Billy does some demonstrations over the opening credits. It will be a while before we see him again.
Father dies and two sons played by actors who always play villains go out for revenge.
Billy Chong is recognized as one of the greatest in the world of martial arts movies and then "what might have been" is always added to his biography. He appeared in only 11 movies. His first lead was in 1978 "Invincible Monkey Fist" made in Indonesia (his native land) but his breakout lead was 1979 "Sun Dragon" made in America. "Sun Dragon" flopped in America despite excellent fight choreography. I blame it on the English voice dubbing that sounded retarded. His third movie "Crystal Fist" or "Jade Claw" totally copies Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master" from a year earlier. Still, it was a good movie. So when did the "greatness" begin? Billy Chong became great in this movie.
I watched Jackie Chan's "The Young Master" - undeniably one of the greatest movies of 1980 and in "Super Power", punch for punch, Billy Chong is the winner.
The story starts oddly with the focus on the villains. I had no problem recognizing those guys as villains. Maybe it was a twist for the viewers who are not hard core fans like me, either way it was a good start. The story is solid and the pace is relentless. A romantic subplot is tossed in and not much happens with it but it works. I think this movie might make an historic note in that Billy Chong could see the girl was a girl despite being dressed in male clothes. It is a standard feature of these movies that the female simply puts on male clothes and no man can tell the difference.
The fighting is non-stop and never gets repetitive. The comedy choreography is clever and a pleasure to watch. The second to last fight sequence was one of the best ever filmed. It set the bar for the last fight sequence too high for it to have a chance.
My copy has the last fight sequence cut short and it seems every copy is like that. Mine is a typical VHS transfer with English dubbing. I am trying to track down a wide screen version to see if that copy is complete.
I am rating this movie as nine out of ten and the best martial arts movie of 1980.