This is in my opinion one of the best (if not the best) monkey style movies ever made. In terms of action, that is. Watching ol' Lau doing monkey boxing, or any style of kung fu for that matter, is pure joy--hell, it's a privilege, and I could watch it all day.

He is joined by his two top protégés, Kara Hui Ying-Hung and Hsiao Hou, both bringing the heat against bad guy Lo Lieh, in another slimy villain role. I've always felt that if there were any justice in the world, Hsiao Hou would have been a bigger star after his stint at Shaw's--at least on par with someone like Yuen Biao. His kung fu and acrobatic skills were that good. But sadly that never happened.

The chemistry between Lau and Hou feels really authentic and heartfelt, most likely mirroring their real life master/student relationship, and some of the drama is actually quite moving--which is also why I feel that they should have dialed down the Canto comedy a notch or three. Most of it is just stupid and annoying, even if it was the style of the time.

But on the whole, it is a really enjoyable Shaw flick, with all the usual components: great fights, innovative training sequences, dastardly villains, beautiful sets, good production values, and so on. Fast forward through the insipid comedy bits and just enjoy the action and drama on display.

But seriously, this is in my opinion the best of the old school HK ninja movies, alongside FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS and DUEL TO THE DEATH. It has just the right amount of cheese and comedy, balanced well with the fairly serious storyline and awesome action. The choreography by director Yuen Kwai and Meng Hoi is super tight, and shows the various styles on display to their full extent. Conan Lee and Hiroyuki Sanada rarely looked better than they do here. Too bad that Sanada didn't do more HK movies, and that Conan turned out to be an egomaniacal ass, ruining his own career.

I'll admit that the whole thing kind of unravels towards the end. After the awesome pagoda showdown, there really wasn't anywhere for the movie to go. So what do you do? You bring out the big guns, in the form of grandmaster Hwang Jang Lee of course. He is sort of played for laughs here, but still brings the thunder and caps off the film nicely, despite his slightly cartoonish sendoff.

So, in closing, an all time favourite classic of mine that delivers the goods, as well as the bitter sweet sting of nostalgia, for me personally. So if you haven't seen it, and are going by this review, deduct that last half star, that is strictly for the memories.

Sanada and, to some extent, Shiomi really get to show their martial versatility here. They were both good all 'rounders, whether it be hand to hand of various styles or weapons, and you can definitely see that all that training from Chiba's Japan Action Club paid off.

Chiba himself turns in a menacing performance as the evil Shogun, flanked by two creepy mutes, and shows us a taste of his brilliant swordplay skills.

They basically threw anything in here: Shiomi as a kung fu cutie, samurai battles, camo-clad spider ninjas, Kabuki theater, ye olde white haired master, Hattori Hanzo and so on. But it feels a little cluttered, and could have benefitted from some trimming in the character and plot department.

Don't get me wrong, it's a cool film, no doubt. But it really has quite a few flaws. The main offender being the music. It is just so out of place that you expect a young Ron Jeremy to walk through the shoot in a kimono at any time. But if you can get past the porno tunes, there is a cool and campy ninja treat waiting at the end of the rainbow.

There is also no shortage of bad guys for them to square off against, the absolute coolest being Mashashi Ishibashi. He was pretty fierce as Junjo in the "Street Fighter" flicks, but that was nothing compared to this. He is straight out of a Manga comic here. White haired, blind, and downright scary.

There is some lag here and there. Like a weird naked dance scene that makes no sense whatsoever. But there's enough sweet action to keep things going. If you liked the "Street Fighter" and "Sister Street Fighter" flicks, you will most likely dig this one.

I don't know if I would consider this to be his best movie, probably not. But it sure is one hell of a cool and crazy ride into japsploitation land.

Takuma Tsurugi is an awesomely badass character. He'll just as soon rip your balls off, tear out your larynx or x-ray punch your skull, as to look at you, and all that crazy brutality compensates for the lack of flashy choreo and stylish martial moves. It is apples and oranges, really. This is old school karate, more power, less panache.

