Review of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) by Jake V — 21 Jun 2008

It is an injustice that Jackie Chan will be remembered for his roles in later films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon. These are not bad films by any means, but when films like Snake In The Eagle's Shadow are overlooked, it portrays a very inaccurate legacy of a talent loved in his particular field.

The plot itself is relatively simple; a group of people who use the 'Eagle's Claw' style of martial arts have one aim - to wipe out all people trained in the 'Snake's Fist' style. With only a couple of people left to preserve the martial art, the unnamed old man is evasive of this group. Jackie Chan tries to help when he is ambushed, even though he is untrained. Needless to say, he gets trained up, ready for the final showdown. Simple enough, and a great platform for what this film does best; martial arts.

Yes, the humour is dated at times, mostly showing (unfunny) slapstick, and the music and visual editing is intriguingly awful, as in it is so bad it's quite good! Could you imagine sounds from 'War Of The Worlds' in a martial arts movie? Yes, this film was made in 1978, a very early part of the Hong Kong movie industry, so it deserves a little bit of slack here.

However if this is major conern to you, then you really are missing the whole point of this film. Snake In The Eagle's Shadow is all about the showcase of different martial arts styles, in essence a fantastic tribute to the foundations and spiritual origins on what it is all about.

Jackie is great in the role that propelled him into superstardom, and Siu Tien Yuen is perfect as the old man who is mentor to Jackie. Great scenes like 'grabbing the bowl' are to be remembered for a long time.

Despite some technical and date issues with the movie, Snake In The Eagle's Shadow is a highly enjoyable showcase of classic martial arts by the barrelload. A fantatsic warm-up to Drunken Master.