''Sleeping Fist'' is a 1979 Hong Kong

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

directed by Teddy Yip and starring

Bryan Leung Bryan Leung Kar-yan (Chinese: , born 20 January 1948) is a Hong Kong film and television actor and film director who has played roles in numerous acclaimed martial arts films. He is affectionately known as "Beardy" due to his trademark facial ...

and

Yuen Siu-tien Yuen Siu-tien () (27 November 1912 – 8 January 1979) (also known as Yuan Xiaotian, Simon Yuen, Sam Seed or "Ol' Dirty") was a Hong Kong actor and martial artist. in the late 1970s, Yuen is perhaps best known as Beggar So (a.k.a. Sam Seed) in ...

Plot

Plainclothes policeman Kam Tai-fat (

) discovers the crimes committed by Cho Tin-pa (

Eddy Ko Eddy Ko Hung (; born Ho Yiu-sum ; 1947) is a Hong Kong television and film actor who has worked on the TV stations RTV, ATV (both now defunct), and TVB. Most recently, he has made appearances in several international films including 2015's ''T ...

) and plans to report it to the capitol. When Cho discovers this, he sends a group of thugs to hunt Kam down. One day, Kam was severely beaten by Kam's thug and there, he meets Kid (Wong Yat-lung), a street urchin who rescues him and takes him to his master Old Fox (

). One day, Kid was injured in a fight with local bullies. Seeing this, Fox decides to teach Kam and Kid the martial arts style of Sleeping Fist. Fox, Kam and Kid then sets foot to Shang Wei martial arts school to teach a lesson to the bullies who injured Kid earlier. The trio easily defeat them. Feeling humiliated, Shang Wei school hires Cho, a master of

Eagle Claw Eagle Claw (; pinyin: yīng zhǎo pài; ''eagle claw school'') is a style of Chinese martial arts known for its gripping techniques, system of joint locks, takedowns, and pressure point strikes, which is representative of Chinese grappling ...

, to seek revenge.

Cast

as Kam Tai-fat *

as Old Fox *Wong Yat-lung as Kid *Suen Lam *Au-yeung Ling-lung as The girl *Ma Chin-ku *

as Cho Tai-pa *Weng Hsiao-hu *Ching Kuo-chung *Au Lap-po as Waiter *Shih Ting-ken *Chik Ngai-hung *Siu Tak-fu *Law Hon *Chow Kam-kong as Student *Chu Ko as Rascal

Reception

Critical

Eion Friel of
The Action Elite
' rated the film three out of five stars and gave a mixed review. He ultimately concluded the review and writes "Overall, ''Sleeping Fist'' is a hugely entertaining kung fu movie, let down by some awful dubbing which causes more unintentional laughter than anything else." J. Doyle Wallis of ''

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

'' also rated the film three out of five stars and writes "''Sleeping Fist'' is still so well paced and infused with enough character that I really didn't mind the cute stuff as much as I usually would (some cute moments to look out for, Old Fox steering the Kid around like a puppet fighting a group of thugs- the kid when finally liking Old Fox, dresses exactly like him- some urination humor)." Andrew Saroch of
Far East Films
' rated the film the same score as well and gave a mixed review criticizing its predictable story with no plot twist and also praising the action scenes and lead actor

's performance.

Box office

The film grossed HK$1,204,494.50 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical from 24 May to 1 June 1979 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

References

External links

* *
Sleeping Fist
' at Hong Kong Cinemagic *{{IMDb title, 0078262 1979 films 1979 martial arts films 1970s action films 1970s martial arts comedy films Hong Kong action comedy films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Kung fu films Wushu films 1970s Cantonese-language films 1970s Hong Kong films