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Sadly Over-hyped

Good concept, poorly executed.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

1978 was one of the most, if not the most, prolific years in the history of martial arts movies. By my count about three of these movies were made every day. If you make a list of the best martial arts movies of all times then these movies from 1978 must appear on that list or you know nothing - The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Crippled Avengers, Heroes of the East, Five Deadly Venoms, Drunken Master, Warriors Two, and Dirty Kung Fu. So where does Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin fall in among this plethora? We must pretend, to be objective, that Jackie Chan was just another of the hundreds of capable would be star material stunt men of the era. Is there anything about this movie that makes it worth mentioning along with the other seven named? Short answer, yes. There are two fight sequences. First is a sword fight sequence at about the 45 minute mark. (I'm pretty sure Jackie took many of these same moves and improved the overall sequence in another of his movies. I'll get back and edit this once confirmed.) Second is the spear fighting sequence in the final fight. Those two fights are on the level of Liu Chia-Liang greatness (the Grandmaster of all martial arts movies). The only problem is the rest of the movie is "meh". I will not be adding this movie to the best of 1978 list but it is certainly rated above average and mandatory viewing for fans of the genre.Since I mentioned it - I will add my list (up until 1978) 1967 One Armed Swordsman, Dragon Gate Inn, Rape of the Sword 1968 Killer Darts, King of All Swordsmen 1969 Killers Five 1970 The Chinese Boxer 1971 The Eunuch, Lady with a Sword, The Brave and the Evil 1972 The Black Tavern, Five Fingers of Death 1973 Enter the Dragon, Win Them All, One By One 1974 The Savage Five, Shaolin Martial Arts 1975 The Flying Guillotine, The Female Chivalry, The Man from Hong Kong 1976 Challenge of the Masters, Master of the Flying Guillotine, Killer Clans, The Secret Rivals, Dance of Death 1977 The Iron Monkey, Broken Oath, Invincible Armour, Shaolin Plot, Executioners from Shaolin, The Lost Swordship, Judgement of an Assassin, Pursuit of Vengeance 1978 The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Crippled Avengers, Heroes of the East, Five Deadly Venoms, Drunken Master, Warriors Two, Dirty Kung Fu

An old-school Jackie Chan chop socky flick from prolific producer Lo Wei, Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin sees the star playing Hsu Yin-Fung, a skillful martial artist (what else?) who attracts the attention of several clans when he reveals that he is in possession of 'Art of the Snake and Crane', a rare book written by the eight Shaolin Masters.After lots of not particularly memorable bouts of fighting between Hsu Yin-Fung and various clan leaders (JC is both athletic and acrobatic, but the choreography lacks the inventiveness and attention to detail that can be found in his later HK work), it is revealed that our hero is deliberately flaunting his book in order to try and discover the identity of a man with a scarred shoulder who was responsible for killing all but one of the eight masters.After much mayhem, and some rubbish about a dirty faced ragamuffin who turns out to be the daughter of one of the clan leaders, the villain's identity is finally revealed, and Hsu Yin-Fung does battle against the bad guy and his hired killers—a trio of tough nuts wielding a variety of weapons. The action in these closing fight scenes is terrific, and makes ploughing through the earlier rather repetitive action and weak comedy worthwhile.

The very best old school kung fu movie, period. Never a dull moment in this film with the action happening right from the beginning. The fight sequences are probably the best I have ever seen - and I've seen a fair few! Chan is completely convincing as a kung-fu master, he is incredible.Take the opening sequence alone for example - Jackie showing of his skills with various weapons - absolutely amazing, it surely must have taken ages to produce, and more than a dozen band-aids.As for the rest of the film, see it for yourself, the characters may be strange, the dubbing hilarious (adds to the charm) but if you like a good kung fu flick with action on overload, starring the greatest (in my opinion) martial artist movie-star of all time, then this simply must not be missed.

This movie's actually really good, especially considering how old it is... There's a wonderful cast of characters, each with their own particular weapon/style, and it doesn't dwell too much on plot like some earlier pics. Jackie Chan refers to this in his book as his "First Dream Project", and it shows, because it really looks like he's in control with the action and story. Not bad at all.