THE AVENGING EAGLE

THE AVENGING EAGLE

Shaw Brothers 1978

Directed by Sun Chung

Produced by Mona Fong

Screenplay by I Kuang

Ti Lung

Fu Sheng

Ku Feng

Shih Szu

Chi Ming Sing (Ti Lung) was kidnapped as a child by the master of Iron Boat Clan, Hung Yu Tse (Ku Feng), and forced to learn Kung Fu with other abducted children. Hung Yu Tse broke their will through torture and transformed the reluctant recruits into blood-thirsty martial arts warriors, called the 13 Eagles. The corrupt father figure of the 13 Eagles would send his brain-washed warriors to rob and/or kill his enemies. On one such raid against a worthy rival clan, Chi Ming Sing is mortally wounded and left for dead by his Eagle brothers. The rival Clan leader’s daughter takes an interest in Chi Ming Sing and nurses him back to health. Her affections and the peaceful disposition of her family convince him that there is more to life than raping and pillaging. Chi Ming Sing realizes how evil Hung Yu Tse truly is and returns to the palace of the Iron Boat Clan hoping to get close enough to kill his former leader. Upon returning, Hung Yu Tse suspects something is amiss with Chi Ming Sing, and orders him to kill a pregnant woman in cold blood to prove his loyalty. To keep up his charade, Chi Ming Sing is forced to carry out the evil deed to cast off suspicion. Chi Ming Sing is determined to do what it takes to eliminate Hung Yu Tse but it won’t be easy because his Eagle brothers protect their master. That’s when Chi Ming Sing meets Tso Yi Fan (Fu Sheng), another driven man who wants to destroy the Iron Boat Clan. The two men forge a respect and friendship for one another even though Tso Yi Fan is obviously hiding some deep skeletons in his closet. When Hung Yu Tse learns that Chi Ming Sing has regained his mindset, he orders the other 12 Eagles to hunt down and destroy their former comrade. Chi Ming Sing and Tso Yi Fan are two amazing warriors who must pit their skills in combat against the 12 Eagles and their evil master.

AVENGING EAGLE is Sun Chung’s best film. His style is very similar to the Godfather of Kung Fu, in many respects, only with more experimental techniques and less reliance on the power zoom. As the career of Chang Cheh winded down during the initial Venoms run, Sun Chung showed great promise and was poised to become Cheh’s sucessor. Unfortunately, the end of the era we call Old School (in 1984-85) pretty much put the brakes on his career. Sun Chung masterfully controls the flashback sequences as this film is presented non-chronologically. He also manipulates the action sequences with flair, and never makes the mistake of allowing the fights to overshadow the story or performances. Though he deserves the praise, the guy is only human and AVENGING EAGLE has two major weak spots: the haphazard editing and the experimental tracking shots. Chung employs lots of kinetic camera movement which foreshadows the spinning digital manipulation seen in THE MATRIX fights. Only Chung’s is all analog and blurry, serving no purpose except to increase the cheese level. Screenwriter I Kuang creates another story with depth, emotion, intrigue, and plenty of surprises. Sun Chung realizes Kuang script and insures AVENGING EAGLE is balanced and energetic.

When Fu Sheng’s identity in the film is revealed, it adds an unexpected twist to the plot structure. Something that Ku Feng quickly utilizes to his advantage in the finale. Speaking of Feng, he is awesome here—contorting his face and using body language to bring his character to life. Besides being a real cold bastard to the people who oppose him, Feng is equally caring to those in his regime. He displays the expressions and emotions of a true surrogate father. And when Ti Lung betrays his trust, there is a look of disappointment that only a true father would exhibit. So disturbed is Feng that he orders his 12 remaining ‘sons’ to hunt down and kill Ti Lung. He unwittingly sends his minions to their in their doom, because Ti Lung swings a mean set of triple-irons, and Fu Sheng employs razor-sharp blades that slash their opponents to bits. Ku Feng’s no slouch though, and has his own set of steel Eagle claws which he uses on our heroes. Ti Lung gives a superb performance as a man trying to atone for his sins. He wants to destroy the Iron Boat Clan by removing the problem at the source. He must get close enough to Ku Feng without being suspected or seen by others. So he has to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. He also has to make sacrifices and obey the one he hates the most. I won’t reveal Alexander Fu Sheng’s motivation in the film because that would ruin it for a lot of viewers. Yet Fu Sheng really steals a lot of thunder from Ti Lung. When he uses those blades of his, it’s hard not to be impressed. Wang Lung Wei, Eddie Ko, and Dick Wei portray the evil Eagle brothers.

(dvdcult.com)