Yuen Biao shines in his second starring role with the boyish charm and acrobatic grace that his fans would come to expect. The martial arts scenes are excellent, particularly the training scenes with Sammo and the final fight at the end which would be to painfully brutal to watch if it weren't so perfectly staged.

Sammo as Wa-po displays his usual knack for humor by playing a kung fu expert who is trying (unsuccessfully) to become a scholar, makes a fool of Biao's character, and quarrels with his old friend, Yee-tai, all while raising his precocious teenage daughter. The humor balances well against the serious plot of a Manchu official's son whose protectors slit the throats of an entire opera troupe and kill Biao's teacher which leads Biao to seek revenge. The film ends more grim than Western audiences would be accustomed to but fits the pattern of your typical Hong Kong fare.

I would argue that Sammo Hung produced his best films in this period of the late '70's and early '80's when kung fu films were beginning to fade. Sammo's work in many films previous, from "Enter the Dragon" to Shaw Brothers classics gave him a chance to develop and master the best elements of kung fu combining humor, realistic martial arts, solid choreography and fast-paced storytelling. "The Prodigal Son" has all this in spades and is surely a classic of the genre.

Yuen Biao plays the young Leung Chang who begins the story as a spoilt rich kid believing that his kung fu is the best in town and that he has a reputation for being a fierce street fighter. In reality his kung fu is poor and his father pays bribes to Leung's challengers to keep him from harm. Chang gets a rude awakening when he fights with a Chinese Opera player, Leung Yee Tai (Lam Ching Ying), who teaches him a lesson or two. Leung Chang begs Yee Tai to take him as a student and when he refuses, joins the Chinese Opera company.

In a parallel story that mirrors that of Yuen Biao's character, Frankie Chan plays a young Ming prince, expert in kung fu, who travels the land looking for worthy opponents. Unknown to the prince, his bodyguards are under strict orders to kill anyone that might be a threat and, after a duel with Leung Yee Tai, burn down the Chinese Opera. Only Leung Chang and his reluctant mentor escape and find refuge with Leung Yee Tai's brother, another Wing Chun master played by Samo Hung. It's here that Leung Chang is finally accepted as a student and improves his fighting skill in order to meet the prince in the final showdown.

'Prodigal Son' is quite unique in its use of authentic Wing Chun techniques in the films intricate fight sequences. Lam Ching Ying, a practitioner of the style in real life, gives a superb performance and almost steals the show; the cornerstone action scene which sees him fight Frankie Chan is a real show stopper. The film might be a bit lighter on action than some of Samo's other works but its definitely a case of quality over quantity as the standard is high in all of the fight scenes. Again intricate choreography (with some dazzling combinations of fast hand techniques) is complemented nicely by expert camerawork and editing. Yuen Biao is also excellent with some of his best techniques being displayed when he is actually doubling for other people. So despite the hero character relying on close quarters Wing Chun fighting we are still not denied Yuen Biao's awesome kicks. An unmissable cornerstone of kung fu cinema...

Take, for example, "The Prodigal Son". At first glance, it seems innocuous enough. Leung Chang (Yuen Biao) is widely recognized at the city's foremost kung fu expert. But the truth is that his rich father fixes all of his fights so that he doesn't get hurt. Naturally, this makes Chang the laughingstock of the area, though he's completely in the dark. Now, you might think that this film is heading straight towards the same sort of buffoonery that filled Jackie Chan's movies during his "Young Master" days.

However, things get slightly weird when Chang and his friends decide to attend a local Peking opera performance. One of his friends becomes enamored with the lead actress, and decides to make his move on her. Unfortunately for his libido, she turns out to be a man, who quickly makes short work of Chang and his pals. In an attempt to defend his honor, Chang challenges the man, Leung Yee-Tai, to a duel. Yee-Tai makes short work of Chang, revealing his kung fu for the lame joke that it is, and leaving Chang disgraced.

