Legendary Weapons of China

A fairly ridiculous martial arts movie.I don't know if you would even call it martial arts as the fighting consists of a lot of special effects eg-leaping up and clinging to a ceiling,but most of the fight scenes are just preposterous,like blades being shot out of someone's back,limbs being cut off and blades coming out of them and guys that can make explosions by just pointing at things.The dialogue is laughable,with lines like"You're really crappy!!"which sounds like a funny thing to say in ancient Japan.It is clearly meant to be a comedy with lots of Monkey Magic-esque gags,which fall completely flat.

This could have been a great movie if it was treated more seriously,as the filmakers had some great costumes,sets and especially actors,but the end result is complete boredom

The last reviewer of this film missed the point. This film is excellent and the last 30 minutes contains some of the best martial arts action committed to film. Yes, the plot is ridiculous and the dubbing makes everyone sound like a porn star but you don't watch kung fu films for the acting skill and production values. You watch them for escapism and entertainment.

The story itself is about the rise of the gun in china and the director, who also stars, attempting to show how pointless it was to fight the evil of the gun.

Lei Kung is a martial arts master whose speciality is 'pugilism'(i suppose it was easier to dub that word than what the real skill is called), which is basically invulnerability to conventional weapons (swords, knives, blades etc). He decided to dissolve his sect within the school he taught in to protect his students. He was forced to do this as his superiors were ordering other sect to practice 'pugilism' with the proviso of ultimately being able to withstand bullets.

So now it is several years later, Lei Kung is hiding out as a woodcutter, and the bad guys send some martial arts experts to seek him out and kill him. At first we know of three: Ti Hau, the best student of a master who teaches partial invulnerability and techniques to confuse the enemy. Chao Ching, who is a woman, but who dresses as a man to mingle with the populace. She can see how attempting to overcome the gun with 'pugilism' is pointless and wants to join Lei Kung. Finally there is Ti Tan, another master 'pugilist'.

While they are searching another man whose name is not revealed is searching for Lei Kung. His skill seems to be based on hypnotism, and dolls. He hypnotises a person, then uses a doll to control their movements, thus having someone fight for him.

Ti Hau ends up getting ill whilst searching, but is saved be Lei Kung who nurses him back to help with Chau Ching's help. She convinces Lei Kung that she wants to help, but doubts if they can convince Ti Hau when he gets better. It does not matter ultimately, because the other mysterious fighter tracks Lei Kung down. They fight, but Lei kung is well out of practice and is defeated easily. But the mysterious bad guy is Lei Kung's brother, Lei Yung who explains that he was also given the order to kill but can't kill his own brother. He suggests that Lei Kung begins to proactive again to recover his strength and power. That way he can defend himself against other killers who are after him.

Hi trains hard, and starts to get his power back. But Ti Tan turns up and starts to kick off. Ti Hau tries to explain that Lei Kung is a woodcutter who only knows basic kung fu taught to him by Chau Ching. Ti Tan is not convinced and begins his attack. Chau ching defends but is no match, neither is Ti Hau. So it is time for Lei Kung o flex hi muscles. He fights and in doing so speeds up his strength recovery. He defeats Ti Tan, but in doing so let's it slip that he really is Lei kung. Ti Hau runs off, not knowing what to do, he has witnessed Lei Kungs far superior martial skill and is unsure of how to proceed. Ti Hau returns that night, using his skills he tries to convince Lei Kung and Chau Ching that he has gathered many men, but they are dummies and Lei Kung sees through the deception. But it is not Ti Hau but his master who is attacking. Another great fight scene follows with Ti Hau turning up half way through and his own teacher turning on him when he realises he cannot kill Lei Kung. In trying to kill his student, he shows Ti Hau that there is more to life than killing and his own life is worth something. This is the reason Lei Kung disbanded his school, to protect his students who he knew would die if they tried to withstand the gun. Lei Kung defeats Ti Haus' master who then tries to kill himself. Ti Hau stops him, and his teacher also sees that perhaps his way of life is wrong, and his pupil's lives are not expendable. He leaves suggesting Ti Hau remain to carry on training and learning with Lei Kung and Chau Ching. Lei Kung walks off and dusts off his 'holy robes' explaining that he has to go to the city temple to see his brother. He explains that his brother is not really going to let him walk away, but wanted him to train up and face him in a duel to the death. He takes his 2 new students with him, and then fights his brother using weapons combat in some of the most amazing choreography i have seen in a kung fu film. He defeats his brother who he then tells to go back and report that he killed him. His brother is left broken, finally realising that personal glory is no substitute for having a rich and meaningful life.

