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Plot: Late 70's Hong Kong: ailing gang boss Master Lo (Chan Wai-Lau) wants to beef up the security system of his mansion after an attempted break-in. The current security system consists of some precariously hung garden tools (such as a "magnificent flying rake" and a sledgehammer), so he wisely decides to upgrade to an electronic system. On receiving a mysterious coded telegram, enter detective Bruce Li; who takes the job undercover as an electronics expert. On his arrival in Hong Kong, Bruce is jumped by a welcoming committee (led by Ngai Ping-Ngo) but manages to liase with his connection at a hotel bar. On arrival at the mansion he meets the gang: effete toady Po Chee Chang, hellcat daughter Lam Mei-Ling, and not-in-the-film-nearly-long-enough bodyguard Lo Lieh. While Bruce messes around with the alarm installation and flirts with Mei-Ling, the plot gets murkier: two rival gangs are after a list of names in Master Lo's possession, which somehow add up to a street value of £3 billion (which in those days was a lot of money). After a series of double-double-double crosses which will leave your head spinning, and which includes a great enemies being taken down one at a time sequence, it all boils down to Bruce vs Lo Lieh in a fight to the death. Well, almost, but the full ending is too complicated to convey in written language.
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Production: directed by Hu Chung Tao for Lucky Star, this is low budget but with a good cast of known faces (Lee Keung, Hau Pak Wai, Wong Chi-Sang, Wong Fei-Lung to name a few) and some clear effort to make it a bit more colourful. The credits sequence features Bruce in a GoD tracksuit sparring blindfold to The Average White Band's 'Picking up the pieces'. We later get snippets of 'Live and Let Die', wah-funk, and rather cheekily, 'Enter the Dragon'. Locations are average but with some funky interiors: check out the hexagonal bar billiards table Lo Lieh is playing on, even he looks confused. There is a bit of novelty with a night fight at a funfair, and the usual array of shocking 70'
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But is it Bruce? For the most part of the film Bruce Li does not try to copy Bruce Lee's signature tics and moves; rather he is pretty laid back in his acting. For the fights: the earlier stuff is simple punch and block with some signature Bruce Lee facial expressions , with the night fight at the playground reminding me of the alley scene in Way of the Dragon with the colourful array of multi-ethnic villains.
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It is only in the final fights of the last twenty minutes that he starts to truly 'Bruceploit': sudden head flicks with mean stares, yelps with every strike, windmilling overhand punches and brutal sidekicks. We even get a slow-motion leap and stamp on a prone opponent, and a cut cheek (but no tasting of the blood). The fight against Napoleon Dynamite is good, with blondie resorting to hidden weaponry; and this all leads up to the showdown with Lo Lieh. Lo is suprememly badass here, with a steel hand and another trick up his sleeves.
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Overall: 3 out of 5, the continual plot twists will drive you nuts, but the fights keep it going until the last half hour which is well worth a look. Version watched was a UK PAL fullscreen, 96 mins, dubbed; a widescreen version is (as always) worth it to get the most out of the fights.
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