Les Démons du karaté

With a title like Shaolin Challenges Ninja... how could this movie not be amazing? With excellently choreographed fight scenes, a decent storyline (horrible translation... but that just adds to its reputation as a classic), and a great assortment of fighting styles and weaponry, this movie is amazing.

And there's not that much more to say. Watch this movie if you're a fan of classic Shaw Brother's martial arts mayhem. The only disappointment would come in how easily the hero defeats each villain. But his reasons for non-violence fit the storyline and thus, can't be avoided.

A non-violent action movie? Yes it is... and it still rules. Enjoy.

Heroes Of The East aka Shaolin Challenges Ninja is one of many collaborations between actor Gordon Liu and director Lau Kar Leung brought to us by the legendary Shaw Bros. Studios. Gordon Liu has an arranged marriage with a woman from Japan. His wife is an expert of various Japanese fighting styles and each party is of the viewpoint that their style is better than the other. Their various sparring matches cause serious tension in their marriage as well as destroy much of the house. Gordon Liu is, of course an awesome exponent of Chinese kung fu. His wife takes off to Japan and in an effort to get his wife back, slams the Japanese martial arts and challenges her to a competition. His wife's martial arts instructor/love interest grabs the letter from her and does not appreciate the letter's content. Next thing you know Yasuaki Karata and a bunch of Japanese dudes show up at Gordon Liu's pad and challenge him to a tournament. Gordon Liu accepts and fights each representative of various Japanese fighting styles. What separates Heroes Of The East from various other Chinese vs Japanese productions is that it respects both cultures and their fighting styles as well. There are lots of great fights to be had here and both Gordon Liu and Yasuaki Kurata are in top form. Heroes Of The East is indeed a solid martial arts film but it is nowhere near as essential as Lau Kar Leung/Gordon Liu's kung fu masterwork The 36 Chambers Of Shaolin aka Master Killer. Heroes Of The East still resonates and is an enjoyable, fast paced and cohesive martial arts film that is memorable and far above average.

Most Shaw-Brothers films are pretty lacking kung-fu-wise, the fight scenes are usually pretty low quality simply not fun to watch. There is one exception however, and that exception is Shaolin Challenges Ninja. This film isn't a classic because of its plot or acting (both are merely "ok"), but because of the high quality of its _many_ kung-fu fights. Right from the start all the way to the bizarre final fight the film offers great "my style is better than yours" -type fight scenes one after another. If you like old-school kung-fu don't miss this one!

If you've ever enjoyed the classic Kung-fu films of the 70's, I'm sure you remember The 5 Deadly Venoms, Master Killer, 10 Dragons from Canton, etc, etc... But this classic is almost always overlooked for the simple reason that it wasn't aired too many times in the states. And this title is impossible to find on VHS, DVD, LD or any other medium. But if you ever have the chance, see this movie!!! This movie is as good as it gets when it comes to showing off the difference between Chinese Kung-fu and various Japanese techniques. And this movie is very humorous at the same time.

You see, as the Japanese challenger comes one by one to duel, the wife of our star tells him of the exact style of fighting that the challenger will use (i.e. sword, spear, throwing stars, Ninjitsu etc...) . It is upto our hero (Gordon Liu of Master Killer) to counter each particular Japanese style with a similar Chinese technique. Chinese sword vs Japanese sword, Chinese spear vs Japanese spear. You get the idea. Now bearing in mind that this movie is Chinese made, of course the Chinese techniques prove to be superior. But really the best part of the movie is seeing how each weapon and techniques match up against each other.

And look at the ratings the people who have seen this movie gave. Check it out.

This movie is awesome!

don't let the old year scare you away! This movie truly has it all, nice scenery and exciting fights.

Shaw Brothers did have a nose for great martial arts flicks and this one is one of them (one of the better they have released I would say)

the film centers around man named Liu that marries a Japanese girl. They early in their marriage argue about which martial arts styles that are the best; Chinese or Japanese. He of course speaks for the Chinese arts and she for the Japanese. He insults here that hard that she leaves him and goes back to China. In an attempt to win her back he writes a letter and sends off to her, but are misunderstood and so he insults HER family so they seeks him up to have a duel.

Now here is where this film becomes really interesting; Every Japanese that he fights has different styles and weapons so this movie really shows off various styles in Martial Arts.

And it shows it off well. the actors really knows their stuff; they all move and fight AMASING!

don't hesitate to wait, rent/buy it know!

I shall also add: IVL (Intercontinental Video Limited) has re-released this film on DVD with re-mastered video and sound quality! and it truly looks good! so I recommend looking this version up.

9/10