Dance of Death

Martial arts choreography for this film is credited to "Chen Lung" - this is almost certainly Jackie Chan using a pseudonym. The release date of the film is 1980, but it was probably made in '78, when Chan worked with director Chen Chi Hwa on a couple films, including "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu" (early Chan starring vehicle) and "36 Crazy Fists" (which Chan choreographed without performing in. "Dance of Death" apparently uses the same crew and many of the same players, and looks and moves very much like the two Chan films. Those with a sense of different 'Fu styles should pay special attention to Mao's use of the middle-finger-knuckle fist (sometimes called phoenix fist or - wrongly - dragon fist in other films) - Chan actually introduced this into the 'Fu film idiom in a film credited to Low Wei (but probably directed by Chan himself), "Dragon Fist". Also pay attention to Mao's use of Snake-fist moves; her interpretation of this style is pure Chan - compare with his use of this style in "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow".

This said, the film would be little worth noting, due to a very weak script - the comedy is second rate, and the film feels incomplete - except for one essential element - Angela Mao.

Introduced to the 'Fu film world by Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon", Angel Mao's career gradually withered away due to an apparent lack of acting skills. She seemed capable of only two emotions, impatience and outrage. Thanks to this film, we can now see that her real curse was the type of role into which she was frequently cast. In "Dance of Death" Mao is allowed an opportunity to play comedy with a much wider range of emotional response, and frequent moments of humor. This may be the first performance I've seen from her in which she actually smiles. And she is quite charming when she does. In fact she handles comedy very well, and overall comes across as a performer one would like to see again and again. I should also mention that, although she wears male clothing throughout the film, she exudes a captivating femininity and sexuality - which actually becomes part of the plot and action of the film at the end. This film thus becomes a testament to the abilities of a performer who was otherwise underestimated throughout much of her career.

The story begins with Angela Mao's character running into 2 kung fu master's with their own unique style fighting eachother. You have the typical beggar drunken master and what I'm assuming to be an opium pipe smoking master who've been fighting for 20 years but have always ended up in a tie. Angela Mao's character convinces these 2 master's to teach her their unique styles in order to see which master's style is truly the best. The story is a bit complicated but also very simple. Angela Mao finds herself defending a runaway kung fu student that's fleeing from the bird clan. The bird clans goal is to finish off the lineage of an old kung fu fighter that killed their master's brother. Anyways Angela Mao defeats the bird clan that is comprised of 3 dumb and silly goons. Although she defeats these goons, their master's are angered by this, since Angela's interference means that the runaway was able to get away without being killed. The master's take this into their own hands and track down the runaway to his uncles school of kung fu, there they defeat and kill everyone except for Angela Mao who was saved by the runaway who decided to sacrificed himself. Thus a story of revenge unfolds. Angela Maos character spends most of the movie training and defeating the goons and the master's servant in a very comedic way. During most of the later half of the fights Angela Mao uses both of her master's techniques which they keep track of inorder to determine who's kung fu style is best, but Angela purposefully uses both styles an even amount so as to make her master's think that they're evenly matched. It's quite funny seeing them argue that their technique is winning just for Angela to switch styles and even the playing field. The finale of the movie has Angela fighting both the main evil master (who of course has white hair, cause that's how you know a master is both evil and an expert at kung fu) and his protégé. So here's my personal opinion on the movie itself, I think that Angela Mao's character is depicted as a man because she's an orphan that's been disheveled from constant traveling and homelessness thus appearing rugged and worn out. What I loved about the ending is that in order to defeat the main villain she has to use a (dancing style) against his crazy horse style. Which really depicts her femininity and her soft fluidness of a woman. The femininity of her style gets to a point in which neither of her masters wants to take credit for it which is quite hilarious. All in all I think this movie is a perfect watch if you're drunk, not cause it's bad but because it's funny and enjoyable.

This is a movie for Angela Mao fans. Most others will be disappointed, but for the Mao fan it is unmissable.

Angela plays a (male) beggar who's involved with a kung fu school. When her school is attacked by an evil rival school, she is chased into the countryside where she immediately discovers two elderly kung fu masters (the landscape must be crawling with them). These two are fighting each other for fun, trying to find out who's best. For the last 20 years, they have been meeting every five years to test their skills against each other, but it's always a draw. Angela suggests that they teach their styles to her, and then she can use it on some bad guys, and whoever's styles are most effective, will be triumphant. The old guys cannot resist this, and start teaching her.

