Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog

Rating:
Summary: This Film Deserves A Better Reputation.
Review: On almost every website I've seen with martial arts movie reviews, this film has been panned as been not that great in terms of the martial arts quality or content. Usually the ending is what people recommend about this film the most, but overall, it usually gets 2 or 3 out of 5 stars type of reviews. Personally, I strongly disagree. Sure, when you stack it up against films like Prodigal Boxer or Magnificent Butcher, it looks rather slow and archaic. But this film was made in 1978. High speed action was still in its early stages. There are plenty of martial arts scenes speckled throughout this film. Again, they are not up to the par of Sammo's later films in terms of speed and intricacy, but they are good watching, none-the-less. I actually liked the first fight scene at the beginning of the film, where we almost get to see all of the Legendary Weapons of China, to quote another film Lau Kar Wing was in. They pull out weapon after weapon fighting each other. Actually, the whole film features a lot of different traditional Chinese weapons, which is interesting to see. Don't know if it was intentional. I liked seeing Sammo in action using the three-sectioned staff. Normally, I've seen him using swords and poles, so it was the first time I saw him use the multi-jointed pole. And he's great! Too bad he didn't use that weapon in more films.
Another cool thing about this film are all the 'cameos' by many stuntmen/actors who would go on later to star in Sammo's films or films associated with him. It's fun picking out guys like Meng Hoi, Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying. The only guy who is conspicuously absent is Leung Kar Yan. I guess he was busy. ;>)
Overall, this is a fun film, with enough martial arts to keep a fan of the genre entertained.

Rating:
Summary: This Film Deserves A Better Reputation.
Review: On almost every website I've seen with martial arts movie reviews, this film has been panned as been not that great in terms of the martial arts quality or content. Usually the ending is what people recommend about this film the most, but overall, it usually gets 2 or 3 out of 5 stars type of reviews. Personally, I strongly disagree. Sure, when you stack it up against films like Prodigal Boxer or Magnificent Butcher, it looks rather slow and archaic. But this film was made in 1978. High speed action was still in its early stages. There are plenty of martial arts scenes speckled throughout this film. Again, they are not up to the par of Sammo's later films in terms of speed and intricacy, but they are good watching, none-the-less. I actually liked the first fight scene at the beginning of the film, where we almost get to see all of the Legendary Weapons of China, to quote another film Lau Kar Wing was in. They pull out weapon after weapon fighting each other. Actually, the whole film features a lot of different traditional Chinese weapons, which is interesting to see. Don't know if it was intentional. I liked seeing Sammo in action using the three-sectioned staff. Normally, I've seen him using swords and poles, so it was the first time I saw him use the multi-jointed pole. And he's great! Too bad he didn't use that weapon in more films.
Another cool thing about this film are all the 'cameos' by many stuntmen/actors who would go on later to star in Sammo's films or films associated with him. It's fun picking out guys like Meng Hoi, Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying. The only guy who is conspicuously absent is Leung Kar Yan. I guess he was busy. ;>)
Overall, this is a fun film, with enough martial arts to keep a fan of the genre entertained.

Rating:
Summary: An Obscure Sammo Hung Film??
Review: The quality of this dvd was a surprise to me- The print of the picture is perfect, widescreen, the audio is great, and the packaging is of good quality. So why doesn't anyone ever talk about this movie? Probably because it's a bit boring. Sammo Hung is not at his best in this film, though there are some funny moments and it is lighthearted enough to be enjoyable. To be honest, though, I kept watching it only because of the familiar faces which kept popping up even as late as the end of the picture- actors Sammo has often worked alongside with, mostly in Golden Harvest Productions, such as Fe Kan and Lam Ching Ying, among others. The story revolves around Sammo, a young man who tricks an old woman into marrying him so he can aquire her family treasure- an "invincible armor" chain mail shirt. After getting his hands on the shirt, Sammo ("Frog") runs away, leaving his wife to hire "Tiger" to find her husband and retrieve the armor. But it seems that everyone in the county is out to get the armor for themselves. Tiger and Frog retrieve the armor and have it stolen again several times throughout the film, which is basically the premise of the whole movie. (I won't ruin the end for you). The fight sequences aren't on the same level as they are in most of Sammo Hung's films, and there isn't as much of it, but there is some memorable choreography here and there. All in all, it surprises me that a less-than-average film like this got such a high quality release, whereas some of the real gems of Hong Kong Cinema out there have yet to even make it to DVD.