This was Jackie's first lead role filmed (partly) in 1971 and originally called The Little Tiger of Canton. Jackie's father is killed in a feud between triad gangs leaving his young orphaned son to grow up, learn kung foo and avenge the death of his father. The problem is half way through the filming the director and producer did a runner leaving the actors unpaid and the movie unfinished. In 1978, after Jackie had become famous with Snake in the Eagles Shadow and Drunken master the film was finished using a dodgy Jackie look-alike. They even go to the extent of fighting blindfolded in order to hide his face. It's a shame because to spite the obvious low budget and poor script I found it fairly entertaining up to that point. So be warned unless your happy with half a Jackie Chan film (and not his best by any means)I wouldn't recommend paying the price of DVD to see it.
20 Reviews
Well It's a First
SamuraiNixon4 October 2010
Contrary to popular belief and even in contrast to Jackie Chan and many other sources, "Cub Tiger From Kwang Tung" (aka Little Tiger of Canton) was finished and even had a small release (probably around 1973 or 1974, I currently cannot find exact details) though it was filmed a few years earlier in 1971, done a little before his stunt work in "Fist of Fury". Chan was given an opportunity to star in this movie by his "biggest sister" from his Peking Opera youth whom was now an assistant to a film producer. In Chan's autobiography "I Am Jackie Chan" he has nothing good to say about this experience stating "One night, the director and producer quietly disappeared, taking with them any hope that the movie would be finished." It is not his first film either, he had done several movies as a child actor in the 60s with "Big and Little Wong Tin-Bar" (1962) being his first appearance in a movie. He looks quite young though and slight of build compared to his later appearances.
Jackie Chan (he uses the screen name Chan Yuen Lung using Sammo Hung's old opera name) portrays Hsiao Hu, an adopted precocious martial art youth who has been brought up by a semi-sadistic foster dad (Tien Feng: Fist of Fury, Young Master) and enjoys sparring with his foster sister Hsiao Lam (Shu Pei-Pei) when he is not working for his Uncle Chiang at Chiang Kee Noodles. Hsiao Hu does not know that his real Dad died absorbing Lu Chi's aka 3rd Brother (Kwan Chung) "Leg of Doom" (the move sounds good, does not look that impressive though should be named "Leg of Partial Hurt") so Tien Feng could get away and raise his Hsiao Hu.
Meanwhile, back at the noodle shop, a group of ruffians order a plethora of food, yet refuse to pay. Hu's superior Kung Fu is shown as he destroys them in fighting. Lu Chi just happens to be their boss and this angers him immensely when he finds out. Hu's foster dad is perturbed by his fighting and tortures him with excess work. At first it is just moving extra pails of water, but after another incident (even though he saved his sister) he is forced to put his hands into broken glass (great dad). Later, he forces Hu to "really" fight his foster sister (later in the film though he states that they were made for each other). Of course, Hu's foster dad is only trying to prevent him from using his Kung Fu so he won't be found out by the vengeful Lu Chi (though I do not think this point is ever explicitly said). As in any martial art movie I can only recommend this for Jackie Chan or martial art movie fanatics for completeness. The editing is quite bad and the story is a bit hard to follow leaving lots of floating plot points. The lifted score (I am pretty sure this is not an original piece) is quite annoying as it is repetitively used. The martial art action is decent though, Jackie Chan looks quite better than everyone else and so the pacing is sometimes off in the fights. The finale works as well as it should though the highpoint of the film is the demonstration of skills during the beginning credits where Chan gets to show off his technique and acrobatic skills (the 70's Jackie films show Chan do more of his Peking Opera background than later films as well as this film shows him pre-eye surgery).
The film quality of the Rarescope R1 edition is quite poor with a cropped picture (shown 2:35:1, but a lot of image is missing), burnt-in subtitles that are occasionally replaced by "other" subtitles when the cropping interferes (and that replacement also has typos and grammar mistakes) and copious amounts of damage. Also, the back cover description has many mistakes with its summation of the plot. The funniest is the combo of "his father has forbidden him ... from learning the martial arts" and "... killed his father many years before." Still it is nice to have available in a non-"Master with Cracked Fingers" version shown close to what it originally was.
The extras are a hodge-podge of trailers, still gallery and a 6-plus minute questionnaire and answer with Jackie Chan. The still gallery is not too bad with what looks like lobby cards and stills from the movie. The Q and A with Jackie Chan is a shaky camcorder print of Jackie being questioned after a showing of "Rumble in the Bronx" (quick talk about the longer HK cut). So this was probably originally filmed around 1997 in the UK (the year it came out in UK) with other clues such as the accents and he talks quickly about future projects: Police Story 5 (probably talking about New Police Story though that would not come out until 2004), a western story (obviously talking about the future "Shanghai Noon" (2000)), a South African story ("Who Am I" (1998)) and about finishing A Nice Guy (later known as "Mr. Nice Guy"; though filming was done in 1997). Not much is learned from this extra other than a quick mention of the "fireman story" that never came about and audiences that are annoying are ubiquitous. Jackie is asked to perform some moves (which he absolutely hates to be asked to do) and he feigns a previous knee injury though later he can be seen bouncing around without any problems.
