Okay here is what happens Bruce and three of his buddies go diving and find some gold. Bruce warns them that the gold belongs to smugglers, is hard to sell, and will cause trouble. Bruce tosses the gold back into the sea. The next day Bruce's friend, Ah Kun, goes back to get the gold. The smugglers track the four down. They kidnap one of Bruce's friends and they try to get him back, but he's killed. The smugglers hire someone to kill Bruce and his two remaining friends. Finally it's down to Bruce against the hired thug.
I know it sounds exciting and stuff, but it is. Most of kung fu films produced around the same time are full of lame humour. IRSB is quite the opposite, it's surprisingly dark and a nice change from the "kung fu comedy". In one scene the hitman throws a burning sack on Bruce's girlfriend. She kicks around on the floor as the burning sack covers her head. That scene seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the movie. Except where the hitman repeatedly stabs Ah Kun in the bathtub and then hangs him from the shower. The fight scenes are typical Bruce Li fare but there are a couple standouts, especially when Bruce fights the hitman at the end played by Phillip Ko. They try to out do each other's bootwork and it ends with Bruce kicking the guy's head right off, the film's highlight for me. I found the ending to be shocking! After killing the hitman, Bruce leaves the building only to be shot dead by another hitman. Bruce nooooooooo! Bruce Li doing a good job of separating himself from the whole "Bruce Lee scene" by giving us something darker and grittier.
Reviewed by Keith