After production of Spiritual Kung Fu and subsequent shelving of that product, Lo Wei directed Jackie Chan in a somber revenge film named Dragon Fist. Distributors were also not interested in this film so
it was shelved not to see the light of release until after the success of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. It is an uneven yet interesting work that is devoid of the humor that is so prevalent in most of Jackie's
movies, but has an interesting plot.

Jackie's plays Tang How-Yuen (a Bruce Lee influenced character that did not fit well to Jackie's personality); an orphan that was adopted by Chang San-Thye leader of the Kang Kun school. He watched his master get killed by Chung Chien-Kuen (master of the Patience Clan played by Yam Sai-kwoon) who coveted a sign Chang won at a previous tournament. Chung actually had an ulterior motive his wife was the lover of Chang years before they were married. Because of this unholy revenge, Chung's wife hung herself so the gods would forgive Chung.

On the eve of the third anniversary of his Master's death, Tang along with Su Ming (Nora Miao) and his Master's wife go in search of revenge of Chang's death. Meanwhile, there was several murders at a logging facility when the Patience Clan happened upon a smuggling facility of the Wei Clan. A member of the Patience Clan survived and pointed the finger at Fat Su who was currently employed for the Wei Clan. This pushes their leader, Wei Chang-Lung, to devise a plan to destroy the Patience Clan who are well respected in that region.

Tang is welcomed to the Patience Clan, though watched under the eyes of Chung's daughter Chu Peng and right-hand man (James Tien who in an earlier scene unconvincingly beats Nan Sing, played by great kicker Eagle Han Yin.) He is told to come back in three days, on the eve of a special date for Chung. When How-Yuen comes back he shown a golden sign that was made to replace the one Chung destroyed and he showed him his leg-in-a-box. Tang's mother then prevents him from exacting revenge since Chung already has made his penance. Tang is ready to leave when he finds out that his mother has been poisoned and the Wei Clan have the antidote. This sets an uneasy alliance between Tang and the Wei Clan.

I feel here is where the plot breaks down a bit after the nice turn of events. The James Tien character is a copy (semi-spoiler alert) of many of his previous characters (ala Half a Loaf of Kung Fu) and Jackie
is not having fun with his grim character. Where this film does shine is the good score by Frankie Chan, the beautiful scenery and the excellent fight choreography by Jackie. This especially works when he is involved showing his acrobatic movements and more realistic fight movements. Though it does not work as well when the non-martial art actors are involved. But the ending is full of inventive fights including Jackie using a staff (again) and getting pummeled by a sharp-tonfa wielding opponent.

Dragon Fist is an above average Kung Fu flick that would be of interest to anyone who wants to watch the non-comedic roles that dominated Jackie's early career. However, those who are only familiar with his latter roles might be disappointed. Overall, I enjoyed this film, but if you have only seen a few Jackie Chan films there are plenty others to watch before viewing this one.