Jackie Chan (he uses the screen name Chan Yuen Lung using Sammo Hung's old opera name) portrays Hsiao Hu, an adopted precocious martial art youth who has been brought up by a semi-sadistic foster dad (Tien Feng: Fist of Fury, Young Master) and enjoys sparring with his foster sister Hsiao Lam (Shu Pei-Pei) when he is not working for his Uncle Chiang at Chiang Kee Noodles. Hsiao Hu does not know that his real Dad died absorbing Lu Chi's aka 3rd Brother (Kwan Chung) "Leg of Doom" (the move sounds good, does not look that impressive though should be named "Leg of Partial Hurt") so Tien Feng could get away and raise his Hsiao Hu.
Meanwhile, back at the noodle shop, a group of ruffians order a plethora of food, yet refuse to pay. Hu's superior Kung Fu is shown as he destroys them in fighting. Lu Chi just happens to be their boss and this angers him immensely when he finds out. Hu's foster dad is perturbed by his fighting and tortures him with excess work. At first it is just moving extra pails of water, but after another incident (even though he saved his sister) he is forced to put his hands into broken glass (great dad). Later, he forces Hu to "really" fight his foster sister (later in the film though he states that they were made for each other). Of course, Hu's foster dad is only trying to prevent him from using his Kung Fu so he won't be found out by the vengeful Lu Chi (though I do not think this point is ever explicitly said). As in any martial art movie I can only recommend this for Jackie Chan or martial art movie fanatics for completeness. The editing is quite bad and the story is a bit hard to follow leaving lots of floating plot points. The lifted score (I am pretty sure this is not an original piece) is quite annoying as it is repetitively used. The martial art action is decent though, Jackie Chan looks quite better than everyone else and so the pacing is sometimes off in the fights. The finale works as well as it should though the highpoint of the film is the demonstration of skills during the beginning credits where Chan gets to show off his technique and acrobatic skills (the 70's Jackie films show Chan do more of his Peking Opera background than later films as well as this film shows him pre-eye surgery).
The film quality of the Rarescope R1 edition is quite poor with a cropped picture (shown 2:35:1, but a lot of image is missing), burnt-in subtitles that are occasionally replaced by "other" subtitles when the cropping interferes (and that replacement also has typos and grammar mistakes) and copious amounts of damage. Also, the back cover description has many mistakes with its summation of the plot. The funniest is the combo of "his father has forbidden him ... from learning the martial arts" and "... killed his father many years before." Still it is nice to have available in a non-"Master with Cracked Fingers" version shown close to what it originally was.
The extras are a hodge-podge of trailers, still gallery and a 6-plus minute questionnaire and answer with Jackie Chan. The still gallery is not too bad with what looks like lobby cards and stills from the movie. The Q and A with Jackie Chan is a shaky camcorder print of Jackie being questioned after a showing of "Rumble in the Bronx" (quick talk about the longer HK cut). So this was probably originally filmed around 1997 in the UK (the year it came out in UK) with other clues such as the accents and he talks quickly about future projects: Police Story 5 (probably talking about New Police Story though that would not come out until 2004), a western story (obviously talking about the future "Shanghai Noon" (2000)), a South African story ("Who Am I" (1998)) and about finishing A Nice Guy (later known as "Mr. Nice Guy"; though filming was done in 1997). Not much is learned from this extra other than a quick mention of the "fireman story" that never came about and audiences that are annoying are ubiquitous. Jackie is asked to perform some moves (which he absolutely hates to be asked to do) and he feigns a previous knee injury though later he can be seen bouncing around without any problems.
For hardcore Jackie Chan fans only...
paul_haakonsen27 August 2012
Right, well given the age of this movie, and the stage during Jackie Chan's career it was made, it should be kept in mind that by today's standards, then this is hopeless outdated.
Being a fan of Jackie Chan, I had to watch this movie, and I guess that you really have to be a fan of Chan to enjoy it. If you sit down to watch it as an ordinary movie, and not because it is a Jackie Chan movie, then you will be laughing and most likely also bored out of your mind.
I got a horrible dubbed version DVD from Amazon, that didn't even come with the original language track, and it appeared to have been a transfer directly from VHS to DVD without any editing or improvements what so ever. It was just awful. At least if they had opted to keep the original language track, the movie would have been somewhat more enjoyable. These ridiculous half-hearted English dubbings really are more of a nuisance than they help a movie in any way.
The sound effects in the movie are bad, but hey weren't they all in these really old Kung Fu movies? The English dubbed language track was just horrible to listen to, and the movie didn't really have that great dialogue. And, sad to say, the fighting was really, really staged, to the point it was painful to watch. And to make matters worse, suddenly there was a reference to Popeye in the movie, complete with the music from Popeye playing; are you kidding me? That was just ridiculous.
And the English title of the movie, "Master with Cracked Fingers", what was up with that? There was no cracked fingers in the movie at all. I really didn't get that choice of movie title.
"Master with Cracked Fingers" is one to watch if you are a big fan of Jackie Chan, but don't expect too much from it. Well, if anything, then watch the movie for the death scene at the very last fight, it was just hilarious - if you can stand the five minutes of robotic staged martial arts.
I guess every great star had to start out somewhere, and with age comes experience.
Being a fan of Jackie Chan, I had to watch this movie, and I guess that you really have to be a fan of Chan to enjoy it. If you sit down to watch it as an ordinary movie, and not because it is a Jackie Chan movie, then you will be laughing and most likely also bored out of your mind.
I got a horrible dubbed version DVD from Amazon, that didn't even come with the original language track, and it appeared to have been a transfer directly from VHS to DVD without any editing or improvements what so ever. It was just awful. At least if they had opted to keep the original language track, the movie would have been somewhat more enjoyable. These ridiculous half-hearted English dubbings really are more of a nuisance than they help a movie in any way.
