For most of my life, I have had a deep admiration for the work of Jackie Chan. While his stunt work rightfully gets tons of attention, I feel like sometimes the nuances of his fight choreography are forgotten about. That’s what this project is all about. I am going to do a deep dive into EVERY Jackie Chan fight scene ever filmed(at least what is available), and after all is said and done, attempt to do a ranking of some kind. I hope I stay motivated to finish this, and I hope you stay motivated to keep reading.
Drunken Master(1978)
There isn’t much I can say about Drunken Master that hasn’t been said before, and probably more eloquently than I could. This is Jackie’s second film out of two with Seasonal Films, and it takes the groundwork set by Snake in Eagle’s Shadow, and improves it ten-fold. If Snake in Eagle’s Shadow is the movie that showed the world that Jackie Chan can be a star, then Drunken Master is the film that showed that he’s a genius of action cinema.
Everything in Drunk Master is ramped up from it’s predecessor. The fight choreography, the stunts, the comedic timing. Everything that Yuen Woo-ping and Jackie Chan created before, is perfected here.
To go ahead and get it out of the way, yes, this film is another period piece that centers around an old master teaching a cocky youngster. This one of the few times where the formula feels fresh though. It helps that many of the characters and themes are based on Chinese folklore. Jackie’s character Wong Fei-hung is based on a real life figure, who was known for his use of the drunken boxing style. Fei-hung is also the son of one of the real life Ten Tigers of Canton(whom also had a film about them that had Jackie in one of his earliest roles). His master in the film, Beggar So is also based on folklore, and according to legend, taught Fei-hung the drunken style. So was also one of the Tigers of Canton.
So it’s pretty neat that so much of this film is based on potential real life events. Though I’m sure several other films of this time were loosely based on folk tales as well, this is one of the few that seems to follow the legend very closely. The plot revolves around the cocky trouble maker Wong Fei-hung being punished by his father for his mischief. The punishment is to be trained even harder in his kung fu, but Fei-hung runs away. Little does he know, he will be running right to his fate.
First “fight” in this is played 100% for comedy. Fei-hung has decided that he wants to embarrass his inept kung fu teacher. Brief deal lasting 30-60 seconds, but has some delightful comedic timing. Damage isn’t the intent, but it is centered around Jackie stealing the teacher’s hat, and finding creative ways to keep it from the teacher. (No Rating)
Next we see Fei-hung trying to make time with a young lady. Some really cringe stuff, with him stealing kisses, and having his mates let a snake loose in the grass so the girl jumps into his arms. This ends when the girl’s mother shows up to give him the what-for. Jackie is 30 years ahead of his time, and decides that the girl is ugly when she rebukes him.
Another short deal here, with Wong Fei-hung getting his ass kicked by the old lady. It’s done mostly as comedic, and to put the cocky hero in his place. What IS here tho is really good. I love the way the action scenes in this are shot, even the brief ones. Everything is done in a sort of grand, cinematic way, while allowing you to take in and register every move. Not much to rate here, otherwise though. (No rating).
Almost immediately we move to the next scene where someone is trying to take advantage of a local merchant. The jerk breaks the guy’s merchandise and refuses to pay, and this is when Fei-hung arrives. A really cool fight scene breaks out, with lots of the trademark Jackie Chan defensive stylings, and comedy. Not a single edit in this action, and again it’s shot very well. A couple of neat stunts in this one, and a funny bit when the bad guy gets a sword and Jackie gets…..cucumbers??? Really enjoyed this fight scene, as I love the evasive style that Jackie uses. (Rating 5.5/10)
Fei-hung is having a bad time today. He heads back home, only to find the girl and her mother from the earlier scene HAVING TEA WITH HIS DAD. Turns out they are his aunt and cousin! My god. Dad is already mad about what what he was told by the women, but then the guy from the previous scene shows up with his own father and family. It’s kind of hilarious because they bring him in on a stretcher, bandaged from head to toe, totally exaggerating his injuries. Dude seriously shows up looking like a mummy. Well this pisses off Fei-hung’s dad even more, and literally has to be stopped from KILLING HIS SON. It is decided that the family of the injured man will decide the punishment.
A damn fun scene breaks out, with the injured guy’s brother fighting Fei-hung. It starts out with Jackie not fighting back, but still acting defensively. He was supposed to be taking punishment, after all. This goes for a bit, until Fei-hung’s aunt(who stopped his dad from killing him) instructs him to use snake technique, and Fei-hung fights a bit more offensively. It ends after Jackie makes the guy hit his own injured brother, before laying him out too.
REALLY great fight scene, with a great pace, no edits and great stunt work. It was a bit comedic, but given the situation, was played seriously enough to give it weight. Loved the bits with Jackie playing defensively and using his environment to his advantage. This almost made all of those bad movies I had to watch earlier worth it. (Rating 7/10)
At this point, Fei-hung’s father has attempted to discipline him with some hard training, but to no avail. At this point, it is learned that Fei-hung’s great Uncle So Chan will be brought in to train him, with frightens Fei-hung to the point that he runs away from home. He attempts to do a dine and dash at a restaurant along the way,but is caught by the owner, and a fight breaks out. One of the owner’s guys looks like Bolo Yeung, but it’s not him.
