The Story: Chow Lueng (Lo Leih) and Meng Ho (Wong Tao) are thief catching constables, who roam the land capturing criminals with ease. Then one day they are confronted by representative of a gang of thieves called the Four Devils. During the scuffle, Meg Ho accidentally cuts his friend, resulting in Chow Lueng's death. It is a devastating misfortune that drives Meng Ho to abandon the martial world, changing his name, and becoming a drunk until he takes a job as an errand boy in a brothel. But, his reputation as a noble man creeps up on him again. When he refuses to raise a hand and fight a group of men at the brothel, even though he is beaten and stabbed by them, the others at the brothel admire his courage, so he leaves, taking to the streets drinking and wallowing in his misery.

Meng Ho wakes one day to find himself on the steps of Virtue House, where the local magistrate and his family maintain a martial school. He is taken in by the family and keeps his former identity a secret. When a group of Mongol thieves try to pressure the magistrate and his family to turn a blind eye to their drug running, a fight ensues, and this time Meng Ho is looked upon as a coward for not defending his newfound friends. As the old magistrate is in ill health, and the rest of the family is no match for the Mongols or their white-haired, acupuncture using leader, Chueng Tung (Jhang Yi), Meng Ho reaches his breaking point and begins to use his deadly kung fu skills to help. But, when the evil Chueng Tung blackmails the family, will they be able to stop the flow of drugs, defeat the bandits and their deadly leader, and save their master?

The Film: It is actually fairly rare in old school kung fu movies when the story is about a reluctant fighter. Usually, a kung fu films central character will always be a kung fu expert or expert in training, who through matters of vengeance, honor, justice, or pride takes on his opponents, but there are very few films about men who refuse to fight. Think of it as the equivalent to the westerns where the gunfighter puts his guns away, buries them in the dirt or shoves them in a closet because he wants to get away from the killing life. So, in that plotting alone, Fatal Needles Vs. Fatal Fists (1980) is an interesting kung fu feature.

And it is that plotting that really carries the film. Like most independents, the film has to make up for its lack of Shaw Bros or Golden Harvest budget in some way. Generally, because they didn't have as much time to stage elaborate fight sequences on detailed sets, the independents would make up for it in general weirdness and other ingenuity, like the Fatal Needles Vs. Fatal Fists reluctant fighter Vs. opium pushers plotline. Having a lead character who refuses to fight does present a problem- for a good thirty minutes, he doesn't raise a hand, so naturally the film has to make up for this fact with its story- which it does. So, HK, kung fu aficionados will want to give it a look for being an interesting film, but those out for thrills and long breakneck fights every five minutes will be disappointed.

Director Lee Tso Nam was one of the better independent directors, helming such films as Secret Rivals, The Leg Fighters, Shaolin Vs. Lama, Eagle Claw, and The Tattoo Connection. Here he does a good job carrying the dramatic weight of the film, sprinkled with a few fight sequences, particularly at he beginning and end. I could have used more fights, or perhaps a grand 10 min fight finale, but I was still entertained, so the work holds up. Star Wong Tao frequently collaborated with Lee Tso Nam and starred in such films as Death Duel of Kung Fu, Secret Rivals, and Eagle Claw. He has a good brooding presence, and an appropriately explosive style of fighting, that may not be as exacting as other kung fu stars, but, in the right directors hands, he is a fine lead (like when Lee Tso Nam zooms in on a close up of Wong Tao clenching his fist in anger, sound fx of bones popping, tendons tightening). There is also a supporting cast of independent regulars (I'll address them in the commentary), including Jhang Yi in one of his trademark, white-haired villain roles, and a brief but welcome cameo by classic star Lo Leih.

The DVD: Part of Tai Seng Video's Martial Arts Theater catalog, Fatal Needles Vs. Fatal Fists gets a pretty average old school film transfer, modestly priced, with some nice commentary. Picture- Any doubt as to where Tai Seng obtained its fullscreen print of Fatal Needles. is answered early on when we see the Ocean Shores Video copyright and their logo which briefly pops up on the bottom left of the screen two or three times throughout the film. And, its a fairly good print. Of course we all wish for a widescreen print to be available, but the copy here will have to make do. Has the usual softness, spots, and occasional waviness, but overall the sharpness and color make it a slightly above average video transfer of an independent kung fu film. Sound- 2.0 mono English dub. Nice and clear with the usual tape transfer related minor bits of reverb and background distortion.

Extras- 8 Chapters--- Tai Seng Trailers- one for the Martial Arts Theater line, as well as Running Out of Time, Armageddon, Dragon Inn, The Duel, Body Weapon, Fist Power, and Deadful Melody--- Commentary by Ric Meyers of Inside kung Fu and Asian Cult Film magazine, and martial artist Bobby Samuels. Admittedly, there aren't many guys doing tracks for old school kung fu films, and its a hard job tracking down info, filmographies, bios, and identifying the fringe players, but kinky fetishist Ric Meyers has made a career out of his gift for colorful hyperbole, industry connections, and having written a film guide that he took sole credit for by removing his co-authors names (their sections being the best written and accurate portions of the book). A minor technical complaint is that at a few spots you can tell the track is out of synch by two or three seconds, because you can hear the original audio in the background as well as on the commentary track. Meyers talks excitedly and can sometimes stray to far reaching assumptions (like that Lee Tso Nam must have had some horrible event involving drugs around him because of the seriousness of the drug plotline, which is like saying Ron Howard must have been touched by schizophrenia somehow because he wanted to make A Beautiful Mind) and can cut Samuels off. He delves into some ducious "Where Are They Now" facts (such as, Tommy Lee was last seen working as a lowly chef in Texas), but this is coming from a guy who has actually claimed classic actors were dead when they were still quite alive and living fine. Samuels strong points are in his knowledge of Chinese (he helps with all the pronunciation) and especially pointing out what styles the fighting is derived from, like that Wong Tao uses a unique backwards kick as well as a different style in each of his major fights, Snake, then Phoenix Eye, and then Tiger Claw. There were times whne they slid into minor mocking. I only let my friends poke fun at kung fu, and only if its deserved, so it wasnt appreciated.

***And, Ric, you havent seen Yuen Woo Pings Drunken Tai Chi? Jeeez, buddy, I'll send you a copy, and you can see Donnie Yen breakdance kung fu.***