The Challenger Poster

In the wake of his protege Jackie Chan’s success with ‘Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow’ and ‘Drunken Master’, director/producer Lo Wei tried to exploit the kung fu comedy genre that Jackie had pioneered. He hired comedian Eric Tsang, an unlikely former Shaw Bros stuntman, to make his directorial debut with ‘The Challenger’.

Tsang had worked for Lau Kar-leung at Shaw Brothers, and the film feels like a Shaw film manque. Its scripted by Lau’s regular screenwriter, Ni Kuang, and stars studio regular David Chiang, Tsui Siu-keung and Lily Lee. Unlike Lo Wei’s other recent films, but in line with the other hit kung fu comedies, ‘The Challenger’ was shot in Hong Kong rather than Taiwan.

The film is packed with director Tsang’s innovative ideas, and crisp kung fu choreography from start to finish. ‘The Challenger’ is now regarded as a bona fide cult classic, and Reel East  are proud to celebrate the film by making this gorgeous original artwork theatrical poster available to its fans: