Za ji wang ming dui

I was about to write a review of this film saying it's not quite as great as a Venom Mob marital arts film, but when I pulled it up on IMDb, it is a Venom Mob martial arts action flick! I think I was thrown in that while the film had terrific acrobatic fight sequences that were just as impressive as any of the groups best films, it had a more comedic of tone and was also not nearly as violent as most of their other films. Still, the fight sequences are stellar in this familiar story about a of group of heroes plotting an elaborate scheme to avenge their friend's murder.

I remember watching this in Chinatown when it came out, back in 1980 (at least in the US) and it was one of the last Shaw brothers movies I made a trek over the bay bridge to see. Unlike many reviewers, I never liked 5 Venoms. Sorry, but walking on walls and the ceiling is just not my idea of kung fu. The was even worse, with silly acrobatics and flips just killed it for me. I was a fan of Fu Sheng, Ti Lung and Chen Kuan Tai, who all seemed to have some omph behind their kung fu (possibly because the all were from schools that sparred) but the venoms struck me as all show. Anyway, Jackie Chan made Young Master, and that was it. Golden Harvest had won, after all. I know the Shaw's tried to crank them out for a few more years, but movies like this were what killed them.

This is one of the few post "5 Deadly Venoms" to feature all "six" Venoms. Sheng Chiang, while always associated as a venom actually never played one. This film has the "Snake", Pai Wei in a supporting role as an evil bodyguard.

A very uneven film, it bends from light comedy to light seriousness without really delivering either. Some interesting plot elements are not expanded on and that's a shame. There are really only two fight scenes in the whole film, one about half way through and the other at the end for about fifteen minutes. A couple of short training scenes and an ultimately bizarre scene with the bad guys showing off their deadly techniques to a general liven things up a bit. The finale is very good but you have to wade through the very boring second half to get to it. A good portion of the movie is designed to show off the acrobatic abilities of the three actors who originally came from acrobatic troupes in Taiwan. Unfortunately the scenes are not the greatest examples of Chinese acrobatics, if you've ever had the chance to see Mainland acrobats.

Director Chang Cheh and the Venoms have all done better films. Good for Shaw fans. Known as "Shaolin Daredevils", there is nothing associated with Shaolin in this film.

DAREDEVILS OF KUNG FU (1979) is one of a series of Shaw Bros. kung fu films featuring the actors known collectively as the Five Venoms. It's also one of the few that has all five of the Venoms operating together as a team. There aren't as many fight scenes as in most Venoms films. Most of the action consists of acrobatics, which the Venoms perform (expertly) to earn eating money. The big brawl in a warehouse at the end has three of the five, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng and Chiang Sheng, taking on the chief bad guys, including General Han, played by Wang Li, a frequent co-star of the Venoms.

Set in the early 20th century, the plot involves corrupt military men and civil war and is all shot on Shaw Bros. studio sets. One of the Venom characters gets killed half-way through the film, so the other four plan an elaborate sting operation to get revenge. They use the dead man's money and bankbook to put one over on General Han by making Lu Feng out to be a top officer's son. They claim they've got weapons to sell to the general, but all they have to show are a machine gun and two pistols, which were actually lifted by the boys from an armory in an abortive robbery attempt. At some point the general's men receive the robbery report and put two & two together.

This is an unusual entry in the Venoms series, but it's not one of the best. The actors are all good and fun to watch together, but the plot, despite some clever scenes, is just not very compelling. Still, it remains a must-see film for Venoms fans.

ADDENDUM (4/28/13): Since writing the above review, I've re-watched the film on Celestial's R3 DVD (released as THE DAREDEVILS) and was much more impressed with it overall. Of all the Five Venoms films, this one gives us more of an opportunity to appreciate these actors as true artists of kung fu performance. Three of them (Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng) play street performers who do a highly enjoyable acrobatic act several times in the film. Kuo and Chiang perform a separate act without Lu later in the film at a reception for the General. At the end, the big fight finale in the warehouse between the three of them and the General and his bodyguards is staged and filmed like a performance, with many of the acrobatic routines incorporated into the action choreography. Kung fu on film was often more of a performance art than a martial or fighting art and this film demonstrates that quite vividly.