I distruttori del tempio Shaolin

Kung Fu movies always seem to refer to a bewildering array of styles. this film highlights the Tiger and Crane styles and you really can see the difference in the 2 approaches.

It gives a real insight into the idea of 1 style not being able to beat another because it's too rigid and inflexible and the practioner is not as good as his opponent, hence he WILL be beaten.

Apparently this movie is about the evolution of the Huang Gar fiststyle but I'm no expert so don't know much more than that!

Liu Chia Liang directs some great sequences, the earlier ones being better (the main fights between the father/son and the priest Pei Mei seem to automated to really flow smoothly)

Some really good acting as well let down by the usual rushed dubbing.

See it but would not buy it (go for Legendary weapons of kung fu/China for a classic movie)

The Shaw Brothers have made a bunch of kung fun movies in their lifetimes, not a single one has left me bored. In "Executioners from Chaplin", a couple bore a son whose father is trained in Tiger Boxing and a mother in Crane style. The son learns crane style kung fun, but he doesn't learn the tiger style until his father loses his life battling the eunuch tyrant Pai Mei(Lieh Lo). This brutal fighter has made his way killing anyone who would challenge his fighting style. He killed the father's master, he's killed the ones who's avenging him. So it's up to the son to get his revenge. Spending all his life learning to be warrior, he sets out to seek Pai Mei. Both men learn how to find Pai Mei's vitals. They were no good in the nether regions. And unlike his father, he was successful on getting PaI Mei. I think this movie has got a little humor in it as well. Before the son was born, the couple made their way following a side show when they met. The brothers kept their fighting skills intact throughout their lives. This movie was very entertaining, and very fun to watch. I found nothing to complain about here. A true gem here. 2 stars

This is an almost epic tale of fighter and son trying to avenge the death of the old shaolin master, fighting the evil master, infused with humor and style it follows the flight from the evil Pai Mei and his henchmen, disguising as theatre troups performing Shaolin Kung Fu shows for a period and the tiger-style fighter Hsi-Kuan settles down with a crane-style fighting wife and have a son to prepare for epic battles with Pai Mei. Hsi-Kuan's and Yung Chung's marriage and wedding night on board a boat is a very funny highlight of the film. Telling more about what happens would be telling too much, but the battles with Pai Mai are spectacularly set. 7/10

The film opens with Pai Mei using his retracting groin skills (no – seriously) to defeat a Shaolin master Zhishan, scattering his students. Pai Mei sends his Governor Kao Tsinchung and his soldiers after the students and, while leader Tung Chinchin makes a heroic stand, Hung Hsikuan leads the rest to safety, vowing to return and avenge his master and Tung. Hiding out as a traveling opera company, Hsikuan is leading the students as a master of tiger style when he meets performer Ying Chun, a master of the crane style. The two fall in love and will eventually have a child called Wending, although as the decades pass and Hsikuan trains, both he and Chun know that he must return to face the white wispy haired danger of Pai Mei.

Just like the martial arts which Wending will grow up developing, this film is a real mix of things that don't always seem like they should work but generally do. The plot is straightforward "avenge your master" stuff but it is spread over decades and involve several confrontations to good effect. The central villain should be comically silly with his ability to essentially lift his genitals back into his body, but aside from it looking a bit silly, it doesn't affect the tone of the film. At the same time we also have the romance between Hsikuan and Chun, and lots of comic moments as well as moments of death or loss. All told it is a total mix and it could have been that none of it worked but actually it gels very well and at only 90 minutes doesn't feel too long or that it crams things in.

The comedy is genuinely cheerful and funny while the romance between the two leads actually works and is quite sweet. The fight sequences are frequent and impressive, with a brutal tone to much of the film which keeps you interested. Chen Kuantai is very good in the lead – a likable type even if he doesn't age particularly convincingly. Li Lily works very well with him – I liked her as I have in other things and the two have a good chemistry. Gordon Liu is a nice find (I get the reference now) and makes a good villain despite the slightly daft special power he has. Chiang Tao is a decent presence but I particularly liked Wong Yue as the oldest version of Wending – he was fun and fitted well into the family of the leads. The sets and direction are roundly good and the film has an enjoyable pace to it which is consistent no matter what is happening.

With such a mix of content, it is impressive that it all gels so well and in the end, Hong Xi Guan is a very enjoyable film with lots to enjoy.

This movie is a great Shaw Bros. pic, except I liked the remake Fists of the White Lotus a bit better. Still they're both great, especially Master White Brows aka Pai Mai and Lau Kar Leung's intense choreography.

This movie is dark and there's little comedy which effectively sets up the revenge theme (a revenge theme in a kung fu flick?) to help motivate our hero from Shaolin. Tai Chen Kuan as Hung Hsi Kuan shows formidable Tiger Claws style and some neat training sequences with bronze statues and vital point strikes. BUT, I really loved watching Ying Chun (Li Li) and her crane style. Man, if you're going out with her, you better be able to break her leg stance! Plus, her effort and grace in movements are as good as Kara Hui's in Fists of the White Lotus. It's a strange, yet wonderfully hypnotic combination of kung fu and dance.

Now, the action. What do you expect from the real deal kung fu master Lau Kar Leung? Countless opponents, one on many battles, quick strikes, and amazing choreography are the strong points here. Pai Mai's battles are so awesome that he really seems invincible. I can't get enough of him dragging guys along with his groin! One of the strangest, yet highly entertaining kung fu villains ever. Plus, Lo Lieh mastered that menacing look that says, "You want to fight me? Are you kidding??" Strangely enough, I wasn't really rooting against him.

The only downside I can find with this one is that Gordon Liu only makes a brief cameo. However, Gordon Liu is the main star in Fists of the White Lotus AND he battles Lo Lieh as the menacing White Lotus. So, watch both films because they're the great stuff that SB movies are made of.