The Hand of Death (1976, HK)

Starring: Tan Tao-liang, James Tien, Paul Chang, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao. Directed by: John Woo

This is one of John Woo and Jackie Chan's earliest movies, and probably Woo's best kung-fu movie entry. It's also a noteworthy entry for Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Tan Tao-liang, and all of the movies stars do an excellent job pulling the movie off.

In "Hand of Death," a powerful warrior, tyrant, and renegade Shaolin monk named Shih Shao-feng has decided to track down and eliminate the Shaolin monks. One of Shaolin's best students named Yun Fei is given the assignment to contact some rebels fighting Shih and eliminate him.

During the course of his mission, he meets up with several anti-Shih kung-fu fighters, including a swordsman (Chang) who vowed to never draw his sword again after he accidentally killed a prostitute he loved during a raid by Shih's henchmen and a blacksmith/spear-fighter (Chan) whose brother was killed by Shih.

Together these five warriors make a vow to take down Shih and never stop until they succed. But can they take on Shih's vastly superior forces and succeed at their mission?

Also in this movie is Sammo Hung as Shih's arrogant and loyal lieutenant Du and cameos by Yuen Biao as a rebel assasin and John Woo as the scholar Cheng.

This kung-fu movie is not only an excellent one, but bears some of the trademarks that would later make John Woo famous in the HK action movie genre. That is, you have a Shih who is tyrannical, paranoid (at times), and demands absolute loyalty from his men and a small group of fiercely dedicated fighters who make a pact together and put up a fight against overwhelming odds. Of course, there's also the trademark John Woo fight scenes, which are excellently choreographed. If you can find this movie and are a John Woo or Jackie Chan fan, you'll probably want to see this!

Also known as: 少林門/Shao Lin men (HK, original Mandarin title), 少林门 (Simplified Chinese characters), Hand of Death (France/Germany/UK DVD title), The Hand of Death (HK English DVD/International/USA DVD title), Countdown in Kung Fu (HK English title/English DVD title), Dragon Forever (West Germany), Strike of Death (USA VHS title), Shing le fantastique Mandchou (French title).