The Postman Fights Back is a 1982 Hong Kong Martial Arts Movie directed by Ronny Yu in his directorial debut, starring Bryan Leung, Chow Yun-fat (a few years before A Better Tomorrow made him famous), Eddy Ko (from Heroes Shed No Tears) and Shaw Brothers action veteran Fan Mei-sheng, who would later co-star with Chow in Rich and Famous.
Living in the cold wastelands of Northern China during the 1930s revolution era can be rough, especially for Ma, a former martial artist-turned-courier specializing in transporting and smuggling services. So when Ma and his friends are hired by the mysterious Hsu, who claims to be working for a wealthy, powerful baron and wishes to enlist Ma's assistance to deliver for him a cargo of four mysterious cases, where they will be paid handsomely for their services on the condition that they will NOT in any way attempt to find out what they're transporting, they immediately agrees to the assignment. Eager for the money, Ma and his team, including Ma's best friend Yao-jie (Yuen Yat-cho), fellow courier also hired for the job Fu Jun (Chow Yun-fat), and friendly local coal miner Bu (Fan Mei-sheng), sets off on a long trip across the cold winter wastelands of Northern China with their cargo. But their mission is compromised, and Hsu is not who he seems.
This film provides examples of:
- Advertised Extra: The re-issued DVD covers
of this movie would tend to hype Chow Yun-fat’s presence in this film, even though he plays second fiddle to Bryan Leung’s character Ma. Understandable, since this movie came out before A Better Tomorrow made Chow a megastar and cinematic icon. - Boisterous Bruiser: Bu, a huge and muscular brute who acts as the Mighty Glacier of the team, but is also a jolly Big Fun of a man.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: When Hsu starts using the heavy machine gun to massacre the prisoners, Yao-jie quickly tells his sisters to turn around and look at him, while holding them into his chest so they can’t see the massacre.
- Death of a Child: Two in a row. Yao-jie’s two kid sisters, both whom are barely 7 years of age. Hsu simply offs them together with Yao-jie using the machine-gun without batting an eye.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: Ma and Bu both have mustaches, as did Hsu and the warlord leader. Averted for Chow Yun-fat’s Fu Jun however.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Hsu, the Big Bad, turns out to have been trained in the arts of ninjutsu in Japan, and is clad with his own ninja outfits packing with all sorts of hidden weapons and gadgetry.
- Grim Up North: Most of the movie is set in the Northern Chinese border, during winter.
- I Have a Family: Yao-jie’s reason for becoming an informant, is because both of his younger sisters are captives captured alive by the rebel warlord, and he’s forced to assist Hsu in double-crossing his entire team in exchange for his sister’s lives.
- Hero Killer: Hsu is responsible for killing most of the named characters, including torturing Miss Li to death, hanging Gui-hua, stabbing Fu Jun In the Back with his concealed hook and turning his machine gun on the fleeing Yao Jie.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Bu, in his final moments realizing he's wounded too badly to survive the night, decide to blow up himself, the machine-gun, and the rest of the warlord's camp to prevent the machine-gun from falling to the wrong hands.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- During Fu Jun’s battle with Hsu, Fu Jun tries using his scarf as a makeshift weapon (it worked before in the twins fight) to ensnare Hsu, only for Hsu to use it to bind Fu Jun’s hands behind him, allowing Hsu to execute the now-defenceless Fu Jun.
- The warlord intends to use his newly-received mysterious package, which turns out to be a heavy machine gun, to wipe out all enemy armies who opposes him. But he didn't count on Bu, on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, to sneak into his camp, hijack his new machine-gun, and turn it against his army killing everyone including himself.
- Hollywood Magnetism: One of Hsu’s many hidden weapons is his wrist shield, which is also a magnet which can pluck Fu Jun’s fired dart out of thin air. Later in the final confrontation, Hsu tries to sneak upon Ma by tunneling underground for a sneak attack, but Ma managed to counter it by using his compass to locate Hsu via magnet.
