Shen bu you ji

Sammo's remarkable masterpiece is ideally a classic vehicle to showcase Leung Kar Yan's talents (he's simply never looked better), but The Victim seems to work on many other levels: the action scenes are worthy of Sammo's legendary status as a choreographer; the comedy touches are subtle enough and occasionally quite funny; and with it's outpouring of high-octane drama - detailing an ongoing family feud - this is thoroughly more exciting than other run-of-the-mill kung fu pulp. Sammo plays his typical happy-go-lucky who seeks out a new sifu, Leung Kar Yan, a man with clearly problems of his own: his brother (Chang Yi) tried to rape his wife and has therefore been on the run ever since. Will Leung ever face up to his enemy or just continue to run? The Victim is a true late night classic; still fresh and entertaining even after all these years.

Sammo Kam-Bo Hung has crafted a masterpiece of classic martial arts action. Do not miss this.

This film contains some of the best martial arts fight scenes ever shot. Long takes, complex action with large numbers of participants, but most importantly, absolutely stunning choreography and plenty of it. Even in intense action sequences Samo can add a moment of humour before the intensity starts again.

The plot is decent (for a martial arts movie). The comedy is slapstick orientated and thankfully mostly works.

As any fan of Asian action cinema knows, it's the fights that matter and these action sequences deliver in spades.

Samo Hung is a legend amongst fight fans, but sadly largely unrecognised outside Hong Kong aficionados for his absolutely massive contribution to action scenes that Hollywood slowly picked up on. Unfortunately, they still don't grasp many of the concepts Samo and his fellows, like Jackie Chan, created in the 80's Golden years of Hong Kong cinema. Fight editing is dire in Hollywood.

Sadly, every copy I can find is not of the best quality, even the DVD. I really wish someone would do a restoration job on it.

I've watched this more times than I care to think about. Every single time, the action makes my muscles tense and I hit the rewind too often. It really is that good!

A solid 10 for martial arts fans. Do not miss this one. 7/10 for others.

In the hope of finding someone worthy of being his teacher, portly fighter Chen Rong (Sammo Hung) challenges random strangers to fight him. After easily beating several opponents, Chen Rong is finally defeated by martial arts expert Chun Yao (Ka-Yan Leung) but is unable to convince him to become his sifu. Not one to give up, Chen Rong follows Chun Yao everywhere, even to his home, where he meets his unwilling sifu's tasty wife Yoo Yi (played by the amusingly named Fanny Wang), who takes pity on the eager young man.

When some really bad men turn up to cause trouble, Chen Rong is amazed to see Chun Yao and his spouse seemingly running scared. Curious, Chen questions Yoo Yi and discovers why Chun Yao flees when he could fight: on his wedding night, Chun discovered his older adoptive brother Chong Ming (Yi Chang) making unwanted sexual advances towards Yoo Yi. Rather than fight the son of the man who gave him a home and raised him as his own, and feeling just a little guilty about being responsible for accidentally blinding Ming in one eye, Chun opts to keep out of his brother's way. Unfortunately, Ming hasn't given up lusting after Yoo, sending countless hired help to try and dispose of his brother and make off with his wife. Soon enough, Chen Rong finds himself involved in the familial fracas, with bloody consequences for all.

The Victim kicks off in classic kung fu comedy mode, with Chen Rong's search for a sifu resulting in some very silly moments against several comical opponents; the broad humour continues when Chen's pursuit of Chun Yao leads to a brawl in a steamy bath house against several naked men. Even when the film enters darker territory, the zaniness persists, with perhaps the film's most tragic moment weakened by an inappropriate gag featuring Sammo Hung dressed as Dracula. The movie's iffy comedy is easily forgiven, however, thanks to the brilliantly choreographed fight action which is frequent, fast and furious, with Hung displaying his incredible kung fu skills and agility to the full, and Ka-Yan Leung performing some amazing moves despite having had no formal martial arts training.

The final fight between the two 'brothers' is bloody, brutal and brilliant, and would have been the perfect way to end matters; unfortunately, the film closes with a bit more silly buffoonery courtesy of Hung which makes no sense whatsoever.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

N.B. All character names in my review come from my DVD's subtitles and are more than likely wrong.

Brilliant action choreography, a story filled with twists and turns and an unforgettable ending makes this an all-time classic in the genre.

This is one of Sammo's masterpieces and Leung Kar Yan has never looked better fighting onscreen. Wilson Tong earns his nickname of the "Foot Doctor" in this classic.

Highest possible recommendation

(1980) The Victim (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION

Directed and starred by Sammo Hung (Hung Kam Bo) which states the situation about a brother picked up when he was an orphan and at the same time hated by the father's biological son who even tried to take his wife away. And making things complicated they both have the exact same kung fu style of using the fists except that the star was a better fighter. This nonsensical plot is nothing more than a device to showcase some amazing acrobatic martial arts when Sammo was still in his prime. So basically this rating is for the "kung fu" and not so much for the plot.