Review of Knockabout (1979) by Robin W — 01 May 2009

Along with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao was part of the famous trio of Peking Opera House graduates who would go on to become huge martial arts stars. Despite a stellar career in Hong Kong, Yuen would not become as well-known around the globe as his fellow graduates, but "Knockabout" is probably the film to watch in order to see him at his best; Sammo Hung mostly just takes the backseat in a supporting role here, making this Yuen's show all the way.

In typical martial arts fashion, the plot is incredibly thin and can barely be stretched out to 104 minutes, but when you have to fill that time with truly kick-ass fight scenes, nobody is going to complain; this film starts off by focusing mostly on VERY broad comedy (why do so many martial arts flicks from this period have bad guys with big hairy moles on their face?), but makes the wise decision to gradually improve the quality of its action sequences as it goes along.

It all builds up to a stellar training sequence that showcases Yuen doing such amazing feats as ten standing back flips in a row (done in one unbroken camera shot to prove it's not faked), and a doozy of a climactic fight scene, where Yuen and the villain manage to engage in hand-to-hand combat while in the midst of skipping rope!