The sound effects in the movie are bad, but hey weren't they all in these really old Kung Fu movies? The English dubbed language track was just horrible to listen to, and the movie didn't really have that great dialogue. And, sad to say, the fighting was really, really staged, to the point it was painful to watch. And to make matters worse, suddenly there was a reference to Popeye in the movie, complete with the music from Popeye playing; are you kidding me? That was just ridiculous.
And the English title of the movie, "Master with Cracked Fingers", what was up with that? There was no cracked fingers in the movie at all. I really didn't get that choice of movie title.
"Master with Cracked Fingers" is one to watch if you are a big fan of Jackie Chan, but don't expect too much from it. Well, if anything, then watch the movie for the death scene at the very last fight, it was just hilarious - if you can stand the five minutes of robotic staged martial arts.
I guess every great star had to start out somewhere, and with age comes experience.
Jackie Clone vs. Horse Man - Capture that Flag!!!
wileyjp2 November 2005
Apparently Jackie himself, merely 17 when this film was made, says to stay away from this movie. I shoulda learned that earlier. It's at least two movies Frankensteined together, and new footage (with the old master beating up the flamboyantly gay landlord, farting in his face and avoiding his Popeye-themed attack (complete with Popeye's theme music - calling all lawyers)) was added years later to complete the "film", such as it is.
Plot? Barely there. Jackie plays an evil warlord who kills one of his men (who squirts blood out of his mouth in an unintentionally hilarious scene reminiscent of Monty Python's Black Knight), whose young son (Jackie again) is raised by another former henchman, who does not want Jackie to be a fighter. "You want to destroy life? Well, kill flowers!" he yells, tossing potted plants at his wayward stepson. However, Jackie's been training in secret with a crazy old guy in the woods since he was 6 (in a series of disjointed and somewhat creepy flashbacks), and there's only so much he can take before springing into action, especially since people attack him and his sister on a daily basis. He fights through a bunch of generic thugs as the camera whips around randomly, the canned soundtrack saws away pompously and dubbed threats ("I will take care of you now! Hum!") assault the viewer's ears. Characters mostly pop up to get killed (foster dad, a young pickpocket), or disappear after a few scenes (Jackie's uncle and sister).
The editing is such a mess it's usually impossible to tell exactly what's going on. When Jackie's pickpocket "friend" (I put that in quotes because they only met three times beforehand) is threatened by being tied up high on a pole, Jackie fights off the thugs around him. We cut to a thug falling into the water, and then the pickpocket just falls from the pole he was shown to be snugly tied to (shown by a dummy falling towards the camera), a musical sting, and Jackie looking... kinda bummed. "Goodbye, my little friend." Then a suddenly shirtless Jackie points at the villain (actually, he points at the camera - most of the dialogue scenes are played in separate shots) and declares "YOU killed him. YOU are responsible for his death." I dunno, Jackie. Was he the one who made the ropes magically disappear?
The dubbing is horrid, the characters either having British accents or Brooklyn accents, neither of which match the tone well at all. It sure is weird hearing Jackie's voice dubbed over by somebody else, and the endless "Ho! Hah! Huuuh!" during the fights is the fine line between hilarious and unbearable. Every blow, even light smacks, get a loud *CRACK* sound effect, and at one point Jackie holds a conversation with a villain while we hear a hilarious number of loud *CRACKS* in the background!
And then there's the final battle with the warlord, now elderly and played by a tall actor who looks nothing like Jackie (same dubbed voice, though) and a fat guy who follows the Way of the Fish, which Jackie easily disposes of, Old Master cheering from the sidelines. Jackie and the warlord blindfold themselves, which is cool, but it mostly is a desperate attempt to hide the fact that even Jackie is played by a different actor now. The bad guy whips around and whinnies like a horse. It's that kind of movie.
Don't fret though, fans. Pseudo-Jackie beats the villain by knocking him over, breaks his neck by turning it slightly to the right - complete with spaceship sound effects - and Old Master says Jackie has earned the right to carry a blue flag. Jackie waves it triumphantly, the movie ends five seconds later, and the soundtrack grinds to a halt.
Only for people who want to see Jackie's first starring role. Other than that, you won't find any of the elaborate choreography and set-pieces you'd expect from Jackie, although some of the hand-to-hand stuff is pretty well done, from what you can see of it through the insane editing. You'll likely have more than a few laughs as well, albeit the uneasy kind.
Rated R for God knows what reason. The violence, save the blood squirt, is clean, there's no swearing, and a really cheesy attempted rape scene involves a fully clothed couple wrestling while the woman screams. Norway banned it, although in retrospect that was a really good idea.
Plot? Barely there. Jackie plays an evil warlord who kills one of his men (who squirts blood out of his mouth in an unintentionally hilarious scene reminiscent of Monty Python's Black Knight), whose young son (Jackie again) is raised by another former henchman, who does not want Jackie to be a fighter. "You want to destroy life? Well, kill flowers!" he yells, tossing potted plants at his wayward stepson. However, Jackie's been training in secret with a crazy old guy in the woods since he was 6 (in a series of disjointed and somewhat creepy flashbacks), and there's only so much he can take before springing into action, especially since people attack him and his sister on a daily basis. He fights through a bunch of generic thugs as the camera whips around randomly, the canned soundtrack saws away pompously and dubbed threats ("I will take care of you now! Hum!") assault the viewer's ears. Characters mostly pop up to get killed (foster dad, a young pickpocket), or disappear after a few scenes (Jackie's uncle and sister).