Determined to become a martial arts champion, Chang insists that Yee-Tai take him as his student. The actor refuses, so Chang gets his dad to buy the whole opera (talk about investing for your kid's future) so there's no way Chang can be refused. Yee-Tai grudgingly accepts Chang as his student, but still refuses to teach him any kung fu.

Yawn... so far, very little happens. Despite all of the comedic setup, there's very little laughworthy material. It's more goofy than anything else, what with the music that would make Sid and Marty Kroft green with envy and the overly effeminate Yee-Tai. In fact, you start to wonder if anything is going to happen at all. The opera journeys to another town and gets ready to perform. However, when Chang is mistaken for an actor who has been having an affair, things start to pick up. Yee-Tai makes short work of the angry husband and his goons, much to the interest of Lord Ngai, a local nobleman who has been looking for a worthy opponent.

Ngai invites the whole opera troupe to his house, hoping to challenge Yee-Tai to a match. In one of the film's finest kung fu sequences, Yee-Tai proves that he's more than a match for Ngai. However, he also reveals his asthma affliction. Being honorable, Ngai refuses to beat him. However, word of Yee-Tai makes it back to Ngai's father. Like Chang's father, he doesn't want any harm to come his son, and like all good fathers would do in his situation, he arranges to have whole opera troupe killed.

It's here when the film just goes out the window. The troupe is massacred in the middle of the night, a slaughter that's fairly graphic - women and children getting their throats slit (with nice matching sound effects), limbs getting shattered, and everything going up in flames. What makes it even more impacting is how unexpected it feels. Up until this point, the film had been fairly innocuous and frivolous, and then it just explodes into a bloody slaughter that literally smacks you upside the head and leaves you reeling.

But, just as suddenly, we're back to Goofyland. Yee-Tai and Chang escape into the countryside, where they shack in a farm. Conveniently, they just happen to be now living next door to Yee-Tai's brother, Wong (Sammo Hung). Compared to the effeminate Yee-Tai, Wong is blowhard and a buffoon who enjoys homosexual jokes about Yee-Tai, and who also just happens to be one heckuva calligrapher. After an initial misunderstanding (Wong's daughter thinks Chang is trying to sexually assault her, although Chang is merely going after a chicken - they must be in Southern China), an uneasy truce is struck.

Eventually, Yee-Tai and Wong begin to teach Chang kung fu (though both think the other's style is inferior). And there's still plenty of goofy humor (especially Wong's "taking a crap" style), and some patently crude humor (mostly at the expense of Yee-Tai, who is commonly referred to as a "fairy" and "faggot" by the boorish Wong). But Yee-Tai's asthma gets the best of him, and Chang is forced to return home so his master can heal up.

Unfortunately for Yee-Tai, Ngai is waiting for him, and his men still have orders to protect him at any cost. This leads to your always popular "you killed my master" final battle, which takes place at some conveniently located Mayan ruins. Like the opera massacre, the final battle is surprisingly brutal and savage (oozing wounds, split-open heads, and other goodies), and like the opera massacre, it comes out of nowhere... and it leaves you reeling.

By now, there's no way around it; "The Prodigal Son" is a bipolar movie. There's no other way to say it. One minute, you're groaning at the movie's lame/crude/bizarre/goofy humor, and the next you're peeking out between your fingers at the violence. I'm not sure if this sort of manic-depressive pacing was intentional or not, to keep the viewer off-balance, or if that's just the way it turned out. Whatever the case, its the movie's best feature, as well as its Achilles Heel.

Everything feels out of proportion, with such outrageous emotional swings. Unfortunately, there's nothing in the actual plot that keeps you riveted. Despite the film's best efforts, the plot feels incredibly hackneyed and cliched, right down the big final battle (a staple of martial arts cinema to be fair) which also feels anticlimactic. Ngai is innocent of Yee-Tai's death (it's his father's fault) but Chang insists on fighting him anywise; there is no major bade in this film.

