1972’s Fist of Fury became a major hit and helped make Bruce Lee a star. However, the actor’s untimely death in 1973 ensured he couldn’t appear in a sequel.

Nonetheless, a second chapter in the series appeared in 1976 via New Fist of Fury - as well as a competitor called Fist of Fury Part 2, but that’s a subject for a different review. Coincidentally, New Fist acted as the first chance audiences had to see a new martial arts icon, as it gave Jackie Chan one of his earliest lead roles.

Set in the 1930s, siblings Miao Li-er (Nora Miau) and and Sampo (Kam Cheung) flee Japanese-occupied Shanghai to go to Taiwan, another territory controlled by the Japanese. They do so to stay with their grandfather Hsu Wan-lai (Yim Chung), the proprietor of a local karate school.

However, a rival murders Master Hsu as part of a plan to dominate all the martial arts academies. The siblings battle the odds and attempt to maintain the establishment anyway, eventually assisted by Ah Lung (Chan), a thief who gets tied into this when he steals a special box owned by Li-er.

That sounds like a pretty straightforward story, doesn’t it? On paper, New Fist tells a simple tale, but on the screen, it gets more than a little confusing.

The movie doesn’t explain characters or circumstances especially well. In addition, it takes a surprisingly long period of time to get where it needs to go in terms of dramatic development.

New Fist goes nearly one-fourth of the way into its running time before it bothers to introduce Okimura (Chan Sing), the villain who wants to dominate the martial arts scene. The film requires even more time before we formally meet Master Hsu, and he doesn’t die until about halfway into the story. That just feels too long – at least given the ways New Fist uses that first hour.

In addition, the competing threads become messy. While New Fist’s main claim to fame comes from Chan’s role, Ah Lung plays a smaller than expected part in the story.

Instead, this really becomes Li-er’s tale – which makes sense, as both that character and that actor appeared in the 1972 Fist. Li-er acts as the conduit that should become the primary plot line.

However, perhaps the filmmakers feared the box office impact of a female lead and hedged their bets. Though Li-er acts as the main part here, we do get quite a lot of time with Ah Lung, albeit as a secondary participant.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the movie comes from its depiction of Ah Lung as inept at martial arts for much of the film. We learn that he maintains no desire to learn – for reasons that never become especially clear – and this allows Ah Lung to blossom when he changes his mind.

Indeed, Ah Lung becomes the only role with a real arc. I still consider Li-er to exist as the movie’s main character, this does shift during the film’s second half, as Ah Lung takes more prominence.

Chan does fine in the part, limited as it may seem much of the time. He conveys Ah Lung’s changes convincingly and performs fights well, though without his trademark comedic shtick. That wouldn’t come until later, so New Fist conveys a more serious Chan that subsequent audiences would get to know.

The villains get the most fun moments, as often becomes the case – and honestly, they seem cooler than the heroes. Okimura manages to fend off assassins clad on in a thong, and he even catches/throws a dagger with his teeth!

Sing plays Okimura with hissable abandon, and I also love Cheng Siu-siu as Chiyoko, Okimura’s daughter. She delivers a delightfully brutal performance, and I appreciate that her main battle comes against Ah Lung and not Li-er since that avoids a cinematic “girl fight” cliché.

When its digs into action and battles, New Fist does pretty well. However, it offers a fairly slow and meandering narrative that makes it a spotty flick.

New Fist of Fury appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though somewhat erratic, this turned into a generally appealing presentation.

Sharpness became one of the variable domains, as some scenes leaned a little soft. I suspected a bit of noise reduction interfered, as the movie seemed a bit too grain-free and could feel slightly “off” at times.

Nonetheless, most of the movie displayed positive delineation, and I saw no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects. Print flaws also failed to manifest.

Colors went with a modest blue impression but tended to feel reasonably natural. While they didn’t dazzle, the hues showed positive range within design choices.

Though they occasional came across as a little pale, blacks mostly seemed deep, and low-light shots offered good smoothness. In general, this was a more than adequate image.

Note that at times, the image felt stretched in a vertical manner, and this meant actors could look abnormally thin and tall. I don’t know if this stemmed from the original photography or from this transfer.

Expect issues with the movie’s problematic DTS-HD monaural soundtrack, as it came with weak quality. Speech consistently sounded rough and edgy, with a lot of iffy dubbing.

Music seemed shrill and harsh, and effects followed suit, as those elements appeared metallic and distorted much of the time. This kind of flawed audio was typical of the era’s Asian films, but it nonetheless left us with an unpleasant sonic affair.

Two versions of Fist appear on the Blu-ray. In addition to the Original Theatrical Cut (2:00:05), we find a 1980 Re-Release Cut (1:22:40).

In an attempt to capitalize on Jackie Chan’s burgeoning popularity, the 1980 edition trimmed much of the rest of the story and made Ah Lung the clear focal point. I appreciate its inclusion as a curiosity but it turns into the weaker version of the film.

That said, a tighter cut of New Fist would probably work, as the original rambles too much and lacks focus. The 1980 edit simply doesn’t make the right choices.

Alongside the theatrical version, we find an audio commentary from Hong Kong Film expert Frank Djeng and filmmaker Michael Worth. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion of the first movie and sequel issues, cast and crew, changes for the 1980 cut, and various genre/production domains.

The handful of prior Djeng/Worth commentaries I heard seemed spotty, with little of worth – ha! – from Michael. That changes here, mainly because Worth knows a lot about Bruce Lee, so this movie’s connection to that actor allows him more involvement.

The track can still drag a little at times. However, it usually moves at a pretty good pace and gives us a positive overview of relevant subjects.

A second commentary accompanies the 1980 cut of the film, and this one features film historian Brandon Bentley. He brings a running, screen-specific look at changes made for the 1980 version as well as cast/crew, genre domains and production notes.

With only 82 minutes at his disposal, Bentley packs in a lot of content during this fast-paced and lively chat. He gets into a great variety of topics and proves both engaging and informative in this terrific commentary.

Bentley reappears via New Fist, Part Two Fist, a seven-minute, 35-second “video essay”. Bentley compares New Fist to a competing sequel called Fist of Fury Part Two.

Via narration and split-screen visuals, Bentley brings us a comparison of the two films that competed to offer Fist a second chapter. Bentley provides a tight overview of this domain.

A Trailer Gallery provides both Cantonese and English promos for New Fist as well as a “Chen Zhen Trailer Reel”. Finally, an Image Gallery delivers 25 stills that mix shots from the movie and ads. It proves lackluster.

Due to its somewhat rambling and slow plot, New Fist of Fury can offer something of an endurance test. Still, it picks up in the second half and offers enough good action to make the viewer stick with it. The Blu-ray comes with decent visuals, problematic audio and a mix of bonus materials. I wouldn’t call this a great martial arts movie, but it manages to become moderately engaging.