Synopsis
An Australian cop heads to Hong Kong to head off the supply of a new designer drug which raises the sexual appetite of anyone who takes it.
The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss
Cast
Director
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Editor
Cinematography
Stunts
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Costume Design
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Primary Language
Spoken Languages
Alternative Titles
Tie jin gang da po zi yang guan, Tit gam gong daai poh chi yeung goon, A Man Called Stoner, Hong Kong Hitman, Stoner - Ein Mann wie Granit, Stoner, Stoner se déchaîne à Hong Kong, Kiveä kovempi Stoner, Angokugai no doragon: Dengeki Sutona, Stoner - O 'Arrasa-Quarteirões', O 'Arrasa-Quarteirões', Stoner: Agente muy especial, Гонконгский наёмник, 铁金刚大破紫阳观, O Super Homem do Karate
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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Hong Kong
Releases by Country
Hong Kong
02 Aug 1974
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
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"If you introduce a spinning desk in the first act, you'd better have George Lazenby fighting ten dudes on it in the third." -Anton Chekhov
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Nachdem der Bond-Deal nach nur einem Auftritt, Lazenbys Bekunden nach auf eigene Initiative hin, Anfang der 70er Jahre bekannterweise in die Binsen ging, verdingte sich der charismatische Mime als Lohnarbeiter für den ehemaligen Shaw-Brothers Gefolgsmann Raymond Chow und seiner Golden Harvest. Er agiert wahlweise mal als gut oder als böse, den Sleaze- und Trash-Faktor immer auf Max und die Qualitätsstufen der Filme von schundig-akzeptabel (wie hier) bis gefällig-unterhaltsam wie im Falle des von mir sehr geschätzten Mann aus Hongkong. Ob dieses ganze Drama im Nachgang jetzt besser war für den charmanten Aussie, mag jeder für sich selbst entscheiden.
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Classic "this'll do" Wong Fung/Angela Mao collab. Except this one for no good reason is 110 minutes, and it's not until those last 10 minutes that Angela Mao gets to throw down. Feels cheap, but that's just the way these things are. The kind of movie that won't necessarily benefit from a restoration, the crustier the better.
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Starts off in proto-Rabid mode before jettisoning its luridly interesting premise (a narcotic which causes users to fuck one another to death) in favour of a more straightforward drug-busting plotline.
It’s a very ragged and faltering affair, until the last act when the two main stars join forces. Nevertheless, Angela Mao rises above the weak-beer material: timid and fragile when undercover; a whirling dervish of kung-fu moves when beating down on the bad guys; engagingly cheeky, otherwise. Compared to cohort George Lazenby, she’s *tiny*, which makes for an amusing little-and-large pairing. Btw, GL’s rather good in the fight scenes, particularly when one considers the calibre of martial artists Golden Harvest was able to call upon.
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George Lazenby is Stoner. Which is certainly better than Stuart Whitman as Shatter. They both came out in the same year as Golden Harvest and the Shaw Brothers tried going international. GH wins this one - though I am a bigger fan of Shatter than most people and should revisit that too. This is a revisit for Stoner and it's a bit strange. A review I wrote 20 years back makes mention of things that never occur in this film. Curious to see if I was once on drugs, I read a couple of other reviews and they both make mention of drugs and sleaze - neither of which are in this version (the Fortune Star vcd). I would guess…
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Beginning to think George Lazenby is a bit of a Chuck Norris, ie a bland white dude who thinks he’s hot shit because he does ~judo chops~ in movies. I’m not a fan of his Bond either, unpopular opinion I know, but serious Bond = boring Bond for me. This feels like it has the potential to be one of those wild crossover oddities, starting out with a zany drug cult ceremony, but it’s two hours long which results in a lot of faffing.
Supposedly Lazenby’s martial arts credentials are legit (no idea how much truth there is to that) but he looks stiff as hell in his lime green shirt and tan shoes. Apparently Jack Palance turned down the role - now THAT would have been funny
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A friend was able to send me the other version of Stoner. The one I previously saw had cleaned up most of the sleaze that this one has and this seems to be the best known version. I have no idea who the other version was made for - maybe Malaysia and Indonesia? This version is about 20 minutes longer and most of that differential is devoted to a weird orgy scene that takes place in the Lazenby segment in Australia. The other main difference is one of just switching around a few words in the dubbing. The other one was about these mini bombs being produced while this was about Happy Pills. The bad guys have manufactured a pill…
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Sammo Hung the thug (again) with Angela Mao as not the only badass here… George Lazenby's mustache kicks some ass as well. Rather amusing premise about a crime syndicate producing a designer drug that turns up the user's libido. PEOPLE WANT THE SEX. Lazenby and Mao buddy cop it up to take them down. Besides the final bass battle, the real highlight is the sweet ass crime lair with the revolving floor. I prefer the alt.HK title: “The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss” which refers to that exquisite velvety red room. Total 70s. I want to live this in movie.
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Despite the US title of Stoner, Lazenby's titular hard hitting agent character isn't really the hero here. The MVP is Angela Mao, Lady Whirlwind herself (who gets some amazing outfits throughout the course of the film, although this applies to pretty much everyone), who is the one who saves his ass at the end.
Anyways, the macguffin here is a horny pill, which means there's a lot of "weird sex shit"™️ throughout this film, and some of it made me somewhat queasy, like the out there sex cult at the start. The film has this sleazy, cheap, really dead air feel and that's not really a good thing at points. I assume this was to make the film marketable to…
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With apologies to Brian Trenchard-Smith, after watching The Man From Hong Kong Blu-ray, instead of rushing to watch the plethora of other features he made that are on the same disc, I felt compelled to watch this weirdo thing again.
Don't get me wrong. It's not anywhere near as good as The Man From Hong Kong, or Stunt Rock for that matter, but if someone came out with a fancy new Blu-ray for it, I would totally buy it.
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Released the same year as The Man With the Golden Gun, also stars a Bond actor, and has numerous martial arts fights -- this is by far the best Bond film of 1974.
Angela Mao stands out in her fights, Sammo shows up along with his choreography, and George Lazenby is perfect, managing to not stick out, even among these titans, all the while dressed as the 1970's.Fascinating production history as well -- was originally supposed to star Lazenby, Bruce Lee, AND Sonny Chiba. The Wikipedia article has a suspiciously intricate examination of the potential box office gross of this unrealized film.
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Golden Harvest go international with the certifiably insane kung-fu sexploitationer Stoner, in which George Lazenby battles a new drug that makes women incredibly horny. It’s cheap and wildly overlong, but very entertaining.
Angela Mao is along for the ride, and there are bit parts for Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Yuen Wah, though Lazenby — who was trained by personal friend Bruce Lee — really holds his own in the fight scenes.