Shang Hai tan: Shi san tai bao

SHANGHAI 13 is something of a minor classic of the kung fu genre. It's highly entertaining because it retains the cast and director of many of the Shaw Brothers classics, relocating them to Taiwan for a cheap and cheerful effort that brings to mind the storyline of a more modern action flick, BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS.

The late, great director Chang Cheh ensues his film is chock-full of bloody action and indeed after a 20-minute opening set-up this is action all the way with one ferocious fight scene after another. The storyline is set in the 1930s and involves government collaboration with the evil Japanese; some patriots steal some important documents and must transport them to Hong Kong, but assassins are out in force. The rest of the storyline is essentially a running battle between good and bad.

Half of the fun comes from guessing which of the guest stars will be the good guys and which will be the villains. An extended set piece in a casino, where everybody is under suspicion, is a highlight. It's hard to pick a standout performer when there are so many good ones, but David Chiang is a reliable face and Ti Lung kicks memorable ass at the climax. Yes, all the budget might have been spent on hiring the actors leaving this looking cheap indeed, but that doesn't mean it's a bad film. On the contrary, I loved it.

SHANGHAI 13 is an all-star Hong Kong extravaganza about patriots vs. traitors in 1920s Shanghai. A patriot named Gau has to take an important document to Hong Kong past an army of killers out to stop him. Over a dozen of Hong Kong's top kung fu stars of the 1970s come into play as either traitors trying to kill Mr. Gau or patriots trying to protect him. Curiously, the Shanghai 13 of the title consists of both sides. Danny Lee plays a sniper. Veteran Shaw Bros. stars David Chiang and Ti Lung are good guys in separate scenes. Ti Lung (smoking a pipe!) fights an overweight Chen Sing. Two of the 5 Venoms are on hand: Lu Feng is a bad guy, while Chiang Sheng is a good guy. Chi Kuan Chun plays `the Leopard,' a bad guy. Leung Kar Yan (LEGEND OF A FIGHTER) leaves a bed with four babes to defend his home in one of the best fight scenes. Chen Kuan Tai pops up but doesn't fight. Jimmy Wang Yu is a safecracker wearing glasses and a black fedora in a non-fighting pre-credits sequence. There are lots of other fighting stars, but I don't know their names. One seems to be a young Andy Lau.

There's no real plot development, just a series of fight scenes. The fighting is well-staged, as we would expect from veteran director Chang Cheh, but the overall production is incredibly cheap-looking. This wasn't a Shaw Bros. production so they had to shoot it on location. Even though it takes place in the 1920s, everything is shot in modern hotels, offices and houses in Hong Kong. Their period costumes don't mesh well with the formica-heavy settings. The final two fights, however, occur on the docks and in a large warehouse.

The Ocean Shores tape offers a very good video transfer. The English dubbing, however, is awful. Even worse is the canned music score, with grating pseudo-jazz and pseudo-rock. You're better off turning down the sound and just watching the action.

I have this on DVD from China, no dubbing, just the most hilarious subtitles I've seen, which bear no relevance to what the actors are saying whatsoever. I'm sure the person who wrote them did it on purpose, for their own amusement.

Anyway, the film itself: paper thin plot about some bad guys trying to kill someone and some good guys trying to stop them. Thats it. Cue the most over the top but entertaining fight scenes, extremely dodgy acting and sets made out of papier mache. This film actually had me in tears, laughing, some of it is so bad. However, the fight scenes are great and since this is what 90% of this film consists of, its worth watching. Especially as you have some famous actors like Ti Lung in it. One of those films you'll feel stupid for enjoying.

Why even pretend to have a plot when you can fill up the frames with fights? Now, I have to admit to a liking of action movies, even the kind where people fly and magic is not out of the question. It's hard to get into that kind of movie, however, when it is completely unclear exactly who you should want to win all of these fights.

The visual impression is nightmarish, not period. The odd combinations of time periods portrayed (something for everyone! is it the 1930s? 1960s? 1970s?) makes the movie feel disorienting, the crowning touch being the (probably uncredited and unpermitted) Jerry Goldsmith music from the Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Stage blood flows everywhere, but when you aren't certain who you would like to see bleeding, the effect is more like watching a series of trailers rather than one movie.

Ti Lung with a pipe. Yes, that's really in there.

This one is probably only for the Chang Cheh/Ti Lung/David Chiang completists.