Jie shi ying xiong

After watching so many late Chang Cheh films recently that disappointed me in some way, I was wondering where were some of the films that I remember so fondly from the Saturday afternoon kung fu movies on TV from the early 1980's. Well wait and ye shall receive.

Two young bored martial artists train with each other when their jobs allow them. One a waiter at a restaurant (Kuo Chui), knows the Black Tiger style and is excellent fighting with stools and dish ware. The other, a Mantis student (Lo Meng), works at a tofu store. He trains using the tools of tofu production. They meet up with a young man (Sun Chien) who is studying the 49 post Big Dipper style. Together they get together and test each others skills in friendly matches. Meanwhile the evil White Eyebrow priest is wiping out all the Shaolin temples with his crew of super fighters lead by Lu Feng. A gravely injured Shaolin disciple escapes the massacre and comes to town looking for a Chinese acrobat (Chiang Sheng) to help him. The three hide him and vow to help. Enter the evil super fighters.

Shaolin Rescuers contains just about everything a Shaw classic should contain; Kung Fu training sequences, fights with common objects like chopsticks and stools, crazy super villains and good fight scenes at regular intervals. The great final fight is over twenty minutes long. The coordination of the actors is amazing. Overall the film is light in tone with a humorous tone throughout until the final confrontation. The Venoms are in top form in this film. Most of the stunts seem to be the true skills of the actors with few obvious uses of wires.

This film defines the classic kung fu entertainment of the early 1980's. Very recommended.

AVENGING WARRIORS OF SHAOLIN (aka SHAOLIN RESCUERS, 1978) is an above-average entry in the series of kung fu films starring the group of actors known as the Five Venoms (KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, KILLER ARMY, DAREDEVILS OF KUNG FU, TWO CHAMPIONS OF SHAOLIN, etc.). Four of the Venoms operate as a team here while the fifth is the lead villain. Like several of director Chang Cheh's earlier films, this one follows the aftermath of the burning of the Shaolin temple and the travails of the fugitives and their Manchu pursuers. Although the most famous character-Fong Si Yu-is briefly glimpsed early on, the main focus here is on Hung Si Kwan (who was often paired with Fong Si Yu in earlier films).

Hung Si Kwan (played by Jason Pai Piao) hides out in a town where he is sheltered by the four good Venoms who all hold down regular jobs. Kuo Chui works as a waiter; Lo Mang makes bean curd; Sun Chien works in a dye factory; Chiang Sheng works for a traveling opera troupe. Each of the four practices their kung fu in the context of their daily work, e.g. Kuo Chui (aka Philip Kwok) uses rice bowl and chopsticks as weapons, a technique taught by his father (seen in flashbacks) who trained him to use anything at hand as weapons. The practice scenes are all quite clever and laced with humor. The entire film is shot inside the Shaw Bros. studio.

There's a big fight at the end in which Hung Si Kwan and the four Venoms take on fifth Venom Lu Feng and his four Manchurian henchmen in an all-out battle in which the combatants use a variety of weapons. The Venoms are always exciting to watch in action, especially when most of them work as a team. While this may not rank with their best films, it's nonetheless a worthy entry in the Venoms' large, but short-lived, body of work.

I am not a big fan of the Five Venoms movies, as in many cases they seem to lighthearted for my taste (Killer Army, Nine Demons), but this one, despite the silliness, acrobatics, and clowning around, is one of the exceptions to the rule, and that is due to the exciting fight sequences sprinkled throughout.

Just fast-forward through all the silliness, and watch the fights. You'll like it as much I did. The acting, choreography, sets, and new weapons are a joy to watch. Love the hand-held trident-like daggers! The final fight sequence is brutal, exciting, and interesting to watch, and all the actors do a great job in their roles, particularly the star of the film.

The Five Venoms didn't always score, but they certainly do this time. Highly recommended for those into the genre.

This is better than the usual kung fu flicks. It is more about the characters than about the action.

Like the other good kung fu films, it involves an isolated faction, in this case one that is determined near the end of the film, in a showdown with another fixed group of antagonists.

The heroes here are total working class heroes, and are quite convincing in character. Sure, we get the same hokey stunts of people jumping 40 feet straight up, but what makes this watchable is that we can follow the characters, even though too many of them look too much alike.

The film introduces our heroes one at a time, and one doesn't appear till near the end. It is the story of three working class men who spend their spare time in improving their martial arts skills.

It is a fun film, and doesn't fall into the trap of simply showing too many acrobatics. There is actual dialog, and an actual story, though we have the usual loss in translation. Still, we get the gist of the story, because we can follow the characters.

As far as '70s kung fu movies are concerned, this film genuinely surprised me. There are well-choreographed fights scenes, bizarre weapons (including a pumpkin-shaped hammer), and a touch of comedy. This film doesn't spend too much time on mundane things like plot and characterization. Instead it is jam-packed with martial art sequences, including a 20 minute knock-down, drag-out, good-guy-vs-bad-guy finale. If you are a fan of such films like "Kid with the Golden Arm", "Five Masters of Death", and "Super Ninjas", I recommend finding a copy of this film.