I've watched a lot of kung fu movies and a lot of Jackie Chan movies. This one is a cut above. The theme of the physically and mentally abused young man is a classic one and commonly used, but it's illustrated in this movie much better than in many others. You really feel Jackie's mental anguish. One particularly charming and clever scene is when his new friend, the 'old man' tries to cheer Chien Fu (Jackie) up after he's had a pretty nasty beating with his clever agility with a tea bowl. This not only amuses Chien Fu and cheers him up, but makes him curious about learning the skills himself. A delightful scene brilliantly executed. You can't take your eyes off of them.
This movie is full of fight sequences that are just riveting. Don't blink! There are also multiple little plots going on, and a variety of characters, which make this movie much more interesting in the kung fu genre. Yet it is still a very simple theme and the action is the star, which is what you want. Jackie took a lot of actual physical punishment in this one. According to his autobiography, when his arm gets cut in the scene involving the sword, it was supposed to be staged with a blunt sword but the sword was still sharp and he gets cut for real. Jackie also lost a tooth when he got kicked in the final fight scene, which you can see missing at the end of the fight.
This movie is full of fight sequences that are just riveting. Don't blink! There are also multiple little plots going on, and a variety of characters, which make this movie much more interesting in the kung fu genre. Yet it is still a very simple theme and the action is the star, which is what you want. Jackie took a lot of actual physical punishment in this one. According to his autobiography, when his arm gets cut in the scene involving the sword, it was supposed to be staged with a blunt sword but the sword was still sharp and he gets cut for real. Jackie also lost a tooth when he got kicked in the final fight scene, which you can see missing at the end of the fight.