ckormos1

It opens with a strange scene with Sammo and Frankie practicing their pickpocket skills. This fools the audience expectation of the opening scene showing martial arts practice or a fight. It also takes off with the concept that all hard work can be relevant to kung fu skills.

This movie was a new direction for Sammo Hung. It preceded and seemed to lay the foundation for the "Lucky Star" series. It is also a landmark movie. This is the first true "set piece" for the final fight. The set of the boat is used and the physical elements of the boat are used to mix in with the action and fights.

The martial arts is not as frequent but the quality is the best. If you are surprised to see Sammo dancing in the disco, remember the Peking Opera school also taught dance and song. Sammo can certainly dance but I've never heard him sing. On the other hand, I've never seen Jackie Chan dance but he sings in many of his movies.

Teng Piao (Ti Lung) is sentenced fifteen years for opium smuggling. After the opening credits an assassin sent by Lan Fei appears. He offers 5000 gold to forget about the revenge. Teng Piao simply wants revenge but revenge is never simple. He kills the assassin and goes to Zhou Bai (Jason Pai Piao). After fighting the lackeys he checks into the inn and sees the lovely and mysterious Ching Li. She has been expecting him. They talk. Many men attack. He kills them all but one who he sends back. The police appear and take him to the station for a talk. He is advised to leave town but won't. Zhou sends for his six killer brothers. Ti Lung and Ching Li talk again. Her husband went missing fifteen years ago when he went to meet the Black Leopard. It is revealed that no one knows what Black Leopard looks like except for a birth mark. It could be anyone, male or female.

China has many authentic ancient magnificent weapons. But this is the movies and almost anything can be a weapon. In martial arts, weapons training is advanced practice. This is to avoid injury. Even a wooden sword can injure a martial artist practicing alone. In the movies, stunt men can be injured by rubber knives and plastic swords. Some movies use whips as weapons. In reality the whip is a poor choice of weapon. The physics of the whip as a weapon in movies is cartoon physics. But if you are trying to avoid injuring your stunt men then the whip is a good choice. Same for the iron chain in this movie. Plus you don't need cartoon physics using a chain in fights.

As for the action, a gun appears in the first scene and unfortunately many guns return toward the end. I don't like guns in these movies. The fights were all good but there was no "Wow!" factor. The dialog tending to repeat things the audience already knew. I only rate this movie a tad above average because of Ti Lung's performance.

It opens with the kid taking advantage of a baker by stealing a few buns then leading him on a chase. He has a silver coin though and next goes to a big tea house for a fish dinner. A gang enters looking for Beardie. He fights them off but it appears he has been previously injured or is sick. The kid helps in the fight.

The kid has been in just a few movies and I liked all of his performances. He has the flexibility and acrobatics of youth and that always adds something special to his fight sequences.

The kid takes Beardie to an old house to hole up and goes for medicine. The gang follows him back to Beardie. They escape and also rescue a lady in distress from a life in the brothel. After a dinner break the gang is back for another fight. There is an excellent bench prop fight. They are forced to flee. Beardie tries to dump the kid for his own safety but his wounds are worse. The kid and Beardie hole up at an old temple. A new fighter appears. This time it is Simon Yuen to the rescue. The three team up.

The kid won't learn kung fu from Simon Yuen. He goes for wine and meets the girl again. The gang finds him again and Simon to the rescue. There is a good fight sequence where Simon uses the kid as a prop. Cut to gang headquarters to make plans. The kid starts training with Simon. He has a secret technique he teaches to Beardie. Could it be the sleeping fist?

This movie is above average for the year and genre and has my highest recommendation. for fans of martial arts movies.