Yu Wang has reprised his one armed character several times, but MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE has earned unusual kudos. It's rumored to be one of Quentin Tarantino's favorites - something not hard to imagine just from watching trailers for the up-and-coming KILL BILL film. It has a good pedigree; for example one of its fight choreographers, Liu Chia-Liang (aka: Lau Kar Leung) later worked on the masterful DRUNKEN MASTER II. It's also cited as an influence on such disparate works as the award-winning CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON on down to the video games of STREET FIGHTER. But all these connections take a back seat to the raw and simple fun that are played out onscreen. The flying guillotine itself, a whirling contraption on a leash that looks like a bird-cage with fangs that the old, blind warrior easily yanks out and snaps around to decapitate his foes, represents just part of the bombastic equation. It should also be noted that this device was used in films that predate this one and would pop up again in such fare as THE HEROIC TRIO (1993). Far beyond imaginative props and other fantastic elements that notch up the energy, what's nice about MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE is how it doesn't dally about with too much exposition and gets right down to non-stop Kung Fu pulp with tournament fights backed by a fun soundtrack and featuring a revolving door of colorful fighters with great names and even greater talents.
The films running time of 93 minutes might seem brisk to some, but it easily beats some of the originally seen versions that were paraded about in a truncated form as short as just an hour long, without mentioned the fuzz-factor of a multi-generational and all-around bad-dupe with bad dubbing. This dvd release by Pathfinder Home Entertainment marks the release of a restored version that represents seven years of work and results in a mostly solid and clean image with a great 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, subtitles, and 12 extra minutes of excised footage compiled from different print sources. It also has three trailers (including the original Chinese Export trailer), an audio commentary by Wade Major (of Box Office magazine) and Andy Klein (of The New Times), a Still Gallery with 13 pictures, and bios for Wang Yu and Lau Kar Leung.
For more information about Master of the Flying Guillotine, visit Pathfinder Films. To order Master of the Flying Guillotine, go to TCM Shopping.
by Pablo Kjolseth