Fei-hung gets overwhelmed by the other guys, and is punched in the stomach until he pukes. Gross. For some reason, one of the restaurant workers has a mouthpiece that gives him really bad, stereotypical Chinese teeth. Not sure why. The fight goes on until a drunken patron is woken up by the commotion and comes to Jackie’s aid. He manages to finish everyone off, ending another really good fight scene. This probably had the best prop usage of anything I’ve reviewed so far, and it added a great deal. Tons of use of the table and chairs in the restaurant, and it just feels like the genre has advanced by decades with this movie. (Rating 6.5/10)
Turns out the “drunk” was Wong Fei-hung’s great uncle So Chan, better known as Beggar So. After Fei-hung tries and fails to run for his life, we get a humorous montage of So just torturing this poor guy to whip him into shape. Fei-hung runs away again, but unfortunately crosses paths with a dangerous killer named Yim Tit-sam.
Tit-sam urges Fei-hung to leave, but Fei-hung is cocky as always and attempts to fight him. This is an embarrassing one sided beating, as Fei-hung is no match against the man who has apparently never been beaten. Tit-sam’s kicks are brutal and deadly and impressive. This is a humiliating defeat, but a very well shot one. After this, Fei-hung finally gives in and allows Beggar So to train him. (Rating 6/10)
So and Fei-hung have developed a bond, and are enjoying activities together. Activities such as betting on “find the item under the cup” being run by panhandlers. Of course the panhandler cheats, and So calls him out on it. He tries to run off with the money, but Fei-hung stops him. This panhandler, as it turns out, has a REALLY hard head, which he demonstrates by breaking a brick over it. Of course this leads to a fight, and another entertaining one. We get lots of head based offense(easy now), with Jackie trying to figure out how to handle this guy.
I get a chuckle out of the sound effect used whenever the guy gets hit in the head. Sounds like someone thumping a watermelon. There is a cool tandem spot with So and Wong working together that really allows Jackie to show off his ingenuity. In the end, the bad guy’s undoing is a pair of pants over his face and a hammer to the dome. (Rating 6/10)
We get one last fight before the climax. In the meantime, Fei-hung has learned drunken boxing from Beggar So, and picks a fight with the restaurant crew from before to test his skill. The idea of drunken boxing is to mimic the moves of a drunk(it becomes more effective if you are for real for real drunk), and relies on lots of misdirection and evasion. Of course, this is a load of fun, and I often find it hard to come up with the words to describe some of this stuff. Really great prop work with tables, benches, staffs and wine, along with really good stunt work. Maybe the best stuntwork in the whole film. Fun comedy stuff in here as well. This is a scene that would fit in right with Jackie’s later work. (Rating 7/10)
Yim Tit-sam has been paid to kill Fei-hung’s father, so he goes off to do just that. The two have a fight, but right before Tit-sam is about to land the killing blow, Fei-hung shows up to fight, but he doesn’t realize who the opponent is until it’s too late. Beggar So gives Jackie some wine, so he’s good and sloshed for this battle.
Despite being the standard “final battle in an open field”, this is excellent. The footwork, the handspeed, the choreography, the humor. All of it mixed together makes a Jackie Chan fight scene that stands up to this day, 40 years later. I can’t even describe the action in this, but it is a display of the drunken boxing style that won’t be replicated until the sequel to this film 16 years later. (Rating 8/10).
Clearly my verdict is that this is MUST SEE. An absolute game changing action film, and a total classic in every sense. Even if you disregard the fight scenes, the humor and plot of this movie are still among Jackie’s best, and you owe it to yourself to see this movie. Suffering through the likes of Killer Meteors was worth it to get to this point.
Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow(1978)
When Bruce Lee starred in The Big Boss, and subsequently, Fist of Fury, it forever changed the landscape of Hong Kong cinema. For years after, producers and studios followed the model of these films, and spent much time and effort into finding their own Bruce Lee. It can’t be understated how much Lee changed the face of the movie industry.
On a lesser scale, the same can be said of Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow(and it’s followup, Drunken Master). Jackie Chan had spent years under Lo Wei, with Wei trying to make Chan into a Bruce Lee type, with very little innovation or change. It wasn’t until Chan was allowed to do two films with Seasonal Film Corporation, that his career, and the Hong Kong film genre would forever change.
Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow is the first mainstream attempt at blending action, stunts and comedy. Jackie was given free reign to have the kind of action that best suited him, and with the direction of the great Yuen Woo-ping, everything about this was a success. Audiences loved it, and it did very well at the box office.
The plot is somewhat standard fare for the time. Back then, you were either getting a period piece revenge plot, or the period piece plot where an unassuming old master teaches a youngster. Sometimes both, but here we get the latter. What makes this stand out is the comedic approach it takes to the genre. This would be the formula that Jackie would stick to for his next few films, turning the genre on it’s ear before becoming the master of his own destiny and moving onto more contemporary films.
Jackie plays Chien Fu, who is an orphan that is taken in at a kung fu school. Unfortunately, everyone at the school is a total jerk to Chien Fu, and his only friend is the cook. He then befriends a beggar(he being Chien. Pronouns pal), only to later find that the beggar is one of the last master of the Snake style of kung-fu.
