Le secret des sept piliers de Shaolin

This is one of the best "Kung Fu Theater" type movies out there. Meng Fei is an ideal hero, he's youthful and charismatic with a mischievous grin. Chang Yi plays General Ma, and man this guy can ACT!! He brings a very dramatic feel to every movie he's ever been in. He really is world-class. He is probably the most famous villain of the entire genre along with Hwang Jang Lee. And Lung Chun Erh is simply the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen. I think they call her Cherry Lung in this flick. She plays Meng Fei's girlfriend and man am I jealous. The soundtrack is decent for this type of movie as well. The only gripe I have is the transfer. It's a bit grainy and blurry, so it's not even worth watching on say a projection TV. If you have plasma or LCD, it's much more enjoyable. Maybe they'll remaster this one, but I won't hold my breath. Another rather humorous aspect I noticed was that Bruce Law plays Fang Ting, the "fake" Fang Sai Yuk. Bruce Law played "Wimp Lo" in "Kung Pow, Enter the Fist". To summarize, this film is a must see for any die-hard enthusiasts.

General Ma (Yi Chang) tries to get to the young Chinese fighting hero Fang Shi-Yu (Fei Meng), embraced by villagers as their champion for his continued resistance to Ma's oppressive rule while armed solely with a fan, by executing two of his closest allies - his brothers, neither of whom would betray Fang Shi-Yu even upon threat of death! Ma then hires one Dragon Lee (Shoji Karada), a top Japanese fighter who demands payment for killing Fang Shi-Yu from Ma despite the fact he already has a motive since Fang Shi-Yu previously killed his brother Tiger Lee while also under Ma's employ. Dragon Lee, ever cunning and devious, plans to challenge Fang Shi-Yu to a showdown atop the treacherous Shaolin poles: one hundred poles planted as a battlefield in the Earth with smaller, sharper poles waiting beneath meaning certain death to the man who falls off. Who will prevail?

Wow! What a fine example of the Kung-Fu fighting genre at its very best this truly is. It's inventive in that it presents a new type of Kung-Fu showdown rarely seen before with its battles mainly taking place atop the dangerous battleground described above and it features terrific lead performances from Fei Meng (as the young Chinese hero of the people Fang Shi-Yu), Shoji Karada (as the deceptively deadly Dragon Lee) and Yi Chang (as the tyrannical General Ma), performances that transcend the language barrier in terms of body language and facial expression. Also the female leads here are indeed truly beautiful and certainly seem to be the worth the amount of fighting done over them. If this has any real flaw, it's that the basic premise (revenge-training-more revenge) has been done so much as to become almost clichéd for this genre. Also the way the Japanese are portrayed leaves something to be desired, what with the whole idea of a Japanese man being with a Chinese woman getting treated as something absolutely abhorrent. But forgiving this one its flaws, which really were quite common for this genre, it really delivers the goods and then some in terms of fighting action and excitement.

This is an exceptionally entertaining kung fu film, one of the very best of the genre. Meng Fei delivers a solid and charismatic performance. Shoji Kurata is an ideal villain, and the fighting on top of the treacherous poles is a very original base for the film.

Another plus, it has Doris Lung Chun Erh as Men Fei's love interest. She is perhaps the most beautiful Chinese actress ever.

As described in other martial art reviews done by me I came across a box on a flea market full of Kung-Fu DVD's. And I must say that I'm happy I bought it. This wasn't boring at all and is worth watching for the old school martial art geeks.

On part of the fight scene's it's worth watching for the fighting going on on the so-called Shaolin Poles. It's almost unbelievable to see what Fei Meng and Yasuaki Kurata are doing. Fei Meng picked up his role again as Fang Shi-Yu, the popular fighter with his white fan and a brilliant smile. On the other hand Yasuaki Kurata, who's still performing nowadays, plays a Japanese fighter but just look how he humiliate women by giving kicks with his feet in their face or isn't afraid to rape women. Back then the Chinese weren't fund of the Japanese.

Due the good fighting scene's and a great story it's a must see for the lovers of the genre. I do like it more then the American Kung-Fu flicks with Bruce Lee or the new ones. The only trick you see in the old schools are the one with the wires used to elevate people. And I was also surprised to see blood here in such old flicks.

Maybe the only negative thing I can say is the poor quality of the DVD, even the release in the US is a VHS rip-off but hey, it do adds towards the grindhouse feeling.

I've just watched this old school kung fu movie. It's not bad compared to a lot of other movies in this style. And indeed, this Chinese girl is good looking. She actually made me think of this woman in Once upon a time in the west who also had such beautiful eyes. Another 6/10.