Another kung fu cheapie made in Taiwan and starring Don Wong. This one's about a couple of rival schools each of whom specialise in their own distinctive style: the first is a proponent of the 'Eagle Claw' technique while the second goes in for the 'Praying Mantis' approach. Unfortunately the 'Praying Mantis' school is presided over by a cruel master who decides with the aid of his students to attack and destroy the innocent members of the 'Eagle's Claw' school.This is a straightforward basher with plenty of thumping action taking place within enclosed sets. The characters are a visual bunch of white-haired masters and classy female fighters, along with the upstanding heroes in the usual Bruce Lee mould. A great deal of the running time is made up of melodrama with betrayals and whatnot filling the screen. Chang Yi essays another master villain role behind the bushy hair and Don Wong's hero proves his mettle. The action is of a generally average to good standard although the production never equals the heights of something like THE Chinese BOXER, which is no surprise given the low budget.

The movie opens with demonstrations and narration. At the kung fu school the guys are clowning around. Suddenly, White Eyebrows and gang return for revenge against the master. They mortally wound him. Some of the students go for hasty revenge. Before he dies the master makes Don Wong the new head of the school, not the senior student. There is also a book with three new techniques. Big brother (Chi Kuan-Chun) gets angry drunk, is cast out, and allies with the enemy. He is forced to prove his loyalty by killing his former brothers. Then there is a twist that I will not mention. Sure, a movie this old certainly has no secrets. I watched it once before I re-watched it for this review and I felt that knowing the plot twist had me scrutinizing each scene for consistency and sort of ruined it.Nevertheless I rate it about average for very good fight scenes and drama that never had a dull moment from start to finish.

The exceptional animal style Kung Fu, well developed plot(for a Kung Fu film of this kind) and over all production values make this a better than average Kung Fu film. It also avoids a lot of the broad comedy aspects which usually bring down a Kung Fu film. A great example of Old Skool 70's Kung Fu.If you like this, try "7 Grand masters" which is made by the same director, Joseph Kuo.Even better, watch them both as a late night double bill.Eagles Claw VS Mantis fist!!!

EAGLE'S FIST is a big story, with a complex plan launched by a dying kung-fu teacher to stop an awesome white-haired super-villain trying to destroy the teacher's Eagle's Claw school. Cha Ma-Wu, the super-villain, is a master of Eagle's Claw, and Mantis Fist, and his thugs are out-fitted with his cruel pragmatism. In a way the kung-fu technique on-screen is secondary to the emotional and intellectual battles going on, as students betray their teachers, become outcasts and then enemies of their one-time allies. There are so many twisting, turning motivations thatare required in order to combat the evil Cha Ma-Wu, due to the super-villain's brainy approach to destruction: I've read elsewhere that Cha Ma-Wu is above all a James Bond villain, vastly superior and egotistical, using genius to subvert others to his will. That's what's going on for most of this movie.It will be noted also that Chang Yi, the actor playing Cha Ma-Wu, looks a lot like John Hurt (ALIEN, ROB ROY), slightly reptilian, definitelyradiating a higher class of murderous butcher.This is a very top-level kung-fu film, longer and meatier, with some interesting character development and a superb final battle with Cha Ma-Wu. There's flying bodies and enough animal kung-fu and spurting wounds to match every plot point. Solid.