- Human Ladder: The Dual Boss twin midgets who fights Fu Jun simultaneously can fight while having one carry the other atop his shoulders, making them appear to tower over Fu Jun. Until Fu manage to gain the upper hand by using his concealed wrist dart to take down one of the twins, whereupon the other instantly becomes easy pickings.
- Kick the Dog: Yao-jie had finally delivered the mysterious package to Hsu and the warlord, as promised, in exchange for his sisters’ lives, only to discover the package to be a heavy machine-gun intended for the warlord to start a revolution, and Yao-jie can only watch as Hsu demonstrates the machine gun by slaughtering two dozen helpless prisoners. After realizing he’s been used and manipulated against his will, Yao-jie is allowed to leave with his sisters… except not. After all, Hsu had just killed over twenty people with that machine gun, what’s another guy and two little girls anyway?
- Ludicrous Gibs: Hsu’s eventual fate. Ma manage to stab Hsu with a dart in a last-ditch attempt to beat Hsu, but Hsu simply pulls the dart out of his chest… and unintentionally triggers the detonator wire of a hidden explosive device installed in the dart. One Oh, Crap! on Hsu’s face later and BOOM, instant ninja giblets!
- MacGuffin Delivery Service: Ma’s courier team, whose assignment is to deliver a mysterious package to a warlord who lives up north, but they’re not allowed to peep through its contents. Because the package is actually a heavy machine-gun the warlord is intending to use for starting a revolution.
- Molotov Cocktail: Bu briefly uses this weapon against the attacking bandits on the frozen lake battle. He caused a massive explosion that takes out most of the bandits and successfully drives the rest of them away while the courier team makes a hasty retreat.
- More Dakka: The mysterious package Ma’s team of couriers had to deliver to the warlord, turns out to be a belt-fed automatic machine-gun. Hu demonstrates the effectiveness of this weapon by using it to gun down two dozen captured prisoners, then use it to dispose of Yao-jie and his sisters to Leave No Witnesses. Later on, Bu sneaks into the warlord’s camp and manage to hijack this weapon, gunning down scores and scores of enemies including the warlord himself.
- Nothing Up My Sleeve: Fu Jun’s long sleeves conceal a hidden dart launcher, which he can use for sneak attacks, effective in taking down a fleeing bandit and later getting him out of a fix in the Dual Boss battle. But against Hsu, unfortunately Hsu’s wrist magnet completely No-Sell Fu Jun’s darts.
- Rollerblade Good: One of the fight scenes had the courier team crossing a frozen lake, where they have to fight a whole group of rollerblading bandits who had an advantage over the heroes because of their roller-blades.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Fu Jun wears a long scarf that combined with Cloth Fu, allows him to easily bind and restrain opponents, such as strangling the second twin in the Dual Boss fight. Ultimately, his own scarf ends up contributing to his own defeat…
- Smoke Out: Hsu, in ninja mode, uses his smoke bombs to make a quick getaway (or to sneak upon his opponents) more than once in the film.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: Hsu, the Big Bad, turns out to be a ninja who boasts an immense arsenal of ninja weapons, including a flail, smoke bombs, a wrist magnet, shurikens, wrist flamethrowers, a three-pronged hook blade and a concealed net.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Bu’s final stand in the warlord’s quarters had him igniting dynamites and throwing them into the camps of enemy soldiers, blowing up several of them as well as setting off munitions bunkers and explosive piles.
- Taking You with Me: Bu, suffering from multiple injuries and surrounded by rebels, decides to ignite the entire cache of dynamites in the wagon surrounding him, causing a massive explosion that takes out all remaining rebels and himself at the same time.
- Unwilling Suspension: Miss Li-fu is subjected to being hung from one of her wrists after being captured alive by Hsu, who interrogates her while gleefully watching her in pain. Then torturing her to death while she’s still hanging.
- Wacky Wayside Tribe: Hordes and hordes of mountain bandits awaits, attempting to hinder Ma and his team's progress through the winter wastelands.
