Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin | |
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UK DVD cover
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Directed by | Chen Chi Hwa |
Produced by |
Lo Wei Hwa Hsu Li |
Starring |
Jackie Chan Sheng Wang Chi Kong Kim Nora Miao |
Music by | Leung Chow Fook |
Production
company |
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Release date
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8 March 1978 |
Running time
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93 mins |
Country | Hong Kong |
Language | Mandarin |
Box office | HK $662,851.30 |
Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin (Chinese: 蛇鶴八步) is a 1978 Hong Kong action film directed by Chen Chi Hwa and starring Jackie Chan. It was released by the Lo Wei Motion Picture Company, a subsidiary of Golden Harvest. Along with Tu Wi Ho, Chan was also the film's stunt co-ordinator.
Hsu Ying Fung quickly makes it known (with some help) that he possesses the "Eight Steps of the Snake and Crane", a martial arts manual illustrating the ultimate fighting style. The book was written by eight Shaolin masters shortly before their disappearance, and Hsu is suspected of killing them, or at least knowing what happened. In reality, Hsu is looking for the man responsible for the masters' disappearance, whom he will know by a certain mark.
After several fights, and encounters with the leaders of many fighting clans (all of whom want the book and are willing to offer a variety of things for it), Hsu is betrayed, hurt, and eventually captured. He escapes with an unlikely ally in tow, while the rest of the clan leaders, having put aside their differences, search high and low for him. Eventually Hsu finds the man with the mark, the other clan leaders learn the fate of the Shaolin masters, and in an epic fight involving the Snake and Crane style, Hsu defeats the villain.