Shuai ya lao hu

I'm not exactly sure who's all in this movie but i know the faces.. sammo hung is in it, heaven from fearless hyeana is in it (lam ching?), yuen biao does the stunt doubles (flips), and the guy who is the monkey from magnificent butcher is in it. The story is decent and the action is top notch the last half of the movie. If you want to know what id compare it to.. the first thing that comes to mind is knockabout. Seriously grab this movie.. its all over hkflix and ebay and the quality may not be the best its the only release of the DVD. The track is in English and has subtitles in cantonese apearing while the movie is playing. You'll find out near the end why sammo and his friend are the two toothless tigers. I won't spoil it for anyone. If you love this movie check out knockabout, magnificent butcher, and drunken master. All old school classics!

This is Sammo's first solo production. He has credits for fight director as early as 1969 when he was only 17 years old. The movie starts with Sammo Hung making authentic Chinese noodles by hand without the use of a stunt double. Add that to his impressive list of accomplishments.

Sammo's partner Yuen Shun-Yi (of the legendary Yuen clan) gets into a street with the protection gang. Next he is off to a cooking job and makes a mess of things. The bad guys enter and have a problem with the spicy food. Meg Lam Kin-Ming, memorable from her previous role of multi-hand chick, enters the story. There is a fight and one of the bad guys is killed. This is followed by extreme exposition of a jewelry theft and offer of a reward.

The story is not clearly focused and the editing fails to pick up the pace in the middle section. Since the video quality was poor also, it simply failed to hold my attention in the middle. I stuck with it though, hoping for a final fight that made it all worthwhile.

My copy is a digital file with user added Chines hard subtitles. It is English dubbed. The picture is a fake wide screen that seems to have been accomplished by a zoom but this messed up more than improves the picture. The resolution is just good enough for a modern flat screen television but the colors are too dark. I have not been able to acquire a better quality copy. There is apparently a "private release" version by "rarekungfumovies" that is better. The title sums up the whole movie, Sammo and Yuen are two tigers and the movie lacks any real bite.