Tiger Over Wall (1980) - Philip Ko vs Hwang Jang Lee!

[Guest Hermeskungfu]

I got this from Vengeance. The subtitles are very difficult to read and the print is grainy, in addition 90% of the film is drama (though a rather good one, the photography / direction is good for the period). But what brings this alive is every time Philip Ko is on screen and his final fight with Hwang Jang Lee is one of the best I have ever seen. It appears evenly matched and either (in 'reality') could have won. Hwang is in great form and Philip Ko knows his kung fu. If you haven't seen it - worth watching.

This link has some good stills:

http://www.thestuntpeople.com/articles/tigeroverwall.htm

I'll post the final fight to YouTube over the weekend.

Just got Invincible Armour with John Liu. What a great week for films this is turning out to be.

[Guest WhiteTiger1]

One of My favorite's

There's better quality out there, I have about 3 different copies of this film, video/dvd/dvd-r full screen and wide-screen.. Go shopping worth it just for the finale fight scene..

[Guest WalkOn]

One of my all time favorites, starring two of my top favorite stars. The movie is low on action so be warned, but it's a good story and cast. The finale alone was worth the price of admission (or vcd/dvd). I saw this film on 42nd St in NY. I love the poster for this movie with the negative images of Wang Jang Lee and Philip Ko faces. Simple but very cool.

[Guest Morgoth]

Yeah the finale is out of this world good. My favorite Hwang Jang Lee kicking performance.

[5 Element Boxer]

I've been watching this movie alot lately on the Brooklyn Zu Vol. 1 collection DVD that I recently picked up. Lot of good fight scenes in it. The finale is really good. The quality looks like it was a straight transfer from an old widescreen laserdisc. English dubbed also.

Philip Ko never dissapoints when on screen. Tht's why I've been trying to watch all of his movies lately.

[AlbertV]

I loved in the film how Philip Ko, a champion in Japanese karate, uses Mantis fists in the film and this is by far one of the best superkicking performances by Hwang Jang-Lee. I loved the move where Hwang leaps over a table and hits Ko with a side kick mid-air and his triple kick is always impressive.

[Guest Yakuza954]

Philip Ko never dissapoints when on screen. Tht's why I've been trying to watch all of his movies lately.

Good luck. Seeing all of Phillip Ko's movies is like climbing the Mount Everest of kung fu movies. The guy made so many.

[Guest Morgoth]

He is really good in Ninja Terminator where he fights Richard Harrison in the final fight:p

[Guest WalkOn]

"I loved in the film how Philip Ko, a champion in Japanese karate, uses Mantis fists in the film"

I only heard about Philip Ko being a Karate Instructor/champion in the intro of Duel of the 7 Tigers. Can anyone confirm if this is true or if Philip Ko or anyone else ever mentions his martial arts background? I've always wanted to know. He's one of my favorites as well.

[5 Element Boxer]

Philip Ko is a practitioner of Chinese Kung Fu in real life. I have a DVD with an interview and demonstration by him (in the special features). You can see it in a few of the Video Asia releases. Dude's got serious skills. I don't know anything about him knowing Karate though.

[Guest Yakuza954]

I also remember reading the blurb at the beginning of Duel of the 7 Tigers that said he studied Karate. I thought it was pretty trustworthy since the information about all the other actors seems to match up with what's already been confirmed online about them. If he did study Karate however, he didn't really do a good job showing it in Duel of the 7 Tigers. It sucked compared to his shapes in other movies. But than again, who would guess Johnny Wang's real-life martial arts was karate by watching his movies? Ko probably practices both Karate and Chinese martial arts.

Oh and btw, Philip Ko as a Japananese villain ranks up there with Lo Lieh in Chinese Connection 2 and Chen Kuan Tai with an ugly ass wig in Bloody fists, as the worse choices for Japanese villains ever. Not even a blind man from Yemen would mistake these guys as Japanese.

[Guest TheManInWhite]

Am I the only one who is not crazy about the plot to this movie? Also, the ridiculous Chan Lau drags this movie down IMO. Don't get me wrong - the fights are great, especially the finale. The movie improves every time Philip Ko is present but outside of that, this film doesn't move me.

[Guest Morgoth]

You are not the only one Man in White. the plot sucks big balls. I thought Chan Lau played his role very well, as did everyone else. I also thought the directing job was superb. But the story is godawful. All that crap over someone's dog missing? Just plain stupid.

[Bus]

now if they stole his weed, stepped on his new school shoes, or talked about his momma it would've been a more believable movie.. all valid reasons to hurt somebody

[5 Element Boxer]

I thought the plot was about some official looking for a lost dog. lol

[Guest Hermeskungfu]

I haven't checked this but the Vengeance video blurb says it was based on real events. Isn't the whole point that the gwailo dog was considered more important than a Chinese life and (as is not exactly unknown today) when they couldn't find what happened to it they fitted up some poor sap to take the fall. It makes good use of exterior locations and a very grim prison. Personally I found it all too believable and the brilliant end fight between Ko and Hwang a real bonus.

