HAND OF DEATH; 1975 HK

COUNTDOWN IN KUNG FU

This very early work directed by John Woo. There are great many kung fu films that are a lot worse - and Woo was only 27 at the time.
The original English title was Countdown In Kung Fu. Featuring Jackie Chan, third billed, in his first major role, with lifelong Chan associate Samo Hung as the bad guy's head bully; and, for a moment or two, Yuen Biao.
Although it's still a low-budget affair (there are never enough extras), certain elements of the Woo style are employed more confidently in Hand Of Death: freeze frames, slow motion, intense close-ups, and intercutting between two actions that comment on each other.
Jackie dons a characteristically grim demeanor, except in an early scene which he falls down and grimaces, becoming, for a split second, the martial arts comedian of his later films.
John Woo, looking amazingly young and skinny, plays a scholar, Ching, whose role in the Shaolin uprising is apparently mostly as an ideologue. He never fights, and is constantly being rescued and protected by the others - the Jackie character even takes a spear in the belly to shield him.

A brotherhood of Shaolin fighters are cast from the Temple and try to regain their honor Flash Legs Tan stars as a shaolin fighter who gets the mission to eliminate a ruthless lord who is slaughtering the Shaolin tempels. One his way he teams up with Jackie Chan who here plays one of his first roles. He looks a little wierd because this was before he did his face operations. Flash Legs also meets the swords man (Yeng Wei) and a regal scholar (John Woo).