- Year: 1978
- AKA: Deadly Silver Ninja, Eighteen Martial Arts
- Starring: Dragon Lee, Phoenix Kim, Marty Chui, Ben Lee, Kelvin Chan, Jackie Lee
- Directed by: Godfrey Ho (Kim Si-Hyeon)
Pai Wu Lang (Dragon Lee) arrives in town to find out who murdered his father for a treasure map five years previous. But before he can enact his revenge, Pai finds himself saving a young girl from some scoundrels. Later, he helps an old blind swordsman also being harassed. This blind swordsman just happens to be the girl's father. Damn, either this is one small town or that family gets picked on a lot. Coincidentally, the same day Pai arrives in town, the mysterious Silver Ninja also appears. Silver Ninja (who dresses in all-white and no silver) has raised the ire of local crime boss Master Ming by stealing his collection money and giving it to the poor. Believing that Pai Wu Lang and Silver Ninja are one in the same, Ming and his brother dispatch their "very dangerous collection of criminals" to take Pai out for good.
This is a pretty good Dragon Lee entry. The film benefits greatly from the snow covered locales and plethora of fights. Fans familiar with the martial arts documentary AMAZING MASTERS will recognize scenes from this film, most notably the one where Dragon Lee fights a man on a snow covered frozen lake. The best fight scene is at the end where Dragon Lee and Phoenix Kim take on the Ming Brothers. Another nice touch in the film is the blind father. Sort of Zatoichi-lite, there are a few nice scenes with his character fighting adversaries by listening to their movements.
Alas, there are a few bad parts in the film. No Dragon Lee film would be complete without goofy comedy and zany sound effects and this film is no exception. At one point a guy wearing a hat with horns attacks Dragon Lee and it degenerates into an outlandish bullfighting scene. Later, Lee smashes a table on a guy's head and the table says around his neck, head poking through and all. Also, during all of his fight scenes, Lee makes some ridiculous chicken sounds. I guess he practices Chicken Kung Fu? The plot is convoluted thanks to an opening that appears to be completely unrelated to the film itself. It isn't until 45 minutes into the movie that the viewer is finally brought up to speed about how the opening relates to the other events. But if this is the first time a kung fu film plot mystifies you, then you lying!
Review by William.
