The Invincible Armour (1977)

John Liu and Hwang Jang Lee star together in this excellent kung fu film. The plot deals with a Ming General being framed for murder. He must then fight off soldiers while looking for the real murderer and with both John Liu and Hwang Jang Lee the fights cannot be anything else but great. Liu's kicks are awesome; it is hard to believe that according to his instructor and fellow Kung fu actor Tan Tao Liang, John Liu had problems with flexibility. When you see him holding his leg up as he stand still it is hard to believe this was ever true. Hwang Jang Lee sadly doesn't kick as much as he should and his skills are underused, we see far more in Secret Rivals of his phenomenal ability. The egg part is really funny although I am sure it wasn't intended to be. Having said that, this is great film for all kung fu fans.

Those elaborate, Shaw Brothers-style period costumes just don't work against a Poverty Row background like the one we see in "Invincible Armor", but hell...why quibble? Hwang Jang Lee and John Liu, two of the top three kickers in the business (the third being Delon Tam, Liu's instructor), tear up the screen in this film and that's what counts. My only complaint about the fight scenes is that there were too many distracting, split-second shots of shattered eggs every time someone attacked what they thought was Hwang's vulnerable point (his testicles, naturally). Just concentrate on the action, guys, please! Otherwise, this is a fun, straightforward flick that you'll enjoy if Hong Kong kung fu cinema is your thing.

This is my favourite 70's Kung Fu-movie. Hwang Jang Lee might not get to kick around as he could have, but who cares? The fights are so well choreographed, that you are going to love it. The soundtrack is wonderful. As a sidenote, I should mention, that it has been borrowed (or rather said stolen) from an Italo Western called "I Giorni dell´Ira" starring Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma. Every self-respecting Ng See Yuen-fan should have watched that movie.

I searched hard on IMDb for this film since it is not primarily listed by it's English name: "Invincible Armor". I work at a video store and was in the mood for a kung-fu movie. I had only seen one kung-fu movie before (Shaolin vs. Lama) and it was pretty cool, so I picked up this one. It was great from the start. They're were some pretty cool training scenes for "eagle claw" and "iron armor" techniques, these scenes made for a great intro to the film. What I found to be the coolest thing of all is that some of the dialogue from the movie is sampled on one of the rap group "Wu-Tang Clan"'s albums. The finale is great too. There is a groin joke in the final fight that I won't reveal. Very funny! All in all a great king-fu flick.