Liu Kang (John Liu- Invincible Armor, Fighting Ace) and his buddy find themselves captured and sent to the local prison that doubles as a mine and gold smelting plant. They quickly befriend another rebellious prisoner, Fang Sze. Lui Kang's friend plots to escape and go to the aide of his pregnant wife. The cruel prison officials are suppling gold for a local marshall to buy weapons with and cutting corners anyway they can, mainly by over working the prisoners and not maintaining the mine. Prisoners who escape pay a heavy price, and eventuality Liu Kang finds this out, having his feet beaten, leading top a long road of recovery that strengthens his fighting skills.

Directed by San Yee Cheung, who also helmed the Liu flicks Incredible Kung Fu Mission and Shaolin Ex-Monk. A pretty decent John Liu feature. For those that don't know John Liu was a martial star on the b-film, Taiwanese circuit, who was known for his limber legs and big kicking prowess. San Yee Cheung has a good eye, keeping most of the shots wide, framing the action nicely and even throwing in some nice slow motion to fully appreciate the stuntwork.

For a cheapie production you actually see a nice bit of production design, and attempts at some realism and focus on story that kung fu features often lacked. Sure, it ain't Shakespeare, but a good deal of the film features Liu and his comrades unable to hold their own against the guards and some actual coloring of character, from the kind prison doctor to the prisoner who has been mentally broken down by the system. Adding to the grittiness, the fighting scenes are fairly grounded and have a looser, less stylized feel. And the ending doesn't pull any punches, there is no real valiant hero, and while the bad guys theirs, everything doesn't end smoothly for the good guys.

Sure, it has some missteps. Some comedic touches seem out of place. Yet another cackling bad guy with a George Micheal beard. Maybe there could be more fighting. But, all that matters is that John Liu gets a ball and chain strapped to his feet, and kung fu fans know that only means trouble, that those legs will do some serious kicking by the end. And that they do.

The DVD: Crash

Picture: Non-anamorphic Letterbox. Rough, as expected, but not the dirtiest print I've seen and at least it is letterboxed and has some decent deepness in contrast. Sure the colors are weak and the image is a tad soft, but that has everyhting to do with the poor print mastering for older Chinese films. The transfer does an okay job that will satisfy fans. Though, Crash is still one of those companies that cant seem to author anything anamorphically.

Sound: Mono, mono, mono. The typical deal. Not exactly well done in the first place, time is equally unkind to kung fu soundtracks. So, it has some distortions, some uneven volume level spots (not dropoff, though, actually it has surges where it gets louder). But, if you area fan, it is what we are already conditioned to expect.

Extras: Chapter Selections— Crash Trailers— 2 Extra Fight Scenes (6:53)— Cast Bios

Conclusion: A decent buy for kung fu fans. Good film. Middling quality. Pretty much the norm whe it comes to old b-range kung fu films on DVD.