Chase Step By Step (1974)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This nondescript Taiwanese kung fu flick has a simple premise, one that looks to have been inspired by the classic LONE WOLF & CUB series by the Japanese. Essentially, two people must transport gold across the country, while a hundred and one assorted traitors, bandits, thugs, henchmen, criminal masterminds, assassins, and prostitutes try to steal it off them. What follows is a simple plot, nothing more than a series of fight scenes strung together over a threadbare premise. If the fights were decent, this wouldn't matter; unfortunately, they ain't. Not much of this film is of a high quality. The direction is uninspired, the script silly, and the martial arts undistinguished (one of these films where limbs are stiff and made out of wood and lots of people jump around).What's most galling is that this could have been a great film – precisely because of the set-up. The fact that our two heroes are acrobats invites some excellent moments, such as when the hero jumps off the roof of a building to land on an enemy's chest, or the insane jumps that they frequently make. Yet these gravity-defying scenes occupy only a few minutes of the proceedings and are mainly limited to the (great) opening sequence. The appearance of a female ass-kicker – Shu Lin Chang, who rivals SISTER STREET FIGHTER – also bodes well and, indeed, she's the most appealing aspect of the whole movie. The hero is wooden, though, and would have been better off in an ensemble piece – I can see him as an archer or ninja or something. The overacting of the villains is another plus, with their facial expressions adding much amusement to the flick. As a whole, though, CHASE STEP BY STEP is deservedly obscure, with absolutely nothing to distinguish it from the hundreds of other low-budget kung fu flicks churned out during the decade.

It starts with acrobats and the cutest little trained dog along with the opening credits. Teacher receives a message to please send men to guard the money for the famine relief. (Why are they sending gold instead of food?) Ten minutes later they are still talking about it. Finally, on the road our girl and hero easily defeat two would-be robbers but they are pursued. At the inn our hero reveals they carry gold to the inn mistress but says that is part of his plan. Is he another dumb male or a clever chap? He switched the gold with rocks, somehow, and that made him clever. Our team is now back on the road for another robber attack. This pattern keeps repeating. I found it amusing that Hsu Feng is upset whenever Wong Goon-Hung gets a kiss from a chick but she isn't putting out either. Most important, and all the other chicks end up dead so what's her problem! The action is good and plenty yet that often becomes a problem when all the fights start to look alike. There is a fight on stilts that defies all physics and worse just doesn't look any different. Also a Korean "Akido fighter" (pronounced Ahh–ki-doh) shows up but again offers nothing different in style. (Akido is Japanese and not pronounced like that.) My copy is English dubbed and in 4:3 screen format with a lot of the sides cut off to fit the VHS it was likely made for with minimal acceptable resolution for modern television viewing. I give it a 6 out of 10 for standard as expected with a tad better than average fights.

This is an extremely enjoyable example of the genre, featuring good action and surprisingly above-average voices and dubbing. For once, the anglicized voices don't seem totally haphazard and incongruous, and the dubbing is by and large tolerable. There are a few too many amazing leaps for me, but the actual fighting is accomplished with minimal wirework and reasonable fluidity (look out for the scene where the hero fights on stilts!) Kuan-Hung Wang (male lead) is impressive, his female counterpart slightly less so, and the villains not at all. There's some kind of relationship between the male and female leads, although it's not entirely clear whether it's brother/sister or more romantic in nature. The two main characters are supposed to be circus performers; it's never explained how the became so adept at martial arts, but I suspect this is some kind of cultural phenomenon that doesn't quite translate to the west.

Two circus performers and martial artists are sent to deliver a trunk full of gold to a town experiencing famine and a siege of marauders. The marauders, of course, are waiting for them around every corner and they are besieged at each step. As much time is taken up with very entertaining and fast paced fight scenes as plot exposition. The writer also added elements of romantic tension and some vaguely historical political references to lend the film a little more interest and complexity than the genre norm. The romantic element is never tedious and gives the characters more depth than those of more typical martial arts action films.The paragraph above describes about half the plot. To avoid a spoiler I can not say anything about the remainder of the film.All considered, Bu Bu Zhui Zong (or Chase Step by Step) is a fairly enjoyable action film with an attractive and reasonably talented cast. The story moves quickly in order to avoid the boredom its core simplicity would have normally engendered, but remains easy to follow. The English language version is better dubbed than average and the dialog is above generally genre standards while the cinematography is pretty average.Recommended for martial arts fans