The meat of the story is Chien Fu and the beggar, Pai Cheng-Tien trying to avoid the deadly Eagle Claw clan, who are stopping at nothing to kill off the snake style masters. This is a fun one. Here we go…
Fight 1 sets the tone for what to expect here. One of the hallmarks of Jackie’s career is that his characters often rely on luck and ingenuity to survive, and that is the case here. Keep in mind that Chien Fu has no skills, because the kung fu school only abuses him instead of teaches him. Fu tries to step in to help Cheng-Tien as he is being beaten up by several guys.
Of course, Chien Fu is no match, but Cheng-Tien helps him by controlling his movements. A fun, light hearted little fight with Cheng-Tien doing lots of improvisation to help Fu survive against these men, including pulling his pants down at one point so he would duck an incoming strike. Lots of fun here, and lets you know that the rest of the film will be fun too.(Rating 5/10)
Fight 2 – During the time after the first fight scene, Chien Fu has received some instruction on defense from Cheng-Tien. There is a new student at the school, who is honestly kind of terrible, but he has a rich father, so you know how that goes. They bring in Fu to be the punching bag as usual, but they are unaware of the extra training he has received. Chien is still raw, but he has more than enough skill to embarrass the new student. Not really much of a “fight”, since there isn’t a single blow landed, but still lots of fun and follows the template of the first scene. Lots of comedy evasions. (Rating 5/10)
Next we get a montage of the old man fully teaching Chien Fu the snake fist style. It should be pointed out that Cheng-Tien was attacked earlier, and nearly killed.
Fight 3 – After the school is invaded by masters of the Mantis technique, all of the students leave the kung fu school to join them once they see their master defeated. Chien Fu then informs one of the kung fu masters(who wasn’t present for the invasion) of what happened, and they go to find everyone.
Master Hung is unfortunately no match for the Mantis master, and is defeated easily. Chien Fu then steps in to fight. At first, Chien is no match, because he is trying to honor Cheng-Tien’s wishes to never use Snake technique unless 100% necessary. He finally has enough and uses Snake fist, but unbeknowest to him, there is a member of the Eagle Claw clan nearby, watching the whole thing.
Another really fun fight, that is a little more drawn out, and features the comedic, exaggerated movements that Jackie is famous for. Felt like a really cool clash of styles with Mantis vs Snake. Mostly a straight up fight without much prop usage or big stunts, but some good environmental usage. There are lots of snake puns in the dialogue. It ends when Chien Fu punches dude in the balls and says “that’s called finding the snake”. EL OH EL. (Rating 5.5/10)
Fight 4 – The Eagle Claw master pays Chien Fu a visit as he is searching for Cheng-Tien. Fu is feeling a bit cocky after the last fight, and they have a go at it. Fu’s style is still a bit raw, especially against such a competent foe, and it leads to a pretty one sided beating. Despite the one sided nature, it’s still lots of fun, thanks to Jackie’s comedic facials and selling. Good pace and moves here. (Rating 5/10)
Much like myself in everyday life, Chien Fu learns a valuable lesson from his cat. The cat(named “Cat”) is cornered by a cobra, then Cat kills the cobra. Fu sees this and has an epiphany to combine a cat claw technique with his snake fist style. I’m stunned that the film makers didn’t put an actual cobra and cat in the same room, knowing how Hong Kong cinema was back then.
Fight 5 – Chien battles the Russian missionary, who earlier in the film revealed himself to be a hired thug for the Eagle Claws. The Russian has a sword, just like Jesus taught him. The Russian is played by Ray Horan, who is a name that is often forgotten, but was in a lot of movies in the 70s and 80s, and has a high level of skill in his own right.
Some cool stuff here, with Jackie doing a lot of evasive choreography to avoid the sword. There are some neat little techniques used in this, especially in regards to disarming the Russian. One thing present here, and in every fight scene in this film, is that you are able to see the care and planning that went into crafting everything, if you know what to look for. I don’t mean that in a “seeing how the sausage is made” sort of way, but in a way that means you can tell how skilled the stuntmen are. BTW it ends when Chien hits the Russian in the balls.(Rating 5.5/10)
Fight 6 – Tempted to go the full 10 on this just because of the cat sounds that are used whenever Jackie uses the Cat’s Claw he developed. It’s not a full 10 fight, but it’s pretty dang good. The only thing that drags it down really, is the fact that it’s the old standard “climactic fight in an open field” that was REALLY tiresome by this point.
With that said, the level of skill and choreography on display here is quite good. Also, I had to look hard to find any obvious edits, and much of this was filmed longform. There was a really good pace, and great evasion. Lots of kick to the nuts. Jackie legit lost a tooth filming this, and kept filming anyway like a boss. More one sided than you’d expect for the final battle in a movie like this. (Rating 5.5/10)
You may have noticed that my ratings were a bit middle of the road, despite how much I love the movie. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the fight scenes, because I truly did, but most of them were a bit too brief and straight forward to go any higher. With that said, the choreography is probably the best of Jackie’s career to this point, and it’s easily the most well shot stuntwork he’s done as well.
My verdict is MUST SEE. The first true movie in the Jackie Chan style, and he would only improve from here. Getting him away from Lo Wei proved fruitful, and his career never really looks back from here. He is the master of his own destiny, and even when he goes back to Lo Wei, he has a lot more stroke. Jackie Chan is a mega star after this film, and after watching it, you’ll see why.
