The Young Master (1980)

Chan returned with a clearly improved handle on pacing, character, and combat directing after making his directorial debut the year before with "The Fearless Hyena" (1979). Chan's character searches for his brother in "The Young Master," but is mistaken for an escaped criminal along the way. He's thrown into several bouts, yet he doesn't require any training; all he needs is motivation. The bad guys are happy to help, resulting in a sequence of setpieces that are deadly serious situations despite the occasional comic relief.

The film's finest peaks come in the form of its bookends, but there are tiny moments throughout. The film begins with a brilliantly choreographed dance in which numerous performers manipulate a dragon-like paper lion through painstaking moves — part dance, part competition, all expertly accomplished — and ends with the anticipated great fight. It takes place atop a hill with views in all directions and lasts around 15 minutes. It's Chan vs. Hwang In-Shik, and our hero keeps getting his a$$ handed to him until a last-minute swig of bong water irritates him and renders him unbreakable.