The editing is such a mess it's usually impossible to tell exactly what's going on. When Jackie's pickpocket "friend" (I put that in quotes because they only met three times beforehand) is threatened by being tied up high on a pole, Jackie fights off the thugs around him. We cut to a thug falling into the water, and then the pickpocket just falls from the pole he was shown to be snugly tied to (shown by a dummy falling towards the camera), a musical sting, and Jackie looking... kinda bummed. "Goodbye, my little friend." Then a suddenly shirtless Jackie points at the villain (actually, he points at the camera - most of the dialogue scenes are played in separate shots) and declares "YOU killed him. YOU are responsible for his death." I dunno, Jackie. Was he the one who made the ropes magically disappear?
The dubbing is horrid, the characters either having British accents or Brooklyn accents, neither of which match the tone well at all. It sure is weird hearing Jackie's voice dubbed over by somebody else, and the endless "Ho! Hah! Huuuh!" during the fights is the fine line between hilarious and unbearable. Every blow, even light smacks, get a loud *CRACK* sound effect, and at one point Jackie holds a conversation with a villain while we hear a hilarious number of loud *CRACKS* in the background!
And then there's the final battle with the warlord, now elderly and played by a tall actor who looks nothing like Jackie (same dubbed voice, though) and a fat guy who follows the Way of the Fish, which Jackie easily disposes of, Old Master cheering from the sidelines. Jackie and the warlord blindfold themselves, which is cool, but it mostly is a desperate attempt to hide the fact that even Jackie is played by a different actor now. The bad guy whips around and whinnies like a horse. It's that kind of movie.
Don't fret though, fans. Pseudo-Jackie beats the villain by knocking him over, breaks his neck by turning it slightly to the right - complete with spaceship sound effects - and Old Master says Jackie has earned the right to carry a blue flag. Jackie waves it triumphantly, the movie ends five seconds later, and the soundtrack grinds to a halt.
Only for people who want to see Jackie's first starring role. Other than that, you won't find any of the elaborate choreography and set-pieces you'd expect from Jackie, although some of the hand-to-hand stuff is pretty well done, from what you can see of it through the insane editing. You'll likely have more than a few laughs as well, albeit the uneasy kind.
Rated R for God knows what reason. The violence, save the blood squirt, is clean, there's no swearing, and a really cheesy attempted rape scene involves a fully clothed couple wrestling while the woman screams. Norway banned it, although in retrospect that was a really good idea.
Go Jackie Go!!
Darknessviking11 November 2003
I just saw this movie.. and I have to say... DON'T BELIEVE WHAT MOST OF THE OTHER USERS WRITE ABOUT THIS MOVIE (i.e. its bad etc)
its SO good!! its really funny,the action is VERY fast for its age (I cant remember anything in a fight being this fast until the early 80's)
Jackie for one time gets to show he REALLY can fight!..instead of just getting beaten up by the later movies for about 10 years..
the dubbing is really good too,very professional voice-actors.
at least 8/10
I love this movie!!
its SO good!! its really funny,the action is VERY fast for its age (I cant remember anything in a fight being this fast until the early 80's)
Jackie for one time gets to show he REALLY can fight!..instead of just getting beaten up by the later movies for about 10 years..
the dubbing is really good too,very professional voice-actors.
at least 8/10
I love this movie!!
Interesting early Jackie Chan Film
KirkS11 March 1999
I think the best reason to watch this film is to see an early example of Jackie Chan's work. I was not very impressed with this film on its own. The plot seemed to be too disoriented and choppy. The quality of the dubbed voices on this film are miserable. There is not much chance to build sympathy for the characters that get killed or hatred for the villain.
Jackie Chan's later style combines traditional martial arts fighting with some of the same beautiful comic style also used by Buster Keaton, Charles Chaplin and Gene Kelly. Bits and pieces of this show up in Snake Fist Fighter. The movie is probably worthwhile for Jackie's fans who want to see how much he has developed over the 27 years of acting.
Jackie Chan's later style combines traditional martial arts fighting with some of the same beautiful comic style also used by Buster Keaton, Charles Chaplin and Gene Kelly. Bits and pieces of this show up in Snake Fist Fighter. The movie is probably worthwhile for Jackie's fans who want to see how much he has developed over the 27 years of acting.
Pretty cheesy
HotToastyRag12 August 2022
A young boy wants to train in martial arts, but his family can't afford to enroll him in a fancy school; his sorrow is cut short when an old man takes him under his wing to train. Snake Fist Fighter has that classic storyline of an old sage teaching a young protégé with tough methods that sometimes make no sense, but the lessons come in handy later on. In other words, respect your elders because taking their advice will help you in the long run! Unfortunately, this message doesn't really translate to American audiences, but it is very prevalent in the Asian culture.
Who does the young boy grow up to be? Jackie Chan! He has inner conflict in this movie, for his father doesn't want him to fight, but his teacher wants him to use his skills. There are several scenes when he vows not to fight but is eventually drawn in to save someone's honor or his own life. However, I only stuck through this movie because it was Jackie's first leading role and I wanted to support him (and it helped that it had a short running time). Had I been in the theaters in 1973, not knowing who Jackie Chan was, I probably would have been bored to tears in my seat. It's very dated. If you want to see early Jackie, Drunken Master is a much better choice. It still has the master and pupil theme to it, but it isn't nearly as cheesy.
