Le temple du lotus rouge

Burning Paradise is director Ringo Lam's dark take on the wuxia film. Much of what he did with the heroic bloodshed genre, he did here. If you have seen some classic Shaw Bros. Period kung fu flicks you should be familiar with the struggle with the treacherous Manchu's from up North reeking havoc through China. This is the struggle of Shaolin monks in an underground prison camp run by the villainous Manchu's. The tone is bleak and told in a fairly straightforward fashion with minimal humor. While this is a fantasy film, it's approached with more gritty realism than something like Swordsman 2. There is no lack of action to speak of. The entire film is jam packed with lots of exciting wire fu sequences and it gets quite messy with a lot of blood..The hero of the film(Fong Sai Yuk is a popular figure in thsrs films and is played much more serious here than the lighthearted take on the character that was made with Jet Li). The mood of the piece is very somber and bleak. The film looks sharp and the period costumes are good as well. Much of what the film does, it does well. There are no major stars in this film, but rarely matters as everyone is good in their roles. Ringo Lam tells this story his own way and at his own pace making a very solid entry to the swordplay genre that is also both unique and well made.

Nasty unrelenting action set in a prison that's itself a really creepy and important "character".

Top-notch wire work, good mix of fighting styles (including paint-fu!), and fine production values -- with the sore exception of some rubber weapons in the crowd scenes.

9 out of 10.

(1994) Burning Paradise (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION/ HISTORICAL FICTION/ COMEDY

Another 'Fong Sai Yuk' period period piece whereas most of the action takes place in the "Red Lotus Temple" similar to tombs the Indiana Jones does his adventures in except that the person who lives in this one pretty much may also be the one who build and designed it. Anyways, cult martial art figure baddie has main objective was to capture and destroy all the Shaolin Temples before making their pupils/ students to work as slaves for the "Red Lotus Temple" showcasing folk lore hero Fong Sai-yuk at beginning stages attempting to run away from being captured along with his Shaolin teacher but are eventually captured. Wires was used for the fights at the early stages but not so much as the film progresses.

"Burning Paradise" is a combination of neo-Shaw Brothers action and Ringo Lam's urban cynicism. When one watches the film, they might feel the fight scenes are only mediocre in nature but that doesn't matter, it's attitude and atmosphere that counts. This great film has both!! Always trying to be different than his contemporaries, Lam gives us to traditional heroes(Fong Sai-Yuk and Hung Shi-Kwan)and puts them in a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" setting. However, these are not the light-hearted comedic incarnations that you might see in a Jet Li movie. Instead these guys fight to the death with brutal results. What makes the film even better is that anyone could die at anytime, there is no holding back. Too bad, they don't make films like this more often.

An unusual film from Ringo Lam and one that's strangely under-appreciated. The mix of fantasy kung-fu with a more realistic depiction of swords and spears being driven thru bodies is startling especially during the first ten minutes. A horseback rider get chopped in two and his waist and legs keep riding the horse. Several horses get chopped up. It's very unexpected.

The story is very simple, Fong and his Shaolin brothers are captured by a crazed maniac general and imprisoned in the Red Lotus temple which seems to be more of a torture chamber then a temple. The General has a similarity to Kurtz in Apocalypse Now as he spouts warped philosophy and makes frightening paintings with human blood.

The production is very impressive and the setting is bleak. Blood is everywhere. The action is very well done and mostly coherent unlike many HK action scenes from the time. Sometimes the movie veers into absurdity or the effects are cheesy but it's never bad enough to ruin the film.

Find this one, it's one of the best HK kung fu films from the early nineties. Just remember it's not child friendly.