It’s no overstatement to say or suggest the 1970s gave way to a bumpercrop of kung fu cinema legends, no less including Master Yuen Woo Ping whose 1978 kung fu comedy classic, Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow, has certainly stood the test of time.
It was definitely a film that got me keen on invading my local video store’s Asian VHS isle on a near-regular basis following action star Jackie Chan’s phase-three breakout role in New Line Cinema’s Rumble In The Bronx, reigniting crossover kung fu fan fervor in the late 1990s.
Since then, the film has endured a raft of physical media releases of various kinds and now, 88 Films is stepping up to the plate with its own committment to a Blu-Ray rollout of the film on March 29, bolstering its current collection of Jackie Chan classics. For all that and more, they’ve unleashed a brand new trailer to whet nostalgic appetites, with pre-orders now up and running at Amazon UK.
SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW is the kung fu comedy masterpiece starring superstar Jackie Chan (RUSH HOUR, SHANGHAI NOON). This star-making film was the first to feature Jackie’s trademark mix of mind-blowing martial arts action with hilariously choreographed slapstick. It also marked the historic first collaboration between Jackie and director Yuen Woo Ping (IRON MONKEY, action choreographer for THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON), to be followed by their huge hit DRUNKEN MASTER, released a year later.
At the end of the China Dynasty, a 200-year-old deadly clan known as the Eagle Claw Society has eliminated all styles of martial arts except for the revered Snake Fist style. The Grand Master of Eagle Claw is obsessed with finding — and killing — the remaining members of the Snake Fist school. Meanwhile, the wise, elderly Snake Fist Grand Master is busy in hiding, teaching a young, overworked servant (Jackie Chan) his awesome, super-fast fighting moves. An action-packed showdown is inevitable, but is the newest member of the Snake Fist school any match for an evil, legendary fighter with years of experience?
