Guest GwaiLoMoFo Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Watched this for the first time earlier this week and found it to be possibly the weakest of Chang Cheh's shaolin themed films. Gordon Liu, Wang Lung Wei, Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan Chun, Beardy, chory by LKL andd Tang Chia, directed by CC and I fell asleep halfway through!!! Everything about this one was tired and just plain BLAHHHHH. The story was dumb and familiar, the characters were uniteresting, the fights were way below average considering the names attatched. Didnt like this one at all, had to force myself to sit down and finish watching it. With hopes of a redeeming end fight, no such luck. 2/5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chen lung Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I too find with Chang Cheh flicks (overhyped crap), sleeping pills are a thing of the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest killer meteor Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I agree. It's very slow moving and uninvolving for the most part - and why does everyone keep hitting Wang Lung-wei in his killer belly, instead of hitting him in the nose Can't see how this can be called a classic when many other films get less attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chinatown Kid Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 It was ok but I'm not usually to big a fan of early 70's fight choreography unless it's Bruce Lee. The action got alot better in the Shaw flicks of the mid to late 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teako170 Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Shaolin Martial Arts..blah?? BAH! I prefer GwaiLoMoFo..blah! I too find with Chang Cheh flicks (overhyped crap), sleeping pills are a thing of the past. Eeek! 8o OK, now I think you need to take a pill. To say one of the greats of HK cinema is crap is woefully shallow. Indeed the man made some clunkers in his day but he also made many classics. As for the film at hand.... All I can recall is it started off slow (or at least it didn't get me involved). I do believe it picked up in the second half when the focus was on Chi Kuan Chun and Fu Sheng. But hey, one's man's garbage is another's treasure so I respect your opinion nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest falkor Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Shaolin Martial Arts is a CLASSIC! It's meant to be slow as it's a deep training film... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Slow and uninteresting. This is the reason I've not picked this one up. Even with the out of print threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peringaten Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 That's a shame. I really love this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ko Fei Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 I also thought this was a good movie. The training sequences were awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Linn1 Posted September 9, 2007 Member Share Posted September 9, 2007 while not a great film, I can't say it's a bad one. It picks up a lot in the second half as T says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest killer meteor Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Could have done with more music, I think. Or better foley for that matter. Such things can make all the differance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GwaiLoMoFo Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 It's meant to be slow as it's a deep training film... Well they got the SLOW part down, but I thought that the training sequences were one of the weakest aspects of the film. They were unoriginal and boring. Which suprised me because I love the training sequences in LKL's films, and Cheh usually has some creative ones. But these were neither. I could look past all the shortcomings in the action dept if the rest of the film wasnt completely BLAH. First of all, the start of the conlflict at the begining of the film is laughable. BTW, i am a fan of some of Cheh's Shaolin films. Men From The Monestary and Shaolin Temple are two of my fav Shaw films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest venomchamber Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 To have appreciated it and enjoyed it properly, you'd have to have seen in in sequence back in '74. The proper order for Chang's Shaolin cycle was: HEROES TWO MEN FROM THE MONASTERY SHAOLIN MARTIAL-ARTS FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS SHAOLIN TEMPLE I liked all of these films a great deal, but I prefer Chang's work for the Shaw's studios over his on location in Taiwan at Chang's Film Co. stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Not Chang's best Shaolin film, but it's still decent enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 I've enjoyed all of the Shaolin cycle flicks. The weakest ones for me were Heroes Two (I didn't think the guy playing the bad guy was all that good a fighter; it looked like the other actors were trying too hard not to look like they could beat him) and Shaolin Temple, but that was because ST didn't have the quality of story and acting of the other Shaolin cycle flicks. ST did have some nice fights, but it was a disappointment because it came across as superficial after all those great earlier flicks. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CLFNole Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Wouldn't Shaolin Temple precede 5 Masters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted September 9, 2007 Member Share Posted September 9, 2007 Hmm...I'm kind of the opposite of kungfusamurai. I also liked all the Shaolin cycle movies (Shaolin Martial Arts was middle-of-the-road to me,) but Heroes Two and Shaolin Temple were probably my two favorites. The theme music for Heroes Two is the greatest kungfu movie music of all time IMO!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stormybman Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 This film has it's place... Many have varied opinions about it's being a good film or what not. I feel the idea was to introduce the training aspect, however, this angle would be developed with greater effect later with Liu Chia Liang. I really appreciate Shaolin Martial Arts for it was the debut film for Wang Lung Wei, Liang Jia Ren, Gordon Liu, and introduced the Shaolin/Manchu conflict by way of the differences of the teachings/philosophies of the schools. Better films came later, it has it's place. Vengeanceofhumanlanterns, pick it up, it's still a classic. Besides, it's an early pairing of Fu Sheng and Chi Kuai Chun. The story that takes place before Disciples of Shaolin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tino Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 The weakest ones for me were Heroes Two (I didn't think the guy playing the bad guy was all that good a fighter; it looked like the other actors were trying too hard not to look like they could beat him) I agree about that bad guy, he wasnt much of a kung fu fighter. The best thing about him was his dying act. Shaolin Martial Arts to me is a decent flick, the better films do come after. Vengeanceofhumanlanterns, you should get this one just for collection purposes and you never know you may love it. I guarantee you have worse films than this one in your shaw collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest killer meteor Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Wouldn't Shaolin Temple precede 5 Masters? The events of Shaolin Temple precede Five Shaolin Masters but the latter film came first. In any case, the traitor Ma Fu Yi dies in both in seperate circumstances. I think Five Shaolin Masters is my fave of the Shaolin cycle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chen lung Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 In any case, the traitor Ma Fu Yi dies in both in seperate circumstances. I remember one character died in different circumstances. The only bit that stands out in FSM was Chi Kwan Chun strutting his 10 Style Fists in 1 or 2 takes in a dolly movement (?) profusely against Fung Hak On's Mantis. OK, I was a bit hard on Chang Cheh, but I just thought most of his movies were junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest killer meteor Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Chang Cheh is capable of pure gold at times, usually when it seems he is especially interested in the material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldeschool17 Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 you mean when he's awake, right?|I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Chang Cheh made some classics, to dismiss them ALL as junk is way harsh, even if some you didn't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peringaten Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Sweeping generalisations suck. All of 'em. A-goo-ba-ga-baaaaa... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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