The Legendary Strike (1978)

Legendary Strike was close to being a legendary strike-out. Somehow a film that starred kung fu powerhouses Angela Mao, Carter Wong, Casanova Wong, and Chen Sing underperformed in the fists and kicks.

The story had some fun twists and turns. There were corrupt Ching nobles, Ming rebels, Korean sympathizers, Japanese characters, monks, fake monks, and real monks in disguise all after a pearl that is a holy relic, but there's also a fake pearl and a poor dead body dragged around the country side. With all these moving pieces, of course there are double crosses galore.

The story had potential, unfortunately some of the best fighters were missing for big chunks of time during the movie. Angela Mao doesn't appear until the 30 minute mark and Carter Wong is also vastly underused. Paul Chu plays the ML and he is out classed by the kung fu fighters around him and it shows.

The soundtrack often sounded like spaghetti western music and I suppose with all the outdoor settings and classic good guy versus bad guy fights only with fists or swords instead of guns it was fitting.

Many kung fu movies end abruptly as if the crew ran out of film but this one had a particularly unsatisfying ending. The saving grace for this film was simply being able to see the cast in action even if they were often underutilized. Legendary Strike may not be legendary but it did have some entertaining moments.

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