the next evening, after Tiger attended his mother's funeral. Boss Chow agrees.
- You Killed My Father: Here's what Tiger Wong had to say for his Pre-Asskicking One-Liner, while facing off a hundred of Chow's minions:Tiger Wong: "You killed my mother, now prepare to die!"
