To Subdue The Evil

To Subdue the Evil aka Duel of Karate (Spanish title El gran desafío de Bruce Lee) is a 1971 punch and block revenge film starting Roc Tien and Yuan Yi (of Fearless Fighters fame).
The film was co directed by Yeung Jing Chan and Ching-Chen Yang it is the latter's directoral debut. Ching-Chen Yang would later go on to direct 18 Fatal Strikes which is a personal favorite.

The film revolves around Lung Yu (Roc Tien) and Lei Chi (Yuan Yi) two brothers whose father runs a prominent kung fu school after they are born the two brothers are being given ceremonial tattoos when they are separated as a kung fu clan led by the father's rival Yu Kay kills their father and destroys his school. The movie then jumps forward 20 years and Lung Yu has become an expert at iron palm kung fu under the training of his father's friend who saved Lung the day the school was destroyed. After his training is complete he sets out to seek revenge on Yu Kay for killing his parents but first he must defeat his bodyguards trained in the art of Karate one of whom is his brother Lei Chi!!!

Revenge films were made popular by Bruce Lee's film Fist of Fury aka The Chinese Connection (1972) in which Bruce Lee must avenge his master by taking out a neighboring school responsible for his death. To Subdue the Evil was released a year before Fist of Fury making it a pioneer of the sub-genre. That didn't stop the distributors from cashing in on the Brucesploitation craze with this film. The Spanish version of this film was released much later presumably after Bruceploitation had taken off and the plot for the dubbed version was changed entirely. The two twins were made to be the sons of Bruce Lee and Bruce's name is dropped throughout the film. I prefer the Spanish dub because I'm a sucker for Bruceploitation and because the dialog is much more fitting. For example in one scene Roc Tien's character has been trailing one of the bodyguards protecting Yu Kay, he finally reveals himself before a badass showdown with the villain. The bodyguard asks "Who are you?" and in the English version he says "None of your business." but in the Spanish version he loudly exclaims "Soy tu muerte!!!" (I am your death!!!). The fact that the whole movie was given a new dub and the plot was changed dramatically just to cash in on Bruce Lee's fame is very amusing to me.

The fight instructor is Ngan Yuk Lung and he makes heavy use of wires and impossible acrobatics. Right from the beginning during Lung Yu's training we see impossible backflips as Roc Tien flies through the air with relative ease. I really enjoyed the wire-fu in this one, it made for some really zany choreography but it wasn't overused as the majority of the fighting is your standard punch and block fight sequences.

This is a fun film which has a pretty standard plot and can be enjoyed without much thought. I recommend having a couple beers with this one and enjoying it for what it is without judging it too harshly. It's not a masterpiece by any means and at times it's kinda all over the place but it's definately entertaining!

The English dub DVD is available at Far East Flicks one of my favorite sites for custom kung fu DVDs, 

The Spanish dub has been posted to youtube in it's entirety. 

Black Eagle's Blade

I can't think of a better way to start my kung fu blog than to talk about my favorite kung fu film Black Eagle's Blade. Blade Eagle's Blade released in 1981 is a Wuxia epic/murder mystery directed by Peng-Yi Chang most well known for his film Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue. The film starts Roc Tien in what I think is his best role.

Black Eagle's Blade is about confrontation, cooperation, bettrayal, and rivalry in a small city in northern China. The confrontation stems from a hoard of treasure stolen from the city counsel 18 years ago. Everyone is desperately trying to find the lost treasure and no one wants to share. The different characters form alliances to search for the treasure. Meanwhile a masked villain is running rampant kidnapping damsels and murdering anyone who gets too close to the treasure. As the murderer kills more and more people tensions are high between those seeking the treasure. Sword fights ensue as no one can trust anyone for fear that they might be the murderer. It was thoroughly enjoyable trying to figure out who the killer is.

Though the plot is simple enough the film is not exactly easy to follow as there are so many characters to keep up with and this can prove to be difficult with the burnt in subtitles that are often poorly translated. It's actually very difficult to find a copy of this film where the subtitles are not cut off by a poorly cropped transfer. The first time I saw this film there was a lot of guest work involved because I watched it on the Wu Tang Clan VHS tape and they cropped the movie to fullscreen so I was only seeing a fragment of the dialog. I have since then secured a 33mm film transfer that is much better.


This is a beautifully shot film with many great landscapes. Much of the film takes place in the city which is a perfect recreation of a late Ming dynasty city. Black Eagle's Blade was made during a time in which wuxia films were not nearly as popular as fantasy ones. The majority of Wuxia films were produced in the late 60's and early 70's and this film serves as a stylistic homage to the films of that time period. Many have compared the Wuxia genre to the American western except instead of gun toting cowboys we have sword wielding martial heroes.

The martial arts choreography is excellent.  Alan Chung San Chui and Chin-Lai Sung were responsible for the fighting instruction. They both have an impressive resume having worked on many classics to the genre. Alan Chung San Chui was the martial arts instructor for Shaolin vs. Ninja (1983) which is incredibly corny but has amazing stunts! Chin-Lai Sung also worked with Roc Tien the same year Black Eagle's Blade was released on a film he started in and directed called Equals Against Devils (1981).

I recommend this film to anyone looking for a more complex kung fu film where you really have to think about the characters relationships with each other and pay attention to details. It's not a good one to watch as your first ever kung fu film so if you are new to the genre maybe pick something else that is a little less involved like a Bruceploitation offering. If you are a seasoned veteran of the genre and are looking for a fresh take on the classic wuxia swordplay style film then you will love this!