Review of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) by Leon B — 23 Oct 2015

Review:

This is another classic movie from Jackie Chan, when he was in his prime. It does take a bit of time to get going, but once it does, it's full of action and many different styles of Kung Fu. Jackie Chan plays Chien Fu, who helps out in a Kung Fu school and constantly gets picked on by the manager who uses him as a human punching bag for his students. Chien then comes across a homeless old man, played by Siu Tin Yuen and he decides to take him in and look after him. While there friendship blossoms, a group of Eagle technique fighters are out to destroy all of the Snake fighters so Grandmaster Pai Cheng-Tien (Siu Tin Yuen) has to go in hiding to save his life. Whilst living with Chien, he starts to teach him the Snake style, which Chien mixes up with his own cat style and he soon gets fed up with his manager picking on him by striking back on the people that use him as a human punching bag. He soon gets banished from the school and he perfects his own Kung Fu style but his training with Grandmaster Pai is cut short because the Eagle style fighters have tracked him down. Whilst fighting against the Eagle clan, Grandmaster Pai's life is saved by Chien who takes on the leaders of the Eagle clan. This is when I first saw Sam Seed (Siu Tin Yuen) in a movie and I was amazed how an old man could take on all of the young masters of Kung Fu. This was also the second time that I saw Jackie Chan on top form, after Drunken Master of course, and the different styles of Kung Fu styles became popular in this genre. The mixture of comedy and action was spot on in this film and the different characters, like the manager of the Kung Fu school with the weird plaster on his head, made the film an all time classic. I personally enjoyed this film, after so many years since I last watched it and it brought back some fond memories of when I was young in front of the piano style video player. Its such a shame that they don't make movies like this anymore! Brilliant.

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Woo Ping-Yuen who brought you classics like Drunken Master, Magnificent Butcher, the Miracle Fighters, Drunken Tai Chi, Iron Monkey, Tai-Chi Master and True Legend. He also done the stunts for Man of Tai Chi with Keanu Reeves, Kill Bill 2, the brilliant Kung Fu Hustle and the Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan and Jet Li so he has definitely earned respect in this field. Anyway, this is a must have in your Kung Fu collection and it's timeless fun for you action buffs.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/comedy/martial arts movies starring Jackie Chan and the great Siu Tin Yuen (Sam Seed). 8/10.