''Kung Fu Finger Book'' originally released as ''Xiǎo shīfù yǔ dà shà xīng'' (小師傅與大煞星, literally. "The Little Shih-Fu and the Big Evil Star") is a 1979
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
film directed by Ke Kao. It stars
Dragon Lee and
Ron van Clief.
The film also goes by other titles such as ''Jung mu ji-bo'' (Korean: 정무지보), ''Jīng wǔ zhǐ pǔ'' (Chinese: 精武指譜), ''Never Give Up'' (South Korean title), ''Kung Fu Fever'' (international title), ''Black Dragon Fever'' (US dubbed version), and ''The Bloody Legacy of the Shaolin'' (French dubbed version).
Plot
The footage is doctored to make it look like
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...
is talking about his favourite student, Ricky Chen (Dragon Lee), who he endorses as a shih-fu of his "secret deadly finger technique". This notion of Lee writing an unpublished final book about a "secret deadly finger technique" is also explored in the previous film ''Bruce's Deadly Fingers'' (1976), and seems to be a running theme in the Bruceploitation sub-genre.
When Lee dies (which cues funeral footage), every two-bit crook from Hong Kong to Japan wants their fingers on Lee's finger book. Being his star pupil, Ricky is soon embroiled in the action, fending off the likes of hired killers (played by Ron Van Clief and Tam Yan-mei), a femme fatale in biker leathers who eventually switches her allegiance to the good guys.
This movie stretches a very thin premise almost to breaking point, saved only by a suitably hammy supporting role from Van Clief and a completely unhinged turn from Dragon Lee. He's absolutely deranged in this, looking glorious wearing the yellow Game of Death tracksuit for no good reason, thumbing his nose furiously while cockily strutting and kicking and screaming his head off.
Cast
Dragon Lee ... Ricky Chan
Ron Van Clief ... Ron
Choe Min-Gyu ... Master Mu Chu
Tam Yan-Mei ... Ms. Lu
Shih Chung-Tien ... Ma Hsiung
Kim Ki-Joo ... Master Lee
Lee Ye-Min ... Lu's father
Ma Joo-Haeng ... Ma's muscle
Jang Jeong-Guk ... Ma's muscle
Choe Hyung-Geun ... Yu Chien, Mu Chu's muscle
Zhou Kai ... Extra
Li Meimei ... Extra
Biao Dan-Li ... Extra
Jeong Joo-Hyeon ... Extra
External links
1979 films
Hong Kong action drama films
1970s Hong Kong films
Hong Kong martial arts films
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