O Braço de Ouro do Kung Fu

To be perfectly blunt right from the get-go, Kid with the Golden Arm is not one of the best Shaw Brothers movies, but neither is it anywhere close to one of the worst. I feel like it's somewhat middle of the road, but as it turns out, middle of the road for the greatest martial arts movie production company in history is still very good overall, when all's said and done. There are problems, and there are nitpicks, but I feel like for this specific movie, it's so direct and unapologetic about delivering almost nothing but action that most flaws are quite easy to forgive.

This is usually the part in a review where I'd try to summarize the plot, but it's too hard to do for Kid with the Golden Arm. There is a bunch of gold being transported, and slightly too many characters are all wanting to obtain it. Some want it for selfish reasons, and some characters seem more altruistic (even if it's not always clear who's who - there are so many characters here, and they're really only distinguishable by their fighting styles, which you do get used to as the movie goes on).

People in this film all vaguely want the same goal, and the movie is 86 minutes of them competing for it. It feels like a 120-minute-long movie edited down so that most dialogue scenes that don't involve people expressing a desire to fight were cut out, leaving the movie clocking in at under 90 minutes. There's one stretch shortly after the halfway point where it feels like about 15 to 20 minutes pass without any action, and that's the closest things come to feeling boring (honestly, just take the opportunity to have a toilet break here without pausing, or top up your beverage of choice if you like to indulge in a drink or two when watching martial arts movies).

As for the action, I don't think it's top quality by Shaw Brothers standards, but it's fun. I liked certain characters having certain physical quirks/fighting styles, and there were a few wild moments that surprised me and made me laugh. It's a good time if you're a fan of classic martial arts movies, but it's certainly not representative of 1970s Hong Kong martial arts cinema at its very best.

I LOVE this movie. It is one of the few violent movies "grandfathered" into my children's approved stack (Master Killer is another). The movie is a fantasy with superheroes such as Short-axe, Long-axe and Hai-Toh; and, super-villans, such as Brass Head, Iron Robe, Iron Feet, Silver Spear and the Kid with the Golden Arm. Many may disagree with me, but I find this movie better than The Five Deadly Venoms, mostly because it is a lot less sadistic...

It is an easy movie to make fun of, I'll grant you; but, there is a solid, if simple, plot line. Agent Hai-Toh is the main hero and easily the most charismatic character. The Kid with the Golden Arm is a less compelling character, with a face that makes you think that he was hit squarely with a board BEFORE becoming invulnerable...

The fight scenes are long, even for a Chinese movie; but, for a colorful piece if violent escapism, this is unbeatable...

I'd give it, for its genre, three out of four stars...

The Kid With The Golden Arm was produced in the late 70's by Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. At the time, their "A-list" group of kung fu actors were a top notch crew who their fans have since labeled "The Venoms" (after the first movie they starred in together, "The Five Deadly Venoms"). The Venoms were all EXTREMELY talented (although some more than others), and their skills elevated virtually every movie they appeared in to the classic status. Golden Arm is one of the best. Vastly superior to Five Venoms (IMHO), it has an excellent story (which Five Venoms did, as well), but it also has many fight scenes (which Five Venoms does NOT have), and every fight scene is EXCELLENT. The true highlight of the movie is Silver Spear's (Centipede) battle with Short Axe (Hybrid Venom) **For those not in the know, the Five Venoms each had a "poison", or venom, style of kung fu that they had mastered in that movie. Their style in the movie gives rise to the name the fans affectionately give to the actor who portrayed that character I.E.- Wei Pei portrayed the Snake in the Five Venoms movie, so Wei Pei is called "Snake".** An awesome display of weapons prowess, Silver Spear vs. Short Axe will leave you reeling! Anyone who thinks that a Jet Li movie contains 'awesome' kung fu fights has never seen a Venoms movie, PERIOD! How these guys are humanly capable of some of the things they do in their movies is beyond me, they are true athletes in every sense of the word. Of course, do not expect a movie with Hollywood production values to come out of Hong Kong for this time period. Part of the charm of real kung fu movies is their slight air of corniness. Still, I would stack Golden Arm against ANY Steven Segal movie, any day! Lizard and Toad (the titular Golden Arm)also put on an awesome display in the movie's final fight scene. As a side note, if you think Jackie Chan is the best Drunken Boxer out there, he is NOTHING compared to the Lizard!!!! Watch this movie and find out what I am talking about. There is no "wire fu" in this movie (something that has inexplicably become all the rage these days, wire fu is the use of wires on the actors to suspend them in mid-air while they fight or allow them to "fly", wire fu is ridiculous and it SUCKS, watch any Jet Li movie for copious examples of wire fu), just old fashioned kung fu A*S KICKING. The costumes are also excellent in this movie. If all of this does not convince you, how is this: The venoms are FAR more talented at making movies, and produced FAR better fight scenes than Bruce Lee EVER did *GASP!* Its 100% true, Bruce Lee can't hold a candle to these guys, although he was definitely an awesome martial artist (and a VERY tough guy).

The storyline for The Kid With The Golden Arms is about as basic as can be: the good guys are escorting a shipment of gold to a famine-stricken region and have to stop the bad guys, a collection of broad, colourful comic-book style bandits with self-explanatory names (eg. Bronze Head, Silver Spear, Iron Robe), from stealing it along the way. Makes a change from all of those old school kung fu films that require an in-depth knowledge of Chinese political history in order to understand what is going on, I suppose.

Fortunately, what director Chang Cheh's film lacks in plot development, it more than makes up for with awesome kung fu action, the film comprising of one expertly choreographed and flawlessly executed martial arts scene after another, with a wide variety of impressive weapon work, lots of breath-taking acrobatics, and a surprising amount of bright red gore (characters are regularly sliced and impaled). Philip Kwok, as drunken Agent Hai Tao, proves particularly impressive with his amazing athleticism and impeccable timing.

Although the martial arts choreography isn't as snazzy as it is in modern martials arts film, the movie has a few interesting twists to it.

I was mildly surprised at the end and which was rather novel and refreshing. My only grouse is that the love interest isn't developed more. I would have loved to see a more concrete expression of development, but the portrayal in this film is probably more accurate of the period in which women were not expected to express feelings of love.

If you're a wuxia fan, you will probably add this to your collection as a comparison to modern wuxia. There are enough suspense in it to make it interesting too. Worth a watch.