Sur les traces de Shaolin

This film features the very unfortunate combination of an extremely talented cast and extremely poor production quality. The Kung Fu is some of the best you will see in films from this era: both stars are exceptional, as is the main villain. There is almost no use of wires, the editing isn't choppy and designed to mislead, and at first glance there doesn't seem to be any use of dummies. On the downside, the dubbing is terrible, especially with the ridiculous voices they've chosen for the leads, and the picture quality is quite low. The plot isn't the worst, but is also not especially memorable. The whole thing seems to have been an attempt to feature as much action by the stars as possible, which is perfectly alright, considering their level of accomplishment.

DEATH DUEL OF KUNG FU (1979) is an unsung kung fu gem featuring two of the most dynamic Taiwan-based kung fu movie stars of the era, John Liu and Wong Tao, reunited here after their co-starring turn in the fan favorite SECRET RIVALS (1976). Like that film, this was shot in South Korea, although this film is actually set in China. The two stars are at their kung fu-fighting peak here and offer their fans a generous array of martial arts battles, both with each other and with a formidable array of opponents, all shot on Korean locations including the grounds of ancient Buddhist temples.

The story takes place in the early days of the Qing dynasty and follows the efforts of Ming patriot Shun Ching Kwei (Wong Tao) to join up with the exiled Ming forces on Taiwan after he kills the Qing field marshal. The character is a famed Southern fist fighter and is pursued by the Qings' hand-picked kung fu warriors. John Liu plays Sun Sen, the Northern kicking champion, who intervenes to help Wong Tao at key points, although his loyalties and motives aren't always clear. Wong is joined on his journey by a beautiful Japanese woman (who appears nude in one scene, her body adorned with snake tattoos) whose loyalties are also in question, although her feelings for Wong appear to be genuine.

The chief villain is Lord To Ko Lan, whose fighting skills pose such a threat to the two heroes that they realize they must join forces in order to beat him. Han Ying (aka Eagle Han Ying), who plays Lord To, is at least as good a fighter as his two co-stars (and possibly better), playing a master skilled enough to counter the crane fist techniques of the Southern champ and the high kicking of the Northern champ.

The story, written by Shaw Bros. house scribe I Kuang, takes its characters over vast distances yet manages to bring them together for a series of spectacular bouts, all staged by actors Chien Yuet San and Meng Hoi. The result, directed by Cheung Kay (aka Chang Chi), is a lean, stirring, well-photographed-and-directed kung fu movie with no fat and no waste. The only major distractions are the below-average English dubbing and the music soundtrack's reliance on long stretches lifted from Dominic Frontiere's score for the Clint Eastwood western, HANG 'EM HIGH (1968).

The movie starts with Don Wong discussing military strategy with a general but he is really there to assassinate him. Cut to the other military men decide to get the assassin before they start their campaign. A masked person also suggests to get the man who ordered the assassination. Don delivers the head then plans to escape to Taiwan. Next John Liu enters the story as a mystery man of martial arts. He observes a bare breasted woman cheating at the casino and follows her to demand a share of the loot. Don cuts in. After a chat with her he returns to a trap. He is worn down and injured in the ensuing fights but John comes to the rescue. It results in John escaping and the girl taking Don to a cave to heal his wounds. Fortunately for Don the girl's bare breasts are an antipyretic. On recovery, John arrives to challenge Don to a future fight.

No credits can be found for this female actor. In the casino she appears to do a topless scene but it could have been a double. The snake tattoo on her chest does not perfectly match and the breasts and face are not shown together. So perhaps there are two women of mystery in this movie.

Speaking of details also pay attention to the final fight. Don really kicks the guy in the head with a full power flying side kick. There was no need for take number two in that fight sequence. John and Don made a great martial arts pair in their movies together. Don had a chance on Hollywood with his 1978 "Tiger Man". The movie was made to fit the mold of what Hollywood called a martial arts movie and it failed because Hollywood had no idea of what a martial arts movie should be. John, on the other hand, decided to produce his own films and the results proved he was really in the movie business to score some women.

Overall I rate this movie as just a bit above average for the year and genre. That comes as a bit of a disappointment though. In 1976 John and Don and Hwang Jang Lee made "Secret Rivals". "Secret Rivals" was a movie that stood out as completely special from every martial arts movie up until then and it was all because of the amazing high kicks. Here it is just three years later and those amazing high kicks have become just a bit better than average.

The Ming are destroyed by the Manchus, which causes a series of retaliations and counter retaliations from both sides, as undercover spies and top fighters go up against one another in order to settle scores. Centrally, one evil person, To Ko Lan (Eagle Han), a master of kung fu, is hired to track down and bring in the head of a daring Ming assassin. The Ming assassin is Sun Shing Kwei (Don Wong Tao), who has a series of altercations not only with the evil To Ko Lan but also with another Chinese patriot, Sung Hsin (John Liu), who eventually he teams up with in order to take on Lan.

There's some superb display of kicks, weapons and general fighting here, which is the main attraction here. The cast is good, the acting as well, however, the plot is just about passable. There's too much repetition of guys meeting, fighting, then Repeat - there're a lack of drive in the story, even the espionage and twist isn't well done. It's the Kung fu that kept me watching.