Yi wang da shu

It starts with the gang of extortionists collecting a "road tax" from the travelers. Larry Lee will not pay. Sun Lan plays his usual roll of a slimy crook. Bolo Yeung steps forward as Sun Lam's top fighter. As usual, Bolo is defeated in this first fight. What a sport! Bolo has probably lost more fights than any actor in Chinese movie history. Maybe I should phrase it thus - Bolo has been knocked down more than any actor in Chinese movie history yet he always gets back up and is standing today and available to be knocked down again.

Larry Lee Gam-Kwan is another of many people who seemed to come from nowhere to star in a few martial arts movies and then disappeared. I have no biographical information on him. In 1974 he starred in four martial arts movies. I do not know the chronological order. I have reviewed all four here and considered 1974 "The Chinese Tiger" or "Tiger from Canton" the best. Larry has all the needed qualities to demonstrate in a good fight. He does over ten moves before a cut in the action, he has power, focus, good posture, and smooth execution. No disrespect meant but hundreds of other unknown stunt men were just as good and maybe better. There was "an embarrassment of riches" in the stunt man department at that time.

Larry plays an "unbeatable fighter". All the fights are really just beatings by Larry. The final fight is worth waiting for and exemplifies the fabulous work of Lau Kar-Wing as action director. I rate the movie just above average for the year and genre and recommend it for fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984.

I first watched this movie in 2015 and posted a review here. I added it to my list to watch again someday when appropriate. Today I came across a slightly better copy. The first copy is a digital file made from an old Ocean Shores VHS © 1986 that plays on a HDTV as 4:3 size. It is English dubbed by the "A team" of voice over actors. This copy is a digital file that plays as wide screen. It is also dubbed in English by the same voice over actors. The title screen is "Survival of the Dragon". The wide screen is still cropped on all sides but it is still a tad better quality.

Larry Lee promised his mother he would not fight because his father was killed in a fight. He beats up Suen Lam who was collecting (extorting) a bridge tax. Suen sends Bolo to their house and mom changes her attitude about fighting. Larry makes blood brothers with James Nam Gung-Fan. James is overly generous because he needs a good fighter. But it's too late, his enemies kill him when he returns home. Larry goes to the funeral then learns all about opium dens, brothels and casinos. He disapproves of all three vices and divides and conquers them all. Overall average stuff but the action director was Lau Kar-Wing. He is the younger brother of the grandmaster of all fight choreographers. Larry plays an unbeatable fighter. Until the end all his fight sequences are really just beatings. The final fight is worth waiting for. It has tonfas and you don't see that weapon often and it was well used.