The Kid with the Golden Arm

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 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.

I saw this movie on "Kung Fu Theatre" when i was an early teen and just fell in love with this action/adventure! I found a copy on VHS a few years back and have damn near worn out the tape playing it... Anyone who has been over for an extended time has been shown this and for the most part the reaction is solid: This is a great film.

One of the shortcomings is also what makes it so powerful: It's a comic book style with a very simple storyline... on the surface. With characters like Brass Head (who gets killed off way to early!), Silver Spear, Iron Robe and the title character, there are very visual and easily digestible stereotypes to hook the young viewer. But on a more subtle lever there are sub- plots galore and of course lots of twists and intrigue woven into this chop-opera...

Compared to "Five Deadly Venoms", which on some levels is a more richer and stronger storyline, "Kid With The Golden Arm" is less dark and brooding. All of the actors seem to play similar characters in both but this one there is a charm to the ones here that still resonate with me to this day...

I totally recommend this if you like fantastical kung fu, especially in light of movies like "Crouching Tiger..." or "Shaolin Soccer..."

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.