Il serpente all'ombra dell'aquila

Lots of fighting, done in a comical way. Just about every character in this movie are not too bright, which is perfect for a comedy of errors.

I have always preferred this comical way of handling martial arts better than the too serious Bruce Lee style.

One of the greatest of all Jackie's early period kung fu comedies, SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW is a textbook example of the genre directed by the renowned Yuen Woo-ping. While the simple storyline is nothing to write home about, the movie offers up a relentless onslaught of gags and fights, all of which are handled with aplomb by a willing team.

Inevitably, the standout thing about the film is Chan himself, and he's in his element here with a role which is both physically strenuous and highly comedic in equal measure. Chan displays the winning formula that would go on to make him a huge worldwide star over the next couple of decades, and watching him larking about on screen is a real delight.

The comedy is often lowbrow and involves sight gags, slapstick and silly humour, but somehow it all works. The fight scenes are inventive and fun to watch, and the arduous training sequences are particularly well staged. There's also some solid support from Sam Seed (Yuen Woo-ping's dad, no less) as the funny old man and Hwang Jang Lee as the villain. Both actors were typecast in their respective parts, but when they fit them so well you can see why.

Jackie's first big hit. It's easy to see why it was so popular when it was first released. Nobody had ever seen comedy and kung fu mixed together before. And if it wasn't for Jackie, we might have never have. Good and plentiful fights easily make this a kung fu classic that still entertains over 20 years later.

One of the biggest classics of martial arts cinema, the film that started a new subgenre in kung fu cinema , the comedy kung fu cinema and the breakthrough fim for its star, the legendary Jackie Chan...

Directed by the legendary Yuen Woo Ping and co-starred by his father Yuen Siu Tien, playing his eternal role as the old beggar drunken master, this film is an example of how a perfect kung fu movie should be made, from the badass opening sequence with Jackie training with a red background behind him , accompanied by a catchy music until the final epic final fight against the great Hwang Jang Lee , the film is a succession of outstanding and very original martial arts sequences accompanied by great doses of humour ..Although that Lau Kar Leung already had used this formula in his directorial debut "The spiritual Boxer" made three years before, however, it was this film the one that gave a new direction to Hong Kong kung fu movies becoming in an instant classic..

MASTERPIECE

This along with Drunken Master I (not Drunken Master II which was released in the US as Legend of Drunken Master, which is good but not great) have to be the best of the pure Kung-fu genre. This is just one great fight scene after another. The choreography is breathtaking, especially for two scenes: one where Jackie slides rags under the school master's feet, and the other where the old man doesnt allow Jackie to take his bowl. This is the original Kill Bill, just pure thrilling action. The story is so not a factor that I wont even mention it.

Jackie's Hong Kong movies are a class apart. Hollywood spoiled the martial arts genre. The new Jackie Chan movies and Jet Li etc are insufferable because of Hollywood overdoing things. I dont think there will be action as exhilarating as Hong Kong kung-fu ever again... sadly, technology takes away beautiful things. I'll end with a paraphrase of Roger Ebert's on talent: When you see anyone doing something difficult and making it look easy and *a joy*, you feel enhanced. It is a victory for the human side over the enemies of laziness and timidity.