Return of the Tiger
1977; directed by Jimmy Shaw Feng

After the death of Bruce Lee, there was an avalanche of cheap knock-offs released that would spawn a genre known as "Bruceploitation". As you might expect, most of these films were cheap junk. So if you've skipped over the 1977 films Return of the Tiger starring Bruce Li, it would be understandable. But if you can get past the wall of 70's cheese that surrounds this movie, you just might end up finding yourself actually having a pretty good time.

The basic plot isn't really anything to write home about. Actually, it's a fairly blatant rip-off of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, with Bruce Li (along with his partner Angela Mao) playing off against two major drug dealers in order to get the biggest payday. Oh sure, there's some double-crosses and a "big twist" near the end, but really, if you're watching this sort of movie for deep characterization and a thought-provoking plot, you might be better off just taking a ball-peen hammer to your melon.

Like most movies of this type, Return of the Tiger's expository scenes are just fairly lame (and actually totally unnecessary) excuses to get to the next fight. Thankfully, the stuff featured here is surprisingly solid. Helmed by the somewhat under-rated Hsieh Hsing, the brawls actually have some polish to them, unlike the hastily slapped-together affairs fronted by most Bruceploitation flicks.

Yeah, it's not A-level stuff -- the obvious wire tricks employed near the end get kind of annoying -- but compared to many movie of the time, the fights featured here are actually fun. And long-time Hong Kong fans will have some enjoyment in picking out some notable faces during the fisticuffs, like Blackie Ko, who makes a nice turn as a particularly nasty henchman.

So, anyway, after all this pseudo-intellectual babbling, you might be still thinking: is Return of the Tiger worth checking out? It's pretty simple. If you're a fan of old-school "chop socky" films, then the answer is yes. Yeah, it's not up to the level of Bruce Lee's work, but at least it has some solid fights, and the story won't totally insult your intelligence. Checking out Return of the Tiger won't earn you a lot of geek points, but just sit back, pop a couple of tops, and enjoy one of the better slices of cheese produced in Hong Kong during the 70's.

RATING: 6.5