The Golden Triangle (1975) review

 

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE 1975

Sombat Methanee (Chat), Lo Lieh (Peter Wong/Tony), Tien Ni (Hong Song Wu), Sawin Sawangrat (Lau Su), Tien Feng (Lo Han), Tanyarat Lohanan (Pon)

Directed by Wu Ma and Rome Bunnag

The Short Version: This ambitious co-production between Hong Kong and Thailand tries to capitalize on the subject of the drug trade within the mountain regions of Burma (now Myanmar), Laos and Thailand making headlines at the time. The first half builds a surprising amount of exposition and pathos while the second half unleashes near nonstop gun battles and a concluding car chase. Watch Lo Lieh--Mr. 5 Fingers of Death himself--ride a motorcycle and use an assortment of firearms in the same clothes he's wearing in BLACK MAGIC and BRUCE'S FINGERS. There's no actual Kung Fu fights, but this expensive (by Southeast Asian standards) rarity is worth the diehard KF fan's time.

 

 

Peter Wong is a Chinese drug dealer operating in Bangkok till the authorities discover he has escaped and is on the run. A woman he met in a nightclub helps him cross the border into Burma where he is introduced to Lo Han, a vicious crime boss seeking to expand his drug smuggling business and take out any competition; namely Hong Song Wu, a beautiful woman who inherited her father's opium business. Meanwhile, Chat, another wanted man on the run from the law--who may not be what he appears--finds his way into the jungle and becomes a member of Lady Hong's local syndicate providing armed escorts for the transportation of opium. Chat joins them in their battles against Lo Han deep inside the treacherous Golden Triangle.

 

The Drug lords paradise known as the Golden Triangle was big news back in the 1970s. American gangsters were making millions smuggling heroin into the United States while Triads grew their bank accounts vying for control of smuggling rings by overtaking transit points. Another movie about trafficking contraband from 1975, THE DELIVERY, touched on this topic by way of couriers who smuggled drugs from Japan to Hong Kong.

 

 

The Hong Kong film industry was once again going through changes in the mid-70s. Films like DEEP THROAT and LAST TANGO IN PARIS (both 1972) were emboldening Hong Kong film producers to be more daring in their films' sexual content. Both those titles were banned in HK although screenings of DEEP THROAT did occur in underground theaters. The industry itself was in decline due to several factors including the oil crisis, the rise of television, and the spread of communism that closed off some film markets after the fall of Saigon. 

 

 

In 1975, Southeast Asian territories, Thailand among them, imposed stricter rules on films imported from Hong Kong. This led to HK producers opting for co-productions as a way of incentivizing imports while presenting an exotic product for curious foreign buyers. THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE was one such picture. Moreover, there was another Asian movie produced in 1975 with this same title and almost identical plot; the other one stars Yasuaki Kurata and Han Ying Chieh. 

 

 

Modern-day crime stories were becoming increasingly popular with producers (if not at the box office). These types of crime pictures wouldn't solidify their place in the industry till the following year in 1976 after JUMPING ASH, an independently produced action thriller, was the #1 hit of that year.  

 

 

As for its entertainment value, THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE is surprisingly enjoyable. The cinematographer was Chinese DP Wong Wing Lung; his camera is one of the film's assets. There's some great shots throughout, and not just the sprawling Thai countryside. There are a lot of mid-level angles where the camera is behind certain characters with their guns in closeup. This creates a sense of menace you seldom got in these movies. The images of dozens of armed extras making their way through the jungle gives the impression that some money was indeed spent on this production; and more than was typically allotted.

 

Lo Lieh, who founded his own production company in 1972 with the blessing of his employers at Shaw Studio, put in nearly HK$1 million of his own money to co-finance THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE with Thai producers. The film made its premiere in Thailand at a charity show and reportedly was a big hit in the country. Apparently, Lo made his money back just in Thailand alone. This was probably helped along by the participation of Sombat Methanee, one of, if not the biggest, Thai stars of all time. Lo Lieh was passionate about this project and heavily promoted it in the various film markets to get its name out there.

