Cheesy, low-budget martial arts movies — as opposed to their classy counterparts — should be judged primarily on their fight sequences. An absurd plot with decent (dubbed) one-liners may occassionally amuse but without some well-choreographed action sequences to enthrall us, who wants to sit through a convoluted plot interrupted by bland hand-to-hand? Which unfortunately brings me to The Golden Belt, Ko Young-nam's lackluster pulp movie about a medicine man who's life work is to protect the helpless (after failing to do so with his own family).
Definitely, The Golden Belt could've featured some fancier fisticuffs. As the barechested hero, actor Kim Il may be built like a linebacker but he's got gracefulness to spare, too. He's also as cuddly as a bonecrusher could possibly be. So why are his talents at kicking and punching being wasted by having him throw porcelain white dinner plates like playing cards or having him tied to a post then whipped? One character rhetorically asks: "What is the worst thing in this world, do you know?" Then answers matter-of-factly: "Betrayal." In The Golden Belt, the greatest sins may be how they've overestimated the appeal of villainous white eyebrows and underestimated the talents of the movie's lead. (Who likely earned that gaudy WWE Championship Belt that he's carrying around from town to town.)
Title Note: This film is also known as Sujeja and The Best Disciple.
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