Hou wang da zhan tian bing tian jiang

The Monkey King is one of the most popular characters in Chinese fantasy. I could go on in detail about the complexity of this character but this movie is not the place. Here, all you need to know is that he can shape shift and his staff is his magic weapon. This is a fantasy that would probably only hold the attention of children. It is put on film in the style of a Peking Opera in that many of the scenes look as if you were sitting in a theater and watching a stage performance. The fights also have the same choreography.

My copy is a digital file that plays on a HDTV in 4:3 video format. There are Chinese and English hard subtitles. The source could be a laser disk. That format preserved the wide screen of the theatrical version. However, this copy seems to have also been cut for a television broadcast. This results in cropping on the right and left. The subtitles are cut off along with the picture. The subtitles are also solid white without contrast and often washed out. Plus the translation is often incomprehensible.

I am a fan of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984 and on a mission to watch and review every one. This movie caught my attention because of the martial arts actors. Sometimes I find a memorable scene or a good fight sequence in these movies that makes it almost worth it to watch the rest. Not this time.

Today, I cannot imagine an audience for this movie. I was surprised to find another review here. I cannot recommend it for fans of old martial arts movies. Enough said.

Unlike the version critiqued (mocked) by Cinema Snob, the version I have of this, called Monkey King With 72 Magic, does not shove the English subtitles down and off the screen as the film progresses, but does clip off the sides of the subtitles, making it impossible to read them fully, as this was obviously meant to have a widescreen transfer. The title scene is the only part of the film in widescreen format, allegedly, as it appears as though they just put a purplish/ pink bar at the top and bottom of the screen, rather than do a widescreen transfer. It also does not end with the completely irrelevant Chinese proverb.

The English subtitles are poorly done, they contain numerous grammar and spelling errors. Perhaps that is why they are partially cropped out of frame? The two yellow Chinese characters are present in the top left corner, along with three more white characters, which might be the name of the label who released this, or, it might just translate to "You suck".

Apparently, this is based on some Chinese fable about a monkey/ boy, born from a pink rock, who acquires great powers and abilities, among them, the ability to clone himself and turns himself into 72 people or animals. He and the group of small children around him, then must fight some demonic looking guy over some sort of weapon, a "lucky stick", while characters named Long Tongue, Sharp Eye (with huge ping pong ball-like eyes) and octopodes blowing black smoke in their faces show up to add more weirdness to the proceedings.

This movie is so very, very weird, it is hypnotic in its randomness; very colourful photography on its grade school-level sets, with some well choreographed martial arts scenes, and a few chuckles throughout make this not a complete wash out, just be prepared for one of the oddest movies you'll ever see.