 

Production took between 2-3 months to complete. Other pictures being shot in exotic locales like BLACK MAGIC (1975) kept Lo Lieh out of Hong Kong for close to a year. While Lo was making this movie, he had officially divorced his first wife whose English name was Christine. They had a son together and custody was turned over to her. The following year in 1976, Lo would marry his then live-in girlfriend, Tang Jia Li (Grace Tang). An aspiring actress, Lo put her in the lead role of his DEVIL AND ANGEL (1973), the first film made for his independent company he founded while shooting THE FUGITIVE (1972) at Shaw Brothers. Tang didn't care much for the movie world and decided to be a housewife and mother instead.

 

Lo Lieh was another actor who was referred to locally as the "Chinese Charles Bronson", or "Oriental Chai Zhan". He was certainly one of the busiest, and in-demand, actors working at the time. Lo gets a handful of good action scenes in TRIANGLE to show off in, even though the Thai star, Sombat Methanee, is the leading protagonist. Lo loved filming there, especially considering the value he got for his money compared to Hong Kong. THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, with its attractive and tropical locations, were appeasing enough for foreign producers to gamble on the movie. According to Lo Lieh at the time, Italy was paying close to US$100,000 for the license. The source for this blu-ray was an Italian print. It's unknown at the moment if this film played in Hong Kong theaters as Lo stated in an interview in 1975 he was shopping it around to local producers for purchase.

 

Much like Run Run Shaw, Lo Lieh had his eye on the international market. It was he who set the global dominance of Kung Fu movies into motion with 1972s KING BOXER, released in America as FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH in 1973. Lo had intended to produce a KING BOXER 2 but this never came to fruition. He had such faith in the Thai market that his next project was going to be filmed there. It was to have been another co-production, this time between his company and the two biggest Thai companies. War movies became a briefly popular topic in 1976 with Chang Cheh's 7 MAN ARMY (1976) leading the charge. Lo Lieh planned his to be budgeted at HK$8 million using 1957s THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI as its template. That production never got off the ground, but he did shoot THE BIG BOSS PART 2 and THE POSSESSED (both 1976) in the country instead.

 

Actor turned director Tien Feng made a career out of playing sinister and grotesque villains; the pinnacle of these being his absolutely loathsome antagonist in Cheng Kang's THE SWORD OF SWORDS (1968). OATH OF DEATH (1971) and THE BLACK ENFORCER (1972) are two others. His leading villain portrayal in KING BOXER (1972) is his most recognized internationally.

 

In THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Tien Feng plays a particularly nasty drug lord who may have been based on Burmese gangster Khun Sa. Backed by a 20,000-30,000 strong private militia, Khun Sa consolidated power from Burma (now Myanmar) to the Northern border of Thailand. Eventually, his smuggling operations shipped drugs beyond the areas of the Triangle to the streets of Hong Kong, Australia, Europe and America. Today, Myanmar is the top opium producer in the world; although the Golden Triangle is no longer the epicenter of drug crop cultivation. 

 

The script was written by a Thai actress named Thaworn Suwana. The dubbing doesn't show it, but the script is unexpectedly good. If the tri-territory mountain region of the title wasn't in the news as it was at the time, this movie probably would never have been made. There's even an attempt to present a positive side to the manufacturing of opium during a sequence between Methanee and Tanny where she says it's been the only source of livelihood for the people for generations. "To us, opium is an ordinary crop. It's you people in the civilized world who adapt it into social evils."  The film never justifies the manufacturing and selling of drugs, but it's unusual that there would be a discussion, brief as it is, about non-addictive uses of the plant in an action film.

 

 

The poppy plant (papaver somniferum) is also used for medicinal and therapeutic purposes as well as an ingredient in foods. There are several scenes where we see workers harvesting the plants and preparing them for wherever they're being shipped out to. These quasi-documentary moments give the feeling you're watching a Mondo movie. Among all the jungle action and tropical atmosphere, you'll see some fascinating glimpses of Thai life in the mid 1970s.

One curious scene has Lo Lieh going to a massage parlor and picking out six girls(!) to entertain him. It's really a ruse so his sinister employer, Lo Han, can double-cross him. The parlor women do business in these bathrooms with beds in them. They lather up on these inflatable pool floats and once you're massaged and cleaned up, you move to the adjoining bed for the completion of services rendered. 

