Next up here on Hai! Karate is the dramatic brawling flick, The Avenging Eagle! This Shaw Brothers joint features two of the studio's top male leads, the venerable Ti Lung and the late Alexander Fu Sheng. Also rounding out the cast are veteran Shaw stars Shih Szu, Ku Feng, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei and Dick Wei among others. The film is directed by Sun Chung and Ni Kuang provides the flick's screenplay.
The film opens with Black Eagle Chik Ming
Sung(Lung)wandering through a desert patch,
parched and exhausted. He falls off his steed
and is soon rescued by another stranger,
Double Sword Sleeve Cheuk Yi Fan(Sheng).
Sung is uneasy at first, but Fan's wit
and easy-going nature makes Sung drop his
guard a bit. Well, that and the three
killers who drop into the abandoned villa
they're resting in. Fan observes that
Sung not only knows them, but they know
him too. After dispatching all three, they
ride off and Sung spills the beans. He's
one of the Thirteen Eagles, the assassins
of the notorious Iron Boat Gang. The gang,
led by Yoh Xi Hung(Feng) was formed to be
ruthless killers for Hung from childhood
onward. Hung spared no rod and certainly
showed no love. Sung was one of his prized
men. But after he and other Eagles went
after a royal treasure protected by a
great hero who laid a beatdown on him
before his demise, Sung passed out in a
forest glade. He's rescued from death by
a kind man and taken into his house in a
secluded valley. There, Sung is able to
heal, and see the merits of kindness and
honor. And he also falls in love with the
man's sister, Miss Fung(Szu) who is more
than willing to reciprocate. But, Sung
returns to the gang and instead of quitting,
is forced to go on another job. A job
that entails the murder of Devil's Plight
Wang An - the same man who rescued Sung.
He tries to stop his brother assassins
to no avail, and Miss Fung is murdered,
dying in Sung's arms. This shatters him
and when Yoh Xi Hung sees this, he goes
ballistic. Sung then fights off the clan
and flees. Fan hears this and then reveals
that his family was the one slaughtered
by the Thirteen Eagles. Both men become
tenuous allies with one goal: smash the
Iron Boat Gang and kill Yoh Xi Hung!
The Avenging Eagle is a compelling
kung-fu movie for a number of reasons. For
one, it's a very good story that Ni Kuang
puts forth here. Savagery and justice
and finding redemption are juggled as
themes here. Sun Chung in the director's
chair keeps things going at a great pace,
even with one or two slow moments. This
film marks a period where he was really in
his zone with regards to action flicks,
and it also was a film where he got to
finally push the envelope with shooting
on Steadicam. Chung was regarded as Shaw
Studios' pioneer in this, and it shows up
here in the crisp wide angle views as well
as the multiple fluid action scenes. As
for the leads, this film was the third
film they had done together to that point.
But it's a treat to see Ti Lung and Fu
Sheng really stand out in this film as
true equals. Fu Sheng by this time was
a fast rising star; young and handsome,
he was a prize for Shaw. Lung was, by this
time, already a well-respected veteran
actor with several stellar roles. He
fit the role of the wandering swordsman
very well. The chemistry between them is
gripping. Ku Feng as the villainous
Yoh Xi Hung is real GREASY. And when he
busts out the golden claws for the final
battle? You can't tell me Ghostface
Killah didn't get the idea for the eagle
gauntlet he used to rock from this film.
I admit, Shih Szu as Miss Fung deserved
a little bit more fleshing out in my
opinion. But she did her job as the
doomed romantic foil. Her role leads me
to another key point about The Avenging
Eagle; Chung packed a LOT into a
flick just under 90 minutes. You won't
be wanting for good fight scenes here.
Some scenes will have you locked in,
like the scene where Fan and Sung face
off against Vulture(Lung-Wei) to turn
the tables on the gang. (By the way,
I wonder how much laughter ensued with
his makeup job. You'll see what I mean.)
Chung adds to the fight's energy with
a few freeze frames and slo-mo shots.
Not enough to be overkill, and just a
tad to add some spice.
The Avenging Eagle is without a
doubt a really good martial arts film.
And recently even more validity to that
statement came in July of this year when
there was an announcement by both The
Weinstein Company and Celestial Pictures
was made. They are joining forces to
remake two classic Shaw Brothers films
from the 1960's and 1970's and one of them
will be The Avenging Eagle. It
really isn't hard to see why; the flick
is a must see for all true fans of the
genre. It has great fight scenes. Enough
drama to tie everything together. And the
outfits are really funky. I can say that
you can't go wrong watching this flick.
RATING: 4 Dragon Punches out of 5
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