On top of that, the performances are nothing outstanding, merely passable at best. Biao has never impressed me with his acting; he's an agile enough fellow, but he lacks the charisma necessary to carry off the film. It doesn't help matters when he's constantly upstaged by the rivalry between Yee-Tai and Wong, or the movie's huge mood swings.

"The Prodigal Son" has been called one of the most authentic martial arts movies of all time, and that might be true. There's certainly enough bloodshed and pain to go around for all involved; noone leaves a fight unscathed or unscratched. And there are impressive martial arts sequences sprinkled throughout the movie. But that doesn't save the film from its unsteady nature. Sure, it's worth watching just for the sheer delirium of it all. But between the inane gay jokes, slit throats, sexual double entendres involving poultry and portly girls, decapitations, the lost H.R. Pufnstuf soundtrack, and senseless beatings, just don't expect a any of it to make sense.

But at least you'll be able to claim you saw it... and that's worth something in my book.

This movie has it all: great action, story, acting, drama, comedy, and most importantly, some kick-ass martial arts that (I hate to admit) actually makes Shaw Brothers fighting look tame in comparison. Whereas Shaw Brothers movies starring the Venoms belie their Peking Opera training, with plenty of flips, acrobatics, and precisely-timed choreography, the actors in Prodigal Son go at it with ferocity, and really look like they're beating the shit out of each other.

Yuen Biao plays Chang, a spoiled punk who thinks he's a kung-fu genius. Traveling Peking actor Lam Ching-Ying shows him otherwise, and Yuen forces himself into Lam's life, begging to become his pupil. When Lam's challenged by Ching official Ngai into a "friendly match," tragedy catches up with Lam's opera troupe, as they're attacked in the night by ninja-like assassins. This scene is probably the best in the film, as Lam and Yuen Biao take on these ninjas in a burning theater. Lam and Biao retreat to Sammo Hung's home, where Lam finally relents and teaches Biao wing chun. Now ready to take on anyone, Biao ends the film with a magnificent "friendly match" with Ngai that has to be one of the most hard-hitting, fast-paced, brutal kung-fu matches ever seen on film.

There's comedy interspersed throughout the film, which in truth comes off a bit jarring, especially when placed directly after a disturbing scene of people being murdered cold-blooded in the night. Sammo though is very funny, and his braggart character is one of the film's most memorable. He has a great scene where he attempts to master calligraphy, and also instructs Biao on the more offense-based aspects of wing chun. But whereas the comedy in "Dreadnaught" totally derailed the movie, the humor in Prodigal Son is less slapstick and doesn't get in the way of the action.

Some familiar faces pop up in smaller roles: Wei Pai (the "Snake" Venom) plays one of the opera actors, but he doesn't do any kung-fu. James Tien (who appeared in all of Bruce Lee's Hong Kong movies except for "Way of the Dragon") shows up in a cameo as a guy looking for a rematch with Ngai. But Biao is the true star, excellent in his role as the spoiled brat who eventually becomes a kung-fu master.

Bey Logan put Prodigal Son in the number one spot in the "Top Ten Kung-Fu Movies" list he published in Stefan Hammond's book "Hollywood East." I don't know if it's the best ever, but it's up there for sure. If I had to lodge any complaints against the movie, it would be that the way in which the murderers of Lam Ching Ying's opera troupe are dealt with is anticlimactic, and the meshing of comedy and drama is off-setting at times. But that doesn't detract from what is otherwise a near-perfect film. It's certainly a classic, and I recommend it even to those who don't like martial arts movies.

REVIEW:
Mention the "The Prodigal Son" to any aficionado of Hong Kong cinema and you will witness them mysteriously get misty-eyed and ramble on about the golden age of Hong Kong cinema.

Sammo Hung directs and leads the supporting cast in this classic of Hong Kong cinema. Yuen Biao stars as Leung Chan as a spoiled rich kid who thinks he is a kung-fu master after beating over 300 opponents, but unknown to him all of his matches have been fixed and he can't really fight.

