Hand of Death

Hand of Death, also known as Countdown in Kung Fu, is a 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film written and directed by John Woo. It stars Doran Tan and James Tien in leading roles, and features early supporting performances from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Yuen Biao also makes a cameo appearance. In addition to their acting roles, Hung also worked as stunt co-ordinator, whilst Biao also performed much of the stuntwork, including doubling for both of the principal stars. Plot During the Qing Dynasty the Shaolin disciples are hunted down by a powerful warrior, Shih Shao-Feng, who wants to rid China of the Shaolin. At a remote training camp a group of Shaolin train together. Their best student Yun Fei is given the task of taking down Shih and his reign of terror. Along the way he befriends Tan Feng, who is a blacksmith. Yun Fei arrives at Shih's camp and tries to take him, but fails. His Shaolin techniques are useless against Shih's "extended iron claw". When Shih beats him, he leaves the rest to his eight bodyguards, who each have weapons such as swords, shields and spears. Yun Fei escapes with the help of the blacksmith, goes to a village and discovers Shih's men are taking apart the village and pillaging anything they can to scare the villagers into submission.