Dent pour dent

Kung-fu star Cheung Lik of 10 Magnificent Killers, and 36 Deadly Styles, heads up this fight filled early 70's flick from the great Goldig Pictures. Double-crossings, revenge and fighting are the main ingredients of A Tooth For A Tooth, with fight choreography from film veteran Lee Chiu, the man behind titles such as Ways Of Kung-Fu, Fearless Dragons, and many more. Tricked into stealing from a big Triad boss, Cheung Lik leaves with an important contract that shows of Opium distribution between the boss and the Japanese. Of course, they want it back before it gets into the hands of the police!

With plenty of familiar faces from Hong Kong stuntmen and actors before their fame, including a young Eddy Ko and Wilson Tong, the film moves along at a steady pace with a lot of clichéd nonsense and silly comedy in between fight scenes that come thick and fast, and while its hardly amazing, the film does make for an entertaining watch at least once.

Overall: Decently shot, with decent action, A Tooth For A Tooth is fight filled, average kung-fu fun!

1973 A Tooth for a Tooth or Japanese Connection with Nick Cheung Lik, Queenie Kong Hoh-Yan, Suen Lam, and Ha Man

It opens with our hero working out alone. Queenie wants to learn kung fu but she is just a girl. Old partners in crime return and take her hostage, They demand that Nick join them for a robbery. The plan is to rob a rich crook to help the poor. Abrupt cut to the crime boss's two body guards are fighting each other. While the Japanese boss gets close to one of the hottest chicks ever in these movies, our guy steals the loot and a piece of paper. One of our gang is captured. Japanese boss just wants the paper – an opium contract. He makes the captured guy an offer. The other guy takes the loot and double crosses Nick. Nick kills the captured guy who was released as a traitor. The gang fights Nick and some cop comes along out of nowhere to help. The guy with the loot is captured but the boss just gives him the loot for help in killing Nick.

As you can see, alliances change as often as the fights. You won't be fast forwarding here as there is never a dull moment. The fights are for any reason at all if a few minutes have passed since the last one.

Suen Lam provides the totally over-acted comedic relief as the horny assistant to the boss.

There is no star power here, no big names but if you are a fan you will recognize all of these stunt men. These guys tried really hard to make a legitimate martial arts movie. Even in 1973 the bar for these movies was set so high all I can generously rate this movie at is average. Only hard core fans like me can even appreciate the effort, and I do. Thanks guys, I think I will watch another!