 

Tanny Tien Ni was a popular freelance actress who had a lengthy career in Taiwan before making a mark in HK movies. Her relationship with married filmmaker Mou Tun Fei (MEN BEHIND THE SUN) in the early 70s made headlines. She was once again in the news when she and British actor Robin Stewart entered into a whirlwind romance for a few months during the filming of THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974). It seemed like the two lovebirds would tie the knot; Stewart went so far as to pen a statement in Cinemart Magazine about his love for Tien Ni. It wouldn't last, though, and she would ultimately wed Yueh Hua on December 22nd, 1975 and her wild ways ended there.

 

 

She does well in this role of the poppy field overlord, maintaining the business she inherited from her father, and coveted by the villainous Lo Han. Tanny even fires a machine gun and does some brief fighting at the conclusion. She was a feisty actress who didn't mind getting her hands dirty, so to speak. She would appear in at least one other Thai-lensed motion picture, the JAWS-inspired CROCODILE (1979) that apparently began shooting in Thailand in 1977. Of the two, Tanny makes a better impression as the firebrand poppy princess.

 

With THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE being a co-production between two different Asian territories, there are two different directors. Presumably, this was more Rome Bunnag's movie than Wu Ma's; the latter likely being on hand to aid and or direct scenes only with the Chinese actors.

One of those rare titles that had little circulation, THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE is a nice surprise with its plentiful gun battles and concluding car chase and boat crash. Kung Fu fans might be disappointed there isn't much in the way of hand-to-hand combat, but there's enough here to keep a fan preoccupied for 95 minutes. Once the plot is laid out, it's virtually non-stop action from the 44 minute mark to the end. This picture isn't anything remotely spectacular, it's just a nice, very entertaining surprise; a film whose reputation should improve with this attractive widescreen presentation.

This review is representative of the Dark Force Entertainment bluray. Specs and extras: new 2K scan of the longest running 35mm print known to exist (Italian print as IL TRIANGOLO D'ORO; English dubbed); 2.35:1 1080p anamorphic widescreen; running time: 01:34:51

 

The Delivery (1975) review

 

THE DELIVERY 1975 aka DEADLY KUNG FU FACTOR

 

Chen Hui Min (Kung Chun San Lang), Charles Heung Wah Keung (Tu Shao Hsiang), Susanna Au Yeung (Li Hsiang Yun), Cheng Kei Ying (Lin Ba), Chao Lei (Police Captain), Samson Hsieh Yuan (Policeman), Chang Chuan (Gangster with Eyepatch), Nana (Tina), Wu Chia Hsiang (Tu's Wheelchair-bound Father)

 

Directed by Herman Tsu

The Short Version: You'd expect a crime picture starring two of Hong Kong's biggest Triad figureheads to be an incredible example of modern-day action cinema. Going against convention, the filmmakers decided against finding ways to get these two Kung Fu powerhouses to fight multiple times--figuring subverting expectations was the way to go instead. Completed in 1975 but not released till 1978, it's equal parts action and romance peppered with an improbable plot turn or two. Fans of Chen Hui Min (Michael Chan Wai Man) will enjoy seeing him in a very different kind of role but for those expecting wall-to-wall action, this isn't THE DELIVERY you've been waiting for.

 

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS IMAGES OF NUDITY***

 

The criminal organizations in Hong Kong and Japan come together for $5 million in heroin. The HK police learn the Yakuza is sending one of their traffickers to Hong Kong for the sale and have him tailed upon his arrival at the airport. Kung Chun San Lang quickly realizes he's being followed and literally runs into a girl on a motorcycle after evading police. They strike up a quick relationship and soon meet up with a group of local gangsters for a night of gambling. Kung is caught cheating and fights the big boss, Tu Shao Hsiang. During the fight, Tu discovers Kung is his buyer from Japan. Kung's new girlfriend, Li Hsiang Yun, is unaware of the nature of his profession but she has a secret of her own. 

