# Five Fingers of Death
**Five Fingers of Death** (original title *Tian xia di yi quan*, 天下第一拳; also released as *King Boxer*) is a 1972 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by the Korean filmmaker Chung Chang-wha for the Shaw Brothers studio, starring Lo Lieh as a young boxer who trains in the iron palm technique to win a fighting tournament.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/five-fingers-of-death) Released in the United States in 1973 under its better-known English title, it became the first Hong Kong feature to break open the Western market and launched the North American kung fu craze of the 1970s.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) • [3](https://www.netflixmovies.com/five-fingers-of-death-1972)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 天下第一拳 (*Tian xia di yi quan*), released as *King Boxer* in Asia and *Five Fingers of Death* in the West[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/five-fingers-of-death) • [1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) |
| Director | Chung Chang-wha (정창화), a Korean director under contract at Shaw Brothers from 1968[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/five-fingers-of-death) • [4](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019) |
| Hong Kong release | April 28, 1972[5](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399638431_A_Different_Fate_of_Two_Dubbed_Versions_of_a_Film_The_Case_of_Five_Fingers_of_Death_and_Iron_Man) |
| U.S. release | 1973, released by Warner Bros.; first Shaw Brothers film to get a real U.S. release[3](https://www.netflixmovies.com/five-fingers-of-death-1972) • [6](https://www.pbs.org/video/how-black-and-asian-audiences-found-justice-in-1970s-films-cahibr/) |
| U.S. box office | Made the American Top Ten box-office list for several weeks, at one point reaching third place; the Bucheon festival archive records it as the first Hong Kong film to reach No. 1 at the U.S. box office in 1973[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) • [4](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019) |
| Star | Lo Lieh as Chao Chih-Hao, with Wang Ping, Tien Feng, and Bolo Yeung in supporting roles[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/five-fingers-of-death) |
| Legacy | A stated favorite of Quentin Tarantino, who used its soundtrack and sound effects in *Kill Bill*[4](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
A promising young student, Chih-Hao (Lo Lieh), is sent to train under a new master so that he can win an important martial arts tournament and keep it from falling to local thugs.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070800/plotsummary/) The master of a rival school, determined that his own son win the title, hires three Japanese samurai to target the rival school's best fighters, and the villains also cripple the hero's hands.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070800/plotsummary/) • [10](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10797) Chih-Hao masters the deadly iron palm technique and enters the tournament anyway.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/five-fingers-of-death) Chung said the Japanese samurai characters were present in the original screenplay and that he focused on developing them, drawing on his study of Chinese history.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/interview-chung-chang-wha/)
## Production
In 1971, when the rival studio Golden Harvest's Bruce Lee vehicle *The Big Boss* swept box offices across Asia, Shaw Brothers responded with its own kung fu entry, and the task fell to Chung Chang-wha.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) Chung was a Korean director who had built a reputation as an action specialist in Seoul before [Run Run Shaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/run-run-shaw) recruited him as a house director; Shaw Brothers had assigned him a series of spy and martial arts films, including *Temptress of a Thousand Faces* (1969), *Valley of the Fangs* (1970), and *Six Assassins* (1971).[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) The film's producer was Run Run Shaw and its screenplay was by Chiang Yang.[4](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019)
In a later interview, Chung said he wanted to differentiate the film from the work of other Shaw Brothers directors by finding a middle point between traditional martial arts cinema and something modern.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/interview-chung-chang-wha/) He also stressed that filming began before [Bruce Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-lee) came to Hong Kong, so the film was not influenced by Lee's style, even though its distribution followed Lee's arrival.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/interview-chung-chang-wha/) The martial arts choreography was by Lau Kar-wing, for whom it was a breakout film in that role.[8](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-05_Publications/02_Oral-History-Series/Oral-History-Series-7_When-the-Wind-Was-Blowing-Wild-Hong-Kong-Cinema-of-the-1970s_English-editio/Oral-History-Series_eng07_ebook.pdf)
## American release and the kung fu craze
After a successful run in Asia, *King Boxer* became the designated project to spearhead Shaw Brothers' effort to break into the West. Renamed *Five Fingers of Death*, it was released in the U.S. and Europe in 1973 and became a big hit, making the American Top Ten box-office list for several weeks and at one point reaching third place.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival's archive describes it as the first Hong Kong film to be exported to America and the first to reach No. 1 at the U.S. box office in 1973.[4](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019) The two sources give different peak positions, third place and first place.
