Written:    
John Woo
Tang Ti-chiang 
Directed:    
John Woo 
Executive producer: 
Raymond Chow 
Cast:
Dorian Tan  
James Tien Chun   Jackie Chan  
Samo Hung Kam-Bo  Yang Wei
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(1975)
 

This very early work directed by John Woo. There are great many kung fu films that are a lot worse - and Woo was only 27 at the time. Also Hand of Death was a cheap kung fu flick filmes in Korea.

The original English title was Countdown In Kung Fu. Featuring Jackie Chan, third billed, in his first major role, with lifelong Chan associate Samo Hung as the bad guy's head bully; and, for a moment or two, Yuen Biao.
Although it's still a low-budget affair (there are never enough extras), certain elements of the Woo style are employed more confidently in Hand Of Death: freeze frames, slow motion, intense close-ups, and intercutting between two actions that comment on each other.

Jackie dons a characteristically grim demeanor, except in an early scene which he falls down and grimaces, becoming, for a split second, the martial arts comedian of his later films. John Woo, looking amazingly young and skinny, plays a scholar, Ching, whose role in the Shaolin uprising is apparently mostly as an ideologue. He never fights, and is constantly being rescued and protected by the others - the Jackie character even takes a spear in the belly to shield him.

A brotherhood of Shaolin fighters are cast from the Temple and try to regain their honor Flash Legs Tan stars as a shaolin fighter who gets the mission to eliminate a ruthless lord who is slaughtering the Shaolin tempels. One his way he teams up with Jackie Chan who here plays one of his first roles. He looks a little wierd because this was before he did his face operations. Flash Legs also meets the swords man (Yeng Wei) and a regal scholar (John Woo).

Jackie Chan worked as action choreographer in John Woo's directorial debut Young Dragons. In 1975 John Woo was making a cooperative movie in Korea. Woo has supposed to use half Hong Kong people and half Korean people. But Woo was not satisfief in one of the stars in korea, he was too old and could not fight at all. And then he remember Jackie Chan. 'I liked his energy and humour' says in interview for Asian Pop Cinema book. So Woo canceled Korean actor and took Jackie Chan instead of him. Also did Woo change the script a lot to give Jackie some more room to show his skills. Afterwards John Woo says to studio that ' Jackie Chan is going to be a very big star'. And how right he was.

Jackie Chan did his own stunts and he also worked as stuntman as well. In one scene hero kicks Jackie and he flies through the air. Woo used wire to get more power to the scene. Six men are dragging Jackie back when he is kicked. The seventh time men drag him too hard and Jackie fell and hits his head on the rock. Sharp point of rock was sticking one inch into his head and he lost consciousness. So the injury was quite serious. But as we know Jackie Chan did recover. But now when John Woo watches Jackie in his films John thinks everything that could go wrong in these stunts.