Who does the young boy grow up to be? Jackie Chan! He has inner conflict in this movie, for his father doesn't want him to fight, but his teacher wants him to use his skills. There are several scenes when he vows not to fight but is eventually drawn in to save someone's honor or his own life. However, I only stuck through this movie because it was Jackie's first leading role and I wanted to support him (and it helped that it had a short running time). Had I been in the theaters in 1973, not knowing who Jackie Chan was, I probably would have been bored to tears in my seat. It's very dated. If you want to see early Jackie, Drunken Master is a much better choice. It still has the master and pupil theme to it, but it isn't nearly as cheesy.
What version do you have?
ckormos113 July 2013
Fans need to know there are three edits of this movie. Another possible title is "Cub Tiger from Kwantung." Other than that there is no way of knowing which one you have by looking at the box or titles. You have one chance in three of getting the one that is not that bad and two chances in three of getting the stinkers. If I could do video editing I could put together a fourth version that would be as good as any Jackie Chan movie (without needing any additional scenes). If there's a guy with a moustache at the beginning of your DVD then go out and buy another one. Both of the stinkers begin with the guy in the moustache. Any time you see Jackie Chan fighting this guy in the moustache (Kwang Yung-Moon) it is NOT Jackie Chan. The better version begins with Tien Feng and brother fighting Chen Hung-Lieh. The scene ends with Tien Feng escaping to raise his dead brother's child, who is the grown up Jackie Chan in the next scene. Though this is the better version it skips the scenes of the child growing up and tutored by Simon Yuen. Further problem is that in one version Simon Yuen is a borderline pedophile who puts the boy bare ass into a bag of snakes. The other version is far more "family oriented." My idea of the best (my fourth version) would be to begin the movie with the child watching the kung fu school practice. This version unfortunately seques into the snakes in a bag scene. Instead replace that segment with the scene from the other version with Simon Yuen holding a chicken leg out for the child to grab. The master/student scenes in this edit are not creepy at all. There is also a rape scene that comes and goes and even comes again after it was cut (if that makes any sense... really it was like that). Also in one version with Simon Yuen there are some totally unnecessary scenes where he is teaching Jackie's body double. Most important of all in this genre is the final fight. Both versions with moustache guy end with a fight with Jackie's body double. The good version ends with an eight minute long fight on a dock. This is Chen Hung-Lieh (and occasionally his body double) versus the one and only totally real Jackie Chan. This is a darn good fight. Fans of Jackie or old school martial arts movies need to see this fight. So get the right version and just rest assured despite some things being dumb by the time the beer buzz hits you will be watching some real good action at the final 8-9 minutes.
Watchable but the camera work is dodgy! 4/10
leonblackwood27 December 2015
Review: I quite enjoyed this authentic movie which sees a young Jackie Chan (Hsiao Hu), take on a bunch of village bullies who are causing havoc around his small town. He plays a young waiter who has a unique Kung Fu skills, which he uses to tackle the bullies who find it hard to beat him. The bullies soon get fed up with Hsiao and they start to take advantage of his loved ones, which just gets him more upset and sends him on a path of vengeance. The only problem is that Hsiao's father forbids him to use his Kung Fu skills to defend himself and he is constantly punishing him for fighting in there village but when the bullies go a step too far, he gives him his blessing to take out the crime kingpin who has caused trouble in his life before. I really tried my hardest to get into this movie because you can't read the subtitles on the DVD and the bonus subtitles only pop up every now and again. I managed to piece the main parts of the storyline together but I missed a lot of the dialogue, which is a shame because the film isn't that bad. With that aside, it's not the greatest action that I have seen from Chan but for his age, he really does show that he has a promising future in action movies. His acting isn't too bad and there are some emotional scenes, which he performed quite well but the whole look of the film pretty bad. For entertainment, it's a watchable movie, if you get a dubbed version, and the epic fight at the end is worth a watch so for its time, it's actually not that bad. Watchable.
Round-Up: This movie was directed by Hoi-Fung Ngai who only directed this movie and the Witch in 1975. For the time, he done quite a good job with bringing an authentic action movie to the big screen but the dodgy camera work near the end, really does need a remastering.
I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/martial arts movie starring Jackie Chan, Biao Yuen, Pei-Pei Shu and Hung Lieh Chen. 4/10
Round-Up: This movie was directed by Hoi-Fung Ngai who only directed this movie and the Witch in 1975. For the time, he done quite a good job with bringing an authentic action movie to the big screen but the dodgy camera work near the end, really does need a remastering.
I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/martial arts movie starring Jackie Chan, Biao Yuen, Pei-Pei Shu and Hung Lieh Chen. 4/10
Watch and understand some things here
geobomber31 December 2006
First off this is jackies first staring role. Secondly the producer quit the whole movie and left all the actors without a producer which means no movie. So if you add both those into account you have to finish the movie with what you have. This is a old movie and a young jackie.. Jackie does pull off a few good moves near the end on the dock fight if you watch closely and he's very agile. They added a lot of scenes after drunken master made it big. The blindfold fight, the training katas (drunken master clips) and a few other extras thrown in. Anything with the teenage jackie is jackie chan which most people know and the children and parent part is also part of the movie. The fighting in this is average but I found it pretty entertaining and the jackie double can movie quite well. There's a special edition of this movie with the real ending but I've never seen it. So try and get that version!
