IT CAME FROM THE THRIFT STORE: EAGLE VS. SILVER FOX (1983) ** ½
The awesome “King Bootmaster” Jang Lee (Ring of Death) Hwang stars as the evil Silver Fox. He orders the death of a group of men on a raft. The lone survivor manages to float downstream where he is rescued by a kind, but sickly monk. He nurses him back to health and teaches him Kung Fu. After his master’s death, our hero then teams up with a female pickpocket and a crotchety old man (who calls everyone “whippersnappers”) to aid him in his quest for revenge.
Although Hwang played the character of Silver Fox in the Secret Rivals series, it doesn’t appear that he’s playing the same Silver Fox in this one. Since the flick was directed by Godfrey Ho, we can probably assume that he was just cashing in on the name. Speaking of Ho, this is the third Godrey Ho film I’ve watched for this column (after Fist of Golden Monkey and Incredible Shaolin Thunderkick), which makes him the unofficial King of the Thrift Store movies.
Ho gives us a lot of flashbacks, which makes the plot play out a in a more interesting fashion than if it was played straightforward. It’s still not enough to keep it from bogging down during the dialogue sequences. There’s a decent amount of action, and while it’s good as far as Ho is concerned, it never really (pardon the pun) kicks into gear either.
We do get some quality fights though. I liked the fight in the restaurant where our hero throws food in people’s mouths, rips their hair out, and tosses a guy UP the bannister of a staircase. The mean old guy also gets a good training scene where he keeps hitting the pickpocket lady in the face with a spoonful of rice. The best training sequence though comes when our hero uses a scissor kick to chop a tree down. These moments help to keep the flick from being just another Kung Fu flick, but ultimately it’s missing the WTF magic of Ho’s zaniest stuff.
AKA: Eagle Silver Fox. AKA: Flying Martial Arts.
Next time on It Came from the Thrift Store: Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies!