The Kid with the Golden Arm

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.

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.

The Kid With The Golden Arm is easily the best Kung-Fu movie ever made. It was made by the Shaw brothers, the same people who made the classic Five Deadly Venoms. It also stars many of the same people as FDV.

The movie has no main character but is more or less centered around the main villain Golden Arms (played by Meng Lo, Toad in Five Deadly Venoms) and his efforts to steal a wagon full of gold. Golden Arms is the leader of a gang called the Chi Saw gang. It has four cheifs. 1 is Golden Arms who is such a kung-fu master that he doesn't need weapons. 2 is Silver Spear (Feng Lu, Centipede in FDV) who weilds a spear and throwing darts. 3 is Iron Robe (Lung Wei Wang, the Judge in FDV) who wears an iron robe and fights with a fan. And 4 is Brass Head who headbutts people with a brass helmet. Chien Sun (Scorpion in FDV) leads a band of guards who try to protect the wagon. Also, Sun's friends Long Axe and Short Axe (Sheng Chiang, Yan Tien The Disciple in FDV) and Li Chin-Ming (Pai Wei, Snake in FDV) a master swordsman help to protect the gold. Another character, Agent Hi Toe (Philip Kwok, Lizard in FDV) who fights better drunk, is hunting down Golden Arms with hopes to defeat him in battle.

With all these characters you know a lot of ish goes down.

FDV featured mostly hand-to-hand combat while TKWTGA has mostly weapon-based fights, and I like the weapons much better. All the battles are exciting and the plot moves fast without leaving the viewer behind. The acting is even pretty good and Hi Toe is a pretty funny guy. I recommend this movie for anyone who has ever enjoyed a chop socky flick. 10/10 Go Get It!!!!!

The Good Guys try to send gold the the starving people in a famine stricken region but it's stolen by a gang of ruthless War Lords along the way. It's basically the Kung Fu version of Live Aid.

What makes this Venoms' film unique? The storyline is downright simple, with a little twist at the end and the locations are uniformly dull, where all take place in the Shaw Brothers studios.

So, the best thing about THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is the characters, the good and the bad, who have their own unique skills. Combined with Chang Cheh's deft direction and a talented group of kungfu actors, you get good entertainment, especially for the Venoms' fans.

The story involves a desperate delivery of caskets containing gold for the needy in famine-stricken villages through a place named the Death Valley. The place is so feared that the delivery, which has no other option but to pass it, has to be escorted by a group of skilled fighters.

The Deadly Valley, so it is named, is a no-man's land ruled by an infamous robber, highly skilled - the Golden Arm (Lo Meng) with his gang: the Silver Spear (Lu Feng), the Iron Robe (Wang Lung Wei), and the Brass Head (Yang Tsiung), who are all aiming at looting the gold delivery.

But, things do not come as easy as they think. The king's official has assigned Chief Security Yang (Sun Chien), together with a group of fighters, to prepare an unexpected welcome for the adversaries.

The fighters on Chief Yang's side are as unique as the baddies: Constable Hai To, the drunkard (Kwo Chui); Swordsman Li, the arrogant (Wei Pai); Heroine Leng (dunno her name); Long Axe (played by a cameo; should have been played by Wang Li, though), and Short Axe (Chiang Sen).

There are one-to-one mortal combats that are, as usual, exciting to watch - the one between Silver Spear and Short Axe, another with the Iron Robe and Constable Hai To, then the climax between the Golden Arm and Constable Hai To.

A little twist at the end is the appearance of a mysterious character the Iron Feet, known to have been one of the deadly duos of the Deadly Valley before the Golden Arm established his reign of terror. He, too, demands his share of the gold.

Who, then, will be the last man standing ?