THE MOVIE THAT STOPPED JACKIE'S CAREER!
deluca.lorenzo@libero.it26 December 2020
The big demands of Kung-Fu movies in 1973 allowed many stuntmen to play major roles, among them a not-yet renamed Jackie Chan, still Cheng Long, who was the star in this trash directed by Shaw Bros' character actor Chu Mu. As result the movie flopped and Jackie left Hong Kong to joins her family in Australia, where he found work as edil painter under the name of Paul Chan. in 1975 his future manager Willie Chan did a phone call to him asking to comeback for Lo Wei's New Fist of Fury. That movie didn't work too but Jackie was there to stay and the rest is history. After he became Jackie Chan the Superstar, sleazy producer Dick Randall (Bruce strikes back, 1981), bought the rights of this Master with cracked fingers, and a new director re-edited the film erasing the original final duel between Jackie and Chan Hung Lieh, and adding as a substitute a final fight with a Jackie's stunt double with a masked face and long hairs, then they sold the fake "Jackie Chan movie". Nonetheless this trashy operation has some interest as archive and thanks the presence of the late vet Hon Kwok Choi. The new film was released under various international titles.
Just your average 70's kung fu film.
gangstahippie14 August 2006
Rated R for Violence and Brief Sexual Content. Quebec Rating:13+(should be G) Canadian Home Video Rating:PG
I got Master With Cracked Fingers along with Fantasy Mission Force on VHS about five years ago.This is Jacie Chan's first starring role in a film.It was originally an incomplete film but after Chan got famous it used footage from the film Drunken Master and they filmed some more footage for the final scenes.I was not really impressed by this film.Its just like the millions of other cheap kung fu films from 1970's Hong Kong.The only thing stopping it from being your average Kung Fu film that plays on Drive In Classics occasionally is that Jackie CHan who is very famous in America now stars in the film.The film is about a young boy who learns Kung Fu from an old man(Jackie Chan and the old man who teaches him were both in Drunken Master together).The young boy grows up and completes his kung fu training.He works in a restaurant but a couple of thugs start wrecking havoc so Chan stops them.However his father punishes him for fighting and when he doesn't fight his master punishes him for fighting.MAster With Cracked Fingers isn't excellent but its a good cheap kung fu film and you will like it if you like these types of movies.
Runtime:80min
7/10
I got Master With Cracked Fingers along with Fantasy Mission Force on VHS about five years ago.This is Jacie Chan's first starring role in a film.It was originally an incomplete film but after Chan got famous it used footage from the film Drunken Master and they filmed some more footage for the final scenes.I was not really impressed by this film.Its just like the millions of other cheap kung fu films from 1970's Hong Kong.The only thing stopping it from being your average Kung Fu film that plays on Drive In Classics occasionally is that Jackie CHan who is very famous in America now stars in the film.The film is about a young boy who learns Kung Fu from an old man(Jackie Chan and the old man who teaches him were both in Drunken Master together).The young boy grows up and completes his kung fu training.He works in a restaurant but a couple of thugs start wrecking havoc so Chan stops them.However his father punishes him for fighting and when he doesn't fight his master punishes him for fighting.MAster With Cracked Fingers isn't excellent but its a good cheap kung fu film and you will like it if you like these types of movies.
Runtime:80min
7/10
A poorly edited martial arts mess
Leofwine_draca26 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Jackie Chan's first leading role and, unsurprisingly, it isn't one of his best (it's miles better than the execrable YOUNG TIGER, though). This is an ultra-cheap, poorly made movie, with boring fight sequences played out to total silence. The choreography is rubbish, the dubbing terrible, the acting not much better. Although Jackie is athletic and invigorating in the various fights and training sequences, he's hopeless as an actor here (as to be expected from his first role, I guess). He doesn't even get any of his trademark comedy – that instead comes from Yuen Siu Tien, playing to type as an old/drunk/mad instructor. Yuen is even weirder than usual in this film, wearing beggar clothes and the worst wig I've ever seen. Still, he proves to be a highlight as usual.
The plot is nonsensical rubbish, with the old staple "you killed my dad" revenge story tacked on at the beginning and end. The middle of the film takes place in one of those cheap fishing villages with Jackie fighting a gang of thugs over and over again without much excitement. Yuen – here called "The Man Who Isn't There" (something lost in the translation, I fear ) sits on a seat in the forest and watches Jackie fight. Dean Shek stops by as a homosexual landlord with a terrible dubbed British accent, plus there's an irritating fat guy in for supposed comic relief. Things suddenly become serious at the finale, where Jackie's pickpocket friend is slaughtered and he takes his shirt off to get Bruce Lee-style scratches on his chest. He then proceeds to kick the bad guy's ass. All of the violence is cut out in the choppy DVD version I saw, which didn't impress me too much. Too crazy (in a bad way), poorly edited, and lacking in basic principles to offer much entertainment other than for curiosity seekers.
The plot is nonsensical rubbish, with the old staple "you killed my dad" revenge story tacked on at the beginning and end. The middle of the film takes place in one of those cheap fishing villages with Jackie fighting a gang of thugs over and over again without much excitement. Yuen – here called "The Man Who Isn't There" (something lost in the translation, I fear ) sits on a seat in the forest and watches Jackie fight. Dean Shek stops by as a homosexual landlord with a terrible dubbed British accent, plus there's an irritating fat guy in for supposed comic relief. Things suddenly become serious at the finale, where Jackie's pickpocket friend is slaughtered and he takes his shirt off to get Bruce Lee-style scratches on his chest. He then proceeds to kick the bad guy's ass. All of the violence is cut out in the choppy DVD version I saw, which didn't impress me too much. Too crazy (in a bad way), poorly edited, and lacking in basic principles to offer much entertainment other than for curiosity seekers.