As a result, the movie is totally full of both training and fighting against enemies. Enemies are everywhere, it seems, and revenge is mentioned often; it is apparently just about the only thing kung fu is used for. I think this is another part of the movie's intentional genre satire.

Dance of Death is primarily a comedy; all elements of the story and acting are devoted to comedy. Most of the comedy is so silly as to be awful, but little bits of it are all right, largely thanks to Angela Mao's charisma and cheerful acting. She hams it up as a man, effectively exaggerating everything for comedic value. I don't think she's supposed to be a woman dressed as a man; I think she's actually *playing* a man, with her obvious female wiles (and the dancing bit) simply being part of the movie's intentional comedy.

The movie, although it has its funny points, would be something of a loss if it wasn't for Angela Mao herself. She is many classes above the rest, and a joy to behold. She has marvelously beautiful moves, and is herself marvelously beautiful - at the top of her career here, I would say. Because the movie and much of the fighting is comical, there is indeed a certain intensity lacking. A previous reviewer mentioned how the fights often look like "carefully planned, elaborate stage performance", as they often do in the not-quite-first-rate kung fu movies, and this is true. It tends to get rather dull to see a lot of formal acrobatics where the combatants rarely if ever touch each other, and the whole sequence often feels highly artificial. However, I will say that Angela Mao makes the fights in this movie look better than that. Her every move is obviously expert and admirably graceful, and for a kung fu fan it is absolutely delicious eye-candy. Much of the movie commands your very close attention because you don't want to miss any of the cool fighting. That's a good thing for a martial arts movie to do.

The main bad guy of the movie, that Angela and others labor to beat, practices something called "upside-down horse boxing", which is simultaneously immensely cool and immensely silly; in short, pretty outrageous. And speaking of silly, the movie parodies strange kung fu styles by inventing a "dancing girl" or "concubine" style, after which the movie is named, but which in fact only plays a minor role in the story. It is an intensely comical element, and of course Angela Mao makes it look very cute.

My Rarescope DVD was cheap and well worth the price. Still, despite being a recent release, the poor-looking (and poor-reading!) subtitles are hard-coded from some old cinema reel, which is a disappointment. The DVD also has an English dubbing track, with dialog that is different from the still present hard-coded subtitles. I often despair at why the heck we never (never!) get proper, professional subs for movies like these. Without knowing what they're *really* saying, we're never really given a full and whole version of the movie. :-(

Jackie Chan's name is on the DVD cover, which is something of a misnomer. He was "stunt coordinator" on the movie, but whether that also means action choreographer, I don't know - I doubt it. It's true that some of Angela's acting and fighting style look very Chan-ish, but I don't think Jackie's influence was all that pervasive here.

Without Angela Mao, the movie would not be worthwhile, rating at most a 3 or 4 or so. But with her, it is very worthwhile for fans of her, and receives from me a 6 out of 10 rating. It's even possible I may later emend the rating to a 7.

Very funny Angela Mao vehicle. She plays a character named Fei Fei who is seeking vengeance for the deaths of some friends she just met, as well as trying to help two older kung-fu masters decide who is the better fighter. Much comedy is provided by these two men. One is a drunk with a prominent red nose and the other is smoking something that causes hilariously goofy music to play whenever he takes a hit off his pipe. Angela is very funny, mixing in a good deal of slapstick with straight fighting, in the various combat scenes. Also funny are nods to both Clint Eastwood's man with no name and Henry Mancini's Pink Panther theme. Recommended to those looking for a more light hearted martial arts flick.

The movie is bit like the "Drunken Master", and maybe it's no coincidence that Jackie Chan is the martial arts director in this movie (opening credit states "Sing Lung" which is Jackie's Chinese name).

The movie wouldn't have worked if someone with Angela Mao's kung fu skill wasn't playing the part. Her moves are crisp, and always ends in a beautiful pose after she's finished with the move.

The movie has Taiwanese look and feel to it, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was made in Taiwan. They did one thing right in this movie, and that is to give starring role to Angela Mao. Usually she's co-stared with some other less talented actors which spoils the movie.

Honestly, this is one of the best choreographed Angela Mao movie, and is recommended for viewing by all Angela Mao fans.