To offer a different perspective from MrBooth’s, I found THE LIZARD entirely enjoyable and was not disappointed in this Chor Yuen work. If you watch the movie from the perspective that it’s an action film laced with a touch of romance instead of considering it as a martial arts film hindered by a storyline between fights, it works quite well. I think the current genre description of ‘martial arts’ is not correct anyway. It’s really more a period action film. Admittedly, I’m not a fan of martial films in general, nor the few Chor Yuen wuxia films I’ve seen, either. So, in comparison, I found THE LIZARD delightful. In my mind, there’s not enough context or story in most martial arts films to make me care about why the action is occuring in the first place. How do you boil down a Gu Long or Jin Yong novel into two hours (at most) of movie? That Chor Yuen is also responsible for the script of THE LIZARD and manages to tell a solid, detailed and coherent story with its large cast and numerous plot twists and is still able to throw in a good number of fight scenes attests to his talents.

I especially liked the gambling scene and the birthday robbery scene, and in particular, the rooftop fight between The Lizard and Lo Lieh, the corrupt police chief. And while some people may not like the mix of action and the generally light hearted tone, I liked the (literal) bathroom humour and the low brow double entendres in the wedding night scene when Connie joins The Lizard on a escapade.

Initially, I held off on picking up the title on video because I thought watching Connie Chan in a Mandarin dialogue movie would put me off, but suprisingly, it didn’t and I found her chemistry with Yuen Hua as Cheng Long quite effective. No doubt, Chor Yuen made the most of Shaw’s resources, the film looks gorgeous and the costumes and sets lushly eye-popping, especially if you’re used to watching Connie Chan’s and Chor Yuen’s black and white classics (such as their collaboration in The Black Rose films or her Lady Black Cat films). They should have made a sequel reteaming the director and the two leads.

I think it’d be fair to say THE LIZARD is a bridge between Chor Yuen’s classic Cantonese films and his later wuxia efforts under the Shaw banner. In my opinion, it’s a shame Chor Yuen didn’t get to continue making more films like this for Shaw Brothers.

And, finally, how about the Pink Floyd music cues from One of These Days (I'm going to cut you into little pieces)? It seems to be a very popular piece that’s so often used during the ‘70s and ‘80s in Hong Kong films and TV series.