Shaolin Prince

This is one of Ti Lung's best movies in the 80's...I didn't know that he could play comedy-action, as he is always a serious actor. Lots of kungfu action with swords, stick, etc. Yes, the title is misleading by all means, but it's highly recommended for martial arts lovers out there...because it's AWESOME!!!

It has been a while since I saw it. It's good, but nothing spectacular. I think it is a Shaw Bros. film, so the action was decent. Hoaky costumes and some crazy Shaolin monks in it. Not bad.

An oddity from fighting choreographer turned director Tang Chia. The man behind the fighting scenes of many a Shaw Bros. production turned to directing at the end of his career, this being his first and apparently the only one released in the U.S. If this film is any indication Tang Chia's taste ran to the fantastic.

The film starts like a standard period piece but soon with the introduction of the Fire General, who shoots flames and explodes things, and the Water General, who swims under water and has a Mickey Mouse voice, the film settles into it's groove. The infant Crown Prince, hidden from the evil 9th Lord, is adopted by three crazy monks who are imprisoned in a detention pavilion at the Shaolin Temple for twenty years.

Gimmick weapons, lots of wire work, a fighting wall of hoop wielding monks and more are here. Not a great film but done with a lot of humor and enthusiasm. The final fight scene is about as strange as these films get. Good fun.

Watch this movie for the action sequences. The storyline and characters are simplistic but adequate for purpose in this type of shows. The background story is a palace intrigue in which the legitimate emperor was deposed by an evil prince. This sort of things doesn't need elaboration. It is enough that we know who the bad guy is and wait to watch his ass kicked. The costume and setting is probably based on the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD)... the kingdom of Western Hsia was referred to. What I normally do with this kind of movies is to simply scan through the plot in my first viewing and then re-visit the fight sequences. There were many great fights... like a Cirque du Soleil performance, some of the choreographed fights were fantastic - very imaginative. Fun.

This little film has stuck with me for decades. It's basically everything Shaw Brothers, rolled into one hilarious, action-packed, visually stunning masterpiece.

For those unfamiliar with the Shaw Brothers, this movie contains over the top kung fu (or gung fu/ gong fu if you want to get technical), great slapstick comedy, and a hint of the paranormal. Tang Chia's directing style is so unique, and actually has great control over his actors.

It took me years to find the name of this movie back in the infancy of the internet, as I had a bootleg copy... I have a copy bought from Amazon now so there's that fix.

Definite must watch, even if you're not big into fists and kicks, because at least you'll laugh your socks off.