Fo zhang luo han quan

You have seen these kinds of movies before. Like many kung-fu movies at this time, it combines laugh out loud humor, with many fights. What brings this movie up above the many clones of this time is the director, Yuen Woo Ping. The man that brought you the fights from The Matrix and Fist of Legend, brings you a movie with some of the most amazing fight choreography ever filmed. In many ways this movie is the superior to Fist of Legend, when it comes to the fights. There are more of them, they are much more fluid, they do not have the sped up film of FOL, and they are just so much fun. The story itself is not much to talk about, but the actors seem to enjoy their role, and there really are some fun moments. If you like any of these late 70's early 80's kung fu movies, you must get this one. It is a step above the rest, and really should be more popular then it is.

The Buddhist Fist (1980) is most certainly not among the better exponents of its genre. It has some decent and fairly entertaining kung fu here and there, but the story is generally boring. The motivation of the bad guy is non-existent. The terrible attempts at humor mostly fall totally flat and are generally misplaced. I'll admit, though, that the Fat Master is quite entertaining, and will make anyone smile with his unbeatable kung fu (and chess fu!).

Story and production-wise, the movie warrants a "5" rating, but I will raise that to a solid "6" because the entertainment value is fair and the movie has an amazing finish.

The final fight is superb. It's like an inventory of all the "Buddha" styles; "Sleeping Buddha", "Drunken Buddha", etc., and it's of a good length. This sort of scenes is what Asian movies can do that Western movies can't, because no Westerners have this kind of devotion to and tradition for martial arts in the movies.

Special mention should also go to the guy who plays Boss Chang (the one with a big and a small foot). He's one cool dude, though his role here is nothing much. Catch him as a very cool monk in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin instead.

You can tell this is one of Woo-Pings earlier works because there is very little wire work done. The fights are all of course expertly choreographed though. The movie itself has an interesting storyline, or at least as interesting as a kung fu movie from 1980 gets. Some of the fighting shows good demonstrations of fist versus palm styles. The DVD version of the movie looks good for the most part, with only a few grains and does have a line going down the left side of the screen for the first 15 minutes of the movie. Its not enough to distract you though and the only other really bad part is a thirty second scene in the dark where there is a lot of grain on the film.

If you're into the type of kung fu movies with an emphasis on humor, pick up "The Buddhist Fist". This one was a bit TOO funny, and was almost a distraction. The fighting is great, but at times looked too choreographed. Jackin Chan has done it much better, so look there. Good for a one time rental. If you need something, pick up one of his other movies, like the flawless "Iron Monkey".

I don't think I have seen a better Choreographed Kung Fu movie. It is also probably the most action packed Kung fu film i have seen in recent years. This is definitely a lost gem and hopefully will get its rightful place in Hong Kong moviedom as a classic. I dont how this film has been overlooked for some many years.

I dont know where to begin about this movie. It just attests to the genius of Director Yuen Ping and is more amazing to look at than the high tech, big budget razzle because there are no CGI enhanced fight scenes here..it's the real thing. Not only are they creative choreographed as only Yuen Ping can do, but they some of the most physically intense and acrobatic fight scenes I have ever seen on celluloid and trust me I have seen hundreds of fight scenes. Once the film builds momemntum it doesn't slow down. It has a threadbare plot,but it does have one and even a bit of a mystery thrown in.

This is to Kung Fu movies what Hardboiled is to action movies, it is action packed and the fight scenes are numerous and consistetnly inventive. I was just amazed at the number of fight scenes and how the next one outdid the last,continuing its feverish pitch to a breathlessly paced helter skelter, knock down drag out, down and dirty festival of fisticuffs with the two leads strutting their stuff combining the excellent choreography of the director and the physical dexterity and pugilistic skills of the two leads. You will be exhausted after the movie is over.

If you though Jackie Chan movies were good wait until you seen this one.

Simply said the BEST KUNG FU MOVIE BAR NONE

Interestingly enough it has been released by 2 companies at the same time the Xenon group for $9.99 and Tai Seng (priced for rental as of April 2000. The Tai Seng print will be twice the price, but of much better quality I am sure.

Whatever version you buy or rent just make sure you see it. This is must see viewing for martial arts movie fans.

It is a truly a lost classic.