Cliff Lock (aka Kin Tung) came from the same Opera School Jackie Chan came too, and had several degrees in Kung-fu and Karate. He was hired as a stuntman by Shaw Brothers in the late 60's and debuted as main star in this "indie" production. The predictable plot about is blatantly stolen from THE BIG BOSS, including the Thai setting and a couple of actors. The good cast shows the moustached evil Shih Kien (ENTER THE DRAGON), his on-screen son Pai Ying (DRAGON GATE INN), the henchman with a whip Thompson Kao Kang (STRANGER FROM CANTON), Eddy Ko (LETHAL WEAPON 4) and others. Shih Kien also helped the Kung-Fu coreography, since he was fluent in Northern China Kung-Fu, but overall the action level is outdated (expecially if compared to Bruce Lee). There's some unintentional laugh caused by the unlikely main hero: as zealous as it was, Cliff had a very childish face that fit better to Kung-Fu Comedy, as proved by his brilliant performance in Wilson Tong's KUNG-FU GENIUS, 1979. ROARING LION was released in Hong Kong 12/21/72 and April '73 in Italy as KUNG-FU: FURIA, VIOLENZA E TERRORE (Kung-Fu: fury, violence). It doesn't deserve highly recommendation, you can find better Kung-Fu than this, but even worse.
