The Kid with the Golden Arm

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 Kid With The Golden Arm was produced in the late 70's by Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. At the time, their "A-list" group of kung fu actors were a top notch crew who their fans have since labeled "The Venoms" (after the first movie they starred in together, "The Five Deadly Venoms"). The Venoms were all EXTREMELY talented (although some more than others), and their skills elevated virtually every movie they appeared in to the classic status. Golden Arm is one of the best. Vastly superior to Five Venoms (IMHO), it has an excellent story (which Five Venoms did, as well), but it also has many fight scenes (which Five Venoms does NOT have), and every fight scene is EXCELLENT. The true highlight of the movie is Silver Spear's (Centipede) battle with Short Axe (Hybrid Venom) **For those not in the know, the Five Venoms each had a "poison", or venom, style of kung fu that they had mastered in that movie. Their style in the movie gives rise to the name the fans affectionately give to the actor who portrayed that character I.E.- Wei Pei portrayed the Snake in the Five Venoms movie, so Wei Pei is called "Snake".** An awesome display of weapons prowess, Silver Spear vs. Short Axe will leave you reeling! Anyone who thinks that a Jet Li movie contains 'awesome' kung fu fights has never seen a Venoms movie, PERIOD! How these guys are humanly capable of some of the things they do in their movies is beyond me, they are true athletes in every sense of the word. Of course, do not expect a movie with Hollywood production values to come out of Hong Kong for this time period. Part of the charm of real kung fu movies is their slight air of corniness. Still, I would stack Golden Arm against ANY Steven Segal movie, any day! Lizard and Toad (the titular Golden Arm)also put on an awesome display in the movie's final fight scene. As a side note, if you think Jackie Chan is the best Drunken Boxer out there, he is NOTHING compared to the Lizard!!!! Watch this movie and find out what I am talking about. There is no "wire fu" in this movie (something that has inexplicably become all the rage these days, wire fu is the use of wires on the actors to suspend them in mid-air while they fight or allow them to "fly", wire fu is ridiculous and it SUCKS, watch any Jet Li movie for copious examples of wire fu), just old fashioned kung fu A*S KICKING. The costumes are also excellent in this movie. If all of this does not convince you, how is this: The venoms are FAR more talented at making movies, and produced FAR better fight scenes than Bruce Lee EVER did *GASP!* Its 100% true, Bruce Lee can't hold a candle to these guys, although he was definitely an awesome martial artist (and a VERY tough guy).

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.

What makes this Venoms' film unique? The storyline is downright simple, with a little twist at the end and the locations are uniformly dull, where all take place in the Shaw Brothers studios.

So, the best thing about THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is the characters, the good and the bad, who have their own unique skills. Combined with Chang Cheh's deft direction and a talented group of kungfu actors, you get good entertainment, especially for the Venoms' fans.

The story involves a desperate delivery of caskets containing gold for the needy in famine-stricken villages through a place named the Death Valley. The place is so feared that the delivery, which has no other option but to pass it, has to be escorted by a group of skilled fighters.

The Deadly Valley, so it is named, is a no-man's land ruled by an infamous robber, highly skilled - the Golden Arm (Lo Meng) with his gang: the Silver Spear (Lu Feng), the Iron Robe (Wang Lung Wei), and the Brass Head (Yang Tsiung), who are all aiming at looting the gold delivery.

But, things do not come as easy as they think. The king's official has assigned Chief Security Yang (Sun Chien), together with a group of fighters, to prepare an unexpected welcome for the adversaries.

The fighters on Chief Yang's side are as unique as the baddies: Constable Hai To, the drunkard (Kwo Chui); Swordsman Li, the arrogant (Wei Pai); Heroine Leng (dunno her name); Long Axe (played by a cameo; should have been played by Wang Li, though), and Short Axe (Chiang Sen).

There are one-to-one mortal combats that are, as usual, exciting to watch - the one between Silver Spear and Short Axe, another with the Iron Robe and Constable Hai To, then the climax between the Golden Arm and Constable Hai To.

A little twist at the end is the appearance of a mysterious character the Iron Feet, known to have been one of the deadly duos of the Deadly Valley before the Golden Arm established his reign of terror. He, too, demands his share of the gold.

Who, then, will be the last man standing ?

The Good Guys try to send gold the the starving people in a famine stricken region but it's stolen by a gang of ruthless War Lords along the way. It's basically the Kung Fu version of Live Aid.