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Classic 70's kung fu, Tarantino might have taken some of his ideas from flicks like this, even the Matrix franchises.

The main actors starred in over a dozen films together, although this film has nothing to do with the 5 Deadly Venoms characters, it does not take away its entertainment value. I originally viewed it as "Mortal Combat", perhaps this film was incorrectly renamed "Return of..." due to the infamous video game.

Directed by Chang Cheh, he showcased the talented skills each actor possessed, the training/fighting sequences with Philip Kwok (blinded) and Chiang Sheng (scholar maimed an idiot) displayed their "light skills" - acrobatics and incorporating weapons are amazing, Sun Chien (legs cut off) showed off kicks better than a Rockette, Lo Mang (rendered deaf-mute) demonstrated upper body strength training with multiple boxing bags.

As an avid VenomBratPacker, I enjoyed "Return of..." aka "Mortal Combat" more than "5 Deadly Venoms".

The Crippled Avengers is a very entertaining film by cult kung fu movies production company called Shaw Brother. It has all the actors who have participated in The Five Deadly Venoms and Chinese Super Ninjas 1. It certainly has a classic cast who knows how to fights beautifully. It also has a cool plot that has surely inspired the directors of Crippled Masters, crappy kung fu movies in which there also some crippled avengers, However, The Crippled Avengers by The Shaw Brothers manages to entertain much more either than The Crippled Masters or The Five Deadly Venoms. Most of its fights are fantastic, even though that some of them can actually bore you. The characters and the acting are very typical for a Shaw Brothers' production. However, The Crippled Avengers has an interesting plot and a faire of blood compared to the average kung fu flick. The story is about a master whose son's hand had been cut before his son and him became revengeful due to that incident. They make innocent people crippled for no reason. Therefore, some of the people who have been crippled by them become avengers, even though that they are crippled. They meet a master who teaches them and train them useful kung fu techniques that can be practiced even by those who are disabled. In a nutshell, The Crippled Avengers is an entertaining kung fu flick that I certainly recommend to those who are in favour of kung fu and martial arts cinema. 7/10

No pun intended - I am surprised that this also was released under the title of return of the 5 deadly venoms .. I reckon people tried to cash in on another movie by Chah Cheng ... who also directed this one. And also the movie does have some of the same actors .. Lo Meng amongst them to name just one.

That all said, hopefully you don't mind that title .. but also do not mind the Crippled Avengers (no relation to the MCU either in case you were wondering). Let's also say that you should not expect any political correctness .. at all. Also the mentioned Lo Meng is clearly not someone who was an actor ... I reckon he learned a lot by doing ... he seems to be quite sure about his martial art ... but also that film martial art is .. well different .. even more so, if you have a "handicap".

All that said, the movie has some incredible scenes .. the fighting is quite well choreographed. Of course like with many movies from that era, the props do look quite cheap nowaday ... you can tell those were not really swords for example ... but they did that to protect their actors and stunt people. Try not to be fixated about stuff like that .. and just enjoy the mayhem .. maybe a bit too long .. but still a movie any eastern/martial arts fan has to have watched at least once ...

"All in color, for a dime" - that's what comic books were said to offer in their "Golden Days", action and adventure impossible to perform in "real life", presented in a colorful, but inexpensive, format. Of course nowadays, comic books cost as much as movies, and actually more than "bargain basement" video, such as this re-release of the Shaw Bros. classic "Crippled Avengers".

As I write this, "The Fantastic Four" is going into national release; it is hard to believe that Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee spent some 30 years trying to get that film made; and it will have cost millions of dollars; and it involves tons of computer-graphic effects; and it is being hyped "4 wall", as the ad-men say, i.e., in every possible media, as if it were the new "Gone With the Wind"; when, after all, it is only a childhood fantasy, however entertaining.

Fortunately, by the time he began making the "Venom" ensemble pictures, famed Hong Kong director Chang Cheh had learned to stop taking such films all that seriously. While the production values of this film are quite good for their day, Chang Cheh is not intent on making a classic here. He merely wants to make a colorful comic book of a movie suggested by Chinese folk legends, allowing the Venom actors (most of whom had actually trained in dance and acrobatics) a chance to show off their athletic talents. And just to be on the safe side, he placed at the center of the film Chen Tai Kwan, a classically trained martial artist who had also developed considerable skill as an actor. His presence adds credibility to what, after all, is itself a childhood fantasy.