Enter Lam Ching-Ying who plays Leung Yee Tai, a camp Chinese opera actor who beats Leung Chan after accidentally picking up a fight with him. After Yuen Biao gets beaten up and exposed as the fraud he really is, he buys up the Chinese opera troupe where Lam Ching-Ying works and subsequently becomes his side-kick much to Leung Yee Tai's disgust.

Sammo Hung directs this rare piece of cinema, (made at the height of the golden age of Hong Kong movies), a martial-arts film which was not only box-office smash but critically acclaimed. Adorned with just three Hong Kong Film Award nominations, including Best Director (for Sammo Hung) and Best Picture (a first for a martial-arts film), it won only one HKFA for Best Action Choreography when it really deserved a hatful.

The cast, is absolutely magnetic. Yuen Biao plays his character to perfection and is brilliant. Frankie Chan is wonderful and Sammo Hung showcases a masterful comic performance. But the real star of the show is the late, great Lam Ching-Ying who really is magnetic as the asthmatic Leung Yee Tai. Lam Ching Ying's performance really deserved a nomination for Best Actor at the HKFA if not the award itself.

Everything about this film really fits. The storyline and plotting is spot on, especially for a kung-fu film. The fight choreography is truly marvelous, which won the coveted Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Direction.

The choreography is really mostly Wing-Chung with added acrobatics and high kicks (with a slight mixture of other styles). But even if you don't like Wing-Chun choreography this will blow you away. Virtually the main cast choreographed the fight scenes which means that all the cast fights, punches, blocks to sheer perfection. The camera-angles are wide and continuous, and the editing of the fights supreme, unlike today's MTV style fights where every fight is filmed too close, edited woefully and with the added burden of some truly awful rock/rap music attached which seems to be a mainstay of not only Hollywood movies but unfortunately Hong Kong martial-arts movies nowadays.

This movie really defines Hong Kong fight choreography. Although the fighting could be said to be "old-school" the fighting is very fast, and even by today's standard the choreography is top-notch, fast, furious and award winning. What makes the fight choreography even more amazing is that very few camera tricks are used. There is hardly any "under cranking" (if any) and no wirework at all.

I could go on and on about this film. I really can't bestow enough praise on this film. The only minus point of the movie is that the part where Yuen Biao and Lam Ching-Ying meet up with Sammo Hung is a bit slow, but that's like saying Mozart is loud and really is criticizing for the sake of criticizing.

Even if you absolutely hate martial arts films this will win you over. This movie is not just for martial arts fans. This classic movie has a marvelous ensemble cast with electric performances, absolutely wonderful fight scenes, a good storyline, with comedic elements balanced out with some surprisingly dark moments, thanks to the ace direction of Sammo Hung. All the cast are at the peak of their powers, on-song at the same time with great interaction with each other. I mean where else would you see Yuen Biao and Lam Ching-Ying fight and serenade each other at the same time?!

A classic of not just Hong Kong action cinema but Hong Kong cinema itself.

Yuen Biao plays the son of a wealthy Chinese man. He likes to test his martial arts by fighting many of the town's kung fu experts. He never loses and never gets hurt. Little does he know that his father has practically paid off all of the fighters in town to lose to his son so he wouldn't get hurt. So while he thinks his martial arts skills are superb, everyone he fights gets paid to make him look good. After getting beaten by another martial arts expert and Chinese opera star played by Lam Ching Ying, he finds out that his father has somewhat betrayed him by paying people off. Now he sets out to learn real kung fu and hopes that this Chinese opera star will teach him. However, the thespian refuses to him teach martial arts. Finally Sammo Hung makes a comical appearance and teaches Wing Chun to the headstrong pugilist.

There are a lot of subplots that tie into this story, which is much better than most other martial arts films. Instead of a plot written around the fight sequences (like most martial arts films), the plot comfortably co-exists and supports the action scenes. The incredibly fast and dynamic, yet gritty martial arts choreography was excellent.

