Also known as Challenge of the Ninja, Shaolin vs. Ninja and Shaolin Challenges Ninja, this Lau Kar Leung-directed film has more Japanese martial arts on display than you usually see from a Hong Kong movie. The Japanese characters are also treated with respect, unlike many of these movies, and Lau insisted that none of the fights ended in death.

Ho Tao (Gordon Liu) has entered an arranged marriage with the daughter of one of his father's Japanese business associates. When he watches her do martial arts, Yumiko Koda's style is too rough and unladylike for Ho Tao, so he demands that she study the more feminine styles of Chinese kung fu. She's too modern of a woman for him as well, as she immediately leaves him behind and starts training with her childhood friend Takeno.

To get her back, Ho Tao creates a challenge to determine which country has the better kung fu. Of course, he also has poor manners and infuriates the Japanese martial artists so much that their battles become real and not just exhibitions. Plus, now that Takeno has Yumiko Koda again, he doesn't plan on giving her up and will use all of his ninjitsu skills to keep her in Japan.

There are a variety of styles on display here - samurai sword versus straight sword, Sino-Okinawan karate vs. Chinese Drunken Fist, Japanese crab-style vs. Chinese crane fist and many more - and those battles make this an incredibly interesting movie for those that love armed and unarmed combat.

It's also rare in that it's set in the 1930s and not the far-flung past. I had a blast with this film, a movie that mixes romance, comedy and battles into one overall great time.

CHINATOWN KID is yet another Shaw Brothers kung fu movie that feels fresh and different despite the fact that the studio made literally hundreds of similar movies during this era. Like so many others, this one is directed by Chang Cheh, although this one is a bit unusual as it features the fresh-faced star Alexander Fu Sheng in the leading role instead of one of Cheh's earlier favoured stars like Ti Lung or David Chiang. The Venoms also play in support, on the very cusp of stardom before 1978's FIVE DEADLY VENOMS.

What I liked about this film was its setting. It's a modern day story that feels more convincingly modern than something like THE ANGRY GUEST. Fu Sheng is a country bumpkin who finds himself transported off to the USA to begin a new life, before inevitably falling in with some drug-dealing criminal gangs who run San Francisco's Chinatown. The story is thematic and densely-plotted in places, featuring multiple rival factions and characters and of course a multitude of thrilling action scenes.

I saw the Chinese version of this film which is some twenty minutes shorter than the international release. As such it feels very fast-paced and never boring. Fu Sheng has never been more innocently likable than he is here and he's given fine character support from the underrated Sun Chien, an actor I thought never really got his dues as he's always very good and should be better-known in the west. The exemplary supporting cast features Wang Lung Wei as a stock villain (with hints of grace) and two of the Venoms, Phillip Kwok and Lo Meng, as rival gang leaders. Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, and Dick Wei also appear as henchmen. The action sequences are fantastic, of course, and bolstered by the engaging story; there's very little to dislike here, although I would like to see a good-quality version of the extended cut one day to find out what I'm missing.