The Miracle Fighters (1982)

Former Royal Guardsman Kao was forced to be on the run when his superior couldn't tolerate him being a Manchu marrying a Han woman. A young prince was inadvertently killed when he kidnapped the boy to aid in his escape. 14 years later, Kao now a drunkard ridden with guilt, has been living with a young orphan by the name of Shu Geng. Also introduced are two wacky old bickering sorcerer couple, Old Man and Old Spinster, who are always competing with each other over the most trivial matters. Before long, the old nemesis of Kao, the powerful Socerer Bat, found his whereabouts and killed him. Harboring evil ambitions, Sorcerer Bat forces Shu Geng to impersonate the belated prince, with the intention that one day he can ruled alongside the would-be king. Shu Geng manages to escape, amid strange encounters with the clown in-the-jar, and meets the two even stranger bickering magician couple, who teach him their craft. The rest is a typical revenge motivated plot, in which the young prodigy learn the martial arts to defeat the villain. The setting however, is not so typical as the finale takes place in a sorcerer competition where Shu Geng faces not only the evil Bat, but also countless other sorcerers, each possessing his own unique magic and abilities. The choreography and inventiveness of the fights make this early collaboration of the Yuen brothers stand out among the work of Yuen Woo-Ping, who move on to become on of the most sought after action director in the business today.—David, Lee Fu Nang