Deadly Strike (1978)

AKA: The Deadly Strike

Director: Huang Lung

Producer: Tsai Hsien

Action Director: Huang Lung

Cast: Ho Chung Tao (aka Bruce Li),Chen Xing, Tang Wei, Lung Fei, Choy Hung, Sze Chung Tien, Chu Li, Su Chin Ping, Li Min Liong, Tsang Chiu, Zheng Fu Xiong

Running Time: 87 min.

Plot: A new area policeman releases seven prisoners so that they can help in the fight against local crime.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: "Deadly Strike's" opening credit sequence, which sports a Sergio Leone "Spaghetti Western"-feel, hints that it's on it's way to becoming a cool themed kung-fu flick. Complete with an Ennio Morricone-inspired soundtrack and visuals of a lone man walking through a ghost town filled with dusty wind, it's totally obvious that the filmmakers are giving the kung-fu genre a borrowed look from beloved Westerns. The lone man, of course, is Ho Chung Tao (aka Bruce Li) - dressed in traditional late-period, Chinese garb and topped with a hat to finish off the "Western" look.

As it turns out, Ho Chung Tao is the new appointed police captain that has just been assigned to the small town. Taking over the police force, which is composed of a bunch of lazy officers who do nothing but sleep and gamble; and have given up on protecting the innocent people from a group of bandits. Upon Ho Chung Tao's arrival, he immediately sets the rules straight and states that he's there strictly for duty; and his first mission is to bring the evil bandits to justice. When he finds out that the force's personnel is minimal and weak, he recruits a few deadly inmates (yeah, just like in "The Dirty Dozen") as muscle to come along with him on the dangerous mission of hunting the bad guys down.

Sound cool? Well, it does, but too bad the film is actually terrible.

The main problem with "Deadly Strike" are the characters that play the inmates. Basically, they're dorky, dumb-looking and too corny to take serious. I'm aware that this is a very lame excuse to dislike a movie, but just hear me out...One guy looks like a middle-aged Filipino reject who can't fight, another guy has an eye-patch -- what a cliched object to put on a guy's face just because your out of fucking ideas! The rest of the inmates are a bunch annoying goons that make you want to stop watching the movie. Yeah, that's how much effect these guys have on what could have been a decent film. The sad thing is, they all get a lot more screen time than Ho Chung Tao, due to their constant, unfunny antics.

Other than the group of unpleasant-screen presented inmates, the film is a corny drag. Many of the bad guys encountered along the way are tacky and barely seem dangerous. For instance, Ho Chung Tao goes up against a fighting duo who fight as one (the smaller guy stands on top of the big guy). Ho Chung Tao also comes across a Shaolin school where they attack him and his men using snake-style tactics (one guy has his arms spray-painted to make them look like snakes). Some of them even slither and slide on the ground (literally).

Surprisingly, the martial arts choreography is, for the most part, good (generally Ho Chung Tao's scenes). And, there is one scene in the whole movie that is actually very witty and well-explained. It's the part where Ho Chung Tao explains to his men how he knew a group of merchants were actually the "enemy". The film's climax was also interesting and different.

I've actually heard a lot of good things about "Deadly Strike" prior to watching it, so maybe it's just me. Or it may be the fact that I'd rather see Ho Chung Tao kicking ass in modern times (well, modern times in the 1970s that is) instead of period pieces. Take a film a like "Fists of Bruce Lee" for instance. It's a terrible film, but watching everyone in extreme 70's wardrobe and other retro-cheesiness makes up for everything else that's bad.

But still, I have to stand on this case and say that "Deadly Strike" is pure shit. Shame on you if you're one of those guys who said this movie was good. :)

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S RATING: 2/10