The end fight on the ship is cinematic brilliance. The atmosphere, the streetfighter theme tune, the blood, the thunder, the rain, it all comes together in one of the truly memorable finales of martial arts cinema. Just watch the damn movie, if you haven't already.

Viva Chiba... yes, viva indeed.

I didn't think the fights in this movie were anything special either. Not even the end fight, with Fei and Liu squaring off against my man Hwang Jang Lee. Most of it seemed slow and rehearsal-like, and you know something is terribly wrong when you even mention the words 'slow' and 'Hwang Jang Lee' in the same breath.

It also had Wong Yat Lung, that annoying kid from SLEEPING FIST and THUNDERING MANTIS in it, so that automatically drags it even further down a few notches. The whole premise was actually promising. Russian and Chinese spy styff, secret messages, cool techniques and just general skullduggery all around. But it just didn't come together at the end of the day, and ended up as a steaming pile of wasted opportunity. I can't give this more than a single star. One half for Hwang Jang Lee, and one half for Roy Horan, and that is only out of respect.

Thankfully he is so nice to the bad guys, or this would have been a pretty dull affair. Also, when said bad guys are Tino Wong and Eddie Ko, you know you're in for some grade A ass-whoopin'. Hwang breaks out his deadly arsenal of kicks, does some imressive hand to hand, and gets to showcase his badass stick fighting skills as well. Watch out for three different variations of his infamous flying triple kick, one of them hitting three guys before he lands--now THAT is hardcore. The end fight against Eddie Ko is also pretty damn sweet. Sticks, kicks and shapes, what more do you need?

For what must have been a relatively low budget Korean film, the production value was not too bad. Decent costumes, nice locations, and I even noticed that some of the street scenes seemed to have been shot on an interior set.

Personally I like ole' master Hwang better as a badass villain. But I can understand and appreciate that when shooting movies in his native Korea, he wanted to try on some good guy roles like this and flicks like HARD BASTARD and BUDDHIST FIST AND TIGER CLAWS. It must get tedious to play the evil bastard every time, he just does so well. Buddha bless you Master Hwang, whereever you are.

I've never bought Yuen Shun Yee as a leading man, nor did I this time. He is great as a villain, but that's about it. Yuen Siu Tin more or less reprises his role as beggar So here, and I actually find it slightly depressing and sad to see the ailing master heavily doubled in movie after movie from this era. His workload in the late 70's, was more than any man his age should have to endure, and eventually it killed him I guess.

Hwang Jang Lee as Rubberlegs is definitely the saving grace here, as he was in so many mediocre kung fu flicks from this time. He really gets to show his stuff in the end fight, that drunken mantis style is cool. I also liked Corey Yuen as Hwang's arrogant student, and Linda Lin Jing as the old lady, also seen in DRUNKEN MASTER.

But as a whole, those things combined was just not enough to redeem the movie in my mind; and in the end, I was left rather unimpressed.

The cast is an eclectic bunch. Angela Mao always deliver the goods. I love that girl, from her warm smile to her icy stare, and everything in between. Carter Wong looks about as good as he did in HAPKIDO, which isn't bad at all. Jhoon Ree might not be much of an actor, but with those skills, who cares? The one who really threw me for a loop upon first viewing though was Anne Winston. For a western girl in 1973, she sure could move and was, as far as I could tell, only doubled for a few flips, falls and tricky moves--the rest was her. Never heard of her before or since. But she really impressed me.

The bad guy roster is nothing to scoff at either. Tons of familiar faces, like Chin Yuet Sang, Alan Chui, Gam Kei Chu, and so on. Sammo is once again a vile Japanese henchman, which is always fun. But the real bastards are Kenji Kazuma and Whang In Sik: these guys are just mean, and when everybody clashes in the final fight, you wouldn't think you were watching a movie from 1973. The choreo and techniques are super tight, and way above the rest of the herd.

