History Film / SnakeInTheEaglesShadow

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While he only apears briefly, Master Hung, head of the Hungtai school, doesn't seem to be anywhere the prick his two subordinates are, and treats Chien like an actual person.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snake_in_eagle_shadow.jpg]]

* PaperTiger: The two stand-in masters at Chien's kung fu school who use him as their punching bag. When faced with a challenge by the Three Provinces Champion, they try to chicken out before fighting him two-on-one and getting their asses kicked.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Chien Fu inadvertently reveals the Old Man must be hiding nearby after the Eagle Claw master spies on him fighting the Three Provinces Champion using the Snake Fist.
** NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Though by fighting Chien and leaving him alive to lure out the Old Man, Chien is inspired to invent his Cat's Claw style partially based on Eagle Claw techniques, eventually using it to overcome Sheng Kuan.]]

* FightingFingerprint: Sheng Kuan realizes Chien is the Old Man's student after seeing him fight with the Snake Fist. He then pretends to be the Old Man's colleague, but while sparring with Chien, he uses Eagle Claw moves which are clearly different. Sheng Kuan bluffs that the Old Man didn't show Chien everything he knows.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: The Old Man pretends to be a shabby beggar to throw off his Eagle Claw pursuers.

** NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Though by fighting Chien and leaving him alive to lure out the Old Man, Chien is inspired to invent his Cat's Claw partially based on Eagle Claw techniques, eventually using it to overcome Sheng Kuan.]]

* RivalDojos: The overarching conflict is the feud between the Snake Fist and Eagle Claw schools. By the start of the film, Eagle Claw has exterminated almost everyone from Snake Fist.

* TheMole: The cook at Chien Fu's school ([[PetTheDog and the only one nice to him]]) [[spoiler: turns out to be a spy for Eagle Claw. After finding out Chien and the Old Man are Snake Fist practitioners, he attempts to poison their tea.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Chien, after learning Snake Style, to the point that he defeats the guy who effortlessly took down the two masters of Chien's school at the same time. [[spoiler: He levels up again after developing Cat's Claw, and combining it with his Snake Fist.]]

* TrainingFromHell: Pai Cheng-Tien (the Old Man) would know how best to train a student in Snake Fist Style. Even if the two are good friends, the Old Man refuses to pull his punches for someone he likes. Justified in that he knows that if Chien Fu should ever be discovered to have learned the style at all, or even be acquainted to someone who knows it, his life would be in mortal danger from practitioners of the Eagle Claw.
%%* YinYangBomb

* ReReleaseSoundtrack: The first Jackie Chan film to start the long trend of films featuring him to be re-scored for international audiences. The original Hong Kong release used needledropped music from sources as disparate as ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', and the disco song ''Magic Fly'' by Space. For the film's wider international release in the 1980s, a new copyright-friendly score was commissioned.

Then we meet Chien, an orphan regularly [[ButtMonkey beaten upon]] and treated like a servant by the Kung Fu school that has adopted him. One day after a particular painful beating he sullenly walks along to find an old-man set upon by a gang of kung fu fighters. Jumping to his aid and through a series of kung fu hijinks the old man decides to teach Chien Snake Style and through TrainingFromHell leads him to his IKnowKarate moment.

* BigBad: Shang Kuan, master of the Eagle Claw school.
* BluffTheImposter: When Chien Fu first encounters Shang Kuan, the latter claims to be the Old Man's colleague/brother. Chien calls his bluff, only for the Eagle Claw master to demonstrate Snake Fist techniques, successfully fooling him for now.
* BruceLeeClone: Averted. This film marked the end of Jackie Chan playing this.

* CoolOldGuy: After seeing Chien Fu getting abused yet again, the Old Man cheers him up by playing a game of Keep Away while also teaching him Snake Style footwork. Later, he mentors Chien in the Snake Fist

* DontCallMeSir: The Old Man tells Chien not to call him "master" since they are friends (in reality, to keep him out of the Snake-Eagle conflict).

