the secret rival ( 1976 ) be a fantastic independent kung fu film by the legendary ng see yuen and be perhaps one of the 10 best film of the martial art genre . it be say that ng see yuen want to cast talented unknown martial artist in this film and in the process he help to launch the career of john liu and hwang jang lee and wang tao . the secret rival be a story about two stranger who come to town with different motif and one be out for justice the other for revenge . while in town they display their kung fu on the local and vie for the affection of the same woman . eventually they have to work together to accomplish their secret share goal . film in korea among beautiful pagoda and ancient temple and the secret rival feature plenty of the local martial art taekwondo . this movie be perhaps the great kicking movie of all time . real life taekwondo master and screen kick legends john liu and hwang jang lee put on an absolute kick exhibition with fly kick and jump spinning kick and nearly vertical side kick . john liu put on an awesome display of flexibility and kick ability in this film and prove that he be perhaps one of the most flexible actor in the history of kung fu cinema . liu also give a solid acting performance a the northern leg shao yi fei and a man who be a loner by nature . wang tao give a charismatic performance a southern fist sheng ying wei . wang tao be in tremendous shape in this film and give a terrific physical performance and perhaps the best of his career . there be shade of bruce lee in his performance and especially with the nunchucks . secret rival be also a breakthrough film for hwang jang lee . lee bring a powerful presence to the screen a the evil silver fox and one of the great villain in the genre history . a a real life 7th degree black belt of taekwondo and lee convincingly hold his own against the talented liu and tao . he would go on to star a a villain for much of the rest of his career appear in such film a drunken master and snake in eagle shadow with jackie chan . lee and liu would team up for a few more film include the secret rival 2 and invincible armor and the snuff bottle connection . the secret rival be a bit slow start a a lot of plot and backstory be introduce but the action heat up big time when the silver fox ( lee ) drop in . secret rival feature a unique spaghetti western sound track ( the big gundown by ennio morricone ) with pound drum and twang electric guitar and blare brass section and angelic choral singer . the film be really help out by great support performance feature many talented martial artist in small role . the secret rival do have it old school kung fu movie quirk represent some overacting and bad dubbing and theatrical death and contrive fight and lot of evil laughing . li ming wen ( tommy lee ) and chang chuan do a fantastic job at fight choreography . many kung fu film around the same time have dance like and over choreographed fight sequence . the secret rival feature a fast and more brutal and and realistic style of fight choreography . ( some of the best you will ever see ) the secret rival be a fantastic first effort for seasonal film and be one of the best independent martial art film ever make . solid writing and direction by ng see yuen and great physical performance by john liu and hwang jang lee and wang tao plus some nice stunt work by yuen baio make the secret rival one of the very best film of the kung fu genre . martial art genre rating represent positive ( classic ) i think youre look for trouble . i might just oblige . that will shut you up . i would be glad to accept .