2 Campeões de Shaolin

Thank you Shaw Brothers for reissuing these classics!

Two Champions is great example of Shaw Bros' magic. Having not seen most SB flicks with the exception of ol' skool Saturday Big Apple Movies or really poorly dubbed versions, this movie had me from the get-go. The vow for revenge (of COURSE!) and brotherhood are main themes, but there's a whole lot of fighting going on. The brotherly characters played by Lo Meng and Chiang Sheng come off well throughout the film. Their brash, arrogant natures show as these two won't back down from any fight. Also, add flying daggers and counter moves (a really FUN training sequence and battle), Wu Tang fighters, double crosses, fast intense fighting and Chang Cheh's dark tone and it's a great one to watch.

More SHAWS please!!

Director Cheh Chang helms another solid bit of marital arts for the always amazing Venom Mob stable of martial arts actors. This film is a tale of Shaolin vs. Wu Tang and is a typical Cheh bloodbath (in one early scene, a character actually has their man- parts ripped off during a fight!). The story is basically Lo Meng wanting revenge on the Wu Tang clan who killed his family when he was a child. The film starts strong, but has a slump in the second act and the fighting kind of drops off until the climax, but the fight scenes that are here are amazing! Overall, this isn't the best from The Venom Mob, but it's still pretty darn amazing.

The Poison Klan aka The Venoms have several entertaining martial arts films and 2 Champions Of Death is no exception. This film pits the Wu Tang against the Shaolin. As with a lot of martial arts films revenge and betrayal are behind the action. The fights are fluid and there are plenty of them. These guys don't seem to pull their punches!! Sun Chien is a terrific leg kicker and he showcases his talent very well in this film. I found the storyline easy to follow and interesting enough to hold my attention between fights. Also, picture quality and sound were adequate.

The Poison Klan were martial arts experts introduced in the film Five Deadly Venoms. They each had their own lethal fighting style. The actors that played The Centipede, The Snake, The Scorpion, The Lizard and The Toad gained popularity and went on to star in several martial arts films together. Collectively, they are known as The Venoms. In addition to Sun Chien, The Venoms include: Lu Feng, Wei Pai, Chiang Sheng and Lo Meng.

This flick is a flowing kung fu tragedy that Shakespeare would be proud of. The simple plot (sub plots are muddled) of one clan versus another allows for the action to come constantly in waves and the choreography is just pure brilliance with strong performers all round. Some stand outs are Meng Lo (Tung Chien-Chen) pure artistry at work and Sheng Chiang (Hu Wei-Chen) whos aerial and weapons skills are class. The acting is what you expect from a chopsocky, goofy and over-the-top, except for a couple of weak links it's a pretty solid cast.

The Shaolin are pitted against the Wutang, both sworn enemies of the Manchurian Qing government but wrapped in a web of revenge, betrayal, dishonour, love and friendship the Wutang find themselves siding with the government, this will call into question the loyalty of some of the Wutang. The leading two Chien-Chen the Chinese Hercules and Wei-Chen along with others of the Shaolin and with the help of siblings trained in the art of countering the flying dagger must save the Shaolin from annihilation from the powerful Wutang led mainly by Li Pa-Shan (Li Wang) and soldiers of the Qing government. Can they overcome the shiny weapons, flying dagger, monkey style, needles of death and deceit to save the Shaolin?

A must see movie from any Hong Kong martial arts fan, I have only seen the dubbed version, which is wacky at times, not sure if a subtitled version is available, but I'll keep an eye out. The version I watched was called "Two Champions of Shaolin."

Cheesy moment to watch out for: Out of nowhere during a fight a body part is dislodged, the following scene has a sheet draped over the victim with a blood stain at his wound.