Ten Tigers of Kwangtung

"Ten Tigers from Kwangtung," released in 1980 and directed by kung-fu movie legend Chang Cheh, is a movie that I partially caught during a martial arts movie marathon on The El Rey Network over the 2015 Thanksgiving holiday weekend; the event itself was meant to celebrate what would have been the 75th birthday of legendary martial arts master Bruce Lee, who died in 1973. (I also learned that dialogue from this movie was partially sampled in the song "Bring Da Ruckus" by the hip-hop super-group, the Wu-Tang Clan.)

What "Ten Tigers from Kwangtung" suffers from the most are simply too many characters; the film was meant to be a celebration of sorts that brought together the top martial arts movie talents of the Shaw Brothers studio at the time. In theory, it's a good idea that should work; the only problem with that, however, is the fact that the film is only 90 minutes long, which is way too short for what I'm sure was the type of epic kung-fu grandeur that Chang Cheh was going for. If it had been a half-hour longer, perhaps, the film and story wouldn't seem so crammed and you can better keep track of the characters.

The plot details two stories, one set in the present, the other regarding events of the past.

The first story, the one set in the present and is what sets the film in motion, concerns two Ching Dynasty mercenaries who are hunting down the Ten Tigers and their disciples, the group of famous martial arts masters who years earlier had hid and protected a notorious anti-Ching revolutionary. The two Ching mercenaries are now seeking revenge for the Ten Tigers having killed one of their own years before.

Of course, you don't go to a film like "Ten Tigers from Kwangtung" for a thought-provoking plot or deep characterizations. You go to a film like this for the fights, and this movie does serve up many, many fights. Because the film features an all-star cast of Shaw Brothers studio regulars, it can be extremely difficult to keep track of everybody (I know I certainly did).

That's really the only thing that hampers an otherwise fun but typical kung-fu picture.

7/10

I had high hopes for what I believe to be the only movie about the 10 Tigers of Canton. I've heard the 10 Tigers of Canton mentioned in passing in kung fu films about Wong Fei-Hung. Fei-Hung was not one of the 10 Tigers, he was known as "the Tiger after 10". However Wong Fei-Hung's father Wong Kei-Ying was on of these 10 Tigers. Being a fan of Iron Monkey which featured Wong Kei-Ying as a main character I was looking to find similar movies featuring Wong Kei-Ying as a central character. I've also seen movies featuring another of the 10 Tigers, Beggar Su, as a minor character. I was quite intrigued to learn more about the 10 Tigers through this film, and to come to an understanding of the aura of mystique and legend that surrounds them.

As a tool for gaining insight into the back-story, lives, and importance of these 10 Tigers this Shaw Brothers movie fails miserably. Wong Kei-Ying is a very minor character in this film. Rarely seen on-screen, he and fellow Tiger Wong Chin Ho are simply referred to in passing as "The Wong Masters". Beggar Su has a more prominent role in the film, but he does not look, dress, nor act the part of a beggar. Instead we're treated to "Acrobat Su". While novel and fresh to use actor Philip Kowk's talent as an acrobat in Five Deadly Venoms, the portrayal of Beggar Su as an acrobat as opposed to a filthy rag-clad beggar left a sour taste in my mouth.

This film fails to provide background information on each of the 10 Tigers and hence doesn't deliver on explaining who each Tiger is and what made each one such a standout in the world of martial arts.

While the costumes, sets, and martial arts action are all phenomenal and top-notch for a 1979 kung fu movie, The lack of character development really hurts this film as it could have been so much more, missing out on making THE one-and-only classic masterpiece about the 10 Tigers of Canton.

I can only hope that someday soon a contemporary Hong Kong director will come out with a film that does justice to the 10 Tigers of Canton, because this Shaw Brothers movie fails miserably at doing such.

Ti Lung. Alexander Fu Sheng. Chiang Sheng. Kuo Chui aka Phillip Kwok. Lu Feng. Wei Pai. Sun Chien. Lo Meng. Li Wang. Dick Wei. They make up ten of the most popular stars of 1970's Martial Arts Films. Add villain favorite Wang Lung Wei, and you got a blockbuster movie. With a cast so hot, who needs David Chiang, Chi Kwan Chun or Gordon Liu Chia Hui?

The Ten Tigers of Kwangtung was a spectacular showcase of kung fu. The brilliant styles of natural talent these stars had were spectacular. Each and every one of these guys can do anything, by golly. The story is kinda cool; two Ching Dynasty mercenaries are out to kill the students of the Legendary Ten Tigers as payback for Wang's demise at the hands of Ti...which was explained in a flashback.

Ti, Alex, Wei, Lu and Sun gather together to protect a hero of the Rebellion against the Manchus while Phil, Chiang and Lo goof off and stir a hornet's nest in their squabbles with Alex.

These heroes are great. Wang is in rare form as a villain who thinks he's the hero. The action is vicious and no nonsense. No villain gets charted off to jail saying, "I would have gotten away with nabbing that rebel if it hadn't been for those meddling Tigers!" here. The dubbing and FX are lame and jive. The perfect SHAW Brothers film.

I'm gonna miss Alex and Chiang. They were funny, talented and great heroes. They're up there in the pearly gates driving Bruce and Brandon up the clouds!

There is an art to fight choreography, and this movies fights are technically "clean" but lack drama and build up. This movie is an example of why Shaw's popularity fell and golden harvest rose. As the years went on, there was a focus on a sort of Chinese opera style of dance acrobatics and the fights lost the umph of earlier movies such a Heroes Two and Shaolin Martial Arts. Also, the plot is a disjointed mess, and despite the fact that it has a "ton of stars" they are given very little to do. They are better films in the same genre, so I would give this one a pass. You would be better off seeking out Avenging Eagle, Shaolin Temple or Disciples of Shaolin. I read somewhere that Disciples was Fu Sheng's favorite film. Another worthy flick is 5 shaolin masters.

Forget the previous comment by the inknowleagible reviewer, this film is a classic on many levels. Ti Lung,Alex Fusheng,Chiang Sheng,Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Sun Chien,Wang Li, Wei Pai,Dick Wei(!),Wang Lungwei,Chin Siuho (!),Tien Shenglung, Ku Feng. This is one hell of a stellar cast, 1979, hong Kong! You even got the five venom's in there for Christs sake!

The story is a basic one, with Wang Li hiding a government wanted man, for trying to bring down the Ching, Wang Li believes that he alone cannont protect and deliver this man to mainland China and so enlists the help of many kung fu masters to execute his plan. there is a sub plot also, that which is of revenge, a nice new thing for kung fu films! The fight scenes are bar none, with kicks aplenty and somersaults in every scene, highly recommended!