Master of the Flying Guillotine



Master of the Flying Guillotine is a 1975 cult classic Taiwanese martial arts film written and directed by and starring Jimmy Wang Yu. Virtually all of the music is taken from Krautrock bands such as Neu!, Tangerine Dream, and Kraftwerk.

The Music

 * Super 16 by Neu! This is the famous "Fung's Theme" of the film, as it plays anytime that the title character appears in a scene, and is the first piece of music heard (after the First Films logo).


 * Super by Neu! This is the opening theme of the film which plays over the opening credits. Super 16 is basically a slow motion playback of this track.


 * Kometenmelodie by Kraftwerk. This is used in several occasions in the film, one of which is right before the One Armed Boxer is challenged by the Yoga fighter, and another when the OAB comes to the realization that the blades of the Flying Guillotine may not be able to take damage from bamboo.


 * Morgenspaziergang by Kraftwerk. This piece of music is used a couple of times in the film, one in which the Thai boxer first appears in an attempt to join the tournament, and later when the one armed beggar in the teahouse eats a whole chicken.


 * Mitternacht by Kraftwerk. This is used in many of the night scenes, such as when the One Armed Boxer finds the film's female protagonist in Y-Akuma's shack, bringing her back to his temporary school.


 * Rubycon by Tangerine Dream. This piece of music is used in the cave chase shots in the finale.


 * Kometenmelodie 2 by Kraftwerk. This is the final piece of music in the film which plays after The One Armed Boxer has defeated the Master of the Flying Guillotine.

Music Issues
In a rare case of musicians actually discovering their music was used without permission in a martial arts film, Neu! (and possibly Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream) asked any company re-releasing the film to pay up for the licenses to their songs. First Films, the original production company of the film refused to do so, leaving it up to distributors. American film company Pathfinder Entertainment paid for the rights to the songs for the theatrical re-release and the DVD releases. However, Australian film company Eastern Eye refused, thus opting to create a generic synthesizer score which many fans have rejected.