Leung Chang (Yuen Biao) is a spoiled brat who thinks he is a remarkable kung fu champion, ignorant that his father actually pays his opponents to lose to him--until he meets up with an unrelenting opera performer, Yee Tai (Lam Ching Ying, "Mr. Vampire").

Beaten soundly by Yee Tai, Leong decides to really beef up his kung fu skills and asks Yee to take him as a disciple. Yee refuses but changes his mind after a Manchu prince and his men kill everyone in the opera troupe but them. When Yee is stabbed by the prince, it is up to Leong to avenge his fellow troupe members.

Hong Kong action movies are known for high-level octane, choreography and stunts, but not many attain the exceptional quality found in "The Prodigal Son".

Leung Chang (Yuen Biao!!) lives in the town of Fut Shan and is widely known as the Street Brawler. He has built an impressive reputation on never losing a fight despite the many challengers that cross his path. In fact, even while sitting in a teahouse with his servant a martial artist that wants to make a name for himself in the town so he can open a martial arts school attempts to take Chang on. He and his cronies are no match for the young man though, and is sent packing. What Chang doesn't see however is that his servant goes out after the losers and pays them for their troubles – the Street Brawler's whole reputation is actually an elaborate deception, and in fact his wealthy father has made sure that every single challenger has been paid off without Chang's knowledge to make sure that his son is not hurt. Even his teachers go easy on him and exaggerate the progress he's made in order to make him think he truly is a great fighter. Some of Chang's friends go to see a visiting Peking Opera troop that night and one of them is struck by the beauty of the leading lady. Being Peking Opera, this is no lady at all but is in fact the actor Leung Ye Tai (Lam Ching Ying!), who teases the young man's idiotic advances before utterly humiliating him with some impressive martial arts ability. Leung Chang is then brought in by his friend to use his martial arts skills to teach Leung Ye Tai a lesson. Despite the offers of money made by Chang's servant, Ye Tai will have none of it and crushes Chang with his expert Wing Chun technique, telling him that his kung fu is useless. Chang feels let down by his family, and his teachers who give him a thorough kicking before going on their way. Anxious to make amends, Chang's father attempts to ask Ye Tai to take Chang on as his student but he refuses, rightfully saying that he's too young and thoughtless and would only use what was taught to fight and get in trouble. So instead Chang has his father buy the whole Opera troop so that he can tag along as Ye Tai's assistant.

Leung Chang proves to be a thorn in Leung Ye Tai's side as he constantly attempts to persuade him to become his sifu. Things become more complicated during a performance however when a misunderstanding sees Chang getting attacked by a large group of thugs. Eventually ending up on the stage where Ye Tai is perfoming, the Wing Chun expert dispatches the goons much to the entertainment of the crowd. In attendance however is Lord Ngai (Frankie Chan) and his two bodyguards Suen and Law (Dick Wei and Chung Faat). Ngai is a member of the local royalty, but is also a highly skilled martial artist who travels between towns and provinces looking for the very best martial artists to compete against. Impressed with the Wing Chun displayed by Ye Tai he invites the whole opera troop to dinner the next night. Ye Tai and Chang sit with the Lord and after some persuasion from both Ngai and Chang, Ye Tai reluctantly agrees to fight the royal martial artist outside. However during their battle, Ye Tai is struck with an asthma attack and the fight is ended prematurely. Despite the draw, Ngai's bodyguards were suitably perturbed by the Wing Chun master's skills and it is revealed that Ngai's father was not that different from Chang's – he ordered the two men to make sure his son never lost, even if that means murdering his opponents. The local police chief is brought in and being presented with a royal seal, assembles a group of men to go accompany Suen and Law, who resolve to kill the entire opera troop. With pure luck, Chang avoids the massacre and comes to Leung Ye Tai's aid amidst the burning remains of the opera troop. Chang's arm is broken in the melee but the two of them escape into the night. Ye Tai takes the injured Chang back to his old home, where he lives next-door to his old martial arts brother, the arrogant Wong Wa Po (Sammo Hung). With his old brother poking his nose in where its not wanted, Leung Chang more eager to learn Wing Chun from him than ever, and still the threat of royal guards wanting him dead because of his abilities, what can Leung Ye Tai do?

