Search - Hell's Windstaff on DVD

Great Version of A Great Film - Bummer Ending

Scifihorrorfan | Parts Unknown | 09/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Spoiler Alert Below:Hell's Windstaff is a great movie. It's probably one of the best kung fu movies of the late 70's. It's not great because it has a good storyline. It's selling point is the fighting. And there are lots of them. The choreography is top notch, with guys like Mang Hoi, Hwang Jang Lee and Jason Piao. Mang Hoi's buddy in the film is Tiger Wong, who is played by Yuen Man Meng. I had never heard of this guy before, but was pleasantly surprised at how acrobatic he was, in addition to the quick speed with which he performed the moves. Sadly, he would be forced to retire from the HK action film seen after suffering a heart attack. In this film he looks like someone who could have gone to do bigger and better things. But enough about that. Now to the SPOILER, which is why the DVD doesn't deserve the full five stars.While this film is presented in it's original aspect ratio (2.35:1), original language (Cantonese with chinese and english subtitles burned in), the ending, sadly, is truncated. I have the full screen, english dubbed version from World Video, and it features the full ending, where you see the bad guy get shoved into a tree stump and his legs yanked apart like a wishbone. For whatever reason, this has been removed from this print that's on the Xenon disc. I don't know if Xenon removed it or if the source was already missing it. Either way, it's a huge bummer. I'd still recommend getting this version if you are a hardcore HK film collector, inspite of the missing ending."

Dragon Fist and Paddle Staff

Mantis Lake | Detroit, MI USA | 11/17/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I really had to debate on the rating. The box says "digitally remastered", and the picture quality is good, but not great. I didn't expect the kind of job that Celestial does to Shaw Brothers' flicks, but I was at least hoping for a picture close to "7 Grand Masters". I can only assume the old print really sucked. I know nothing about the film making process nor restoration, so perhaps this is a tip-top job.

I was also disappointed that this DVD is subtitled only. In newer movies, I tend to prefer subtitles to dubs, but old-school kung fu is definitely dub-worthy. What's worse is that the subtitles are burned in to the screen and blend in with the picture about a third of the time. I could live with it if they were legible

On to the movie. This is a pretty good film. A little confusing at times (see previous paragraph) but still very enjoyable with some great fights. You see better stuff now, but for the late 70's, I don't know many movies with better choreography than this. Hwang Jang Lee ("Drunken Master") is the bad guy in this and is really something. If our talented heroes are lucky enough to not die by his staff (snicker), they still have his Sky Eagle Claws to contend with. Yuen Man Meng ("Daggers 8") and Hoi Mang play our protagonists and bust loose with some incredible acrobatics, which is another reason I like the older films. Not enough back flips in the modern ones.

3 of 5. Again because of poor use of subtitles AND lack of English dubbing. Otherwise this is probably 4 stars.

1979. aka: The Dragon and Tiger Kids"

4 1/2, but I went towards the latter

morgoth | omaha, NE | 02/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie was great. I love movies where everyone can fight. I'll go from worst to best. The guy with the iron hand was alright, guy with stick who was hired off street to teach the 2 young kids was really good. Guy with whitish greyish hair I'm pretty sure was Wong Fei-Hung in this, and he could fight. The 2 kids were great at acrobatics. Pretty tough guy with an eye patch. The kids long grey haired master is really good.Black haired guy whos been in a million movies has an awesome crane form to look forward with him, and of course you have Hwang Jang Lee. I'm not even gonna tell you the sweet stuff that he does in this movie because it has to be seen to be believed. I would put this EASILY as a top 5 Hwang Lee film. I know I prbably left a fighter out but there is almost too may fights in this movie, wait what the hell am saying, there is never too many fights when they are as beautifully choreographed in this one. Just go and buy this movie.
I forget the action directors, but they are all top notch."