Magnificent Bodyguards (1978)
It’s a good thing the bodyguards are magnificent, because this movie damn sure isn’t. Following the really fun Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin came this dud. It surprisingly did well at the Hong Kong box office, but the movie is pretty boring, and even Jackie has stated that it is among his least favorite movies. It is another Lo Wei directed affair, and it shows. The action is dull and lifeless, as Jackie had no creative freedom here.
Magnificent Bodyguards is famous for a couple of odd trivia items. It is actually the first Hong Kong movie to filmed in 3-D. Also, it is most notable for hilariously using music from Star Wars. Not a variation or a cover, but actual copyrighted songs from Star Wars.
There are several shots in the film meant to use the 3-D aspect, that look really weird if you aren’t watching in 3-D. This was also common in movies in the States as well during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Stuff like Jaws 3 and Friday the 13th part 3 are infamous for that type of editing.
Jackie plays Lord Ting Chung, a bodyguard hired to escort a sickly man to a doctor, and must go through a very dangerous part of ancient China. Not to shock anyone, but there ends up being a swerve and it becomes a “avenge my father’s death” movie. How original.
Fight 1 – We are immediately thrust into a fight here, with Lord Chung facing several men with staffs without any context given until after. There are some obvious and bad edits in this fight, and it was clearly designed to show off the 3-D, as there are about a dozen shots of staffs flying toward the camera. It’s nothing really to write home about, but also not the worst thing I’ve seen. Would have liked it a bit more without the bad cuts. (Rating 2.5/10)
Fight 2 – Lord Ting and his mates stop at a temple during their journey, and intend to ask for directions. Instead, the monks inside decide to attack. It be like that sometimes. 3 on 5 fight, and it’s very ok. There is some cool weapon play in this, and again, several 3-D friendly shots. My big issue with this is how it was filmed. Every shot feels so crowded and cluttered. The ones that aren’t cluttered seem to be completely off-centered. I’m stunned that a director as experienced as Lo Wei, even with all of his faults, would shoot a scene like that.
Nothing really original or innovative here, but it’s not offensive. (Rating 3/10)
Fight 3 is kind of a nothing deal. Ting Chung is trying ask the King for passage to the next destination. The king makes Jackie fight one of his heavies who claims to have “iron fists”. Ting Chung easily dispatches him, and breaks his hands too. Very brief, nothing to really mention. (No Rating)
Fight 4 is the climax. It turns out the sick guy they were hauling around the whole time was FAKING IT, and he is ACTUALLY THE KING. He kills the imposter, then reveals that he KILLED TING CHUNG’S FATHER. Guess what? They gonna fight about it.
This is surprisingly violent. I know that sounds weird, given what these movies are, but something you don’t see a ton in Jackie Chan films, is gruesome imagery or blood. This fight had a woman’s entire face get ripped off. The damn “Battle of Yavin” theme from Star Wars starts playing, and I just can’t with this.
The fight itself is solid. It’s shot better than the previous one, and the editing is a little better. Not as much 3-D gimmickry either. The heroes somehow get teleported outdoors. Idk man. After this, the real meat of this scene starts, and the ending portion of this is fun. Super fast paced, and no visible edits. Good hand-to-hand stuff here. The three heroes are trying to find any opening they can on the traitorous king, and he gives them all they can handle. They finally go for a sneak attack and remove the mystical necklace that gave him his powers. The fight ends when Jackie stabs the king in the chest.(Rating 4.5/10)
One thing I find funny in a lot of these films, is that the credits start rolling like, right after the final blow of the climactic fight. Happens here before Jackie even finishes killing the guy.
Final verdict, SKIP IT. There is some unintentionally funny stuff in here, so if that is your thing, give this a look, but otherwise, this is Lo Wei at his laziest. Thankfully, this is the last time I’ll have to say that. The next two films(and reviews) are really Jackie’s launching point, and aside from a hiccup or two, he never really looks back.
Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin (1978)
Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin is another movie released under Lo Wei’s production company, but thankfully is not directed by him. This is another movie with a bit of a wishy-washy plot, but is miles better than Killer Meteors, or To Kill with Intrigue. Jackie’s character, Hsu Ying Fung possesses a book containing the titular Snake and Crane styles. It was written by 8 Shaolin masters before they disappeared. Of course, the villains of the film want this book too, as it is apparently the supreme fighting style.
Jackie again serves as action director, and it shows, as the action is good in this movie, which definitely elevates it some. Also, much of the fantastical elements from his last few movies have been removed. As a bonus, it features the opening chord from Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck”, as well as many sound effects found on the 36 Chambers album, not to mention their namesake!
Fight 1 – Hsu Ying Fung is minding his business, doing some ice fishing, when we get the first crew of guys trying to steal the book. They are known as the Teng Brothers. Fung roasts them and of course a fight breaks out. This is of course a pretty one sided affair, since Fung does indeed possess the knowledge of both the snake, and the crane. With that said, this is really well put together. Tight choreography, no visible cuts, and a nice pace. Some cool two man spots as well. Good start to the movie (Rating 4/10).
