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Centennial of China's Kung Fu Film
1970s: Li Xiaolong 's Times
From 1970 to the mid 1970's, kung fu film strode
into the Bruce Lee Era, with films like Tang Shan Da XionG (The Big Boss), Jing
Wu Men (Fist of Fury), Long Zheng Hu Dou (Enter the Dragon),
and Meng Long Guo Jiang (Way of the Dragon), as well as his unfinished Si Wang
You Xi.
Besides being high box office hits in Hong Kong, Li's films also became the
first Hong Kong films to enter the international market. Hence, a hot Chinese
kung fu wind swept the whole world.
Late 1970s---Early 1980s: Two Genres Appeared
After Bruce Lee's death in 1973, Hong Kong and Taiwan kung fu films struggled
for a while but were later successfully revitalized by the introduction of humor
that seemed more appropriate for contemporary comedies than for period epics.
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Shao Lin San Shi Liu
Fang | In 1978, Yuan Heping directed the
film She Xing Diao Shou (Snake in the Eagle's Shadow), and cast Jackie Chan as
the leading actor. They introduced humor into the fighting and plot, and
initiate a kind of new genre -- kung fu comedy.
Moreover, another Yuan Heping and Jackie Chan film, Zui Quan (Drunken
Master), became a classic in kung fu film history.
In the same year, Liu Jialiang's film, Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang, made a
great coup, with its massive depiction of shamans exercising martial
arts.
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