She hao ba bu (1978)

Director:

Chi-Hwa Chen

Writer:

Hsin Yee Chang (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 March 1978 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

Jackie Chan stars as the young warrior Hsu Yiu Fong. Hsu has been entrusted with the book of the "Art...

Plot Keywords:

Art | Kung Fu | Martial Arts | Shaolin

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Hsu Yin-Fung
Hsin Yi Chen
Ching Lan Chin
Kang Chin
Chun Cho
Han Chang Hu
Sang-ho Ju
Ki Bum Kim
Kong Kim	...	Chien Tse
Wang Kuk Kim
Min-Lang Li
Chou-hung Lin
Ya Ying Liu	...	(Guest star)
Wen Tai Li
Yung-kuo Li
Do-shik Ma
Ching Suen Mao
Nora Miao	...	Tang Pin-Er
Tien Miao		(as Tu Mao)
Kang Peng
Ren Tieh
Lin Tung
Wei Ho Tu		(as Her Du Wei)
Quen Wang
Chi Sang Wong		(as Chi Sheng Wang)
Te-shan Wu

Also Known As:

Sau hok baat biu (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Hong Kong | Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Singapore:PG | UK:15

Company:

Lo Wei Motion Picture Company

Chan is awesome!!

I watched this movie immediately after watching "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow," another terrific Jackie Chan movie, and it was nice to see a change in the way Chan was written into the story. I felt bad for Jackie Chan in "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" because he was always being bullied around, however, in this movie, Chan is clearly the one with the advantage. It was a lot more fun to watch Jackie Chan whup up on some bad guys, than watch the bad guys whup up on him.

I love any fight scene where they use the rattan bo with a knife at the end (long wooden stick with a knife at the end). I've been hooked on using a long staff as a weapon ever since I watched Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles use his staff, and use it effectively. In this movie, watching Jackie Chan use a bo to kick butt only heightened the viewing experience for me. The beginning sequence against the red background while two guys attacked with the staffs and Jackie defended himself with the modern police baton and a sword, WOOO!! that was great! I noticed though, as I watched that, the music they played was that from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's the music that is played during the opening credits of the movie and it was really weird to hear that music being played in a kung fu movie. My only question is: to which movie does the music really belong? Which movie was made first? It turns out Monty Python was made first, so I guess the music was stolen.

I really like the plot of this movie. It's so much better than "revenge on a guy who killed someone's family." The use of an ancient text to lure out the killer of seven masters of snake and crane style, leaving one master to teach a student the two styles in order to eventually... get revenge. So you see, while the plot is nothing TOO new, it's still better than other plots of other kung fu movies.

What really sets this movie apart from other Jackie Chan movies, is that it doesn't have goofy, and gratuitous dumb humor. This movie sticks to the point, and is serious all the way through. I like that in my kung fu movies. I gave it a 6/10.

**Final Decision: * With his abilities, Jackie Chan deserves to be in control**