Lin Shi Rong

This a great Kung Fu film based on legendary historical figure Butcher Wing, played by Sammo Hung. The choreography is brilliant and powerful - the action sequences are full of energy and ferocity. The amount of talent within this film is phenomenal. You have Sammo, Yuen Biao, Hoi San Lee, Wei Pei, and the awesome Lam Ching-Ying.

The drama in this film swiftly elevates as particular gruesome events take place within Butcher Wing's own house, thus drawing attention from a rival Kung Fu School led by Hoi San Lee's character - armed with the deadly and quite hilarious "Cosmic Palm" style.

The clash between the two schools is cataclysmic, with some of the best choreography ever recorded on film. Yuen Biao vs. Lam Ching-Ying is of particular quality. Also, the drunken beggar character adds some welcome comic relief as well as some of the funniest action sequences I have seen. This character (resembling legendary Master So Hai, and to originally be played by Simon Yuen), acts as a catalyst for the film.

This is one of the best Sammo Hung projects that is available to see. His Kung Fu seems to be at it's peak, and the choreography really is ground-breaking - at least check out the calligraphy scene!

I really like this movie for a number of reasons. Way back in my early teens this was the first time I found the legend that it Samo Hung, and his magnificent brand of kung fu comedy. This film holds up well today probably because of the stellar crew behind the scenes including the legend Woo-Ping Yuen. Hung here plays Butcher Wing' the apprentice in a dojo who constantly finds himself caught up in mischief. Wing gets caught up in a series of events that conspire to make him enemy no.1 and lead to some truly amazing fight sequences that truly have to be seen to be believed. Where this film is a departure from the traditional historic kung fu movie is there are no grand themes or sense of the epic just a nice tight small story and some incredible scenes all laced with some incredible physicality both of the violent and comedic nature. A true kung fu classic. Enjoy it again and again.

Bravo, 20th Century Fox, for giving this movie a DVD release in North America! And not only with a gorgeous-looking print, but with the option of watching in the original Cantonese with subtitles, unlike other American distributors (coughcoughmiramaxslashdimensioncoughcough).

I hadn't heard of this particular Sammo Hung movie until tonight, when I spotted it at the video store. I took a chance, and I'm really glad to have done it! Completely entertaining, and never dull for a minute. The fights are "old school", but they are still pretty swift, and the various acrobatics and moves are absolutely amazing. Plenty of comedy as well, pretty low-brow slapstick for the most part, but won't help but bring a smile to your lips several times.

Now, as others have said before, there are some brutal and deadly serious moments, and they will seem out of place to most westerners. But from what I've seen from other Hong Kong movies, this kind of thing isn't that unusual. At the very least, such moments like this just further the ways as to how this movie will be unique to anyone raised on western filmmaking.

Don't think this is the cheap kind of martial arts movie you see on Kung Fu Theater or on public domain video labels - give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

This has everything you want from a classic kung fu film - lots of superbly choreographed action, plenty of cheesy but fun humour, and even a reasonable plot, which actually gets quite nasty at times. The fighting really is the main reason to see it though, it really is something to behold. Plenty of somersaulting, using props, and crazy moves with ridiculous names, theres even a bit of weapon fighting too. The film never gets the coverage or respect it deserves unfortunately, but if you read this, I hope it will move you to watch it, love it, and tell all your friends. Trust me, if you're into old style kung-fu along similar lines to Drunken Master, you're in for a treat.

For the fan of the classic Hong Kong kung fu movie, this one is just plain fun. Sammo Hung is comic, fierce, expressive, and a joy to watch in action. Yuen Biao is conniving, devious, and mean. The action is wild, the kung fu is fast and furious, the stunts are convincing, all in all a great chop-sockey type movie. If you enjoy this sort of thing, give it a try!