In 1970s Hong Kong cinema, the independent scene was a roller-coaster of excitement and disappointment. The productions coming out of these smaller outfits were frequently chaotic and rife with issues behind the scenes. On many occasions, a movie like this is a failure not necessarily due to a bad director, but problems that occurred during filming that caused the finished product to be wildly uneven. 

 

 

THE DELIVERY has minor issues due to changing hairstyles and one sequence where a new actor plays the part of another. Made in Hong Kong in 1975, the movie wasn't delivered to theaters till 1978. Completed in December of 1975, a two-page ad in Cinemart Magazine hyped the pairing of Chen and Heung as well as the inclusion of headline grabber, Nana, a new face in the burgeoning sex film genre in Hong Kong. The vague, two-word title was also being promoted as indicative of a new style of action drama with artistic merit.

 

 

Director Herman Hsu was an actor who became a director, and guided only a handful of movies. He shows a fleeting expressive side in THE DELIVERY, such as a penchant for paintings and having them correlate in some way to what's transpiring on-screen. He was friends with his leading actor and directed him in THE OWL (1974) and again in MARTIAL ARTS (1974), aka THE CHINESE MACK. Some of the same cast members from those two pictures came aboard the DELIVERY production, too.

 

Unfortunately, the biggest failing of the movie is Hoi Yan's script disregarding the potential box office attraction of pitting these two Triad Titans against each other. They have a good fight early on, but they remain on the same side afterward. The opportunity for a grand, if conventional, Kung Fu-Crime epic was there, but the filmmakers took a chance on something with the potential of wider appeal by reaching out to the female demographic.

 

In 1974, the love story WHERE THE SEAGULL FLIES made HK$1.5 million at the box office. It was rare that a romance picture made that kind of money in Hong Kong, but this one did. Stars Chen Chen and Alan Tang (the son of Triad royalty) were the two highest paid stars in Taiwan at the time; and director Li Hsing was a famous and highly respected director of dramas. With this film's success, a wave of love stories with ocean-style titles landed in movie theaters. So the makers of THE DELIVERY may have been influenced by that success, and made a movie with gangster action for the men and a love story for the women.

 

This type of romantic role was the first of its kind for Chen Hui Min at that stage in his career. He most often played gangsters and assorted villains, and was most famous for those roles. Early in his career he played the occasional hero, and sometimes a not so clear cut heroic figure as he is in this movie. THE DELIVERY is at least of great interest in that regard alone.

 

 

Chen's on-screen love interest is played Susanna Au Yeung (real name Chen Jie Ying). She fluctuated between the film and television mediums in addition to being a songstress as so many were back then and even today. Her biggest fame came in 1983 playing Huang Rong on the smash hit TV adaptation of LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES, the wildly popular Jin Yong novel adapted into a series of movies by director Chang Cheh as THE BRAVE ARCHER.

 

A beautiful lady, she would retire from the entertainment industry in the mid-1990s. From there, she became a doctor specializing in Qigong and acupuncture. On July 9th, 2017 Susanna Au Yeung passed away in hospital from lung cancer at the age of 63. 

 

 

In addition to being a Triad boss, frequently paying fines for drunk and or disorderly conduct, and making headlines for attempts on his life, Chen was a ladies man off-screen. He preferred Western women due to their carefree attitudes and comfortability to being approached on the street. Chen had apparently soured on marriage and was separated at the time. He'd stated in 1976 that living together was preferable so as to avoid legal entanglements. Chen was a tough customer and essentially playing himself in the films he made; but he was also an affable man and very approachable and friendly to those outside the Triad circles. 

 

When filming wrapped on THE DELIVERY, Chen was off to Indonesia to shoot THE DOUBLE CROSSERS (1976) with Chen Sing for Golden Harvest; and then onto THE KUNG FU KID (1977) for director Lo Wei. Also in 1976, Chen was going to do a movie for Director Li Han Hsiang at Shaw Brothers titled 'Gambling For Heads'  to be shot in Europe. Due to Chen's Triad affiliations, the production caused potentially life-threatening problems with opposing gangs in the Netherlands when the cast and crew arrived there. Things became so dicey that Run Run Shaw canceled the production. Since he'd already been paid, Chen Hui Min returned the favor by co-starring in Sun Chung's JUDGEMENT OF AN ASSASSIN in 1977.

