Review of The Secret Rivals (1976) by Steve W — 23 Jan 2009

This is a classic 70's film which I have seen too many times in Chinatown theaters while growing up. This film was post Bruce Lee and pre-Jackie Chan and definitely one of the classic films coming from an independent studio with a low budget.

The fights choreographed by Taiwanese Fight Director Robert Tai, are very reminiscent of Bruce Lee's bravado and macho posturing, while being simple and to the point, without using any excessive esoteric or intricate moves compared to other kung fu films of the time. What also makes the fight choreography fun to watch is the sheer athleticism of the main performers Wong Tao, John Liu, and Hwang Jang Lee.

To the casual viewer the fights might seem slow or dated because there was no use of wire gags or CGI. However, hard-core Kung Fu film fans will appreciate this film much more, because they are able to visually take in and appreciate the long series of difficult techniques from the performers, without the distracting intrusion of manic editing or distorted-jerky frame composition (like we see in a majority of fight scenes in the West), which obscure and actually take away from the actual choreography and performances by the actors.