Anyone who has reviewed this movie and stated the plot is stupid has no knowledge of 19th century China. In fact during the Boxer Rebellion these "Boxers" believed through rituals they could make themselves impervious to firearms. No I am not making this up and neither did Chia-Liang Liu and while he exaggerated and had fun with it for comedic values he was making an historical notation. The Martial Arts in this movie are exceptional and so is the outrageous humor instilled in this movie. Not only did he poke fun at the Boxers but also many of the Martial Arts movies of the 1970s that went a little overboard with the magical Kung Fu element. And all in the same breath showed the usage of almost every weapon used in Chinese Martial Arts. The talent in this movie speaks for itself aside from Liu and his brothers there is Fu Sheng, Hou Hsiao and the sweet Kara Hui. They don't make Martial Arts movies this original or good anymore either with all the Ip Man clones and CGI epics not even close. All I can say is Chia-Liang Liu you are sorely missed.... And the point is no amount of skill will help you dodge a bullet!

I think watching Shaw Brothers movies is a bit like doing martial arts; if you go a while without practice, you lose the progress and skills you built up. I went on a binge of the studio's movies early last year, then went away for a bit, and now I'm back, feeling out of shape and out of breath trying to keep up with Legendary Weapons of China.

It could be partly or wholly on me, but I'm also open to the idea that this one might just be a bit much. It throws many characters and concepts (voodoo, invulnerable warriors, mistaken identities, disguises, magic, etc) at you so quickly; I was confused from the start and just got more confused as I went on.

Now, a confusing plot hasn't got in the way of me really enjoying martial arts movies before, but I was also confused during various fight scenes in Legendary Weapons of China. It's hard to get a handle on how some of the fantasy elements work, and who has the power to do what, and with the usual fast pacing and feeling that everything is slightly sped up (not just in the fight scenes either, unusually; I think that added to the confusion for me), I couldn't keep up.

Now, if that's on me (and I'm sure at least some of it is), I can't call this terrible. There is at least the ability to admire its ambition and unique qualities, even if those things did make me lose track of the things I'd usually enjoy. And the final fight scene did redeem things in my eyes a little. It downplays the crazy magic stuff to mostly just be a one-on-one fight that goes on for a while and involves many different weapons, and it was easily the most impressive sequence from a stunt/choreography perspective.

This is the kind of film where anyone who can keep up is likely to have a blast, but for whatever reason, tonight, it was just a little too much too fast for me personally. Gotta get back to my Shaw Brothers training regime, maybe...

The earlier comments give an unfair slating to what is an enjoyable film.The gaffes are obvious , (in such films as this the 1st class director Liu Chia Liang, was redefining the kung fu film , after the earlier swordplay flicks, and bruce lee's seminal movies, this film is set in late Ching dynasty China.) This is a film of rare quality , combining humour , a reasonable plot and some displays of great martial artistry, such as are no longer found in but a handful of films. The choreography is excellent, (only Sammo Hung at his best approaches Liu 's ability to film a fight with loving care for displaying technique)This film also benefits from the presence of the charismatic Fu Sheng and the Multi talented Hui Ying Hung. The special effects are cheap , but cheerful.(the previous reviewer seems to have missed that the purpose of all the bladed cloaks etc. was to show that tricks are no substitute for skill, skill no defence against bullets ... A classic of Kung Fu cinema