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.
Project Jackie 