The legendary Billy Chong is not the main character here, but he has a sizable role in this high octane Martial Arts film from the 70's, the decade considered to be "The Golden Age" for Kung Fu cinema. "Hei dai Kong shou dao" keeps the dramatic story line to a minimum in order to pack as much fighting action into the 93 minute running time as possible. Basically a rivalry tale between the country boy and an arrogant upstart, who wants to marry the daughter of Lieh's father, who runs the successful Karate school, in order to take it over. The hostility between the two increases as Lieh continues to beat the arrogant city boy at every competition. Of course the reason to see this film is the martial arts action, which comes fast and furious. The fight choreography is outstanding, and it's among the most realistic looking action I have seen in this genre. Feet and fists really seem to connect with faces here, and the actors involved must have been very well trained. "Black Belt Karate" also features above average cinematography, which can be appreciated, thanks to the nice print from the 'Crash Masters' dvd label, which preserves it's original 2:35 aspect ratio. That is very important for this genre, as those long shots make it possible to see the full martial arts action from head to toe. Also preserved is the original Chinese language track, which is so much better than the ridiculous English dubs that usually go with these movies. Best of all, there is none of that slapstick comedy that ruins so many of these films. 'Crash Masters' is a distributor that seems to actually care about the films they put out, and always manage to find the best prints available. For fans of the classic Martial Arts action flicks of the 70's, you can't go wrong with this title. Not to mention that it is the debut of the great Billy Chong, "Black Belt Karate" is one of the good ones.
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