The film's American success was part of a wider wave. On May 16, 1973, *Fists of Fury*, *Deep Thrust: The Hand of Death*, and *Five Fingers of Death* held the top three positions on *Variety*'s list of the week's box-office draws.[11](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13908/1/438545.pdf) The film was the first Shaw Brothers film to get a real U.S. release, and its success, riding Warner Bros.' television series *Kung Fu*, launched the North American kung fu craze; more than 30 similar films came out in the U.S. in 1973 alone.[3](https://www.netflixmovies.com/five-fingers-of-death-1972) The Hong Kong Film Archive credits it as the film that introduced [Chinese martial arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-martial-arts) films to a wide Western audience, doing so before Golden Harvest could release Bruce Lee's films there.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf)
## Music and later influence
The film's score borrows existing Western music, including [Quincy Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/quincy-jones)'s theme from the American television series *Ironside*, used as a leitmotif, and John Barry's music for *[Diamonds Are Forever](https://www.edgepedia.org/diamonds-are-forever-song)*.[3](https://www.netflixmovies.com/five-fingers-of-death-1972) • [12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/5_fingers_of_death) Critics have noted how the creators synthesized these influences into a distinctive whole.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/5_fingers_of_death)
[Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino) has called the film one of his favorites, and he used its soundtrack and characteristic effects, including its siren sound, in *Kill Bill*.[4](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019) • [12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/5_fingers_of_death) Tarantino has said that seeing the trailer for *Five Fingers of Death* by chance opened his eyes to the potential of martial arts cinema.[13](https://as.com/meristation/cine/las-10-peliculas-de-kung-fu-imprescindibles-para-quentin-tarantino-os-volaran-la-cabeza-f202601-n/) The film also set the standard for the "rival schools" template of kung fu cinema, in which the discipline of one school defeats the unprincipled practitioners of another.[14](https://mubi.com/en/films/king-boxer/critics-reviews)
## Aftermath for the director
Chung Chang-wha did not stay long at Shaw Brothers after the film. He clashed with Mona Fong, who had been put in charge of production, and left the studio in 1973 to join the fledgling Golden Harvest, where he made several action films. After directing *Broken Oath* (1977) he returned to Korea, worked as a producer, and never directed another film.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf) The archive notes that his contributions to Hong Kong cinema were long neglected in part because he was Korean, and that Shaw Brothers played down his ethnicity in English credits, where he was most often listed as "Cheng Chang Ho".[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf)
The title *Five Fingers of Death* has also been used for an unrelated American science fiction film, *Hand of Death* (1962), a 58-minute black-and-white feature about a scientist transformed by nerve gas exposure.[15](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hand_of_death)
## References
1. [Sam Ho, "Chung Chang-wha helped Hong Kong conquer the West in the 1970s," Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter 28](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter28_e.pdf)
2. [Five Fingers of Death, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/five-fingers-of-death)
3. [Five Fingers of Death (1972) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/five-fingers-of-death-1972)
4. [Five Fingers of Death, program note, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival archive](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=3242&sc_category1=&sc_year=2019)
5. [A Different Fate of Two Dubbed Versions of a Film: The Case of Five Fingers of Death and Iron Man, ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399638431_A_Different_Fate_of_Two_Dubbed_Versions_of_a_Film_The_Case_of_Five_Fingers_of_Death_and_Iron_Man)
6. [Historian's Take: Why Was Everybody Kung Fu Fighting In The 70s? Episode 2, PBS](https://www.pbs.org/video/how-black-and-asian-audiences-found-justice-in-1970s-films-cahibr/)
7. [Interview: Chung Chang-Wha, Film Comment](https://www.filmcomment.com/interview-chung-chang-wha/)
8. [When the Wind Was Blowing Wild: Hong Kong Cinema of the 1970s, Hong Kong Film Archive Oral History Series 7](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-05_Publications/02_Oral-History-Series/Oral-History-Series-7_When-the-Wind-Was-Blowing-Wild-Hong-Kong-Cinema-of-the-1970s_English-editio/Oral-History-Series_eng07_ebook.pdf)
9. [Five Fingers of Death (1972) plot summary, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070800/plotsummary/)
10. [죽음의 다섯 손가락 (Five Fingers of Death), Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10797)
11. [Martial arts and blaxploitation cinema, University of Nottingham eprints](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13908/1/438545.pdf)
12. [Five Fingers of Death, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/5_fingers_of_death)
13. [Las 10 películas de kung-fu imprescindibles para Quentin Tarantino, AS](https://as.com/meristation/cine/las-10-peliculas-de-kung-fu-imprescindibles-para-quentin-tarantino-os-volaran-la-cabeza-f202601-n/)
14. [King Boxer critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/king-boxer/critics-reviews)
15. [Hand of Death, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hand_of_death)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Martial arts films › Released 1943 to 1985*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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