Wang : L'Aigle de Shaolin

A young man vows revenge against the killers of his father. To do this, he must train with his father's teacher who teaches him the "Shadow Claw", a deadly combination of the eagle claw and shadow fist

The plot is very much borrowed from Jackie Chan classics - Drunken master- and probably was done by death by now, nevertheless, Crystal Fist is highly entertaining, full of energy and comic moments. The lead Indonesian star Billy Chong fights really well - dare I say better than Jackie Chan?!!!) and takes a lot of punishment before finishing off the bad guy. As a kid I had seen many kung -fu films, Crystal Fist always stood out in mind as above average entertainment, and it comes to show that you can retread a well-worn plot many times, but as long it's done with energy then it can be very watchable.

Fast-paced and packed with some furious fight sequences, CRYSTAL FIST is probably one of the best examples of the late '70s kung fu/comedy so popular in Hong Kong at the time. The worst thing about the film is the hackneyed plot, which has been done so often by countless films, both good and bad, that you immediately sigh on learning of it. Despite this, the film works, mainly because both the action and the comedy are top-notch. This is a very visual film, with lots of sight gags and dashings of slapstick humour thrown into the mix. It may be goofy and dumb in places, but this gives the movie a kind of appeal, a gormless charm if you will, which makes it more than watchable.

This is a streamlined movie catered to giving the kung fu fan exactly what he wants: tons of kung fu action and violence and little else. The movie is packed with expert fight sequences, some played for laughs, the others deadly. All possess fine choreography and highly skilled actors. The rest of the film is also good – prepare to witness some truly outlandish training sequence (some containing superhuman feats of exertion – unstaged – in which Billy Chong shows himself to be even better than Jackie Chan) and some extremely bizarre characters.

Billy Chong (KUNG FU ZOMBIE) is excellent in his role. If lacking a little in the charisma that Chan possesses, he more than makes up for it with his athleticism and his willingness to be the butt of many jokes. Stealing the show is Yuen Siu Tien (DRUNKEN MASTER), once again excelling as an aged but indestructible fight master, and although he stays sober this time his antics, both action-orientated and comedy-wise, are never dull. The villains are suitably loathsome, with a tough fight master and his pair of grotesque assistants, one blind and one deaf. There's also the comedy tag team of a whining homosexual and his obese assistant, so the laughs couldn't be much broader. Packed with cool music, great shots, and a non-stop display of skill and martial arts expertise, CRYSTAL FIST is a winner of a fight flick and recommended to fans.

It starts fast with three guys kill a man and his son finds the body. Next Billy Chong does punches and kicks, he is cut like Bruce Lee and looks like Jackie Chan. He applies for a job as a kung fu teacher and fails the interview. They take him on as a servant. Simon Yuen is in the kitchen. The three murderers come to the school looking for eagle fist style and kick ass but find no eagle fist. Billy observes Simon practicing at night and gets him to be his teacher.

Billy Chong is recognized as one of the greatest in the world of martial arts movies and then "what might have been" is always added to his biography. He appeared in only 11 movies. His first lead was in 1978 "Invincible Monkey Fist" made in Indonesia (his native land) but his breakout lead was 1979 "Sun Dragon" made in America. "Sun Dragon" flopped in America despite excellent fight choreography. I blame it on the English voice dubbing that sounded retarded. Here is his third movie and it totally copies Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master" from a year earlier. I don't blame him at all for copying, it is standard in this business that if it works you beat it to death, and the audience does not complain until it is actually dead.

After that his career was trying to catch up to the prolific volume of martial arts movies released in the late 1970s to early 1980s but before he could find a way to define himself as different it was 1984 and the golden age of martial arts movies suffered sudden death.

Choreographed by Yuen Kwai and the Yuen Brothers and with Simon Yuen reprising his roles from Drunken Master and in particular Snake in the Eagle's Shadow this works well. Billy Chong takes the Jackie Chan role and the training sequences are just as tortuous as he learns Shadow Eagle Claw to beat the Phoenix Eye fist technique of Jen (Chu Tiet Wo). Some spectacular fights, including against a western boxer who insults Chinese kung fu make this a movie worth seeking out.

The Deaf Man and Blind Man lackeys of Jen don't seem to be handicapped by their disabilities and the damage they do to Billy Chong is suitably gruesome. Simon Yuen playing the old cook is as good as ever.

Crystal Fist is easily the best movie in which Billy Chong stars, there is a lot of fights and most of them are entertaining. Simon Yuen (The father of Yuen Woo-Ping) also stars in this movie with the same kind of role he had in Drunken Master. Note that corey yuen(My father is a hero, Fong Sai Yuk, X-men, Romeo must die) began his career with this movie as a fight coordinator! Overall good movie worth a watch!..........................7,6/10