Fight 2 – THE WU TANG CLAN tries to get the book from Fung whilst he is eating at a restaurant. Total hoot of an action scene, and probably the Jackie Chaniest action scene I’ve reviewed yet. Lots of cool stunts and use of props. Everything from tables to stools to stairs and shelves. This is 100% his influence, and holds up with some of his later stuff. It’s another one sided fight, as he easily outmatches the Wu-Tang Clan(may have been different had Redman been available to help). This is the ONLY thing that brings this scene down a little, as I’m kinda rating against things that are coming in later films. Still, this is great. (Rating 6/10)
Fight 3 – Hsu Ying Fung is again interrupted during dinner, as the Teng Brothers get another go at it. It ends exactly the same way as the first time. Very brief, not much to it. (Rating 3/10)
Fight 4 – Ying Fung goes to what looks like a harem to find someone, and ends up fighting with a couple of the women. You can tell the women aren’t as skilled as some of the other stunt people in the film, but there is some fun stuff to make it watchable, including a bizarre sequence where one of them repeatedly tries to punch Jackie in the nuts. It ends when a dude busts in with the sword and kills the women, as well as the interfering Teng Brothers. RIP.
Fight 5 – Jackie is again confronted about the book, this time by quite a burly man and his flunkies. Ying Fung gets a little bit of a challenge here, as the big man hits quite hard and can absorb punishment. Still fairly one sided and brief as the villains run away. Ok stuff here, but nothing special. (Rating 3/10)
Fight 6 – The Black Dragon Clan is attacking Ying Fung’s friends, so he steps in to help. The bad guys all have swords and there are about a dozen of them. Despite the setup, there is almost NOTHING to this one. At this point in the film, it seems like they just wanted to cram as many fights as possible into this. This took place 40 minutes into the movie. (No Rating)
Fight 7 – The Black Dragons immediately have another go at it while the heroes are recovering. This one is much better, and is pretty solid. Some good stuntwork and acrobatics, as well as some comedic stuff. Some great use of the misdirection choreography that Jackie is known for. Again, it’s one sided until the very end, when Ying Fung’s mate betrays him and stabs him with a sword. (Rating 4/10)
Jackie is taken captive by the Black Dragons until his friends bust him out, and that leads us to the climax.
Fight 8 – We finally meet the leader of the Black Dragon clan, and he is no pushover. A group brawl commences, and he easily deals with Hsu Ying Fung’s friends. Mostly a plot advancing scene to lead to the big final battle and to showcase the strength of the villain. He and Jackie never exchange blows in this. (No Rating)
Fight 9 – This is our final battle after we learn a bit more about the book and how the Shaolin all disappeared. The fight feels a little stiff at times, but it someone how makes it work even better, as it showcases the great defense and balance of the villain. Ying Fung is mostly outclassed, and has to find a way to crack the balance of his foe, and tries to force him into fight more offensively.
Things pick up a bit when the rest of the Black Dragons join in with spears, and we get some rather dangerous choreography with the weapons. Really cool evasions used by Jackie and some fun footwork. He deals with these men until the leader jumps back in to go one on one again.
The villain is a bit more arrogant now, feeling that he has seen all of Ying Fung’s technique, and that he is teetering on exhaustion. This causes the Black Dragon leader to fight much more aggressively. The final part of this battle is much more frantic than the first, and feels much less stiff. Some decent weapon stuff in here, and really fast footwork. The hero finally unleashes the full power of the snake & crane technique to land the final blow and end this. (Rating 5/10)
A major theme I’ve noticed in these older films, is that the final battle always seems to take place in a big, wide open space. For years, this was fine, because the heroes in these movies were typically just there to put on a kung fu display and have straight up fights. Once Jackie started becoming a bigger name and wanting to do more with his choreography, I can see where this would severely limit his creativity. You can’t have much variety if you are just fighting in an open field. However, the days of that Shaw Brothers influence are slowly coming to and end.
With that said, my final verdict on this movie is WATCH IT. Honestly, this is the most “Jackie Chan like” movie I’ve reviewed so far. The whole thing is fun to watch, even if there may have been a little TOO much action in this. The action was good when it counted, and there is nothing offensive. Also, there is one character that has an English dub performance, that has to be heard to be believed. As a side bonus, this movie is a VERY heavy influence on one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time.
One more movie to go, then after that, Jackie REALLY takes off.
To Kill With Intrigue(1977)
The battle of Jackie Chan vs Lo Wei continues with another dud here. Another film with a bad, go-nowhere plot, and to make things worse, the filming conditions were apparently awful. Things between Lo Wei and Jackie are close to reaching critical mass, with Jackie only working for Wei for a handful of movies after this.
The movie is another generic revenge movie, with a gang killing Jackie’s character Cao Lei’s family. The leader of the gang, Chin Chang Yin then falls in love with Cao Lei. You know where this is going. It’s a boring, simplistic plot that they still manage to overcomplicate.
Fight 1- The Killer Bee gang attacks Cao Lei’s family, and proceed to have the most unimaginative 70’s kung fu flick fight you can imagine. Just really run of the mill stuff, and to top it off, it is poorly shot and also has superfluous wire work. There is literally nothing of note here, even though it goes a few minutes and is vital to the plot going forward. As stated above, this is where the villains kill Lei’s family. It sucks for them, and it sucks for the viewer. (Rating 1/10)
Fight 2 – Chang Yin has nursed Lei back to health after the previous battle, but he is none the wiser that she is the same person. A crew of flunkies show up, and of course they attempt to rape her, because that is what happens in all of these films. Cao Lei drops in to save her, since she didn’t fight back in an attempt to keep her cover. Another boring fight, and Lei easily handles the street toughs and they run away. I want to run away(Rating 1/10).
