I am trying to track down the title of a film I saw on TV here in australia in the late 70's / 80's , unsure . I don't have any info about actors , directors or even a specific year , sorry.

It was about ( bare with me please , I may have gotten some of this wrong ) a soldier whose death was faked so he could undertake more secret operations within the military or something , he was taken to a facility to undergo special training , he was trained by a old wisened asian master .

I remember the training scenes mainly , the master made our hero train in a room full of metal poles sticking out of the ground , each pole at different heights , where he had to jump from one to another , just as our hero was getting cocky " hey I think i got the hang of this ! " the master left the room turning off the light as he did so , leaving us with a black screen hearing only a loud crash & a groan .

I think he was also buried alive in one scene & had to dig his way out , but in the end I think the master & his student had to fight each other to the death after the mission our hero was chosen for was completed . There may have been some stipulation within this top secret organisation where you could not leave , you could only die in action , or something .

I realise this may be a vague outline , but any help is greatly appreciated .

I am trying to track down the title of a film i saw on tv here in australia in the late 70's / 80's , unsure . I dont have any info about actors , directors or even a specific year , sorry.

It was about ( bare with me please , I may have gotten some of this wrong ) a soldier whose death was faked so he could undertake more secret operations within the military or something , he was taken to a facility to undergo special training , he was trained by a old wisened asian master .

I remember the training scenes mainly , the master made our hero train in a room full of metal poles sticking out of the ground , each pole at different heights , where he had to jump from one to another , just as our hero was getting cocky " hey I think i got the hang of this ! " the master left the room turning off the light as he did so , leaving us with a black screen hearing only a loud crash & a groan .

I think he was also buried alive in one scene & had to dig his way out , but in the end i think the master & his student had to fight each other to the death after the mission our hero was chosen for was completed . There may have been some stipulation within this top secret organisation where you could not leave , you could only die in action , or something .

I realise this may be a vague outline , but any help is greatly appreciated .
Oh ! One more thing , the main character was a guy , short dark hair , kind of reminded me of a younger tommy lee jones , already tried IMDB for Tommy lee jones films , couldn't find anything . Hope this helps .

Remo williams the adventure begins it's a hoot

Fred Ward stars he was a cop Joel Grey was the old teacher "Chiun" 1985 stay away from the DVD, poor quality.

Thank you sooo much cowardleelion , you have hit the nail on the head , fred Ward! Of course! Now to find a copy of it .

Maybe I can return the favour sometime

Thanks again