[Guest ironfistedmonk]

I find it amazing that they can make such an entertaining film from such a stupid plot point! I asked the question on the old KFF what happened to Rover but no one could help me, I have made it my life's mission to find out what happened to that poor dog

This is a top film IMO, the cast are great, the fights are brilliant, the village is down and dirty and like Hermes said the prison looks a proper nasty place to be in with those sadistic officials.

[Guest Morgoth]

Dont you remember, Chan Lau said he ate the dog. But seriously, they never explained what happened to the dog. Other than the awesome fights, my favorite scene is where Ko and his family are walking down the streets to go take revenge. You could feel their anger.

[Guest Iron_Jinon]

Just got Invincible Armour

had this on vhs,must get it on dvd.what a movie!hwang jang lee`s pai mei lookalike villain is definitely best character,tino wong excellent too.john liu for some reason did not appear to me as much as in some his other films but still 4,5/5.

[The Silver Fox]

Just watched this the other day. Phillip Ko vs Hang Jang Lee. I must say that this is one of the best fights I've seen. It's really intense and it some of it looks pretty real.The rest of the movie is fairly decent with some good fights here and there but the end battle is easily worth getting this movie.

I picked up the Brooklyn Zoo version whick also contains Goose Boxer(which is cool too).The transfers on both films are from VHS source but are decent.

[One Armed Boxer]

I recently got through watching this one....highly enjoyable stuff! For those who are interested, check out my full review here -

http://www.cityonfire.com/tiger-over-wall-1980-review-snake-in-the-eagles-shadow-2/

[DragonClaws]

I recently got through watching this one....highly enjoyable stuff! For those who are interested, check out my full review here -

http://www.cityonfire.com/tiger-over-wall-1980-review-snake-in-the-eagles-shadow-2/

I read that earlier today:smile:.

Sounds like your print was sourced from the old VPD U.K censored VHS version. The British censors made some small brief edits to the violence including the neck break.

[ThunderScore]

[Kwok Choi]

I got this from Vengeance. The subtitles are very difficult to read and the print is grainy, in addition 90% of the film is drama (though a rather good one, the photography / direction is good for the period). But what brings this alive is every time Philip Ko is on screen and his final fight with Hwang Jang Lee is one of the best I have ever seen. It appears evenly matched and either (in 'reality') could have won. Hwang is in great form and Philip Ko knows his kung fu. If you haven't seen it - worth watching.

This link has some good stills:

http://www.thestuntpeople.com/articles/tigeroverwall.htm

I'll post the final fight to YouTube over the weekend.

Just got Invincible Armour with John Liu. What a great week for films this is turning out to be.

Just watched this the other day. Phillip Ko vs Hang Jang Lee. I must say that this is one of the best fights I've seen. It's really intense and it some of it looks pretty real.The rest of the movie is fairly decent with some good fights here and there but the end battle is easily worth getting this movie.

I picked up the Brooklyn Zoo version whick also contains Goose Boxer(which is cool too).The transfers on both films are from VHS source but are decent.

/watch?v=x7skn4s9Xd0

[Killer Meteor]

Having watched the Vengeance edition, my thoughts...

1) Hwang Jang Lee not sounding like a castrated Charles Hawtrey is a bonus.

2) Vengeance being too cheap to do some subs probably sums up why the cluttering up of HMV with cheapo kung fu releases was a bad thing. The subs on the disc are cropped away and/or hard to read, especially when white-clad Hwang is talking. Good job he's so transparently evil.

3. Considering the cropping destroys the subs AND the title card (GER OVER WA), the action is quite easy to follow

4) Considering Vengeance used old UK tape masters before, it's weird they used the cropped Chinese source. Though the BBFC snipped neck break is a doozy!

5) Chan Lau is even more freaky then usual, but much to my surprise it actually works. You really can believe he only has three brain cells.

6) Cheung Nick barely appears, but is handsome and a decent fighter. I wonder if he was a more bankable star then Phillip Ko - in fact, I do wonder who out of the many old school indie stars were the most popular with audiences.

7) There's a totally weird intro to the leading lady - singing away about her life as though this were a Disney movie. Sadly (or perhaps not), no-one else sings, so we don't get to see Hwang Jang-Lee having a power ballard about being evil.

8) The initial Westerner we see isn't too bad...but later there's an "old" man who looks suspiciously like a young guy in a bad make-up job, much like Andre Morgan in When Taekwondo Strikes

9) This is one angry movie, more so because it was released against so many comedies.

10) Hwang Jang-Lee vs. Phillip Ko is indeed one of the best fights ever. It's a wonder no-one was killed!

8/10