The Prodigal Son is a true classic of the genre, and few can claim to feature such amazingly well choreographed and accurate fights and techniques. Striving to find something different in the kung fu genre to develop, director Sammo Hung hit upon the idea of using Wing Chun – a martial art that does not contain the visual, showy style of other kung fu styles such as Wu Shu and has never had the same exposure of the more elaborate styles. Wing Chun is understood to be over 200 years old and has been often seen as a women's martial art, as the techniques that make up the art are ideally suited to smaller practitioners when taking on larger opponents, and many believe it to have been learnt and popularised by a woman called Yin Wing Chun who learnt it from a Buddhist nun. The techniques used are extremely close-quarters which utilise a whole series of strikes using just about every body part possible which not only makes it very unpredictable, but also means a larger opponent has no space to fight back. Perhaps due to the perceived feminine nature of the art, Lam Ching Ying's character is often portrayed as diminutive and effeminate through both his performing as female characters in the Peking Opera and through other characters in the film such as Wong Wa Po making jokes about his feminine appearance. However his Wing Chun, superbly performed by Lam Ching Ying, is seen as extremely powerful and ably shows that a great amount of technique can compensate for lack of size. During training sequences later in the film we get to see up-close displays of impressive Wing Chun technique, including an excellent scene where teacher and student spar at close range on top of a table. While this does not allow for flashy kicking and flipping, and those familiar with the actors involved know they are extremely capable in these areas, these displays of pure technique are an absolute wonder to watch and help The Prodigal Son stand out from the less realistic and less practical styles used in other films of the time.

Both Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying are on absolute top form in this film, Yuen Biao plays the impetuous young hero that has become a trademark of the genre while Lam Ching Ying excels as the reluctant martial arts master. Their dynamic is a strong one as Leung Chang starts as a great irritation (possibly to the viewer also) but slowly starts to endear himself to Ye Tai who finds his persistence annoying but increasingly admirable. While Yuen Biao's performance of the young man who slowly develops into a much more mature person is good, it is a character that has been seen 100 times before be it Biao himself playing it in films like Knockabout and Dreadnaught, or Jackie in the likes of Drunken Master and it is Lam Ching Ying's outstanding performance that really takes this film to another level. Leung Ye Tai acts cold and distant to Chang for much of the first part of the film, as if he is putting up a wall of strength and stoicism that he does not wish people to see beyond. However Ching Ying brings an excellent comedic element to the character, thanks to some superb comic timing and a wonderfully restrained performance you do occasionally see cracks in the image he projects. His performance is more than just acting however, as he is superb in the expertly choreographed fight sequences that pepper the film. His techniques are crisp and convincing, most probably helped in part by Sammo Hung's requirement for physical contact during the fights, and he brings out the very best in both Yuen Biao and Frankie Chan. Many, including Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan, believe that the sadly short-lived fight between Ngai and Ye Tai is one of the greatest ever committed to film and its difficult to disagree, the amazing execution and the use of the set (two narrow plank bridges are used to maximum effect) make it stand out to the point where the rest of the film finds it difficult to match it. Yuen Biao does his very best however and the climactic battle is a wonder to behold, especially as we get to see some great attention to detail as he uses technique taught to him earlier in the film which was another great touch. There is also extensive expert doubling done by both Lam Ching Ying and Yuen Biao done for other performers in the film, most notably Frankie Chan is doubled by both Ching Ying and Biao in the final scene, but is done so seamlessly you'll have to watch it for hours in slow motion to see.