Not Jackie Chan's best, but still watchable.
-528 January 1999
This movie came with another one, New Fist of Fury, which was a poor pseudo-sequel to Bruce Lee's original masterpiece. You'll sometimes see Snake Fist Fighter sold in mall stores as "Master With Cracked Fingers", complete with deceiving, fancy cover. Got mine from Wal-Mart, actually. Anyway, this movie features the always-watchable combination of Simon Yuen (you know.. he's ALWAYS the drunken homeless guy who whups everyone's ass with a bamboo stick) and Jackie Chan. These two you'll find in Drunken Master, Snake in Eagle's Shadow, many many others. Obligatory evil warlord kills Jackie Chan's dad in a duel, and he (his dad) leaves Jackie (that's what he's called in the movie, no original name given) with his friend and fellow warrior, who adopts him as his uncle. Young Jackie trains with Simon Yuen (known in this movie as "The Man Who Isn't There") to be a great kung fu guy. He has to use his skills when thugs reak havoc in his family's restaurant. Turns out these bullies are the obligatory evil warlord's henchmen. His uncle punishes him several times for fighting ("carry 50 buckets of water back & forth from the well, oh, uh.. catch these heavy flower pots.. and, uh.. oh yeah, stick your hand in this broken glass.") throughout the film, and it kinda gets annoying after a little while. There seems to be a slight incestuous undercurrent between Jackie and his adoptive sister, too..
Very weird. (similar to Fists of Fury in that the hero is tempted by a female member of his immediate family.. in Fists it was Bruce's cousin who wanted to hit it off. is this a recurring theme in kung fu flicks? I haven't watched enough of 'em to really tell.. if I see one more with that sorta stuff, something's wrong.) Okay, so Yuen fights Casanova Wong (a great veteran actor, usually in the comedy-type kung fu films), who plays an effeminate landlord who extorts money from Jackie's uncle. Not only does he defeat him, he adds insult to injury by farting in his face. Pretty typical kung fu humor. (Wong, inexplicably, eats spinach and uses his "Popeye Special.") After some disjointed flashback scenes and stock footage from Drunken Master, Jackie fights the obligatory evil warlord, and (suprise suprise) beats him. Breaks his neck, too. That's almost always how it works in these sort of films. It's an okay movie, actually.. Jackie's voice actor isn't too overbearing, and there are some familiar faces in the film too. It's one to pop in the old VCR now and then.
Very weird. (similar to Fists of Fury in that the hero is tempted by a female member of his immediate family.. in Fists it was Bruce's cousin who wanted to hit it off. is this a recurring theme in kung fu flicks? I haven't watched enough of 'em to really tell.. if I see one more with that sorta stuff, something's wrong.) Okay, so Yuen fights Casanova Wong (a great veteran actor, usually in the comedy-type kung fu films), who plays an effeminate landlord who extorts money from Jackie's uncle. Not only does he defeat him, he adds insult to injury by farting in his face. Pretty typical kung fu humor. (Wong, inexplicably, eats spinach and uses his "Popeye Special.") After some disjointed flashback scenes and stock footage from Drunken Master, Jackie fights the obligatory evil warlord, and (suprise suprise) beats him. Breaks his neck, too. That's almost always how it works in these sort of films. It's an okay movie, actually.. Jackie's voice actor isn't too overbearing, and there are some familiar faces in the film too. It's one to pop in the old VCR now and then.
At least it wasn't boring
isaacsundaralingam7 April 2021
Master with Cracked Fingers
Tweekums5 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
These comments are based on watching the English dub of the version titled 'Master with Cracked Fingers'.
Young Jackie wants to know how to do martial arts but his father has forbidden him from fighting. He secretly trains with an elderly master who he originally assumes is a beggar. The training is tough but he grows to become highly skilled. Jackie is working as a waiter when he crosses a group of minor gangsters. He easily beats them but his father is far from pleased; not only that the gangster's boss is furious and orders his men to beat Jackie. Things escalate and ultimately the gangsters burn Jackie's house with his father inside. Inevitably Jackie will ultimately face the man responsible. Before that though his master fights a rather camp landlord who has been pressuring Jackie's employer.
When I watched this I didn't realise that what I was watching wasn't the original film but an edit with many scenes changed it does explain why it was a bit messy at times. The main story is simple enough to follow but certain scenes seemed out of place; most notably the opening scene with a moustache twirling villain who is virtually forgotten till Jackie has to fight him in the final scene there is some explanation that he killed Jackie's real father in that opening scene and the man who raised him was a friend of his father. There is plenty of fighting; this is fun enough but it is obviously so highly choreographed that at times it looks more like a dance than a fight. There is a fair amount of comedy; sometimes it is funny other times it is too forced; more than once I suspected that a gag was added to the dub that wouldn't have been in the original version. Having Jackie Chan play a character renamed 'Jackie Chan' might have seemed a good idea when this dub was made but I found it to be a distraction. One scene that is just weird and would have been best left out features Jackie as a child being forced to strip naked and climb into a bag containing snakes. The cast are okay; Siu Tin Yuen is probably the most impressive as Jackie's Master; Jackie Chan does a decent job but few people watching this would guess that the person we are watching here would go on to be a global star. Overall this is entertaining enough and is worth watching if you enjoy cheesy old martial arts films.
