The beautiful Shih Szu rounds out the cast; in a non-fighting capacity. Shi Szu was a true Kung Fu Goddess, but she often got over-shadowed by the likes of Angela Mao and Lily Li. She also starred as Ti Lung’s love interest in many pictures, and they shared great screen chemistry together. Szu starred in LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974), MARCO POLO (1975), and THE FLYING GIULLOTINE PART 2 (1976). Several of Hong Kong’s brightest martial artists portray the Eagle killers. The always-reliable Wang Lung Wei stars as the lead Eagle that opposes Ti Lung. Eddy Ko is another character actor who achieved a measure of stardom for his performances in MONKEY FIST, FLOATING SNAKE (1979), THUNDERING MANTIS (1980), and SLEEPING FIST (1979). Dick Wei was a villain specialist as evidenced by his turns in THE BRAVE ARCHER (1977), INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN (1978), and THE KUNG FU INSTRUCTOR (1979). Other actors who round out the 13 Eagles include Peter Chan (CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS (1976), HE HAS NOTHING BUT KUNG FU (1977), and LEGENDARY STRIKE (1979), Lam Fai Wong (MAGNIFICENT WANDERERS (1977), THE FIVE VENOMS (1978), and MONKEY KUNG FU (1979), and Tong Yen San (SNAKE SHADOW, LAMA FIST (1976), FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS (1974), and ABBOT OF SHAOLIN (1979). AVENGING EAGLE has never secured a decent home video release until Ground Zero distributed it in 2001.
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. It’s really funny because Wang Lung Wei is bald (not really though; just a really fake looking skull cap).
SIGHT
SOUND
FEATURES
CONCLUSION
Title(s) AKA: Avenging Eagle; Shaolin Hero
Film Director(s): Suen Chung
Film Producer(s): Run Run Shaw, Mona Fong
Action Director(s): Tang Chia, Huang Pei-Chi
Overview: Shaw veteran Guk Feng raises orphans to be his personal killers. But one orphan (Ti Lung) starts to question his role in life. This leads to his becoming a marked man. Joined by a lone warrior (Alexander Fu Sheng), the pair go to stamp out the plague that the king eagle has unleashed on the world.
Cast: Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Guk Fung, Si Si, Yue Wing, Johnny Wang (Lung Wei), Dick Wei, Eddy Ko Hung. . . (Click any actor to search for more of their movies!)
Running Time: 92 mins.
Language(s): English
Subtitles: None
Distributor: Ground Zero Entertainment [US] [A USA-Based Distributor]
Rating: UN - "Unrated. This film has not been rated by the review board."
Features: Full Screen; Mono
Director Sun Chung worked for the Shaw Brothers studio during the early 1970s. He was mainly involved in the filming of gangland thrillers and a police dramas such as THE BLOODY ESCAPE (1974), THE DRUG CONNECTION (1976), and BIG BAD SIS (1976). However, Sun Chung had longed to follow in the footsteps of this mentor, Chang Cheh, and graduate to the studio’s bigger budgeted period martial arts productions. His big break came with the 1978 production AVENGING EAGLE, which thanks to the multi-tiered script and high profile cast became a genre classic to match the success of THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS (1978). Even as the career of the Godfather of Kung Fu began to wind down in 1980’s, the baton was passed (so to speak) and Sun Chung was responsible for the success of THE KUNG FU INSTRUCTOR (1979), KID WITH A TATTOO (1980), RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH (1981) and the stark HUMAN SKIN LANTERNS (1982). The Shaw Brothers executives committed some of their biggest talents to AVENGING EAGLE, ensuring the film would be an international success. When the script called for a multi-faceted actor for the mercenary-turned-hero lead character, someone with depth was needed, so the producers signed the immortal Ti Lung, star of countless Shaw Brothers epics. For the co-starring lead role, they needed someone with charisma (and comic timing) so Alexander Fu Sheng was brought aboard. Fu Sheng began his career in the early 1970s efforts, MEN FROM THE MONASTARY (1974), FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS (1975), and the original SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS (1976). He graduated to superstardom with his breakthrough role in THE CHINATOWN KID (1977), then became a member of Chang Cheh’s stable and starred in movies like MAGNIFICENT WANDERERS (1977), TEN TIGERS OF KWANTUNG (1979), and the BRAVE ARCHER series. Fu Sheng was poised to become the next Jackie Chan when he was sadly killed in a car accident (driven by his brother) during the shooting of INVINCIBLE POLE FIGHTER (1983). Ku Feng is to China what Toshiro Mifune is to Japan. In short, Feng is one of Asia’s most respected actors. He appeared in some of the best martial arts movies of all time, and also achieved critical acclaim in contemporary efforts as well. Ku Feng started his career with the Shaw Brothers studio, specializing in their epic costume dramas like TWIN SWORDS (1965), TEMPLE OF THE RED LOTUS (1965), and Chang Cheh’s original ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967), which forever changed the face of the costume drama as we know it. Ku Feng became a regular in Chang Cheh’s stable of actors and acted alongside the likes of Ti Lung and David Chiang in THE HEROIC ONES (1970), THE DEADLY DUO (1971), and SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON (1972).
The original theatrical ratio for AVENGING EAGLE is 2.35.1. The packaging states that this DVD is in ShawScope, but this is really a full frame presentation. The moderate production values and radical fight choreography is severely hampered in the frame. This transfer is really faded and colorless. At times it’s murky and dark. At other times the red hues oversaturate the picture. The source print exhibits loads of scratches, blemishes, dirt, and grain. At least the black levels are properly calibrated. The opening title sequence is completely unreadable. However, AVENGING EAGLE is such a kick-ass flick that these things can be overlooked. Nuff said.
At least the sound is cleaned up for this DVD. AVENGING EAGLE is minus the analog hiss, crackling, and drop-outs that plague VHS versions of this movie. The sound is Dolby Digital Mono 2.0, with pleasing fidelity that possesses a variable range of frequencies. This soundtrack is English language only, naturally, with the dubbed dialog emanating cleanly from the center channel and without distortion. Its worth mentioning that the translation and actual lip synchronization are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The movie is full of the typical overdone foley effects that make these films so much fun. You’ll hear cracking bones, clanging weapons, rushing flips, and chiseling chops. Although Chen Yung Yu is credited with AVENGING EAGLE’s score, most of it is uninteresting library music that radio DJs or sports announcers talk over. Technically, the music is capably integrated in the mix.
None.
AVENGING EAGLE is a movie that hits on all cylinders. The story and characterizations are superb. The lead actors give memorable performances and have great chemistry. The movie has a truly great lead villain that you won’t forget. The fighting scenes never overwhelm the actors and plot, and the choreography contains some truly outstanding weapons work (though not as numerous as a Venoms film). The sometimes awkward editing techniques can’t ruin the positives of AVENGING EAGLE. Sadly, the VHS caliber transfer is lacking and kind of bursts our bubble. So far, of the announced films on year 1 of Celestial Pictures release schedule does not include AVENGING EAGLE. It could be years before this is released so you may want to snap up a copy today.