Fight 3 – Me against this movie. Choreography sucks and I am losing.
Fight 4 – Cao Lei is still being nursed back to health by Chin Chang Yin, when some mercenaries attack. They look like Chinese mariachis tbh. This fight is a little better than the previous ones, as there seems to be some semblance of effort. Maybe because they were indoors and Jackie was freezing to death. Lei is handling the 3 man easily, but one blow hurts him badly since he’s not healthy. He then kicks one of them through the roof of his thatch roof cottage. There is some weird stuff in here, like Jackie pinning a dude to a tree that is at least 20 feet away with a spear. It ends when Cao Lei is gassed by this guy.
There is some ok environmental use in this fight, and it’s overall a decent enough effort, even with the very blatant and overused wire work. (Rating 3.5/10)
Fight 5 – Cao Lei and his friends have tracked down the mercenaries, and a man who appears to be their master. He is the standard old master type. Long white hair, long beard. Super old but kicks everyone’s ass. They fight for a moment with the master of course having the upper hand, until some of the thugs jump in to help him. Cao Lei fights them off until the master rejoins, and the action here is actually kinda frantic and fast in a good way. Jackie fights about 6 guys, and there is some really decent weapon and prop work here. Cao Lei again sustains many wounds, including being stabbed and his mates take over from there. Not the best thing ever, but not the worst either. (Rating 3.5/10)
Fight 6 – It turns out the villain all along was the governor of Hunan. He doesn’t show up until late in the film, so that makes sense.
This is kind of a montage, with Cao Lei attempting and failing to beat Chin Chang Yin in order to prove that he is ready to advance to the final battle. He trains, then tries and loses multiple times. He never beats her, but he goes anyway. Nothing really special here, and there are some absurd things going on, physics wise. (Rating 2/10)
Fight 7 – This is the climax. Cao Lei should have trained more because the governor kicks the snot out of him. Lei fights him somewhat evenly, but can’t seem to really hurt the man. Cao Lei then deduces that the governor’s weak point is the top of his head, because he is wearing a headpiece. Ok. Lei eventually gets the headpiece off and is able to inflict some damage, and finally win the fight.
The fight choreography in this final battle was actually really solid, when it was just straight up with no nonsense. Unfortunately, there is A LOT of nonsense. Several really bad edits and cuts. A few instances of that weird special effect that Hong Kong films liked to use, where the actor jumps off of something, but it’s played in reverse so it looks like they are jumping really high. Had this been a couple of minutes shorter, and played to it’s strength, I would have liked this a lot. As it stands, it was frustrating. (Rating 4/10).
Final verdict: SKIP IT. This is a BAD movie, on par with The Killer Meteors. It almost hurts my feelings that this is the longest review I’ve done. You can tell the actors were freezing in every outdoor shot, and I’d say 70% of this was outdoors. I had to rewind several scenes to get the idea of what was going on, and I feel like I’m still off on a few things.
The Killer Meteors(1976)
Not going to lie, I’ve been dreading this one. The action in this movie is bad, and the overall movie, abandoned plots and bad editing make this a mess. I believe Jackie has gone on record as saying this is one of his least favorite films, and it is pretty bad. Jackie does serve as stunt coordinator, and this is the rare film where he plays the villain. There was some attempt to try something new here with some sci-fi elements, at least, and also has star power in Jimmy Wang Yu.
This will also be one of the rare occasions(until his later career) that Jackie Chan would use wire work in his action scenes.
Fight 1 – This occurs fairly early, and features a little bit of the wire work that I spoke of above. Jackie, as Immortal Meteor(this guy…) has attempted to have his guards kill our hero, played by the great Jimmy Wang Yu(Killer Weapon…..state of these names). Weapon of course easily beats the guards and has a showdown with Meteor.
They fight to a stalemate, until Meteor catches Weapon in a trap, and has him imprisoned. The action was very good here, but maybe relied a bit too much on wire work for my liking, as I’ve never been a fan of that style. It was a more “fantastical” fight than you’d normally get from Jackie. Whenever it was played more down to Earth, this was threatening to be really good. (Rating 3/10).
Fight 2 – Jackie’s involvement in this movie is limited, as this is the climatic scene, and only the second bit of action he has. Meteor appeared to die via poison earlier, but SURPRISE he’s not dead, and comes back at the end when Weapon appears to have won the battle.
This fight is really weird. They fight atop vertical wooden posts, with spikes underneath. Very dangerous. For such an unconventional setting, this fight feels really boring, and there is never a sense of danger felt. Two of the great martial arts stars of all time, and you get THIS. It ends when the Immortal Meteor is killed by an actual meteor. (Rating 1/10)
Verdict is SKIP IT. The nonsensical plot about magic meteors, the very uninspired action and shoddy production make this an overall stinker. There is a subplot with Killer Weapon’s bandit friends that literally doesn’t get resolved or even hinted at.
At this point, it was very clear that Lo Wei(the director) was a bit of a one hit wonder, and was very fortunate to be the one to direct Bruce Lee’s first two films. Every movie after that was an attempt to replicate that success and shoehorn actors into something that didn’t work for them. Jackie has gone on record to voice how frustrated he was at the time, as he felt like his creativity was being stunted. Put this one in the bin.
