To Kill with Intrigue (1977)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Too much of everything

Such a frustrating disappointment

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Early Jackie Chan film where there is no sign of the Chan persona we know. This is Chan in a full on traditional revenge tale of the sort that was cloned and re-cloned by countless producers and studios all through Hong Kong Taiwan and Mainland China. Its a very serious story that shows none of the humor and warmth that would catapult Jackie Chan to super stardom. Its also clear from watching this that had he not reinvented himself odds are we would never have known him because his career would have been painfully short. As a film on its own merits this is a good looking but pretty unremarkable movie. I was watching it, in the midst of an all day marathon of martial arts films and it would have blended together with every other film that I watched that day had I not noticed Jackie in the film. Honestly I don't think the film is really worth bothering with (there are too many other better variations) except if you're interested in seeing where Jackie Chan started.

Director Lo Wei was known to read the racing papers and take naps on the set - tells us something about his "approach to film-making, huh? The reviews I've read fall into two categories: 1) this is a film so bad it is funny, or 2) this is a film so bad it is boring.So let's get to the point we all agree on - this film is really bad.I vote for category 2). The story is almost incomprehensibly complex, and it is further shredded and twisted by the remarkably poor camera work and editing. Yet Lo Wei was so in love with it that he slows the pacing so we can all have a long look at it, whether we want to or not.Maybe Lo Wei was upset the day (or two) this film was made - he just wanted to make everybody suffer, cast, crew and audiences alike.Spare yourself the agony.

An amazingly horrible film, kung fu corniness at it's best. Everything from the names of the characters: "Chin Chin" which is Japanese for "penis", which is awesome because there are tons of variations in the movie. "All you care about is your chin-chin!" (Actual piece of dialog) The set designs are beautiful and the cinematography catches some great shots sporadically in the film. The fight scenes themselves are just thick with super human hijinks and cheap camera tricks. Altogether, a hilarious piece of kung fu dung.Not for the serious kung-fu fan, more for the casual-bad-movie-fanatic.Yeehaw, The Lazy Southerner

Here we have one of the few flicks where Jackie Chan, our hero, spends more time taking a lickin' from everyone else, than he does giving it out. Jackie is stabbed, poked, choked, burned, scalded, sliced, whacked, skewered, and school boy'd in just about every scene of the film. It makes for plenty of action, don't get me wrong, but his only triumph comes at the end so that we can leave happy. I realize that Chan is supposed to represent the man who loses everything (house, family, friends, pregnant lover, etc.) but the guy can't even defeat a woman with super-human abilities?? Movies have taught me that Jackie can overcome ANY disadvantage and kick some tail...but apparently not here. Jackie spends more time on screen as a bed-ridden cripple than fighting the powers of evil. Reminds me of a story where a boy wants to move away from his parents because they beat him. When asked where he wants to go live he responds, "I want to live with Jackie Chan's character from 'To Kill With Intrigue', because he doesn't beat anybody!".