Buddha’s Palm and Dragon Fist | aka Roving Heroes (1980) Review

“Buddha’s Palm and Dragon Fist” DVD Cover

AKA: Roving Heroes
Director: Got Si Ho
Cast: Chi Kuan Chun, Lee I Min, Suen Shu Pau, Wong Chi Sang, Eva Lin Yi Wa, Ma Cheung, Ma Chin Ku, Shih Ting Ken, Ching Kuo Chung, Chiu Chung Hing
Running Time:85 min.

By Martin Sandison

By the mid to late 70’s Taiwanese made kung fu films were exploding, with movies such as The Hot, The Cool and the Vicious leading the way. Buddha’s Palm and Dragon Fist is a welcome addition to the genre. Despite the extreme low budgets of Taiwanese flicks, they created some of the absolute classics of of the era including the aforementioned The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious (which Buddha’s Palm references in its opening scene) and the genius Green Jade Statuette.

The stars of Buddha’s Palm are two of the brightest in the genre at the time. Chi Kuan Chun starred in numerous Shaw Brothers classics including Disciples of Shaolin and Shaolin Temple in the early to mid 70’s, and went on to star in numerous Taiwanese productions, including directing The Big Rascal. Li Yi Min was one of the most versatile martial artists of the time, and he of course starred in the all time classic Seven Grandmasters, a movie that needs no introduction. Buddha’s Palm has a pretty perfunctory plot, that in the grand tradition is an excuse for lots of action.

Basically Chi and Li are sent by their master to try and find a killer in a small town, and they encounter lots of martial artists and the main villain, Suen Shu Pau. Li’s character is a pretty strange one; he is goofy and mischievous, but beats up and tortures a monk in a bizarrely violent scene. It’s a welcome change from the usual predictable character behaviour of old school movies. Chi’s character is much more archetypal, the strong silent type who talks with his fists. Both leads have good chemistry and the silly comedy is pretty entertaining. One amusing scene has Li trying to put Chi off training by throwing various things at him, eventually throwing a recently used chamber pot at him! In another scene the two leads have a drinking competition, with Li drinking from an insanely large pot of wine.

The fights are choreographed by the film’s villain, Suen Shu Pau, a veteran old school actor who also appeared in numerous Shaw Brothers films of the 70’s. It’s definitely a case of the fights get better as the film goes along, with some of the early ones lacking in bite and too dance like. Li’s acrobatics and kicking are put to the fore, and he comes out with some dizzying stuff. A mid film fight has some brilliant acrobatic kicking in slow motion, despite the rest of the fight being pretty pedestrian. Chi’s handwork is as intricate and powerful as always, and he proves his real ability throughout.

The end fight is where the action really hots up as our two heroes take on Suen. This sends the shapes fan into pure heaven, with each element completely complimentary. Two uses of wire work really bring in some impact, and the sound effects enhance this greatly. I noticed a rip off from the masterpiece Drunken Master in one piece of choreography, wherein Suen rips off a shred of jacket and punches the same point immediately. It’s pulled off with almost the same gusto as Jackie.

Unfortunately the movie suffers from a lot of the same problems that dog the old school independent martial arts movie. Namely terrible sound editing, silly dubbing and bad editing. In one scene Chi throws a guy from a balcony on the street, and when he hits the ground Chi is miraculously beside him! As we all know the real fan looks past these to concentrate on the traits that make old school movies so great: the charm, atmosphere and great action.

Despite not being up there with the classics, Buddha’s Palm has its moments and is an entertaining watch.

Martin Sandison’s Rating: 6.5/10