Lion vs. Lion (1981) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Zero Ena ゼロエナ ★★½

  DuBFaL-Asia-Weeks auf LB
  Film Nr. 9

  Ganz netter Kung Fu Film in der Spätphase der Shaw Brothers. Die Fights sind gelungen, wenn sie auch bei weitem nicht zu denn Besten gehören die ich je gesehen habe. Die Story biegt öfter mal in verschiedene Wege ab, nur um am Ende mit dem Einfachsten um die Ecke zu kommen.
  Ach ja, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei ist mal wieder der Bösewicht, welch eine Überraschung.😉
  "Die Pranke des gelben Löwen" ist ein Eastern welcher völlig okay ist, der aber bei niemanden lange im Gedächtnis bleiben wird.

• Review by Gregor Kreyca ★★★

  Lion Vs. Lion is… uneven. The characters are at best uninteresting and at worst really annoying. The plot itself is discombobulated, unengaging and at times starts to drag especially in the first half. It’s something about the Manchus, a List of rebel names and rivaling Martial-Arts schools… I don’t know and frankly I didn’t care. But in the second half, when the action takes more or less over, this little known Shaw Brothers movie has some of the most exciting Kung-Fu fights the Studio ever put on film. There are some nice little action bursts in the first half as well but starting with an impressive (if a bit long) Lion dance sequence in the middle the film really takes…

• Review by Wonggifs ★★★½

  Much of the first hour is taken up with very weak comedy, but from the lion dance onwards this is gold. I've never been a huge fan of lion dancing in these films, but the way this is shot is so thrilling it's hard not to be swept up in it all. The series of terrific fights (particularly the one between Jimmy Wang Lung-Wei and Chin Yuet-Sang) towards the end and the weirdly dark finale push this one into worth watching territory.

• Review by AaronRFilms ★★★

  The last half of this one is pretty action packed getting past a mostly dull comedy first half.

• Review by Josh Downham ★★★½

  This film has the most jarring shifts in tone of not just any martial film but of any film I have seen period. It begins as a kung fu comedy, which were popular at the time at rival studio Golden Harvest. The humor is mostly slapstick and there is an off color penis joke. Then a major tonal shift in what I believe should have been the dramatic climax of the film. Instead, Lion vs. Lion becomes a haunted house comedy before shifting back to somberness again as "Another Shaw Production" and "Then End" appear on the screen. Lion vs. Lion can't decide on what it wants to be and that it has 2 directors really shows. The first act…

• Review by PacificNil ★★★½

  "Die Pranke des gelben Löwen" spielt im ersten Jahr der Qing-Dynastie, also 1644, dies belegt auch ein Auftritt des ersten Kaisers dieser Dynastie, der 1644 gerade 6 Jahre alt war. Der Film um Palastintrigen und bürgerkriegsähnliche Aufstände verfolgt einen viel zu komödiantischen Ansatz, inklusive albernen Anachronismen wie "Bye-bye" während sonst chinesisch gesprochen wird. Der "Löwenkampf" jedoch ist toll inszeniert.

• Review by William Li ★★★½

  Lion vs. Lion film suffers from the worst case of the Shaw trope of backloading exposition right at the front I've ever seen, and the film does take a toll for it alongside its pacing.

  However, this film makes up for it by having easily the best non-Lau Kar Leung fights I have seen in the Shaw canon, which the titular lion fight being an absolute blast. It also has bits of humor which I actually recevied well, which I did not expect. Definitely a film to check out if one wants to check fringe Shaw.

• Review by The Movie Matt ★★½

  Don't get me wrong, Lion Vs Lion is massively entertaining. It features some jaw dropping fight sequences and features some infectiously charming performances from its actors. It's just very unfortunate that the film itself is something of a mess. The narrative is all over the place, it tries to be clever with its twists that seemingly just come out of the blue, and it's occasionally baffling with the stylistic choices it makes. It's a hodge-podge of style and sequences that only has some bare bones threading to get it to work together. If only it had a stronger sense of purpose or tone, it might be one of the those true Shaw Brothers classics. As is, it should be seen for its phenomenal fight sequences. That's about it though.

• Review by Filmingeneral ★★★★

  I can’t give any film with fight scenes this good anything less than a 4. The plot is a bit all over the place, but Wang Lung Wei, Yang Pan Pan, Lo Meng, and Chin Yuet Sang more than make up for it!

• Review by Murray Ross ★★★½

  Insert standard Shaw Bros review here.
  I hated the comedy parts a lot. Fake moles and crossed eyes are not funny to me.
  The plot made little sense to me, I had a hard time remembering who everyone was and I usually did not know why two or more people were fighting each other at any given time.
  It was colorful, well shot and technically well made, but filmed entirely on studio sets.
  The fight scenes and the acrobatic scenes with all the jumping and the kicking and the swords and the pointy sticks and such is a joy to behold and the entire reason why I am watching this movie. The Lion versus Lion scene is ten minutes of the visually spectacular. Go away CGI.
  The ending was rather abrupt.
  Enjoyable but not life changing.
  Next.

• Review by Lonestarr102 ★★½

  Durchaus nette Kämpfe. Hevorzuheben ist hier ein Kampf zwischen zwei als Tier verkleidete Gegener. Jedes der Tiere bestand aus zwei Menschen. Also quasi ein Team-Kampf. Allerdings ist die Handlung selbst für ein Shaw Film wirr und dämlich. Auch die "lustigen" Sprüche sind eher nervig als unterhaltend.

• Review by Luke Safely ★★★★

  Shawgust 2024 Movie #8
  Yue has just been fired from his job and while looking for new work he ends up having to deliver a special box for a woman named Red Lady. This delivery is for martial art champion Bill Zhu but local huckster Cun has different plans. Pretending to be Zhu's brother gets Cun and Yue in an embroiled fight with the actual Zhu's which ends with the delivery of the item. Red Lady and Zhu are looking for the Hero Chart so they can try to acquire political gain. Chu and Yue decide to team up and open a martial arts school but soon get in the way of Zhu's secret plan.

  This movie takes FOREVER to…