The Skyhawk

Not long after revered martial arts master Skyhawk (Kwan Tak-hing) visits a beloved old friend, his earnest, troublesomely hot-headed students Fatty (Sammo hung) and Leo (Carter Wong) unthinkingly fall foul of a local hood, and his exceedingly bellicose side-kicker (Hwang in-shik), culminating in a series of bloody confrontations! A highly regarded 70s martial arts masterclass, The Skyhawk remains a spectacular showcase for veteran HK icon Kwan Tak-hing, with steely Carter Wong delivering an impressively forceful performance in the film's exhilarating climax! While the formula plot is undeniably familiar, the striking, lushly exotic Thai locations, superbly charismatic performances and electrifying kung fu are absolutely world class! Not only is The Skyhawk tremendously entertaining to watch, it has prodigious charm, along with ballistic displays of superbly orchestrated combat. I must confess that I often find myself in complete sympathy with the Kung Fu cognoscenti who rate certain essential kung fu titles far higher than others, especially since The Skyhawk is wholly deserving of its many ecstatic reviews!

Beginning in 1949, Kwan Tak-hing portrayed real-life Cantonese martial artist/herbalist/acupuncturist Wong Fei-hung in some seventy films. Four years after the conclusion of that long-running series, Kwan returned to the role in Golden Harvest's "The Skyhawk", a film in which Wong's Confucian ethics clash with the trend toward exaggerated violence in Hong Kong's basher subgenre. This conflict is never resolved, but there's some top-notch fighting as Wong and his young students (Carter Wong, Sammo Hung) challenge an evil gambling boss and his hired thugs (led by shaggy, wild-eyed Hwang In-shik) against the exotic backdrop of Thailand. Kwan Tak-hing was in his late sixties at the time and is doubled in two or three of the more strenuous scenes, but masterfully fends off a legion of much younger opponents with staff, fighting fan and his bare hands. If you've never seen him in action, "The Skyhawk" is a good place to start.

The usual cast of characters crowd this early 1970s film. Not an unusually good or bad of 'chop-socky'. The highlight for me being watching Hwang In-Shik (Whang Ing-Sik) do some of his most realistic kicking on film. All too briefly, though!

Having trained under the hapkido teacher I can attest to the fact that the few moments where he gets to cut loose in this film better approximates what it was/is like to have him in front of you than in any of his other films, such as Hapkido, Young Master, or Dragon Lord, despite the better quality of those films and greater screen time.

A film worth watching with the usual strengths and weaknesses of the genre at this time.

In Bangkok, Kwangtung boxer Wong Fei-hung, the Skyhawk, rescues Hsiao Shih-tzu, a young man who fights off five thugs only to be wounded himself. The Skyhawk attends to his wound at Chu Kuei's home, but the devious Ku Chung-wu plots to monopolize the porter service at the pier.

At this point in Kwan Tak-Hing's career, he had been playing the martial arts hero since 1949 and is a bit old now to perform. As others have pointed out, though, his students (Carter Wong and Sammo Hung) do a good job in fulfilling the needs of the action-hungry audience. Among the four films on Shout! Factory's martial arts set, this is considered the strongest entry.

The character of Wong Fei-hung would later be portrayed by both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, making him a pop culture icon in Chinese cinema for over fifty years.

The Skyhawk is a great kung fu film staring Tak-Hing Kwan and Sammo Hung, Tak Hing Kwan plays the role of the Skyhawk.

The Skyhawk is a polite reserved and peaceful master who doesn't like fighting. However, the things don't keep on being very well, and The Skyhawk has to use his skills against the bad guys. In addition, Sammo Hung plays his pupil called Fatty with his friend who has messed up with the bad guys.

This film has a great plot, fair acting, great fights and a fantastic atmosphere which isn't cheesy this time. Actually, The Skyhawk is the real deal. Its characters are great, especially the bad guy with the long hair, He looks totally frightening and powerful. Moreover, the bad guys show no mercy when they kill, there are some shocking killings unlike in most of the kung fu flicks, they dead usually fall cheesily, and the film moves on. However,The Skyhawk has no such killings, its killings are raw and bloody! In a nutshell, The Skyhawk is a fine kung fu film, I suggest that you watch it if you are fond of kung fu cinema! 8/10