Hand of Death (1976)
Hand of Death is notable for being one of the first handful of movies directed by the legendary John Woo, and you can definitely see a different cinematography and action direction than you would in the typical Shaw era film.
Candidly speaking, the only copy of this movie I could find was dubbed in German, so I’m a little lost on what’s going on.
However, this is why Jesus made Wikipedia. Jackie plays a supporting role as a blacksmith in this, and we also have Sammo Hung in a role(Hung also directed the fight scenes). This revolves around a warrior in the Qing Dynasty trying to kill all of the Shaolin in China. Pretty standard stuff for the era. This movie marks one of the first major injuries Jackie Chan sustained during a film.
This one is put together pretty well, with Woo and Hung directing the action. How can that possibly be bad? It is a bit weird seeing John Woo direct action that doesn’t involve being shot with a shotgun.
Fight 1 – Extremely brief affair that sets up a bigger fight with the main characters. Jackie’s character, Tan Feng, is injured, fighting with one arm. Our main villain easily dispatches him with a few blows. Notable for some early Jackie Chan comedic facials. (No rating)
Fight 2 – Tan Fang delivers the first blows in the Shaolin offensive against the main villain. Jackie does some really good work with a spear, and everything is really crisp and fluid. We see something that was pretty common at the time, but that Jackie would later get away from, and that is Jackie’s character killing his foes. He often stated that he he didn’t like for his heroes to be seen as killers. This is fun, but brief and serves to set up the bigger climax. My favorite thing about this scene, is that it is shot in such a different way than what you would be used to from this era(as are many of the scenes in this). Woo’s direction is a breath of fresh air in the genre. (Rating 4/10)
Fight 3 – Tan Fang battles two of the main villain’s elite guards(one of whom severely hurt Fang earlier on). Really fun scene, as you can see everything coming together for Jackie and how he would later do things. Lots of creative spots here, even if there were no props or environments to use. Cool camera shots as well. If it had a little more variety and a few more minutes, I would rate it higher. (Rating 5/10)
Tan Fang unfortunately suffers a fatal wound when helping his friends even the odds in the next scene, and that wraps up his time in this film.
My final verdict is to SEE IT. Pretty significant to see John Woo working with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, and even though I had to watch it in a foreign language with no subs, the acting felt very good, and the action was extremely well shot. This is also something of a “forgotten” Jackie Chan movie, as it doesn’t often get included in his collections or mentioned. Possibly because he uses his Hong Kong screen name, but it’s available online so check it out!
Shaolin Wooden Men(1976)
We are still trying to find the next Bruce Lee. I hope he’s out there somewhere. In this movie, Jackie plays a character named “Little Mute”, so needless to say, there won’t be much humor here. However, the plot is somewhat interesting. It’s you’re standard period piece, but the idea of Little Mute being trained in an unknown martial art by a prisoner is somewhat different from the usual. Of course it turns out that the prisoner is indeed our bad guy here, as he killed Little Mute’s father, and Little Mute, in fact, is Little Not Mute.
This movie is actually known more for what it contributed to pop culture than the film itself. Both Tekken and Kill Bill draw some influence from this, and I’d dare so those two mediums are more closely associated with those influences than this film is.
Fight 1- We start this one out with action in the first couple of minutes with a fight in a dream like scenario. Little Mute fights two men, in separate instances, and it’s not great. The choreography feels REALLY deliberate and slow, and that is something of a problem throughout the movie. Some of Jackie’s athleticism is on display here, but it almost felt like the other two stuntmen had to be lead through this slowly. This almost came across like it was supposed to be a demonstration of their forms, but it’s never explicitly stated as such. (Rating 3/10)
Fight 2 – This isn’t a “fight”, per se, but still pretty neat. Little Mute must fight his way through the titular Wooden Men, which are mechanical training dummies. They are being controlled by people on the other side of a wall with chains. The idea is very unique, and allows Jackie to show off a lot of his athleticism and creativity. It’s honestly the best action in the movie. There are dozens of these things, and Mute must decide to fight through them honorably, or take a shortcut that keeps presenting itself. He barely finishes the trial in time, after taking a good beating. Really cool stuff. (Rating 5.5/10)
Fight 3 – Little Mute steps in when his friends are being harassed by some street toughs. Jackie vs 5 men, and it’s a bit one sided. Like the first scene in the film, it feels very deliberate and slow. Only saving grace for this, is the good use of some tables and benches as props, and you see Jackie’s fingerprints more and more in these movies. Still, nothing to get too excited for. (Rating 3.5/10)
Fight 4 – This is extremely brief. Jackie gets into it with a kung-fu master in a restaurant. Little Mute is handled easily by the master, who stops when he realizes when he(Little Mute…pronouns pal) is a Shaolin man. (No Rating)
Fight 5 – The prisoner who trained Little Mute has revealed himself as the heel of this movie, and has a fight with the kung-fu master from the previous scene. During the fight, the prisoner has confirmed that he killed Little Mute’s father, along with the people we saw get killed in the movie. This causes Little Mute to interupt the fight before the prisoner could finish performing the five point exploding hand technique, and thereby killing the kung-fu master.
