Snake in the Eagle's Shadow: Limited Edition – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1978
Director: Yuen Woo-ping
Writers: Ng See-yuen, Choi Gai-gwong, Tsai Chi-kuang
Cast: Jackie Chan, Yuen Siu-tien, Hwang Jang-lee, Dean Shek, Fung Hak-on, Roy Horan

Release Date: May 3rd, 2021
Approximate running time: 96 Minutes 53 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 12 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Cantonese, LPCM Mono Mandarin, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: OOP

"At the end of the The Qing Dynasty, a 200-year-old deadly clan known as the Eagle Claw Society has eliminated all styles of martial arts except for the revered Snake Fist style. The Grand Master of Eagle Claw is obsessed with finding – and killing – the remaining members of the Snake Fist school. Meanwhile, the wise, elderly Snake Fist Grand Master is busy in hiding, teaching a young, overworked servant (Jackie Chan) his awesome, super-fast fighting moves." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.7 GB

Feature: 25.4 GB

Though no information is provided about the transfer used for this release, it was supplied by Sony, and it is the same master that has been used for Plaion Pictures German Blu-ray. That said, the source used for these transfers looks great; there is no source-related damage. Colors and flesh tones look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression is solid. Also, when compared to Twilight Time’s Blu-ray, this release's encode is noticeably stronger.

Audio: 3.75/5 (LPCM Mono Cantonese, LPCM Mono Mandarin), 3.5/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with three audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Cantonese, a LPCM mono mix in Mandarin, and a LPCM mono mix in English. Dialog comes through clearly enough to follow, and everything sounds balanced. All three tracks have some sibilance issues, and all three tracks at times sound muffled. That said, the fight scenes and ambient sounds are well represented. Also, the Cantonese and Mandarin language tracks sound more robust than the English language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese language track, a second removable English subtitle track for the Mandarin language track, and a third removable English subtitle track for Cantonese text when watching the English language track.

Extras:

Extras include U.S. theatrical trailer (2 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), English-language trailer (4 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Hong Kong theatrical trailer (4 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital mono with English and Cantonese text and removable English subtitles for the Cantonese text), reconstructed Hong Kong opening credits (1 minute 39 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Cantonese text and removable English subtitles for the Cantonese text), U.S. opening credits 4 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with Hong Kong film expert and film director George Clarke titled Out of the Shadows (26 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor and martial artist Roy Horan titled Horan in the Eagles Shadow (58 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, an audio commentary with actor/stuntman John Kreng and R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien, reversible cover art, a foldout poster (limited to first pressing), four collectable art cards (limited to first pressing), and a slipcase (limited to first pressing).

Summary:

When one discusses martial arts cinema, Jackie Chan is one of a handful of individuals who have left their indelible mark on the genre. And yet his rise to the top was a long, hard haul that finally paid off when he teamed up with one of the genre's most celebrated fight choreographers, Woo-Ping Yuen, who was making his directorial debut with Snake in the Eagle's Shadow.

The narrative revolves around a janitor who is constantly bullied by the instructors and creates his own fighting style that mixes "Snake Fist" with the movements of a cat that he saw fighting a snake.

On the surface, though, the premise for Snake in the Eagle's Shadow does not diverge from the type of stories that have become all too familiar to marital arts enthusiasts. And yet the end result is a film that foreshadows a new direction that would infuse new life into a genre that, by the late 1970s, was already in decline.

The narrative is briskly paced, and the inventive action set pieces deliver in spades. Another strength is the way that humor plays a role in the story at hand. And as said, humor would also become a staple of Jackie Chan's films to this day.

Standout moments include a scene where Jackie Chan’s character is asked to make a potential student who is the son of an aristocrat look better than his actual fighting abilities. Fortunately, Jackie Chan’s character has grown tired of everyone punching back, and for the first time in public, he shows off his newly acquired fighting skills. Another standout moment is a scene where Chan’s character watches a cat fight a snake, which gives him the idea of combing this technique with "Snake Fist".

Performance-wise, the cast is good in their respective roles. The standout performances were by Jackie Chan in the role of Chien Fu, a janitor who works at a martial arts school, and Siu Tin Yuen in the role of Grandmaster Pai Cheng-Tien, the man who teaches Chien Fu "Snake Fist". Another performance of note is that of Jang Lee Hwang in the role of Lord Sheng Kuan, this film’s main villain. And it should also not come as a surprise that these three actors would go on to play a large role in the success of Drunken Master.

From a production standpoint, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow bears more than a striking resemblance to Drunken Master, which features many of the same actors and key crew members. And though it has not received the same acclaim as the aforementioned Drunken Master, It is an equally revolutionary cinematic statement that continues to hold up well after all these years.

88 Films gives Snake in the Eagle's Shadow its best release to date, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer