In a completely serious role Jackie plays a kung fu student out for revenge against the man who killed his teacher. However when he finds the rival master he discovers that he is absorbed by guilt and has cut off his leg as penance. Jackie's character is then manipulated by gang of crooks until the explosive final reel where he comes to his senses and joins with the one legged master to defeat the villains.

When compared to other Lo Wei directed Jackie movies, 'Dragon Fist' actually comes out rather favourably. Although Jackie might have felt that the character was wrong for him, vengeful and without any humour whatsoever, he comes across quite well especially in the final climax where he transforms into a powerhouse of rage. The script is a lot more cohesive than previous Lo Wei efforts and the action, choreographed by Jackie himself, is quite superb. So much so that it is easily a match for the fights in 'Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin'.

The choreography is fast paced allowing Jackie to display plenty of his acrobatic techniques and the camera work is effective also. The film is pretty much crammed full of fights with little time in between to get bored. Just what you want from a kung fu movie really.

In the movies finale, Chan takes on an assassin whose has a mastery of the chinese tonfa (basically a cop's knight stick). Chan defends himself by the use of an ordinary crutch. This climatic scene demonstrates some of Chan's greatest speed and agility. While watching this film, one can't blink or 8 to 10 lighting movements can be sorely missed. To keep the battle in as realistic as possible, Chan's crutch gets whidled down to a matchstick! If this were a Hollywood scene they would have replaced the crutch 12-20 times, no joke. If you haven't seen this classic Jackie chan flick you are missing out. Chan is at his best and has nothing else to prove. Highest possible recommendation.