For kung fu flick fans, here is the holy grail of Billy Chong movies, bar none.Though it probably isn't the best of director Sun "Avenging Eagle" Chung's forty or so efforts in his storied career, it is clearly Chong's apex movie offering, packed with great kung fu, and more than one "Holy shit!" moment, but we'll touch on that more a bit later.The title eluded me for years before I could find a copy anywhere, ironically turning up as half of a double feature dvd marketed towards the hip hop crowd with a terrible washed out print that looks as though it has spent the past thirty years sitting in a sun-drenched Arizona storefront window.Hopefully I'll stumble across a nice Region 3 remaster one of these days, but for now, this'll just have to do, I guess.Try to ignore the hella goofy-sounding title that Eternal Films borrows from maestro Sergio Leone to ridiculous effect, Sun's ever-moving camera is used to optimum effect here with plenty of his signature mid-fight crane shots that both bring the viewer headlong into the action and isolate the star against his overwhelming surroundings, proving that though his days with martial giants, Shaw Brothers, may have been over by 1983, he still had plenty to offer filmgoers.For once, Billy Chong is paired up with a villain of equal or greater skill,in 10th degree Hapkido black belt, Whang Ing-Sik, who had previously worked with stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Angela Mao.The level of fight scenes is notably higher here than in any of Chong's previous films, but sadly, would be his last movie for six years.
Even washing a horse requires ample acrobatics,as Ching I Ming(Billy Chong) demonstrates.
At the outset, the Chinese have already wrenched governmental power away from the Manchu, forming a republic in their absence.Never ones to admit defeat, the Manchu scheme to regain control one region at a time under the leadership of Nai Sin(Whang Ing-Sik) and his six Tigers, who are searching for the patriotic Ding Wei Chung(Pai Ying), a mysterious tenant of Ching I Ming(Billy Chong)'s father.Ching attempts to connect with Ding, washing his horse(even the droopy bits) and waiting on him hand and foot, but Ding shuns the young man's friendship.While Ching is failing at making new friends, he has no problems in making enemies, engaging Manchus on sight with his comrades, beating them to a pulp, and cutting off their signature queue ponytails.Along the way, his violent activism attracts the daughter of a local sheriff, known only as Eagle Girl Ma(Hilda Liu Hao-Yi), who keeps birds of prey as pets.During a fight with some of the Tigers, Ding's horse is stolen by an unscrupulous young beggar, but Ching notices the man trying vainly to sell the animal in town and steals it back for his father's tenant, who has gone missing.
Ching doles out haircuts to Manchus, willing or otherwise.
Ching returns Ding's horse to him, convincing him to train him more thoroughly in the national fight against the Manchu, culminating in a dazzling sequence where Ching lights thousands of candles on a massive Buddha statue as Ding attempts to stop him and extinguish the candles.Meanwhile, Eagle Girl Ma has sent her eagles out to look for her love interest, also helped by Young Beggar who's had a patriotic change of heart.The Manchus beat the beggar to death in interrogating him for Ding's whereabouts leading to a martial battle between Nai and Ding,where Ding is mortally wounded.Ching arrives in time to rescue the official and assist in his fight.Nai proves too powerful for Ching to defeat alone, forcing the young man to use the crevices and crannies of the enormous Buddha to his advantage, but even this is insufficient for victory.Eagle Girl Ma joins the fight,and when Nai's leg armour seriously wounds the girl, her pet eagle swoops into the battle as well.With Nai focusing on Ching's attacks and Ma's feigned offensive, he is blinded by the eagle(!!), which he rips in half(yeah,real eagle ripped in half...on camera in slo-mo.Holy shit!) as Ching executes a flying double front kick to the back of his skull, killing him, and winning the day for the republic.I'll give you a second to catch up here.
Chiang Tao and Whang Ing-Sik aren't only treacherous Manchu bastards, they know how to accessorize, too.
Though Chong was finished with movies for the time being, Sun Chung continued directing,with titles like Lady in Black(1987), City War(1988),and Angel Hunter(1992) under his belt.He even tried his hand at horror with Human Lanterns(1982),which we'll examine at a later date.This would prove to be Whang Ing-Sik's last major screen appearance as well, after roles in everything from Way of the Dragon,Hapkido,and When Taekwondo Strikes in the early seventies to memorable turns in Jackie Chan's The Young Master(1980) and Dragon Lord(1982).In spite of the wince-worthy mondo moment that ends the film, this one delivers action by the fistful and scores three big ones on the ratings scale.You'll probably find it on an inferior disc in a clearance outlet for a buck or two, unless you score big with an Asian special edition, in which case, I'll be highly jealous of you, indeed.
Yeah.Exactly.Holy shit!
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