1978 Dragon of the Swordsman or To Catch an Eagle by a Claw or Traveling Swordsman of Thunder or Dragon Swordsman or Super Chaser with Mang Fei, Chung Wa, Doris Lung Chun- Erh, Liu Ping, Phillip Ko Fei, Ma Cheung and Lung Fei.
My copy is widescreen with Chinese and English hard subtitles so I suspect it came from an original laser disk. Unfortunately some of the subtitles are cut off on the bottom. Strangely, at about the 55 minute mark, Mang Fei kills Phillip Ko Fei with bronze rings then the entire fight sequence loops for a repeat performance. (I don't remember pressing the "Encore" button on my remote control – ha ha!)
The movie starts all over the place with a battle sequence then a gang stops a palanquin then two men ride into town and look for Mr. Teng at the inn. Comedy ensues. They need to bring Mang Fei to see their mistress. Doris has a mission for him to rescue her father. Mang Fei owes him his life so he must do it. Along the way a whole gang of beauties dressed in red also ask lucky Mang Fei for his help. After that fight cut to an outside area filled with bamboo poles. He fights a beauty in white hot pants to her death. (Was that the same girl? Tu Kuei-Hua? Her pics on HKMDB seem harsh and in the movie she is very hot.) Cut to the waterfall to tend Doris minor wound. Chung Wa drops in Mary Poppins style using an umbrella. He was there to kill but they only talk. Doris and Mang Fei are riding and they rescue a woman chased by men but it is a trick. Mang Fei is poisoned to lose his kung fu powers and Doris is captured. Chung Wa takes over the fighting.
As far as the action goes this is as average as average can be. Some attempts were made to do better such as the set with all the bamboo poles. I did like the sword that gets longer special effect but most of the other special effects seemed too ambitious and failed. The acrobatics were a notch above average. Overall I would recommend this movie only for fans of the genre and rate it average for 1978.
