Leofwine_draca Entertaining kung fu comedy/drama, typical of its kind and evocative of a period in which the Jackie Chan film DRUNKEN MASTER and others led to a wave of then new-style Hong Kong flicks all following the same premise. Fans should know the routine by now: a young, accident-prone young man decides to learn martial arts after being beaten by one or more bad guys. The teacher refuses to let him learn but eventually the young man's skill and enthusiasm lead the teacher to accept the offer of a new pupil. The young man uses his new-found skills to beat up those who had previously fought him, and the bad guys fight back by attacking the school. Eventually, outside help is called in, people die, the story takes a dramatic turn, and things play out in one long battle to the death at the film's finale.Where SNAKE IN THE MONKEY'S SHADOW excels is in the quality of the action offered. The various martial artists are very very good indeed and their fights and training kept interesting through the three different styles involved: the bumbling, idiotic "drunken" style; the agile, flexible "monkey" style; the quick and deadly "snake" style. Add in plenty of fight sequences involving the various styles battling against each other, a whole new style being developed in the process ("drunken monkey") and an almost profound fight scene between a real-life snake and monkey and you have an evening's worth of entertainment for the average kung fu fan. Ignore the lack of budget and familiarity of the plot and instead sit back and witness some great kung fu fighting which doesn't let up. There are no slow spots or weak areas in the film, instead it offers action-packed entertainment from start to finish.John Cheung is no Jackie Chan but performs well in the title role, making an effective transition from clueless newbie to new-fangled martial arts master. The supporting cast is highly effective and blessed with some very skilled performers who make complex moves look simple and easy to perform. The fight choreography is outstanding. The comedy value is high, especially at the beginning of the movie, and the typical dubbing job plays out the comedic aspects of the storyline by giving the one of the villains a stereotypically homosexual-sounding voice. As such the film stands head and shoulders above similar fare from the period – even over praised classics.

tomroman first saw this movie when i was about 5 or 6 when my uncle gave me the VHS.this was the uncut version, all the DVD's of this film to be released that i know of have the most important scene taken out of it for animal rights reasons - there is a 2-3 minute long clip of a monkey killing a snake in an actual fight between the 2 animals (who knows how many animals they went through to get the shot of a monkey crushing the snakes head with his mouth?!?). this is the scene where the title character finally understands the power of the monkey style, and its effectiveness against the snake style - the style it was designed to combat.anyway, at that age i was easily impressed, but this was just ridiculous. i don't think i have EVER been so impressed by anything in my entire life. i must have watched this film 5 times a day for a good 4 months over the summer (note, maybe a slight exaggeration).i didn't then see it for the best part of 10 years until i finally unearthed the gem again and sat down to watch it - AND OH DEAR, if its possible i think i was more impressed this time round. probably due to sentimental reasons, but still, i was blown away by the acrobatics and greatly accurate portrayal of both the fighting styles and ancient china.if you dare to call yourself a martial arts fan, or, well - even a SLIGHT fan of films - then i would challenge your integrity if you were to say you hadnt seen this movie, this 'shrine to everything good about life'! THATS how much i rate this film.

tienuk-1 I loved this film from the moment it started, The opening credits alone are worth viewing. The Kung fu on display during the movie is top notch and the story is well above par for a Hong Kong flick of it's era. The dubbing is a bit suspect in places, but it adds to the whole 'chop-suey' atmosphere. There are funny moments (usualy to do with the dubbing), there are sad moments and of course the down right excellent action scenes in between. The music is amazing, The same as that from Jackie Chan's Drunken Master, and it fits perfectly.There is one tiny downside; the DVD version is ever-so-slightly cut. Only one scene, but an important one. It is the scene in which our young hero studies a monkey killing a snake and adapts it's movements to combat the evil snake style killers. In the VHS version of the film which was released years ago, we witness the whole 'fight' and act of a real monkey killing a real snake. Due to animal cruelty laws (I would imagine) this scene is not in the DVD; instead we see a monkey and a snake, followed by the lead's face as he watches and then back to the monkey holding the now dead snake. We are left to figure what happened in between (not a difficult feat, but I preferred the original with its more graphic fore-shadowing.) That aside, this film leaves me with fond memories of watching it while I was growing up. Watch it as well and create some of your own fantastic memories.

MNA This is a pretty decent flick. Classic Kung Fu at its best (or worst, depends on how you look at it). The great Mobus would approve.