For its kind, for its day, this is an exceptional bit of genre fluff; and one has to mention the creative charge brought to this film by a performance ensemble in its prime, and in which everyone is clearly having a great time providing their audience with a great time. This film is just dam' fun to watch, and more than once! One loves these characters, despite the occasional bit of ham, and I repeatedly find myself in awe at the acrobatics of the concluding fight sequence, even though I have seen similar, & more spectacular, feats performed live (i.e., w/o the aid of editing) at a circus. I suppose that's partly because the actors rely as little on the editing as possible, and the director insists on getting as much on film in single takes as possible, and wisely shoots the fights in full-shot, so we can watch these bodies move with as much grace as the actors can conjure. But it's also because all involved are asking their audience to set aside adult judgments on their performance and simply enjoy a well-rehearsed and directed bit of old-fashioned Chinese-style showmanship.

When people say "they don't make them like they used to", this is the kind of film they're talking about. A genre-defining moment in the history of "old-school" kung fu films, this film was frequently imitated, and never bettered.

'Crippled Avengers (1978)' starts with a woman and child being mutilated by a rival gang, and you'd think the rest of the film would follow the now-armless boy as he grows up and learns Kung fu to get revenge on his attackers. You'd be wrong, though. Instead, the boy's father turns up and kills all three of his opponents with a single punch each, then promises to build his son a new set of iron arms and allow him to train in martial arts. Cut to many years later, and the now-adult son has joined his father in ruling over a nearby village with utter contempt and ruthlessness. Driven by bitterness, the pair - and their equally as despicable friend/ coworker - take it upon themselves to disable anyone who so much as thinks about inconveniencing them in even the most minor way. It really is unexpected that these would become the villains, but it makes for a more interesting movie by twisting the format slightly and allowing the true heroes to emerge. Those heroes are the eponymous avengers, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that each of them crosses paths with the baddies early on. One is blinded because he expressed happiness that mercy was shown to someone, one is deafened (and made mute) because he verbally challenged the antagonist's ruthless rule, one has his legs removed because he accidentally bumps into the man with the iron firsts, and the last - an already skilled martial artist - is given brain damage because he attempts to defeat the evildoers after seeing what they've done to the other three. Needless to say, the punishment does not equal the supposed crime. The four victims find their way to a martial arts master and spend the next three years learning not just how to overcome their disabilities, but how to use them to their advantage. When their Kung fu is strong enough, they set out for vengeance. Although it's a classic revenge story at its core, the flick never really feels like its heroes are in it just for themselves. Instead, it feels like they're fighting for a somewhat 'noble' cause, taking down the villains because it will end their reign of tyranny over the nearby town. There are also brief moments of humour sprinkled throughout the narrative, both intentional and otherwise. Therefore, it feels surprisingly light despite its relatively heavy events. When everything comes together, it's a blast. Just when you think you've seen all the different types of choreography possible in a movie like this, the piece goes and throws in some metal hoops to redefine your definition of 'humanly possible'. Some of the set-pieces are just genius. The feature places more focus on sheer acrobatics than a lot of its peers, which is a refreshing angle to take and allows for some stunning scenes in which the players twist and flip and tumble through the air like they're competing for gold at the Olympics. The different styles of the four heroes also come together nicely, as a lot of a attention is placed on their teamwork and the ways in which they help each other out with their various weaknesses (two bros kick butt and hold hands for a lot of this and it's great). The final third, in particular, is a ton of fun. Some of the stuff before that is a little strained, and the training sequences don't quite convey the sense of progression I'd like them to. The writing is generally quite clunky, and a lot of the dialogue is stilted both in itself and in its delivery (a few of the performers are notably better at fighting than talking). It's unclear how much of this is due to the translation (MUBI's subtitles are clearly incorrect on a number of occasions), but several of the more obviously iffy segments must have been as such from the moment they were filmed. The final fight is also marred somewhat by an obvious and ungainly wirework stunt that serves to do nothing other than pull you out of the experience right when it ought to be at its most satisfying. It's made all the more frustrating by the fact that the actors don't need wires to impress, as evidenced by... well, literally everything we've seen them do prior to this moment. Still, despite some legitimate issues, the overall experience is exciting, well-paced and chock-full of astonishing set-pieces. It's really entertaining.