Northern Shaolin Lion vs. Southern Manchurian Lion
Lion Vs. Lion is a 1981 Martial Arts Movie released by Shaw Brothers, starring Wong Yue, Lo Mang, Sharon Yeung (in a relatively minor role) and long-time Shaw villain, Johnny Wang.
During the final years of the Qing Dynasty, the Tian-Di society, supporting the rebels of the Anti-Manchurian movement, have procured a list of their most important members and leaders in a secret scroll, which they then had it delivered to a confidential location. Two members of the society, Ah Yue and Ah Cun, must uncover the location of the list after the previous holder who knew the location was killed, and to do that they are required to win a lion dance competition against the Manchurian practitioners of kung-fu, led by their boss, Bill Zhu. Yes, really.
Contains examples of:
- Action Girl: The previous holder of the secret list, played by action-girl icon Sharon Yeung Pan-pan.
- Action Prologue: The movie opens with a touranament between the champions of the Manchu and the Ming, fighting each other in the palace's Grand Hall, being spectated by Emperor Pu-Yi and his subjects.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Bill Zhu is killed by his own reinforcements, and Yue is the only named character remaining alive. Surrounded and nowhere to go, he takes a high leap out of the courtyard, only to be promptly hit by numerous arrows while mid-air. The film literally ends with a freeze-frame of him getting arrowed, and never made it clear what happens after that.
- Ceiling Cling: The preferred method used by Yue when spying on Zhu during the night infiltration. The candles being blown out helps.
- Chairman of the Brawl: Yue and Zhu had a rather intense battle where both of them uses benches as weapons.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The lion dance battle have the heroic Shaolin lion being gold and yellow, while the Manchurian lion is black and white.
- Dance Battler: Given that the main characters, good guys and baddies alike, are all trained lion dance troupe members, it goes without saying that their fighting moves incorporates plenty of dance in it.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: An example between blood brothers, Ah Chun dying in Ah Yue's arms after getting impaled by Bill Zhu.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Several of Zhu's best mooks are inexplicably dressed in ninja gear. Very likely to identify their status as Elite Mooks considering how they put up hell of a fight compared to lesser mooks.
- A Handful for an Eye: Yue came Crazy-Prepared for the penultimate lion tournament, installing saltwater jets in the head of the yellow Shaolin lion. When both the Shaolin and Manchurian lions' heads starts clashing, Yue blasts the Manchurian lion head's controller in the face with saltwater.
- Hand Stomp: Occurs during the iconic lion brawl, when Ah Yue missed his footing and ends up clinging on a railing with one hand and holding the yellow lion's head with another. Zhu immediately tries to stomp his fingers to force him into falling.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: The two proptagonists, Ah Yue and Ah Cun.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Ah Cun, losing a fight against Bill Zhu, ends up getting a bamboo rod through his gut. He succumbs moments after Yue finds him later on.
- In a Single Bound: The Shaolin practitioners does this all the time, in typical kung-fu movie fashion.
- Lady in Red: Sharon Yeung's character, the... Lady in Red. Yep, Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- The Namesake: The tournament battle between lion performers, fought between the Northern Shaolin practitioners led by Yue and Chun, and the Manchurians led by Zhu, occurs halfway through the movie. And lasts for at least fifteen minutes, non-stop. It ends with Yue and Chun and their Shaolin allies knocking Zhu and the Manchurians off their performing stage, thus winning the battle.
- Puppet King: The Infamous Puppet Emperor of China, Emperor Pu-yi, does show up in this movie, and he is depicted exactly as how history portrays him - utterly incompetent, easily giving in to the advice of corrupt officials, and leaving whatever responsibilities of his as an Emperor to the Empress Dowager.
- Sore Loser: After the Ming fighter defeats his Manchu counterpart in the opening battle, the Manchus responds by having archers nail down the Ming fighter, preventing him from leaving altogether.
- Step into the Blinding Fight: The final battle against Bill Zhu is set in a dimly-lit, abandoned mansion, between Yue and Zhu.