The ideas behind this fight are better than the execution. Little Mute knows all of the prisoners technique, since he was trained by him, but he also has the non-lethal techniques he learned from the Shaolin. Mute has many chances to land killing blows, but does not take advantage. It’s a neat idea, but the editing and choreography kinda ruin this. Several weird cuts, and the deliberate, careful pace that is throughout the film.
Things pick up a little bit when the villains friends take over to fight Little Mute. This brief section feels fast and fluid, and has a much better pace than when Jackie fights the prisoner. The last part of this when when prisoner comes back in, is actually solid. The pace picks up, and the end of the fight is honestly pretty dramatic. Little Mute remembers the times when he was helping the prisoner, and the training, and offered him the chance to repent his bad deeds, but the bad guy refuses, and accidentally kills himself when trying to land the five point exploding hand technique on Little Mute, and hits himself instead.
Final verdict: Aside from the wonky fight scenes, this is actually pretty good, so I say SEE IT. The story is really well put together, and the ideas they use in the fight scenes are at least interesting, even if they aren’t always executed well. Probably Jackie’s best pure acting performance to date. He does a good job of battling his own emotions when it comes to the prisoner, because he knows he is a bad person, but Little Mute can’t forget what the man did for him.
New Fist of Fury (1976)
After the death of Bruce Lee in 1973, a sub-genre of Hong Kong films arose, referred to now as “Bruceploitation”. These movies often starred actors who resembled Bruce Lee, and would take on very similar names(e.g. Bruce Li). This film doesn’t go full tilt on this, since Jackie Chan isn’t presented as being “Bruce Lee”, but this is a sequel to one of Lee’s films, and Jackie is absolutely being positioned as the next Bruce Lee here by the studio and producers.
On the plus side, this was by far the biggest role for Jackie at this point, in a film with very high budget and production value. There are two different versions of this movie. The original release in 1976, and, as would become customary, a re-release in 1980 after Jackie became a big star. I’m not sure which version I have, but apparently the 1980 release has footage removed from it.
Fight 1 – Brief little fight, where Jackie pretty much gets his butt kicked. This is notable however, for being one of the first times I can recall Jackie’s humor coming through in a big way. There is some mild prop stuff with a basket, and Jackie talks a lot of junk in between getting beaten up. Also great use of his comedic facials. It ends when someone steps in to stop it. (No Rating)
Fight 2- Now this might be the first time in this project where I thought to myself “THIS is a Jackie Chan fight scene”. He again gets worked over, this time by about 8 guys. What I find interesting, is that Bruce Lee was someone famous for not allowing himself to look vulnerable in his films, but in the sequel, the main character is presented as being trained, but unskilled. Jackie fights in a way here that is obvious he is a man who knows what he’s doing, but pretending not to. Some funny stuff with Chan frantically trying to fend off the other men, and even knocking himself out with nunchaku at one point before being beaten down again. Fun stuff. (Rating 5/10)
Fight 3 – In between the last scene and this one, there is a training montage where Jackie learns the discipline that he liked before, and becomes a dangerous fighting machine. Also, unfortunately, a rival school attacks his own and kills many students. Even his master is taken out of commission, so with no other alternative, Jackie fights the female master of the rival school. Throughout the film, they have shown her extreme skill and power, and Jackie is overwhelmed very quickly, notably with her kicks.
The hero begins to notice her patterns and tries to take out the legs. He eventually takes her out with 3 huge dropkicks, and the headmaster is PISSED. He absolutely beats the brakes off of Jackie, who has no answer for anything the master does, until he gets lucky and lands one blow to the chest. What follows is a very well choreographed, intense fight scene that is easily the best thing I’ve reviewed in this project so far. (Rating 6/10)
Final verdict: See it, even with the truly bizarre ending of all the heroes being gunned down by the Japanese. It’s not what you expect from a Jackie Chan film, but this is honestly still pretty good. He brought his unique timing and charisma to this, and it made it an enjoyable watch. After this, Jackie will serve as Action Director on almost every film he does from this point.
Eagle Shadow Fist aka Fist of Anger aka Not Scared to Die(1973)
This movie has several titles, and it’s rotten no matter what you call it. Was going to skip this one altogether, but Jackie does have one brief fight scene in it, and I’m nothing if not thorough. This flick has really hammy “Japanese” villains, and the prerequisite attempted rape that I’m noticing is super common with films in this era. The hero sucked, the villains sucked. It all sucked.
Jackie’s only fight in this is a brief one. He attempts to help some people being antagonized by the evil Japanese. It’s a decent, athletic fight while it lasts, with Jackie being in tremendous condition, and looking very crisp. A bit of a waste of his talent, as many of his early roles were, but the sharpness was there. Not much to it. (Rating 1/10)
My final verdict is to skip this. Not even a fan of Jackie Chan should watch this turd. The bad thing is, it’s not even the worst movie I’ll review in this project, but I still feel bad for wasting the bandwidth to post this. Not as bad as his quasi-adult film, but almost as offensive.
There will be a large gap in his filmography from here to his next film that we review. Chan wrote in his autobiography how frustrated he was with the Shaw Brothers studio at this time, because he felt like he wasn’t able to do some of the things he wanted to in his movies, and he was often relegated to stuntman or extra in many of these. That will change in a few years after this, but he has to run his duty as fake Bruce Lee and star in a couple of bad Shaw films first.
Project Jackie 