7 Mandarin films of 1979 ranked by box office. #1: Snake in the Monkey's Shadow ($1.4 million).
| # | Film | Lead | Director | Budget | Box office | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snake in the Monkey's Shadow | Sum Cheung | $1.4 million | |||
| The Gunshots in the Secrecy Bureau | Chang Yan | CN¥18 million | ||||
| The Deadly Breaking Sword | Sun Chung | HK$2.7 million | ||||
| Dragon Fist | Lo Wei | HK$1 million | ||||
| Legend of the Mountain | King Hu | HK$734,936 | ||||
| The Brothers | Hua Shan | HK$556,266 | ||||
| Abbot of Shaolin | Ho Meng Hua | HK$116,880 |
Figures are shown in the currency they were reported in (Wikipedia, Wikidata or TMDB); no conversion.