** And later, "Taking the Pearl" which Chien uses to defeat the Russian fighter.
%%* IFightForTheStrongestSide: The students flock toward whichever has the stronger master.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: The Old Man pretends to be a shabby beggar to avoid being recognized by the Eagle Claw disciples.
* OldMaster: The Old Man aka Pai Cheng-Tien, master of the Snake Fist.

** NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Though by fighting Chien and leaving him alive to lure out the Old Man, Chien was inspired to invent his Cat's Claw partially based on Eagle Claw techniques, eventually using it to overcome Shang Kuan.]]
* RivalDojos: The overarching conflict is the feud between the Snake Fist and Eagle Claw schools. By the start of the film, Eagle Claw has exterminated almost every student from Snake Fist.
** A subplot involves the rivalry between the Hungtai School (where Chien works) and the Hungwei School, whose best student is the champion fighter of 3 provinces. The students of both schools keep flocking toward the one [[IFightForTheStrongestSide with the stronger fighters]].
* SinisterMinister: The FunnyForeigner missionary turns out to be a Russian mercenary for the Eagle Claw school.

%%* CoolOldGuy

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Chien Fu accidentally reveals the Old Man must be hiding nearby after the Eagle Claw master spies on him fighting using the Snake Fist.
** NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Though by fighting Chien and leaving him alive, Chien was inspired to invent his Cat's Claw partially based on Eagle Claw techniques]]

** A subplot involves the rivalry between the Hungtai School (where Chien works) and the Hungwei School, whose best student is the champion fighter of 3 provinces.

* TookALevelInBadass: Chien, after learning Snake Style, to the point that he can kick the ass of the guy who effortlessly took down the two masters of Chien's school at the same time. [[spoiler: He levels up again after developing Cat's Claw, and combining it with his Snake Fist]]

* BruceLeeClone: Averted.

* IronicEcho: When Chien Fu warns Master Hung about the Three Provinces Champion, Hung sternly orders Chien to "get back", probably thinking the well-meaning kid is still useless backup- once Chien starts demonstrating Snake Fist Style and kicking the Champion's ass, Hung steps forward to get a word in and Chien orders ''him'' to "get back".
* OldMaster: The Old Man.

** Beating the man who defeated the 2 stand-in masters at the school Chien lives at might not seem impressive, given how obviously and grossly incompetent they are- until you bear in mind that the man who beat them is the champion of a competition from 3 provinces, putting him as one of the best fighters around.

%%https://www.kungfuvision.com/images/item/879image11267202833.jpg hotlink

* MemeticMutation: Jackie Chan's [[https://youtu.be/xECx-42Wlho killing strike against the Mantis School master]]. It's listed among several other hamtastic death scenes as one of the "best" (as in hilariously overdone) death scenes in movies.

But the master of the Eagle Claw takes notice of his newfound abilities, and things wont end peacefully...

Creator/JackieChan's breakout film and Yuen Woo Ping's directorial debut, this movie helped revitalize both their careers and the waning Hong Kong film industry.

Jackie Chan's breakout film and Yuen Woo Ping's directorial debut, this movie helped revitalize both their careers and the waning Hong Kong film industry.

The story starts off showing a master of the renowned Snake Style fighting and dying at the hands of a wandering ArrogantKungFuGuy,a master of the Eagle Claw who has sworn to kill all masters of the Snake Style.

!!Tropes featured include:

Then we meet Chien, an orphan regularly [[ButtMonkey beaten upon]] and treated like a servant by the Kung Fu school that has adopted him. One day after a particular painful beating he sullenly walks along to find an old-man set upon by a gang of kung fu fighters. Jumping to his aid and through a series of kung fu hijinks the old man decides to teach Chien Snake Style and through TrainingFromHell leads him to his IKnowKungFu moment.