I first watched this back in 2015 but did not post a review. That was because I was impressed with Sek Kin and wanted to see if my impression held up over time. To clarify the review by ajoyce1va, Sek Kin was actually 60 years old when he made this movie. That is impressive.
Sek Kin was fresh off the set of "Enter the Dragon" (as Mr. Han). He is in jail for a crime he did not commit, like they all say. Cliff Lok really likes to fight. He likes to fight so much he gets sent to prison just to fight Sek Kin. There is a dramatic revelation about the two men.
Cliff Lok's first starring role was in 1972 "A Man Beyond Horizon". Sek Kin also costars in this movie. I also reviewed 1972 "The Roaring Lion". I rated the final fight of Cliff Lok versus Sek Kin as one of the best fights of all time. Cliff Lok was a real Peking opera martial artist and stunt man with top skills back then. Hundreds of other real martial artist/stunt men/acrobats were also crowding movie productions and getting paid about $10/day. Cliff started as a stunt man in 1966 in "The Knight of Knights". He peaked in those two movies with Sek Kin. In 1974 he starred in "Chinese Kung Fu Against Godfather". This was his "European Vacation" movie. A martial arts movie star who did a European vacation movie back then was the equivalent of a rock star doing a Christmas album. In other words - it's all over.
The fights are good in this movie. Sek Kin is very good. He did 16 or more consecutive moves without a cut, used a staff, and almost never used a stunt man. The story line is unrealistic and the characters all one dimensional. The plot twist about the relationship between Sek and Cliff was done with exposition instead of the rule "Show, don't tell".
I recommend this movie for all fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984. Despite the recommendation, I still can't rate it more than just average for the year and genre.
