Masters of Tiger Crane (1982) aka "Raging Masters' Tiger Crane" is one of Hwang Jang Lee's many cheap independent efforts. The film "borrows" heavily from Lee's most successful films "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master." Some of the ripoffs include: playing keep away, cheating someone out of a free meal at a restaurant, an old man helping a young guy in a fight by moving his arms and legs and a guy filling buckets of water while hanging upside down.
The film is about a young monk who finds the high priest murdered and his brother kidnapped. The murderer (Lee) accidentally left a necklace at the scene of the crime. The young man goes on a quest to find his kidnapped brother while the murderer looks for the person with his incriminating necklace.
Hwang Jang Lee' physical performance in the film is impressive as always. He puts on another brilliant kicking exhibition and proves he is the best screen kicker of all time. Billy Chan is quite a talented martial artist also. He gives a really excellent physical performance in the last act of the film. The fight choreography in Masters of Tiger Crane is above average for an independent film made in the 80's. There is no dance like fighting, it is all very tight, fast and aggressive. There is also an awesome amount of flying triple kicks in this movie, which is a big plus.
There is a lot silliness and humor in the movie that falls flat. I think they tried to make Billy Chan into Jackie Chan but he certainly is no Jackie Chan. There is some wire work in the film and heavy use of camera tricks. The film also showed some of the same scenes several times, they just showed different takes of the same thing. Also, a scene where Lee fights with a monk was thrown in for no reason. It belonged in a totally different movie! It was just one of the many continuity problems that plagues this film.
Masters of Tiger Crane is one of Hwang Jang Lee's lesser works. He was still a great performer but the rest of the film does not equal him. The movie is fairly entertaining with a standard plot, some humor and a few nice fight sequences. The final fight is impressive and satisfyingly violent. For a classic Hwang Jang Lee film check out "Drunken Master" or "the Secret Rivals." Masters of Tiger Crane is not a great film but I recommend it for huge fans of the martial arts genre and for fans of Hwang Jang Lee.
Martial Arts Action: 6.5/10
Martial Arts Genre Rating: 6/10
- "The gods will not allow you to get away with something like this! You're making them very angry!"
- "We don't care about your gods!"