All of this awesome action is brilliantly framed by director Huang Feng, who creates great atmospheric tension, and plays around with some really interesting Leone and Kurosawa-like cinematography here. It all flows well together, spawning a true Golden Harvest classic. Definitely a must-have in my book.

Sammo's portrayal of real-life rice husker, Shaolin secular pupil, and Kwangtung tiger, Cheung Mai Lo (or however the hell you spell that), is sweet, funny and fearsome. He goes from bumbling runaway student to anger driven-avenger. It is really great to see Sammo so youthful and brimming with energy, and he gives a lot of humanity to a time-tested kung fu movie stereotype here. He shares the screen with the Charles Bronson of Asia, karate expert and all around badass, Chen Sing (playing the Gordon Liu signature character, monk San Te in this one). They make a great team and have a fun junior/senior chemistry going throughout the film, that works both in the comedic scenes, as well as the fights.

It is clear that Sammo was just starting to find his style here, in terms of fight choreography, as well as striking that all-important balance between action, drama, and comedy. He doesn't totally pull it off here, but close enough, and it is a noble effort and a good directorial debut from the old chubby maestro.

For a '77 movie, the fights are tight as hell, and with players like Chen Sing, Fung Hak-On (mysteriously sporting the Han people's horse ass hairstyle, despite the fact that he plays a Manchu???) and Chiu Hung, you know that an ass-kicking treat is guaranteed.

The movie is far from perfect. I hate Dean Shek's wiley creepo characters, even though they were a genre stable at this time. And disturbing rape scenes mixed with comedy is not really my bag either. But despite these minor gripes, this movie is a must-have in my book.

You would think that, with two thirds of the movie being fights, there wouldn't be much room for a story. But leave it to old master Lau to keep a coherent and involving narrative running alongside the superbly choreographed martial arts action. This is not your run of the mill Chinese vs. Japanese kung fu flick. This is a story about pride, prejudice and mutual respect. And I also like to think that it is a nice reflection of Lau Kar Leung's views on cross cultural understanding and acceptance. As well as the true philosophy of martial arts.

Needles to say, the action kicks balls. Watching Gordon take on Yasuaki Kurata and his band of Bushido masters is nothing but pure joy and delight. It is a true duel of styles, in its purest form. Hand to hand, trickery and a crapload of cool and classic weapons. My personal favorite is the Qiang vs. Yari spear fight... damn that shit is tight. And of course the end fight, Kung Fu vs. Ninjitsu. That Japanese crab technique was of the hook. Hell, I could go on and on about this movie. And I have probably watched it well over a hundred times in the last twenty years in various forms.

But suffice to say that this is a must have. The respectful and non violent nature of the film, is a nice break, in between the usual gory sword slashers and bloody revenge tales of the genre.

What I've always liked about this movie is that even though Tai plays the anti hero here, he still retains a shred of dignity and morality, as he rises from pauper to boss. He doesn't go all Tony Montana, even though he loses his way. You still care about the character and sense the good in him throughout.

The story is your typical gangster rise and fall tale. No big surprises here. It does have its slow spots, but it's all done well, with the usual Chang Cheh touch here and there. I actually liked Cheng Hong Yip's character the best. It is just one of maybe a thousand sidekick roles for him. But it was a little different than usual. He is sort of the moral compass to Tai's character, and they had great chemistry in this one.

The action is standard basher stuff: brutal, bloody and raw. A nice mix of hand to hand, blades and axes. No stylized shapes in sight. And the end fight is awesome: long and bloody as hell. It's just one protracted and escalating slaughter, reminiscent of the showdown in VENGEANCE, just not quite as good.

If you like movies like VENGEANCE, THE DUEL, KING BOXER, etc., you'll probably like this one.

Some people (wrongly) view them as exploitation films, and I just don't get that! It is probably due to the nudity and rape scenes. But all those scenes have meaning and lead to some plot point or twist. They serve the story and are not tacked on to sell tickets to pervs!

You could argue that the excessive blood spraying has an exploitive feel to it, but again, that was the style, and it's not like they go out of their way to make it look authentic! <