My friend used to have a documentary on HK movies, and we always thought the Dreadnaught scenes looked the coolest. Of course, the documentary compilers only showed the action scenes from the film, such as Yuen Biao's final confrontation with the masked killer. This lead us to believe that Dreadnaught would be an action tour-de-force. It was a movie I'd always intended to check out, but never got to until the other month, when I saw it at a local HK rental store.

My wife loved it, and cracked up throughout the comedy scenes. She speaks Cantonese, so she got the jokes, whereas I had to rely on the sub par subtitles (another reason why Cantonese humor just goes over the heads of most Western viewers). Meanwhile, I couldn't bear the movie. I mean, they had Wong Fei Hong, a masked killer, Yuen Biao, with Yuen Woo-Ping behind the camera, and all they could come up with were a few action scenes and a lot of corny humor.

Even the masked killer doesn't do much kung-fu. Mostly he just freaks out when he hears Yuen Biao's bells ring, or he attacks hapless innocents. Biao himself doesn't know kung-fu, or at least he thinks he doesn't, until he realizes in the end that the Eagle Claw technique he's been using to do laundry is more than useful in a fight.

A lot of reviewers like to go on about the fight between Wong Fei Hong and the Demon Tailor, who tries to murder Wong while sizing him for a new outfit. The only thing I took from this mediocre scene was how obviously the elderly WFH actor was doubled throughout the fight.

Film-wise, the movie looks great, and obviously had a large budget. Both the on-screen and off-screen talent are excellent, but the movie as a whole just didn't do a thing for me. "New wave," schmoo-wave. You're telling me this is better than "Super Ninjas?!"

Dreadnaught was one of the last old-school movies -- wire-fu and more modern settings were coming into vogue -- but what a way to go out. This is among both Yuen Biao and Yuen Woo-Ping's best work and comes highly recommended.

REVIEW:
This is a first rate kung fu classic combining great martial arts and spooky chills that also features some of the genre's top talent. Yuen Biao in his second leading role performs well with veteran Kwan Tak Hing who reprises his role as Wong Fei Hung. The story and action is entertaining and creative thanks to director and choreographer, Yuen Wo Ping.

This film appears to have been inspired by the likes of American thriller Friday the 13th, creating a maniac killer with expert kung fu skills. Of course, not being satisfied with a simple slasher plot, the film is also about the rivalry between two kung fu schools and a young apprentice who must master his fear. While these thick plots are a staple of Hong Kong film, they rarely come together as nicely as seen in this film.

Most of the films Yuen Wo Ping has personally directed share a symmetry of humor, drama, and action that have proven successful. In this case, the added element of fear succeeds well with a costume effect straight from Chinese Opera that puts all the hockey-masked villians to shame.

How can you go wrong with a film that showcases some truly entertaining scenes featuring flamethrowing lion dancers, Wong Fei Hung fighting a hired killer called the Demon Tailor, and Yuen Biao drying laundry with his toes? While Wo Ping is no stickler for authentic kung fu, he is constantly experimenting as you can see even in this early film. For example, Eagle's Claw kung fu is adapted to drying laundry and manages to be Mousey's saving grace. Kwan Tak Hing, who appears appropriately commanding in his role as Fei Hung is given every opportunity to turn ordinary tasks into kung fu exhibitions while remaining cool as a cucumber.

You could argue that the ending was too abrupt and the encounters between the Masked Killer and Mousey too convenient but those are small complaints. This is definitely kung fu camp at its best and worth investing in.

Another classic from Yuen Woo Ping that gives Yuen Biao plenty of opportunity to display his acrobatic skills in originally inventive fight scenes that exploit his character's cowardliness. Although Yuen Biao doesn't actually get to do much actual kung fu, until the end, there's still fights aplenty involving the rest of the cast. One of the most memorable of these is when an assassin (played by Fong Hak An), disguised as a tailor, tries to murder Wong Fei-hung while measuring him up for new clothes. It's Yuen Woo Ping's ability to constantly come up with such ideas that make his fight scenes such a joy to watch. In this scene Fong Hak An makes weapons of scissors, a tape measure and a needle.

Yuen Shen Yi is totally demented as White Tiger and Kwan Tak Hing is wonderful in his reprisal of the Wong Fei-hung role he made his own long before Jet Lee came along.

Not your usual kung fu knockabout but all the more entertaining for that.