Beach of the War Gods Poster

Reel East is proud to celebrate the career of the OTHER great action hero of the 1970s with The Jimmy Wang Yu Collection.

A native of Jiangsu, Wang Yu was raised in Shanghai, and relocated to Hong Kong in 1960. There Wang became a champion water polo player, and attracted the attention of director Chang Cheh when he became involved in a televised poolside brawl. He was signed to a contract by Shaw Bros, and came into his own when directed by the leading action film-maker of the day, Chang Cheh.

Chang Cheh directed Jimmy Wang Yu in the ground-breaking actioner ‘One-Armed Swordsman’, a huge success that established Wang as the pre-eminent swordplay hero of his day. In 1970, Wang Yu directed and starred in ‘The Chinese Boxer’, a film that revived fist-and-foot, rather than swordplay, action. Its success paved the way for the return to Hong Kong of another kung fu expert, Bruce Lee.

After producer Raymond Chow left Shaw Bros to form his Golden Harvest company, Wang Yu followed suit, breaking his contract and relocating to Taiwan, where he set up his own production base. It was from there that Jimmy produced, directed and starred in a string of films, many of which were distributed by Golden Harvest.

Wang Yu remade the Kurosawa classic ‘Seven Samurai’ as ‘Beach of the War Gods’. Filmed on the Formosan beaches, the movie saw Wang Yu hit new heights as a director and action icon.

Reel East is proud to share this rare poster printed by Golden Harvest to promote the original theatrical release of the film.