Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin (1978)
Jackie Chan stars as the young warrior Hsu Yiu Fong. Hsu has been entrusted with the book of the "Art of the Snake and Crane," after the mysterious disappearance of the eight Shaolin Masters who had written it. He must fight off numerous clans who are all attempting to steal the book from him, to find out the true reason for the disappearance of the Shaolin Masters.
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Let's be realistic.
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
An old-school Jackie Chan chop socky flick from prolific producer Lo Wei, Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin sees the star playing Hsu Yin-Fung, a skillful martial artist (what else?) who attracts the attention of several clans when he reveals that he is in possession of 'Art of the Snake and Crane', a rare book written by the eight Shaolin Masters.After lots of not particularly memorable bouts of fighting between Hsu Yin-Fung and various clan leaders (JC is both athletic and acrobatic, but the choreography lacks the inventiveness and attention to detail that can be found in his later HK work), it is revealed that our hero is deliberately flaunting his book in order to try and discover the identity of a man with a scarred shoulder who was responsible for killing all but one of the eight masters.After much mayhem, and some rubbish about a dirty faced ragamuffin who turns out to be the daughter of one of the clan leaders, the villain's identity is finally revealed, and Hsu Yin-Fung does battle against the bad guy and his hired killersa trio of tough nuts wielding a variety of weapons. The action in these closing fight scenes is terrific, and makes ploughing through the earlier rather repetitive action and weak comedy worthwhile.
At first glance this movie is just another one of those old chan movies with the slightly irritating, forgettable title, and equally forgettable movie, but this one's content is pretty good.It only drags occasionally, and the action (and even plot!) is very good, great to see jackie in control! It does make a change seeing him play someone other then the lovable underdog as well, but although this movies isn't humerous as far as i could tell, it's not deadly serious either. Snake & Crane is horribly edited, and critisising the dubbing of a jackie chan movie is hardly an original notion, but it is very watchable, and while not a 'must-see' it is definatly one of Jackie's old ones that fans shouldn't be afraid to take a look at!
while not playing the likeable ass kicking fool we all know and love, there is something missing from the film, you know? in this movie jackie is an unlikeable ass kicking man in control. not his worst film by far, just not that good. and i hate the crane style of shaolin,my favorite is the lizard style. but thats not really the point. this movie just seemes too regular, just like all the other 1970s kung fu flicks that came ouyt. thats too bad, because jackie really did have the same charm back then, as shown in drunken master.
His character is arrogant but likeable. This is Jackie Chan at his early best. From the opening credits you know that there is something very special about him... and the film! The Kung-Fu is superb and at the odd occasion very funny. This is a must see for all Jackie Chan fans.