Are you ready for endless action with the thinnest of plots? No? OK that's warning enough. You want to see extremely talented martial artists and acrobats fight each other? Yes? This is the right film. Sloppily directed by second tier Shaw Bros. director Lo Mar, this film is carried by the fight choreographer and the actors.

The plot? Imprisoned brash young martial artist and fellow prisoner, who is a student of a "Gibbon Fist" master just executed, escape and search for the lost Gibbon Fist Kung Fu manual while being chased by the son of the deceased master's greatest enemy, a pole fighting master. That's it, no dramatic filler, no lengthy explanations, just fighting.

The martial arts are truly impressive. The people involved really made an effort for the most part. The story is really a series of set pieces that barely relate to each other. Two big scenes are completely pointless except for the martial art and acrobatic skills on display. This film is one of the few places to see action choreographer Siu-Tung Ching on camera showing what he knows. Not the most photogenic guy but he can move. Director Lo Mar seems to have quit the business soon after this film and it's a good thing. His sense of editing is some of the worst I've seen in HK films. If not for the talents of the actors and to a lesser degree the cameraman, this film would have been trash.

Recommended for fight fans. Need a story and some character interaction? Not here.

Lo Mar's "Monkey Kung Fu" does not have much of a story but the action and performance by martial arts choreographer Tony Ching Siu-Tung ("House of Flying Daggers", "Chinese Ghost Story") is absolutely amazing. His athletic stunts, wireless jumps and kicks are a joy to behold. The new Shaw Brothers DVD is the best deal to watch this incredible action.

However, it seems there is a little mix-up in the names and the user comments of the film. The time I'm writing this, the IMDb picture shows "Monkey Kung Fu" aka. "Monkey Fist, Floating Snake", a vastly inferior movie. But the cast refers to the Shaw film, which is also listed as "Stroke of Death" (1980) - its alternative title.

"Monkey Kung Fu" by Lo Mars starring Ching Siu-Tung tells of a small time crook who gets sentenced to prison. He meets a one-eyed master in the cell who gives him a mysterious object. Ching breaks out of prison with another guy and searches for the answer to the riddle which will lead him to "Gibbon Fist Clan"'s kung-fu technique.