Editing Sammo Hung (section)

===1980s===
As Hung's fame grew, he used his newly found influence to assist his former China Drama Academy classmates, as well as the former students of "rival" school The Spring and Autumn Drama School. Aside from regular collaborations with Chan, others such as [[Yuen Biao]], [[Yuen Wah]], [[Lam Ching-ying]] and [[Mang Hoi]] also began to make regular appearances in his films.

In 1978 and 1981, Hung made two films that contain fine examples of the [[Wing Chun]] style. The first, ''[[Warriors Two]]'', was the most significant role to date for South Korean super kicker [[Casanova Wong]], who teamed up with Hung in the final fight. The second film was ''[[The Prodigal Son (1981 film)|The Prodigal Son]]'', in which the Wing Chun fighting was performed by Lam Ching-Ying. The release of ''The Prodigal Son'', along with another film directed by and co-starring Hung, ''[[Knockabout (film)|Knockabout]]'' (1979), also elevated his fellow Opera schoolmate [[Yuen Biao]] to stardom.

Hung's martial arts films of the 1980s helped reconfigure how martial arts were presented on screen. While the martial arts films of the 1970s generally featured highly stylised fighting sequences in [[period piece|period]] or fantasy settings, Hung's choreography, set in modern urban areas, was more realistic and frenetic - featuring long one-on-one fight scenes. The fight sequences from several of these films, such as those in ''[[Winners and Sinners]]'' (1982) and ''[[Wheels on Meals]]'' (1985) came to define 1980s martial arts movies.

In 1983, the collaboration between the triumvirate of Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao began with Chan's ''[[Project A (film)|Project A]]''. Hung, Chan and Yuen were known as the 'Three Dragons' and their alliance lasted for 5 years. Although Yuen continued to appear in the films of Hung and Chan, the final film to date starring all three was 1988's ''[[Dragons Forever]]''.

Hung was also responsible for the ''[[Lucky Stars]]'' comedy film series in the 1980s. He directed and co-starred in the original trilogy, ''[[Winners and Sinners]]'' (1983), ''[[My Lucky Stars]]'' (1985) and ''[[Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars]]'' (1985). These first three films featured Chan and Biao in supporting roles. Hung also produced and played a supporting role in the fourth film, ''[[Lucky Stars Go Places]]'' (1986), and made a cameo appearance in the sixth and final film, ''[[How to Meet the Lucky Stars]]'' (1996).

During the 1980s, Hung was instrumental in popularizing the [[jiangshi fiction|''jiangshi'' genre]]. [[Jiangshi]] are reanimated corpses which can only move by hopping due to the onset of rigor mortis, a Chinese equivalent to Western vampires. Two landmark films, ''[[Encounters of the Spooky Kind]]'' (1980) and ''[[The Dead and the Deadly]]'' (1983), featured jiangshi who move by hopping towards their victims, as well as [[Taoist]] priests with the ability to control these vampires (and at times, each other) through magical spells and charms. Hung's jiangshi films would pave the way for films such as the popular ''[[Mr. Vampire]]'' (1985), which he also produced, and its sequels. He revitalised the subgenre of female-led martial art films, producing cop films such as ''[[Yes, Madam (1985 film)|Yes, Madam]]'' a.k.a. ''Police Assassins'' (1985), which introduced stars [[Michelle Yeoh]] and [[Cynthia Rothrock]].