There had been modern day crime movies since Chang Cheh paved the way for them with his Early Republic Era pictures like VENGEANCE! (1970), THE DUEL (1971) and BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972). The Chinese Cops and Robbers style took off in 1976 when JUMPING ASH seized the top spot on the list of top ten hits of the year, making nearly HK$4 million. 

 

 

That film, a new approach that foreshadowed the HK New Wave of the early 1980s, was the next step in the evolution of the HK crime picture that would move away from Kung Fu fighting lawmen and mobsters, to a more police procedural style, that was then supplanted by car chases and spectacular gun action. JUMPING ASH also starred Chen Hui Min; or Michael Chan Wai Man in Cantonese; or Raymond Chen Hui Min as he was advertised in periodicals of the day. To further confound the spelling and pronunciation of Chinese film stars back then, he's billed as Chan Wei Min in the credits. 

 

This is largely Chen Hui Min's movie although Charles Heung is his co-star. Heung pops in and out of the narrative to bed down prostitutes and to give Chen orders as to his next pickup. It's not sufficiently explained but the sale of $5 million in heroin is broken up into multiple meeting places instead of making the exchange all at once; so now the police, who turn up everywhere Chen happens to be, have additional chances to make a bust.

 

It's also not adequately laid out that there's multiple factions within the organization run by Tu Shao Hsiang (played by Charles Heung); at least we think he's the syndicate head. Late in the picture, we discover that his wheelchair-bound father is the real Big Boss. Perplexingly, his character is never seen again. His brief screentime at least offers some dialog that ends up as foreshadowing for something that occurs in the closing moments of the film.

 

Probably the best sequence is a comedic fight scene in a nightclub where the police pretend to be patrons and goad Kung into a fight. The band wisely move back and decide to enhance the mood by playing an Hispanic matador tune. Kung cleans everyone's clocks, then exits with his girlfriend.

Cheng Kei Ying is both the film's martial arts director and one of the supporting players, a gangster leader named Lin Pa. Cheng has one of the most interesting faces in all of Hong Kong cinema. He always had those long sideburns and sometimes sported a bald head so it was an unforgettable look. Suited best for villainy, he frequently displayed as much in many crime pictures and several Kung Fu flicks. His off-screen persona was even more fascinating. 

Before getting into the film industry, Cheng graduated from the Department of Physics in 1967 and became a teacher of the subject to middle school students. He studied a variety of martial arts styles of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese origin, in addition to Western boxing. He had been a boxing champion, a tournament judge, and a martial arts instructor for the University of Hong Kong, In 1974, the Shochiku film company invited him to Japan to perform Kung fu; and an invitation from Europe for demonstrations came afterward.

 

He met Chen Hui Min around 1972 after the two discovered their like-minded interest in Western Boxing. Chen encouraged him to give the acting business a chance. Reluctantly, Cheng Kei Ying obliged and made his first appearance in 1973s ONLY THE BRAVE STANDS, aka CHALLENGE OF THE DRAGON (not to be confused with 1973s THE WAY OF THE TIGER, a Taiwanese KF flick that was also titled CHALLENGE OF THE DRAGON in the US).

Cheng found making movies addicting and eventually moved into writing and producing. In 1978 he would co-found Overseas Pictures Company, Limited with actor-producer Chung Kuo Jen (who had mob ties). An independent company that made movies very quickly, their style attracted the attention of the Shaw Brothers who signed them up to make movies for them. Specializing in films about cops and gangsters, some of the titles they made for release through the Shaw company are GANG OF FOUR, ISLAND OF VIRGINS and GODFATHER'S FURY (all 1978).

In the 1970s, he was often appearing in movies starring Chen Hui Min, as well as choreographing the action in them. The aforementioned, and trendsetting indy picture JUMPING ASH (1976) being one such production. Some other films you'll know Cheng Kei Ying from in roles of varying size are REVENGE OF THE CORPSE (1981), KUNG FU ZOMBIE (1982), A FISTFUL OF TALONS (1983), and SECRET SERVICE OF THE IMPERIAL COURT (1984).

