Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
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| Snake in the Eagle's Shadow | |
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 UK DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Yuen Woo-ping |
| Produced by | Ng See-Yuen Chen Chuan |
| Written by | Ng See-Yuen Choi Gai-gwong Tsai Chi-kuang |
| Starring | Jackie Chan Hwang Jang Lee Yuen Siu Tien |
| Music by | Chou Fu-liang |
| Cinematography | Chang Hui |
| Editing by | Poon Hung Yiu |
| Distributed by | Seasonal Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) |  1978 |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (traditional Chinese: 蛇形刁手) is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts action film. It was the directorial debut of Yuen Woo-ping, who has since gained international stardom as the action choreographer for films such as Iron Monkey, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Matrix series and Kill Bill.
The film starred Jackie Chan, Hwang Jang-Lee and Yuen's own father, Yuen Siu Tien. Straight after this film, Yuen Woo-ping directed Drunken Master. Released in the same year, it also starred Jackie Chan, Hwang Jang-Lee and Yuen Siu Tien, and follows a similar plot.
The film is also known by the title Snaky Monkey.
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[edit] Production
Prior to Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, Chan had worked for director Lo Wei who wanted to make him into the new "Bruce Lee" in films like New Fist of Fury. However, those films yielded relatively poor box office returns. When producer Ng See-Yuen decided to make a comedy with Chan as the star, the concept did not initially meet with approval from the film distributors. However, Ng and Chan persevered and together with Drunken Master, the film launched Jackie Chan into national stardom.
The combination of comedy, martial arts, stunts and acrobatics had been done before, in Lau Kar Leung's 1975 film, Spiritual Boxer. However, the release of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow heralded a new direction for Hong Kong action movies.
Ng See-Yuen and Yuen Woo-ping checked over many actors for the part of the old, eccentric, wandering Kung Fu master, before Ng suggested casting Yuen's own father, Yuen Siu Tien. Yuen would continue to reprise the role of Beggar So several more times before his death in 1979.
[edit] Plot
Chien (played by Jackie Chan), an orphan adopted by a kung-fu school, is overworked as their janitor and abused by the kung fu teachers as a walking punching-bag. Chien befriends an old beggar (Yuen Siu Tien) by offering him a meal and a place to stay. Unknown to Chien, the old beggar is actually the last surviving master of the Snake-style of kung fu. The old man is on the run from the Eagle Claw clan, which is viciously killing off all of the rival Snake-style kung fu masters. Seeing that Chien is being abused, the old man gives Chien kung fu lessons so he can defend himself.
The old man leaves the school to find a better hiding spot. Chien later finds him and the old man agrees to give him more lessons, on the condition that he does not call him "sifu" ("master"), since they are friends.
Chien practices the lessons and learns to avoid being hurt by the school's bumbling teachers. When the school is invaded by the Mantis school, Chien easily defeats their master using snake to everyone's amazement. Unfortunately, one of the passing wanderers who witnessed the fight was a master of the Eagle Clan.
Chien meets the Eagle Claw clan master, who inquires about the old beggar. The Eagle Claw master lies, saying that he was a student of the old beggar and asks Chien to help him find the old man. Realising that his Snake-style fighting is no match for the style practiced by the Eagle Claw master, Chien creates a new style from watching his pet cat kill a cobra.
Eventually, Chien unwittingly leads the Eagle Claw master to the old man. In the duel, Chien merges his "cat style" with snake style to finally defeat the Eagle Claw master. Chien announces that he will call his technique "Cat's Claw", but the Old man suggest that he give the technique the name "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow".
[edit] Music
As well as original music by Chou Fu-liang, the film also features Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygène (Part 2)".
[edit] Cast
- Jackie Chan - Chien Fu
- Hwang Jang Lee - Shang Kuan-yin
- Yuen Siu Tien (Simon Yuen) - Beggar So / Pai Chang-tien
- Dean Shek - Teacher Li
- Fung Hak-on - Snake Fist master
- Tino Wong (Wong Cheung) - Three Provinces Champ
- Peter Chan (Chan Lung) - Instructor
- Tyrone Hsu (Hsu Hsia) - Su Chen
- Charlie Chan (Chan Yiu-lam) - Master Hung
- Roy Horan - Priest
- Fung Ging-man - Teacher Chui
- Chiang Kam - Ah Kwai
- Yuen Yat-choh
- Chiu Chi Ling
- Choi Fai
- Chan Laap-ban
[edit] Box Office
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow took HK $2,708,748 at the Hong Kong box office.
[edit] Imitators
In 1979, a film entitled Snake in the Eagle's Shadow II aka Snaky Knight Fight Against Mantis was released. It was directed by Chang Hsin Yi and starred Don Wong (Wang Tao). However, the film was not a true sequel, rather it was an attempt by the studio to capitalise on the success of the original film. Footage including a montage and a fight scene from Snake in the Eagle's Shadow were spliced into the film. Chan's image was also used on the cover of some versions.
[edit] DVD versions
The region 1 DVD version for Snake in the Eagle's Shadow is distributed by Columbia TriStar and Sony. Its special features include trailers for Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop, and The One.
The region 2 Hong Kong Legends release contains Jackie Chan's photo gallery, filmography, and biography, the theatrical trailer of the movie, UK music promo, and an interview with producer Ng See Yuen.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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