File this one under: 70's Bellbottom Kung Fu

Stock storyline- the two former friends, in this case the good looking Wong Yuen San (Four Shaolin Challengers,Ten Tigers of Shaolin, Super Gang) and the harder faced Jason Pai Piao (Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog, Thunderbolt, Holy Flame of the Martial World) fighting over a girl and being on opposite sides of the tracks. Of course, they cannot defeat the bad guys unless they overcome their differences and come together. All under a 70's sleaz-o setting of gambling and prostitution, various naked women, sneering bad guys, and everyone dressed in funky fashions.

And, it is really silly. The story is a complete afterthought. The only thing the film makers had on their mind was the setting, utilizing various European locales and backdrops and obviously catering to European co-investors. Lets put it this way, after some obligatory final fight scenes with one of the films two bad guy mob bosses (Bolo Yueng), they didn't have a proper resolution for the other bad guy mob boss. So, they just cut to a scene of the remaining mob boss walking down the street, insert some gunfire sound fx, have him fall down, and then flash title cards stating that an unknown gunman killed the bad guy. Weak.

The fights are all pretty decent (lots of kicking in platfrom shoes), and there are plenty of "so-bad-its-good" giggles, but the meandering plot (or lack of a solid plot) becomes tiresome. The most memorable thing about the film is the gangs use of gang signs and almost Dr. Suessian rhyming proverbs to communicate. There are puzzling long scenes where the gangsters are just spouting confusing wordplay while flashing gang sings. Plus, with the European 70's setting, some of the Anglo henchmen's look like members of Deep Purple getting their asses kicked.

The DVD: Crash

Picture: Non-anamorphic Letterbox. Typical print wear for a film of its age and low budget. There is some dirt, spots, lines, and the flicker of wear and tear on the print. But the sharpness is pretty good and the color and contrast in nice shape. Certainly beats any washed out full-screen video, which is probably the only other way you'll see the film.

Sound: Mono English dub. The dub has the expected age wear and low quality one expects with older chop socky features. Audio is clear and the distortions are relatively minor. Unfortunately, the dub is pretty bad. Especially the girl dubbing Fanny, who sounds like she has suffered a stroke and has a mouth full of biscuit batter.

Extras: Chapter Selections--- Trailers for Shaolin Tiger Claw, Story in the Temple Red Lily, Amsterdam Connection--- Still Gallery, just simple screen captures--- Extra Fight scene from Cantonen Iron Kung Fu--- Cast Bios and Filmographies--- Production Notes.

Conclusion: If you are into cheesball 70's kung fu, probably worth a buy. The price is fairly low and the transfer pretty good considering the low rent nature of the production. But for a non-martial fanatic, I wouldn't recommend it because it is failry run of the mill and not too memorable.