Young Jackie wants to know how to do martial arts but his father has forbidden him from fighting. He secretly trains with an elderly master who he originally assumes is a beggar. The training is tough but he grows to become highly skilled. Jackie is working as a waiter when he crosses a group of minor gangsters. He easily beats them but his father is far from pleased; not only that the gangster's boss is furious and orders his men to beat Jackie. Things escalate and ultimately the gangsters burn Jackie's house with his father inside. Inevitably Jackie will ultimately face the man responsible. Before that though his master fights a rather camp landlord who has been pressuring Jackie's employer.
When I watched this I didn't realise that what I was watching wasn't the original film but an edit with many scenes changed it does explain why it was a bit messy at times. The main story is simple enough to follow but certain scenes seemed out of place; most notably the opening scene with a moustache twirling villain who is virtually forgotten till Jackie has to fight him in the final scene there is some explanation that he killed Jackie's real father in that opening scene and the man who raised him was a friend of his father. There is plenty of fighting; this is fun enough but it is obviously so highly choreographed that at times it looks more like a dance than a fight. There is a fair amount of comedy; sometimes it is funny other times it is too forced; more than once I suspected that a gag was added to the dub that wouldn't have been in the original version. Having Jackie Chan play a character renamed 'Jackie Chan' might have seemed a good idea when this dub was made but I found it to be a distraction. One scene that is just weird and would have been best left out features Jackie as a child being forced to strip naked and climb into a bag containing snakes. The cast are okay; Siu Tin Yuen is probably the most impressive as Jackie's Master; Jackie Chan does a decent job but few people watching this would guess that the person we are watching here would go on to be a global star. Overall this is entertaining enough and is worth watching if you enjoy cheesy old martial arts films.
The movie that started it all for jackie chan
theromanempire-123 January 2019
Although it was not one of his best this is in reality the first movie dealing with pure martial arts and in the way the public loved Jackie in the future doing such films that Jackie had the main and lead role.
Jackie appeared in a few more films before that 1973 film dealing with classic kung fu concept but not as the leader.
this was the first and decent effort also.
the movie is ok and I wonder what those dudes who dismissed it are smoking.
this is a must have for the Jackie martial arts fan.
from there Jackie went on to make a dozen more martial arts films starting from new fists of fury in 1976 ending with fearless hyena 2 in 1984.
from the middle of the 80s he changed his genre in to action films and later in to comedy action films too but occasionally he returned to martial arts genre with films like the sequel to the drunken master in 1994 and a few more in later years like shaolin in 2010.
Jackie chan was saluted by the late 70s as the successor of bruce lee with his famous films snake in the eagle's shadow, fearless hyena and the drunken master but this 1973 film is where all really begun for him.
here are the most influential chan martial arts films for you to enjoy.
Master with cracked fingers Hand of death spiritual kung fu half a loaf of kung fu snake and crane arts of shaolin fearless hyena 1 and 2 drunken master trilogy (part 2 is without Jackie chan) snake in the eagle's shadow dragon fist dragon lord the young master shaolin 2010
Master with cracked fingers Hand of death spiritual kung fu half a loaf of kung fu snake and crane arts of shaolin fearless hyena 1 and 2 drunken master trilogy (part 2 is without Jackie chan) snake in the eagle's shadow dragon fist dragon lord the young master shaolin 2010
Note
Ronman220035 April 2003
This movie is not very good. Jackie Chan fights the same few thugs over and over again. Also if you watch the last fight scene closely, it is not Jackie Chan fighting, it is a double. In the rest of the movie you can clearly see Jackie's face in the fight scences, but in the last one the camera zooms out and avoids angles where you would see that characters face.
Young Jackie Chan looks good
ebiros211 November 2011
Teen age Jackie Chan stars in this exciting kung fu action movie.
Jackie Chan (Jackie Chan) has been practicing kung fu under the tutelage of his old master since he was young. He works hard both at his work, and on his kung fu. One day he meets a girl, and he's smitten right away. Bully tries to rape her, and Jackie intervenes. This sparks a feud between the gangs and Jackie. It's a duel to the death between the gang boss and Jackie while being blind folded for both of them.
Young Jackie Chan looks soooo good. He's a handsome young man. His good personality also shows in this movie. His moves are very polished for a 16 year old teenager. No wonder he became the premiere action star. This is an old school kung fu movie but is refreshing to see young Jackie doing his moves. He already looks like a master at 16.
Some of the action sequences are amazing in this movie.
Good if not great kung fu movie from the early '70s.
Jackie Chan (Jackie Chan) has been practicing kung fu under the tutelage of his old master since he was young. He works hard both at his work, and on his kung fu. One day he meets a girl, and he's smitten right away. Bully tries to rape her, and Jackie intervenes. This sparks a feud between the gangs and Jackie. It's a duel to the death between the gang boss and Jackie while being blind folded for both of them.
Young Jackie Chan looks soooo good. He's a handsome young man. His good personality also shows in this movie. His moves are very polished for a 16 year old teenager. No wonder he became the premiere action star. This is an old school kung fu movie but is refreshing to see young Jackie doing his moves. He already looks like a master at 16.
Some of the action sequences are amazing in this movie.
Good if not great kung fu movie from the early '70s.
3 out of 10
dragon ma young5 July 2001
very early Chan. interesting to see jackie so young, but not great by any standards. unless HUGE chan fanatic (like me), skip it. i really dont like simon yuen, aka drunk old man with stick. a lot of people do, but i cant see why. in all of his movies (that ive seen), he plays a drunk old man with a stick. oooooo. anyway, if you really like chan, you owe it to yourself to check it out
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