Falconeer Review of Yellow-Faced Tiger

Yellow-Faced Tiger (1974)

Review For the Asian 102 Minute Version

[8/10 · 23 September 2019]

I noticed that none of the reviews here are based on the the original Asian cut of the film, "Yellow Faced Tiger," and not surprisingly because that version is one of the rarest martial arts titles in the world. It was only released one time, in the early 90's on an extremely limited VCD, and only for the Asian market. I was recently lucky enough to find that VCD, and that version is extremely different from what is available today. Running 20 minutes longer, and without the silly English dubbing, it becomes an extremely well made crime film. A very in depth story about massive police corruption within the San Francisco police force, this version also deals at great length with the racism that exists between White Americans and the Chinese immigrants living in the area. White cops, using Chinese thugs to commit bank robberies, then putting the blame on an innocent Chinese family, simply because of their race. Meanwhile the friendship between an Asian cop and his black partner is at the heart of the story. The great Chuck Norris appears at the halfway mark, as the leader of the large Chinese gang, who claims to prefer using Chinese thugs because of their devotion and willingness to die for him. Though filmed on location in USA, this is in every way, a Chinese production. "Slaughter In San Francisco" is a beautiful piece of 70's film-making at it's most nostalgic. The flashy clothes, the sexy cars and the fantastic music are all here in force in this film that starts out as a cop buddy movie. The main character here is Asian, of course as this is an Asian production. When his black partner & best friend is murdered and his own precinct seems strangely unconcerned, Officer Wong decides to conduct his own investigation that exposes the police corruption. A lot of brilliantly choreographed and exciting kung fu battles ensue, with an excellent group fight sequence filmed on a beach as one of the film's standout scenes. Of course nothing can compare to the anticipated finale between Don Wong & Chuck Norris, which is a real adrenaline rush, as well as a fantastic reference to "Way of the Dragon," the martial arts classic that came out 2 years prior. This movie's other connection to Bruce Lee is of course it's director, Wei Lo, who was responsible for Lee's most intense and bloody Epic, "Fist of Fury," which is this reviewer's favorite of the Bruce Lee films, and the reason I searched out "Slaughter In San Francisco," and it did not disappoint. Unlike Shaw Bros "Chinatown Kid," which also takes place in San Francisco, but on a fake looking sound stage in China, "Slaughter" is filmed on location, which seems to be the preference for 'Golden Harvest' productions. The fantastic San Francisco scenery elevates this one to the next level, which is why it's important to see it in it's original widescreen version. This is one of those movies that is completely IMPOSSIBLE to rate, mainly because...few have actually seen the original product. "Slaughter In San Francisco" was originally filmed in Chinese, with the American actors speaking English with their own voices, with subtitles for the Chinese audience, whom this was originally made for, they way in which Bruce Lee's "Way of the Dragon" was presented. It was also filmed using the super wide 2;35 lens, as were most Asian films of the period. What we got in the West is a movie where everyone's voices were removed and horribly overdubbed, and they are not even saying the same lines that were originally intended. Then almost half the picture was cropped off, and you get the very different product that people are reviewing here. Ignore the low rating, true fans of this genre will love this movie.