Without a doubt one of the greatest martial arts films ever made, but it is not quite perfect. Sad to say, but Sammo Hung's character is more of a hindrance than anything, his character is somewhat wacky to say the least and his appearances more often than not bring with them some rather uneven humour which at times harm the flow of the film. The comedy scenes with Biao and Ching Ying worked due to the subtlety of performance given (their argument put to song is superb, for instance), but Sammo is his usual ‘larger than life' self and while it works in some instances such as an entertaining calligraphy scene, at other times it risks becoming invasive, such as one particularly poignant scene between Ye Tai and Chang that sadly ends with him barging in with a bad gay joke. Does the presence of Wong Jing in the credits as a writer have anything to do with this? While it would be easy to make him a scapegoat, he has been responsible for some truly unfunny attempts at comedy in the past such as the diabolical Future Cops, and his humour was even deemed too silly by Jackie Chan when they had a major falling out over the making of City Hunter. Of course Sammo Hung also directed and choreographed the film so it would not be surprising if he wanted to give himself some screen time, even though the film does truly belong to his colleagues Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying. There is little else to complain about however, as even the supporting cast of bit characters all excel superbly, Frankie Chan looks mightily impressive in his fight sequences and portrays a good-hearted side to what at first seems like a mean character, while Dick Wei and Chung Faat are just out and out evil as they plot behind the scenes without their master's knowledge. The cinematography too perfectly captures the beautiful sets, amazing choreography and excellent performances of the brilliant cast. The uneven attempts at humour can be forgiven considering how strong the film is in every other area.

A true great of the genre, but also one of the last, The Prodigal Son is a crowning achievement for Sammo Hung as director, and Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying give two of their greatest performances. This is especially true of Lam Ching Ying, who so expertly embodies the style and teachings of Wing Chun and makes for a believable and impressive expert, who deserved to be remembered for more than just chasing after hopping vampires in the many horror comedies he would go on to do. Hong Kong just doesn't make them like this anymore - unfortunately Yuen Biao's film appearances have diminished considerably in recent years and sadly Lam Ching Ying died of liver cancer in 1997, but this film will forever be an enduring reminder of their amazing skills that will be wowing generations of audiences to come.

In the movie, Yuen Biao (in his second starring role) plays a bored rich kid who spends his days getting into street brawls. He wins every fight, but it is only because his father pays off the opponents. When an opera troupe comes to town and its' star (Lam Ching-Ying) beats up his friends, Yuen challenges Lam to a duel. After he is defeated, Yuen wants Lam to teach him Wing Chun, but Lam wants nothing to do with the cocky youngster. However, after the troupe is killed by officials trying to protect a duke (Frankie Chan) who Lam almost humilated in a fight, the master (along with his brother, played by Sammo Hung) takes Yuen under his wing so revenge can be taken.

The power of The Prodigal Son's fight sequences cannot be denied. In this day and age of computer-fu, it was really refreshing seeing people who can actually do the moves without the aid of special effects. Even scenes that seem simple on the surface (like Sammo practicing his calligraphy) take on a whole new level via the martial arts prowess of the stars. One wonders after seeing this film why its' stars didn't attain bigger success in the world of action movies. I guarantee that if you ask a group of western people that condsider themselves kung fu movie fans who Yuen Biao is, most of them wouldn't know -- but they probably would know who Jeff Speakman is, and that's a shame.

Sadly, though, for how good the action is, The Prodigal Son falls prey to some of the genre's shortcomings. The film's tone is very uneven. One scene will have (at least for its' time) graphic violence, and the next will have broad comedy, complete with cartoony sound effects. The characters are not fleshed out very well. In particular, I would have like to seen more development of Lam Ching-Ying and Frankie Chan's characters. In a genre where heroes and villains are often painted in shades of black and white, there was some sublety to those characters which I wish Sammo would have explored more. At any rate, these are faily minor quibbles -- if you are a fan of classic kung fu action, you can't do too much better than The Prodigal Son.