The martial arts action in the film is above average under the direction of Sammo Hung. Dorian Tan uses his trademark high kicks very effectively as the "Northern eighteen styles kicks" and uses some "Southern five styles boxing." Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan provide excellent martial arts performances as well. James Tien is not the greatest martial artist on the Jade screen but does an acceptable job. Some of the early fights are a bit slow and seem over choreographed but the final showdowns featuring Chan, Tan and Hung are very good.

Director John Woo provides plenty of interesting character development in the film, which is refreshing. The cinematography by Leung Wing Kat is very stylish, unique and beautiful for a kung fu film of this era. Joseph Koo's music: a combination of soft flutes and 70's "Shaft" style orchestral pieces is kung fu cinema at its best.

Hand of Death aka Countdown in Kung Fu is an underrated classic in the old school kung fu genre. The film is one of the best artistically of its time and a preview of the great things to come from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.

Hand of Death is a stylish old school kung fu film and a solid early work of the legendary John Woo.

The Hand of Death has a standard revenge plot with good weapon/hand-to-hand combat scenes and excellent character development. Although the main character is out to avenge his slain master, other characters want retribution for dead brothers and lovers. The swordsman, for instance, was vain about his skills, which led to a tragic encounter with the main villains (played by Sammo and James Tien). He becomes a passive drunkard who takes up the fight for personal redemption.In fact, the plot moves along nicely once the band of shaolin brothers decide that they can only accomplish their task by working together.

The fight scenes are entertaining. It's revealing to watch Jackie Chan show his weapons skills: some very nice spear moves. Personally, my favourite fight is the final battle involving James Tien and Dorian Tan. They put on a good Wing Chun clinic, with other Shaolin forms thrown in for good measure.

About the worst that could be said about The Hand of Death is that it doesn't break any new ground. The destruction of Shaolin Temple and persecution of its students is standard martial arts movie to the point of cliche. But give the movie credit for exceptional action, writing, and directing. It will stand up next to any other kung fu films of this era, and it will stand up to repeated viewing. Boring? Amateurish? Your kung fu review is good, but mine is better!

The film was directed by John Woo and the action scenes were directed by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Yuen Wah and Yuen Biao have small roles in this film. The four would later go on to much greater sucess in the late seventies and early eighties. A lot of Woo's trademark scenes debuted in this film. He would perfect a lot of these scenes and reuse them ad nauseum in the future.

Overall it's not as bad as people say it is. You have to take it for what it's worth. Woo is not an action director per say and Hung and Chan were just perfecting their craft.

Recommended for old school kung-fu fans and John Woo followers.