Dragon Fist (Long Quan) (1979) Directed by Lo Wei.

The movie starts with a spirited sparring match between Fang Kang (James Tien) and one of his schools top students.  High energy Kung Fu sets the pace.  It is only practice, in honor of their Sifu, San Thye.  The school is celebrating their master's victory in a recent tournament.  It has won the right to hang a sign proclaiming their Kung Fu is the strongest.

But things quickly go south as a rival school arrives, and the Sifu challenges for the right to display the sign.  Since reputation is everything to a dojo, San Thye accepts.  And he is defeated.  And he admits that.  And then he is beaten some more.  At last the Patience School leaves, after breaking the sign.

But the shame and the injuries are fatal, and San Thye only has time to pass the care of his wife and daughter, (played by Nora Miao) to his most trusted student, Tang How-Yuen (Jackie Chan).

Why did this occur?  Just a bad Kung Fu plot line?  Well, yes, and no.  The Patience School Sifu's wife commits suicide three days later.  We learn from her suicide note that the feud between the two men was really over San Thye having dated his wife, long before they married, and that was the reason he picked the fight, and killed his rival.  He is a humbled and different man.

Three years later How Yuen has continued his training, taken care of the ladies, and is now read to wreak bloody whupass on the man who killed his master.

However, in this time, there have been developments; the Patience Master has learned...patience.  And humility.  He is a different, wiser man.

However the Wei School has taken over the job of being a villain.  And they are villains of the old school, smuggling drugs and killing people, and they have the prerequisite evil homosexual lieutenant who comes up with all the schemes. (Why are all the cunning geniuses in martial arts movies also creepy gay guys?)  And when they discover that a Kung Fu Master is here for revenge against the only force in the area able to interfere with their nefarious plans, well, the evil plots practically write themselves.... Let's you and him fight being a front runner.

The Analysis. 

This is from the same director as The Big Boss, Bruce Lee's first movie.  Jackie Chan was Wei's favorite to replace the immortal Lee.  However, that is a tall order, and at this stage of the game, it was not happening.  Chan is not yet as fluid as Lee, still bound to the forms of Kung Fu.  Nor has his personality developed fully.  This is a very serious role; none of the humor that Chan excels at can be found here.  It is basically a formulaic chop sockey film, done well, but with interchangeable roles; in fact, a large portion of the cast was in the Bruce Lee movies, including Chan himself (unnamed thug in Enter the Dragon).

That said, it is a bit better done than many.  As I said, there is a plot as to why people act the way they do; the two masters were once in love with the same woman, the villainous Wei Clan are running drugs, and don't want anyone who can stand up to them to get in the way.

And the sets and costumes are excellent; by this point, Wei Lo could command better budgets, and had built resources in the movie making world.  This meant better production values.

And while no one has equaled Lee's skill and grace, Chan is a superlative martial artist.  His style is dynamic and dramatic, full of energy and vitality.  He sells the fight, and makes his opponent look good at the same time.  It is a rare gift.

While this is not inspired or ground breaking, it is a well made and serviceable Kung Fu feature.  While the main draw of the picture is a very young ‘Jacky Chan', and he is a few years away from developing his trademark personality.  But the energy; he got that first.  And it makes this an enjoyable film.

This is part of my Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting! Write Off.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older