Die fünf Kampfmaschinen der Shaolin

I LOVE this movie. It is one of the few violent movies "grandfathered" into my children's approved stack (Master Killer is another). The movie is a fantasy with superheroes such as Short-axe, Long-axe and Hai-Toh; and, super-villans, such as Brass Head, Iron Robe, Iron Feet, Silver Spear and the Kid with the Golden Arm. Many may disagree with me, but I find this movie better than The Five Deadly Venoms, mostly because it is a lot less sadistic...

It is an easy movie to make fun of, I'll grant you; but, there is a solid, if simple, plot line. Agent Hai-Toh is the main hero and easily the most charismatic character. The Kid with the Golden Arm is a less compelling character, with a face that makes you think that he was hit squarely with a board BEFORE becoming invulnerable...

The fight scenes are long, even for a Chinese movie; but, for a colorful piece if violent escapism, this is unbeatable...

I'd give it, for its genre, three out of four stars...

I recently watched The Five Deadly Venoms and, not knowing much about this genre, did not realize that the general group of actors from that film stayed as a group for other projects; so it was merely by chance that I watched The Kid with the Golden Arms and found that many of them were here again. As with Wu Du, the plot here sets up a series of strong characters and then sees them battle each other; in this case the plot device is a transportation of gold with a collection of people responsible for it while the Che Sa gang are out to get it. Those responsible include Hero Li and Miss Leng who are both skilled with the sword, two skilled axe-men and one drunken sheriff called Hai Tao. On the other side is a collection of chiefs including Silver Spear, Brass Head and of course old Golden Arms himself.

In terms of characterization and narrative, it is as simple as a series of confrontations but it still works very well as a plot because this is what the viewer is after and this is what is delivered. What plot there is does move along pretty well and keeps the characters busy, but it is the action and the characters that sell it. In terms of the use of the same actors I saw before, it is easy to see why this group are popular because they are very effective and engaging both in the action and in their performances. Meng Lo is imposing as the title character even if he seems very similar to his Toad. Kwok is a lot of fun with his character and also has a great closing line. Pai Wei and Helen Poon are a bit too po-faced for the rest of the film and their bits feel a little less fun as a result. Sheng Chiang, Feng Lu, Chien Sun and others are equally more in keeping with the action and fun and their deliveries are good. The fight sequences make the most of their skills too and there are many impressive combat sequences with great moves – the camera as ever sits back and we get good steady shots which show off the actor's skills (as opposed to frantic edits like you get in some Hollywood films, which are to hide the lack of skills!). The action is frantic and fun.

The Kid With the Golden Arms is not quite as good as Wu Du but it is still very enjoyable with lots of good performances from a strong cast and lots of engaging and well executed action sequences. I look forward to seeing the group in action again.

The storyline for The Kid With The Golden Arms is about as basic as can be: the good guys are escorting a shipment of gold to a famine-stricken region and have to stop the bad guys, a collection of broad, colourful comic-book style bandits with self-explanatory names (eg. Bronze Head, Silver Spear, Iron Robe), from stealing it along the way. Makes a change from all of those old school kung fu films that require an in-depth knowledge of Chinese political history in order to understand what is going on, I suppose.

Fortunately, what director Chang Cheh's film lacks in plot development, it more than makes up for with awesome kung fu action, the film comprising of one expertly choreographed and flawlessly executed martial arts scene after another, with a wide variety of impressive weapon work, lots of breath-taking acrobatics, and a surprising amount of bright red gore (characters are regularly sliced and impaled). Philip Kwok, as drunken Agent Hai Tao, proves particularly impressive with his amazing athleticism and impeccable timing.

Although the martial arts choreography isn't as snazzy as it is in modern martials arts film, the movie has a few interesting twists to it.

I was mildly surprised at the end and which was rather novel and refreshing. My only grouse is that the love interest isn't developed more. I would have loved to see a more concrete expression of development, but the portrayal in this film is probably more accurate of the period in which women were not expected to express feelings of love.

If you're a wuxia fan, you will probably add this to your collection as a comparison to modern wuxia. There are enough suspense in it to make it interesting too. Worth a watch.

The Kid With The Golden Arm is easily the best Kung-Fu movie ever made. It was made by the Shaw brothers, the same people who made the classic Five Deadly Venoms. It also stars many of the same people as FDV.

The movie has no main character but is more or less centered around the main villain Golden Arms (played by Meng Lo, Toad in Five Deadly Venoms) and his efforts to steal a wagon full of gold. Golden Arms is the leader of a gang called the Chi Saw gang. It has four cheifs. 1 is Golden Arms who is such a kung-fu master that he doesn't need weapons. 2 is Silver Spear (Feng Lu, Centipede in FDV) who weilds a spear and throwing darts. 3 is Iron Robe (Lung Wei Wang, the Judge in FDV) who wears an iron robe and fights with a fan. And 4 is Brass Head who headbutts people with a brass helmet. Chien Sun (Scorpion in FDV) leads a band of guards who try to protect the wagon. Also, Sun's friends Long Axe and Short Axe (Sheng Chiang, Yan Tien The Disciple in FDV) and Li Chin-Ming (Pai Wei, Snake in FDV) a master swordsman help to protect the gold. Another character, Agent Hi Toe (Philip Kwok, Lizard in FDV) who fights better drunk, is hunting down Golden Arms with hopes to defeat him in battle.

With all these characters you know a lot of ish goes down.

FDV featured mostly hand-to-hand combat while TKWTGA has mostly weapon-based fights, and I like the weapons much better. All the battles are exciting and the plot moves fast without leaving the viewer behind. The acting is even pretty good and Hi Toe is a pretty funny guy. I recommend this movie for anyone who has ever enjoyed a chop socky flick. 10/10 Go Get It!!!!!