Dragon and the Tiger Kids, The (1979)

Hwang Jang Lee leads a capable cast of regulars in this rousing tale of revenge that features a climatic finale well worth the price of admission.

The film begins in a common manner with Dao Ha running with his tale between his legs, eventually ending in his expulsion from Master Wong’s home. The story becomes more interesting once we get to meet Wong’s unruly son, Tiger and his equally troublesome friend, Dragon. Reminiscent of Jackie Chan’s performance as Wong Fei Hung in the classic, Drunken Master, Tiger is a youngster gifted in martial arts but with a mischievous nature that confounds his father. Having previously sent three kung fu instructors packing, Tiger finally meets his match when a wandering street performer is enlisted as the next teacher. This instructor’s skill is only outmatched by his own clever nature and in a series of enjoyable scenes, he outwits Tiger’s pranks devised to scare him away. But Tiger soon comes to appreciate the elder man’s presence after he assists Tiger and Dragon in defeating the Four Snakes, who were duping men into becoming slaves. Word of this interference reaches Hu and its not long after that Tiger’s father is killed along with the instructor who covers the young men’s escape. The two hide out with Dragon’s master who in an amazing twist of fate happens to be the one man able to train the two in skills capable of defeating Hu and Dao Ha.

The training scenes that take place are fairly average with the ever-popular surgical tubing, usually labeled as ox sinew involved. Its the actual fights that will hold more interest and thankfully there are plenty. It doesn’t take long for Tiger and Dragon to finally confront the villains. Dao Ha is unceremoniously dispatched by Tiger who puts the squeeze on him. But the final battle against Hu is the showstopper. Hwang Jang Lee’s skills are in full display here as he wields an Iron Staff against his two opponents. The highlight is clearly a carefully choreographed scene involving Tiger, Dragon and their master who joins the battle midway through. The three run towards Hwang, each several feet apart. Hwang runs, leaps into the air and kicks each attacker on down the line. The whole fight rivals those of Jackie Chan’s early films such as The Young Master in its fierceness, creativity and length.

But even without this final fight, the film is still enjoyable despite a lot of tired elements of the genre thrown in such as the whole revenge soap opera, a ripped soundtrack and two-dimensional characters. The dubbing is worth mentioning as a bit funnier than usual sporting lines such as, “Teacher, your Devil’s Rod was really made in Hell.”

Hell’s Wind Staff is at times humorous, conventional, awe-inspiring, and laughable. While there is little to distinguish it from any number of late ’70’s chopsocky flicks, the presence of Hwang Jang Lee, coupled with some well-paced humor and solid performances by the remaining cast makes this film well worth a look.