Secret Rivals

THE SECRET RIVALS is a lively and solid kung fu film that helped launch the screen career of master villain Hwang Jang Lee. The film is set in ancient Korea and features a couple of kung fu fighters teaming up to bring down the Silver Fox, a wily master who has some high-kicking talent. You can guess which role Lee plays. The movie was directed by Ng See-Yuen, who has made some of the better entries in the martial arts genre, and is never less than entertaining.

One thing I did notice about this film is that it was made in the middle period between the success of the Bruce Lee and Shaw Brothers movies but before Jackie Chan came along and revitalised the decade at the end of the 1970s. Thus the fight choreography isn't quite as top notch as it would get to be later on in the decade and in the early 1980s, although the fights here are still pretty good and have a tendency to get better towards the end. There are some fun training sequences with a larger-than-life dummy and an Ennio Morricone score borrowed from an old spaghetti western. Lee is a delight as always and is well matched by the talents of John Liu and Don Wong.