Hou hsing kou shou

Be prepared to be converted to being a life long fan of monkey kung fu movies after seeing this movie! This is the *granddaddy* of monkey kung fu movies! Prepare to have your world rocked with movie coolness monkey kung fu style! One of the all time most entertaining movies ever made! This is what kung fu movies are supposed to be... highly entertaining, jaw dropping edge of your seat fight sequences and great humor.

I had the chance to see this fine movie as the 4th Annual Tarantino Film Festival. When Tarantino introduced the movie he showed off his monkey kung fu and drunken style kung fu skills which were dead on. Though I will note that in the version shown at this fest it shows about a 2 minute sequence involving a monkey fight a snake, which is crucial to the plot towards the end... which on most video versions of this movie is completely cut out which pretty much renders the end of the movie sorta confusing and disjointed. So if you do look for this film be sure and look for the uncut complete version of it with the full monkey fighting the snake sequence. There are various movie places out there that sell the uncut version. If you watch a edited version of this movie you will probably scratch your head and wonder why anyone would rave about this movie... you know the slightest of cuts to a movie in any length at crucial points in the movie can have the hugest effect on it... and this is one of those cases.

From the opening scenes of someone jumping from tree to tree monkey kung fu style I was hooked with this movie. The movie gets you involved from beginning to end. The good guys in the movie are all fight monkey kung fu style with some mixing in some drunken style, which makes for a super super cool combination. The bad guys all fight snake fist style which makes for an awesome adversary in fighting techniques.

I can say I haven't seen an audience so into a movie and so full of joy afterwards since I first saw the movie The Matrix. This is like one of those ultimate kung fu movies that fires and hits on all cylinders. Many of us have seen so many bad kung fu movies we forget there are those gems like this one that revitalizes you, takes you to movie paradise... that magical feeling you get when you walk out of a movie that makes you remember why you love movies in the first place. The climax and final fight sequence in the uncut version of this film is one of the best fight sequences I've seen in any movie. You are literally almost on your feet or at the edge of your seat with your arms and legs reacting with kung fu moves to what is happening on the screen as you root for the good guy.

I have become the hugest fan of monkey kung fu movies after seeing this movie and I'm sure anyone out there that sees this movie will want to run out and rent or buy every monkey kung fu movie they can find... though there aren't too many movies in any genre quite as entertaining and cool as this one. Hopefully the fine folks at Criterion will someday turn this into their fine collection of DVD releases.

Long before the Kung-Fu cinema of this period became a cult following and channel 5 (FOX) started running the more contemporary of these movies on Saturday afternoons, my cousin told me about a movie that he'd seen on 42nd st. (NYC, the Mecca of the kung-Fu craze) that I had to see.

As a kid, we had grown up on some of the older stuff, 5 Fingers Of Death, 7 Blows of the dragon, and all of the Bruce Lee movies. Most of this during the blackploitation era.

Then there was a lull in our Kung-Fu diet, well as far as anything new and different was concerned.

So when I finally saw this with my cousin on his recommendation (Said it was so good he had to see it again) I was blown away. I'd never seen anything like it before or since (with the exception of "Kung Fu Hustle" which now ranks a 10 on my greatest Kung-Fu list) The story was tight, the choreography was above average for it's time and the cinematography was top notch.

What I like best about this movie, compared to all the others, is that you didn't see a guy get punched or kicked 12 times before coughing up blood and then coming back to give 24 blows of his own before that person hacked up a lung.

This was a three to four hit minimum movie, which means there was more focus on style and defense in the fight scenes before eventually someone scored a hit, and when they got hit, they felt it..like a real fight more or less.

Also, this was one of the first movies to give you the styles that appeared here....Drunkard, Monkey, Snake and when you think about it, all three are the more flamboyant of styles (not to leave out the Mantis style) I've argued with other Kung-Fu aficionados in video stores over a novice's query as to what's the best Kung Fu movie to start out with.

Hands Down, you up your Kung-Fu appreciation immensely with this gem.

I've seen a lot of movies! Martial art movies aren't considered much, as Oscar worthy, or acting worthy! They never get the respect due! This movie entertains and the star did a great acting job! I love this movie and still watch it from time to time! If I had a top ten list, it would be number 3 on my list!

(1982) Snake in The Monkey's Shadow (In Chinese with English subtitles) DUBBED MARTIAL ARTS HISTORICAL PIECE

Another different version of the Yuen Woo Ping / Jackie Chan 1978 "Snake in Eagles Shadow" but instead of placing a real live cat and a live cobra going at it- in this version you have a real live monkey going at it with the cobra which is the key in defeating it's two main villains. Acrobatics and awesome martial arts fighting galore with music taken and used quite effectively from 1978 Drunken Master! Saw both the dubbed as well as the Chinese version and they're both quite good even though the dubbed one is shorter in terms of time length! The star of this film is also the same stunt actor as Police Story Part II! The comedy is not so good but excellent fighting photograph.

This is a pretty decent flick. Classic Kung Fu at its best (or worst, depends on how you look at it). The great Mobus would approve.