phanthinga
Before the era of heroic bloodshed John Woo the master of gun-fu make some martial arts movies and the one i particular interest in is The hand of Death starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.The movie is quite genetic with a plot has been done many time before and even when it featuring a young Jackie Chan he not even the main character.Fan of old school martial arts will enjoy this movie
leonblackwood
Review: For a movie that was made in 1976, the quality is brilliant and the vibrant scenery and amazing landscapes were great. The movie doesn't look dated at all but you can tell how old it is when you see the young Jackie Chan and skinny Sammo Hung, with some strange looking teeth. I was expecting hard hitting action from this John Woo movie but I was quite disappointed. You can tell that the actors knew exactly were the next hit was coming from and it all seemed a bit slow. The storyline was quite good and most of the actors put in a decent performance but the main character really needed to loosen up a bit. Anyway, an ex-Shaolin student, Shih (James Tien), leaves the temple and creates his own clan called the Manchu. He then sends his army to destroy all of the Shaolin members, including the master but there are still a few members left, who are in hiding. Yun Fei (Tao-Laing Tan), who is the most promising Shaolin student, goes on a mission to kill Shih but he knows that he can't do it alone because he is heavily guarded by the Manchu army, led by officer Tu Ching (Sammo Hung), who was also an ex-student at the Shaolin temple. Yun Fei recruits Tan Feng (Jackie Chan) who is seeking revenge after the Manchu killed his brother. He also recruits a brilliant Swordsman who is also seeking revenge after the Manchu killed his girlfriend. They then go into hiding and they plan the perfect attack to kill Shih and destroy the army. Its a well put together storyline which is pretty intense throughout but the action scenes really did let the movie down. There isn't any silly comedy throughout the movie, thank God but the sound effects were pretty bad during the action scenes and some of the fighting seemed to go on forever. With that aside, I have seen worse Kung Fu movies and I was quite impressed with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. On the whole, it's a watchable movie which won't go down as a classic but it's still quite enjoyable. Watchable!Round-Up: This is the 4th major release from John Woo, 69, who has become famous for his detailed action scenes and unique gun movement styles. He first came to light back in 1986 with A Better Tomorrow I & II, which was a worldwide hit and then he hit the big screens again with The Killer, Bullet In The Head, Once A Thief and Hard Boiled, which made Chow Yun Fat a household name. He then started to make films for the western market, like Broken Arrow and the great Face/Off. In 2000 he made Mission Impossible II, which does have some impressive action scenes and he made Windtalkers, with Nicolas Cage and the poor Paycheck with Ben Affleck. In 2008, he went back to his native country and released Red Cliff I & II and he seems to have gone under the radar since then. For the time, this movie was a great achievement as there wasn't any special effects or fancy camera equipment but you can definitely see a difference in his work today. Personally, I think that he is definitely one of the best action directors because of his unique style but now that he has been out of the picture for some time, I can't really see him coming back to the Western market anytime soon.I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/martial arts movies starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen, James Tien, John Woo and Wah Yuen. 4/10
aidenthomson73
I Bought the Hong Kong Legends DVD and this movie is pure classic. The choreography is excellent, the acting is brilliant and the storyline is also great. This early John Woo movie stars Dorian Tan as the good guy and has an supporting appearance from Jackie Chan as a blacksmith who was a Shaolin disciple. The structure of the fight scenes in the last half-hour showdown were later used in films such as Mission:Impossibe Part II.The two flaws this movie has is the fight scenes are shot at awkward angles, making them look fake. The other flaw is that a real Shaolin disciple would not want revenge. In Buddhism, suffering is caused only by want and any real Shaolin disciple should already know this, therefore I rate this movie 8\10 stars.
marquis de cinema
Made during the martial arts period of his career, John Woo came up with one of his best films from this early Woo era. The story is about the Shaolin Temple who sents a young warrior who murder a traitor who has killed many of his compatriots. Shao Lin Men/Hand of Death(1975) features one of the early and most impressible performances from future Hong Kong action hero, Jackie Chan. Sammo Hung also appears as one of the main villains. The main actor Tao-Liang Tan has faded out of the Hong Kong film scene after appearing in this movie while Chan and Hung would go on to become big stars.
Bruce Lee co star, James Tien makes a memorable turn as the main villain. The last twenty minutes is the film's golden moments. The fight scene in the beach would be repeated by John Woo in both Heroes Shed No Tears(1985) and Mission:Impossible 2(2000). Uses many themes that would become popular in the director's heroic bloodshed pictures. The story of Shao Lin Men(1975) interestingly enough is reused in Mission:Impossible 2(2000).
