Yuen Woo-ping's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow is one of the most deliriously entertaining films I've seen in quite some time. The story is about as stock as you could possibly get in a kung fu film: the last master of a powerful form of kung fu passes on his teachings to a kind-hearted outcast while being pursued by the murderous disciples of a rival school. But where Snake in the Eagle's Shadow truly shines is in its incredible synthesis of comedy and action. I have seen a number of comedic kung fu films where the comedy and action blended together about as well as oil and water. But here it is awe-inspiring: Pai Cheng-Tien's battle against creditors near the beginning of the film, his bowl fight scene with Chien Fu, Chien Fu's training, and Chien Fu's creative solution to keeping his floor clean from dirty footprints. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow was a watershed moment for kung fu films for two reasons. First, it was one of the first kung fu films to widely utilize comedy. Second, this was the film that made Jackie Chan a superstar. Both comedic kung fu and Chan had appeared in previous films. So Snake in the Eagle's Shadow can be seen as kung fu's Stagecoach (1939), a film which perfected what other genre films had created.
9/10
So, hello. I wrote about this film over here: http://natesminireviews.blogspot.com/2015/01/snake-in-eagles-shadow-yuen-woo-ping.html.
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