In THE DELIVERY, there's a second guy with an eyepatch that is supposed to be Cheng Kei Ying's Lin Pa character only it's not played by him (see insert). This scene could've been shot later, or possibly Cheng was unavailable due to commitments on other projects. One of the things that complicated indy pictures was films would routinely shut down because an actor would be contractually obligated elsewhere. Lead star Chen Hui Min, for example, he was a real fighter; so if he was filming one or more movies prior to a kickboxing bout, one or more of those productions may be temporarily placed on hiatus. 

 

This happened regularly since actors were appearing in 3-5 movies all at one time. This occurred at the majors too, but the smaller outfits had less capital to shield them. Other problems that would arise were actor injuries or becoming ill.

 

For this sequence shot in Hong Kong's beautiful Repulse Bay, Lin Pa is played by Richard Cheung, alias Chang Chuan. If you're a devout Shaw Brothers fan, you'll know him from one of their most beloved gangster movies, HONG KONG GODFATHER (1985) directed by actor Wang Lung Wei. In that film, Cheung was on the right side of the law.

 

 

Another actor in the film playing one of the cops is Samson Chieh Yuen (Hsieh Yuan). He wasn't a major player in the industry, but like Cheng Kei Ying, he had an interesting background. He was 21 years old when he signed with Shaw Brothers in 1966. His family heritage is Kwang Tung, although Chieh was born in Malaysia and grew up there. He had a passion for sports and particularly weightlifting. He won a few Malay competitions before the Shaw Organization recruited him via the company's Malaysian branch. 

His first appearance was in Chang Cheh's THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967). From there he had minor roles with nothing of significance. In 1970 he won the Mr. Hong Kong Weightlifting Title. Sadly, this didn't give him a career boost. Probably the role he's most recognizable for is the wrestler who gets tossed around by David Chiang in THE WATER MARGIN (1972).

 

He left Shaw Brothers with Chen Sing in 1972 and tried his luck on the independent circuit and his situation didn't improve. He became friends with Bruce Lee and appeared with him in the original footage Lee shot for GAME OF DEATH in 1972, but his scenes were not used when the movie was completed in 1978. 

 

Proficient in various forms of martial arts like Karate and Thai boxing, it was the latter that got him his sole gig as a Martial Arts Director on 1974s THE GREATEST THAI BOXING. On that picture he played a Japanese fighter and shared choreography duties with actors Fong Yeh (who brought Thai boxing to HK), San Kuei and Bolo Yeung, who'd been Mr. Hong Kong in 1969 before he too signed with Shaw Brothers. 

After working in Taiwan on films like THE BLAZING TEMPLE (1976), THE HOT, COOL AND THE VICIOUS (1976), THE REBEL OF SHAOLIN (1977) and INVINCIBLE ARMOR (1977), Chieh Yuen died from a cerebral edema on November 16th, 1977 at the age of 32. Bizarrely, this was the same cause of death attributed to Bruce Lee and the same age of death as well.

Despite being shot and completed in 1975, THE DELIVERY, which wasn't released till 1978, was Samson Chieh's last released motion picture, posthumously.

THE DELIVERY doesn't make clear sense; you have to put it together much like Chen does during the scene where he makes a pickup and the parcel contains a Bible with coded language inside revealing where the drugs are. The running time is 100 minutes which is plenty to tell a story cohesively; this one though, could do with losing ten of them, especially during the overlong finale. If you go into this one expecting non-stop action you'll be disappointed. If you order knowing this is not the typical Kung Fu picture, you may find THE DELIVERY a mildly enjoyable purchase.

***NOTE: This restored, widescreen release of THE DELIVERY, aka DEADLY KUNG FU FACTOR, has no main title present. Possibly this version was a print intended for a foreign release where the title would likely be changed.***

This review is representative of the Dark Force Entertainment blu-ray. Specs and extras: new 4K restoration from 35mm negative; Mandarin Chinese with or without English subtitles; running time: 01:39:12.