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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
"Speechless"... (get it?!), 19 November 2005
9/10
Author: Guardia from Brisbane, Australia.

Excellent period Kung-fu film. It features outstanding Kung-fu scenes, beautiful cinematography, and amusing and clever dialogue.

We follow the "Street Brawler" (Yuen Biao), as he strives to learn martial arts from a master he has selected. The master is reluctant to teach, and the "Street Brawler" must prove his worth somewhat to learn.

Although *slightly* over-plotted, this film has a unique balance of all the important elements one looks for in a Sammo Hung film. The comedy, the innovative and savage Kung-fu, and the unusual dramatic structure.

It is never boring, particularly the start of the film. It is so well made that I could watch at least another hour of this film if it were possible.

Yuen Biao certainly rivals Jackie Chan in this film. It is his second starring role, but it is played with such ability you would never know.

Sure, the ending's a little "syncopated", but the overall effect of this film is too much for any niggling details to harm it. A must-see in this genre.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Best Martial Arts film, 22 October 2003
10/10
Author: FunkyMunkey106 from London

This is my favourite marital arts film. A brilliant blend of fighting prowess and slapstick humour.

What makes it so good? Well, I admit that doing (a little) Wing Chun makes me a bit biased, but the training sequences are impressive and informative. The choreography is top notch and more than any other martial arts film I've seen, when the punches and kicks land they actually look painful.

It's also funny with the strange slapstick that only Chinese martial arts films can manage. Even the over-the top make-up (bright purple bruises!) adds to the charm. Basically if you like Martial Arts films this is a must-see.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Kung Fu at its best, 2 October 2001
10/10
Author: EchoLeader from Leeds, UK

This movie is what every old school kung fu should be about. The action is unpassable. With Yuen Biao, Lam Ching Ying and Sammo Hung in excellent form.

Also the acting is top class, Sammo and Lam Ching work perfectly as feuding brothers and Yuen Biao is convincing in his role as the prodigal son.

The movie is well balanced between humour and drama. Sammo is at his funniest when impressing his daughter (and the audience) with his calligraphy skills, Sammo at his best!

Unlike most Kung Fu movies the story in this one makes some sense and is seamless, there are parrallels between each person and is balanced perfectly between action and moving the story on.

The musical score is also top class, Frankie Chan does a wonderful job, the final fight music is perfectly suited.

A must for any Action fan.

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10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful. It made me cry., 25 June 2004
Author: trianglesamurai from America

I cried from laughter at the pair of marbles they put in Yuen's sidekick's mouth to make him look stupid. Go watch every movie you can that has both Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung, I'm going through them as quickly as I can, and I have yet to be disappointed. I particularly recommend "My Lucky Stars" and "Knockaround." In this movie they clearly pay tribute to their Peking Opera heritage (where they and Jackie Chan received their earliest training). Really, these guys made far better movies after Jackie Chan came to America to make unbridled steaming piles of "oh look, I can hurt myself!" I do realize, however, that these movies aren't for everyone. However, if you're even reading this, your interest must be great enough that you've searched out this movie on purpose, in which case, you must go get it.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
best kung fu movie ever, 19 December 2004
10/10
Author: kingofkungfu from manchester

this has to be the best movie ever. id seen many bruce lee and jackie chan movies but it was only after seeing this movie, i started to get into hong kong cinema.

the film from start to finish has everything, great fights, brilliant acing and all the characters shine, from yuen biao and lam ching ying to sammos brief appearance, to red nose.

i wish yuen biao and sammo hung would get together and make another classic kung fu movie and show the world that the old are still the best.

gutted lam ching ying died in 1997 from liver cancer, he was a brilliant actor, every character he played was fantastic. 10 out of 10

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Masterful kung-fu, hilarious slapstick: a Jackie Chan beater, 20 January 1999
10/10
Author: niz from Melbourne, Australia

Prodigal Son takes the traditional historical setting and standard kung-fu revenge story and creates an amazing comic masterpiece. If you enjoy Jackie Chan, don't miss this. Even the dubbed version I saw (I usually hate dubbing) worked very well. The final fight is one of the greatest in celluloid history.

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Best kung-fu film of all time., 17 June 2006
10/10
Author: govarian from United Kingdom

Yuen biao is the man. I think he's one of the best actors in Hong Kong whether it's martial arts or not, it's just ridiculous that he's never been nominated in the best actor category at the Hong Kong awards. I've seen this film about 30 times now. It's one of the few kung-fu films that i can watch from beginning to end, as usually i go straight to the fights. The kung-fu is brilliant, very fast, very realistic, and very precise. The end fight is pure genius, fast and furious. The fight between Frankie Chan and Lam Ching Ying is brilliant too, and the training sequences... this film is just perfect. Brilliant camera work, slick editing and great music. More people should see this film to see the pure genius of Sammo Hung,Yuen Biao, and the brilliant Lam Ching Ying. It doesn't have as many fights as the other old skool kung-fu movies, but believe me this movie rocks. 10/10

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Unbelievable movie. Utterly flawless., 10 July 2006
10/10
Author: lz_z

This has got to be one of the best movies I've ever seen. Ever. Its so good that I can watch over and over and over again. The Wing Chun kung fu choreography is the best I've ever seen anywhere and I've seen pretty much most Kung fu flicks. While the rest of the fights have brilliant grace, the final fight between Lam Ching Ying and Frankie Chan is brutal and has more realistic angry punches than kung fu grace, all to win at all costs. The story, screenplay, cinematography and direction are all brilliant. While I'm aware that the English dubbing may not totally reflect the dialog, it also comes out as hilarious and well done. The characters are really amazing. Its also unbelievable that high flying, poorly choreographed crap like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is made even after stuff like this came out in the early 80s!

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Everybody wing chun tonite..., 20 October 2000
9/10
Author: mtn_freak from Chicago, IL

Simply the best (and most accurate) display of Wing Chun kung fu. Good plot, good action, and also a historical fictional account of Wing Chun kung fu as well. Wong Bah Bo (played by Sammo Hung), Leung Yee Tai (played by Ching-Ying Lam) and Leung Jan (played by Yuen Biao) are all Wing Chun figures. Wong Bah Bo and Leung Yee Tai were members of the Red Junk Opera Troupe who taught Leung Jan. Leung Jan was Yip Man's sitaigung (sifu's sifu) as Yip Man studied under Chan Wah Sun (Leung Jan's student). The most intriguing connection in all of this is that Bruce Lee was also a student of Yip Man (considered by many as the modern grandmaster of Wing Chun). If you like this movie, you might want to check out 'Wing Chun' starring Michelle Yeoh. It's also a historical fictional account of Yim Wing Chun (after which the style was named).

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11 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Greatest wing chun movie ever period., 14 April 2000
10/10
Author: Alexandre Bender (alex_bender83@hotmail.com) from Canada

This movie has all: kung fu, comedy, a good story,chinese opera, sammo hung doing calligraphy, trainings... The fight scenes of this movie are jaw dropping!! The fight between Lam ching ying and Frankie Chan is simply wonderful. The end fight is good also but Yuen Biao's wing chun is not as good as Frankie chan's. Overall, a masterpiece.....................................10/10

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