Fo zhang luo han quan

(1980) The Buddhist Fist DUBBED MARTIAL ARTS PERIOD PIECE

Two very good friends of Si-Ming (Siu Ming Tsui) and Shang (Shun-Yee Yuen) with one of them studying to become a monk while the other wanting to find a living in the city. Upon making a living as a barber cutting hair Shang soon finds out that his god father is missing. We know that it has something to do with the conspiracy to steal the Buddha Jaded stone on the temple and that Shang's best friend Si-ming has something to do with it. This thin and rather predictable set up obviously serves as a backdrop to the well choreographed martial art scenes and directed by Yuen Woo-Ping who was involved in more than a hundred martial movies including "The Matrix". Yuen woo-Ping has also contributed in making Jackie Chan into a superstar from his direction of "Drunken Master" and "Snake In The Eagle's Shadow" the first movies that made it big in Jackie Chan's career. At the beginning of this early effort, the fights weren't that good at the beginning but became so much better as the film progresses.

This is the best kung fu film ever, no doubt. Absurdly complex fight sequences, kung fu monks, stunning fisting scenes. Don't ask me what the plot was, I just know this film has to be seen to be believed. The guy who did the fight scenes also engineered the fight sequences in The Matrix, but this film is light years beyond Keanu Reeves. It HAS to be seen.

The Buddhist Fist (1980) is most certainly not among the better exponents of its genre. It has some decent and fairly entertaining kung fu here and there, but the story is generally boring. The motivation of the bad guy is non-existent. The terrible attempts at humor mostly fall totally flat and are generally misplaced. I'll admit, though, that the Fat Master is quite entertaining, and will make anyone smile with his unbeatable kung fu (and chess fu!).

Story and production-wise, the movie warrants a "5" rating, but I will raise that to a solid "6" because the entertainment value is fair and the movie has an amazing finish.

The final fight is superb. It's like an inventory of all the "Buddha" styles; "Sleeping Buddha", "Drunken Buddha", etc., and it's of a good length. This sort of scenes is what Asian movies can do that Western movies can't, because no Westerners have this kind of devotion to and tradition for martial arts in the movies.

Special mention should also go to the guy who plays Boss Chang (the one with a big and a small foot). He's one cool dude, though his role here is nothing much. Catch him as a very cool monk in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin instead.

You can tell this is one of Woo-Pings earlier works because there is very little wire work done. The fights are all of course expertly choreographed though. The movie itself has an interesting storyline, or at least as interesting as a kung fu movie from 1980 gets. Some of the fighting shows good demonstrations of fist versus palm styles. The DVD version of the movie looks good for the most part, with only a few grains and does have a line going down the left side of the screen for the first 15 minutes of the movie. Its not enough to distract you though and the only other really bad part is a thirty second scene in the dark where there is a lot of grain on the film.

If you're into the type of kung fu movies with an emphasis on humor, pick up "The Buddhist Fist". This one was a bit TOO funny, and was almost a distraction. The fighting is great, but at times looked too choreographed. Jackin Chan has done it much better, so look there. Good for a one time rental. If you need something, pick up one of his other movies, like the flawless "Iron Monkey".