Shaolin Temple (1976)

[gravedigger666]

Old monk@kitchen taught Fu Sheng Kung-Fu,nuff said.

[The Dragon]

Teako, after viewing those pics, I'm now 100% certain David Chiang and Li Siu Loong shopped at the same taylor.

[Killer Meteor]

Anyone wonder who played the abbess in this one? Looks like they stuffed Chiang Sheng in a nun's habit (or the Buddhist version anyway) since the character is only seen from behind.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

As far as who taught him, I think it was the old dude. But that's a guess.

I love Shaolin Temple movies, but there is little historical proof (records, etc) that there was a Shaolin Temple in Southern China, period. All these characters are mostly traced back to a novel Wan Nian Qing. From what I can tell, Fong Shih Yu and Hung Hsi Kuan lived at different times, if at all. Before anyone get's upset, remember there are plenty of myths in US and World History-Paul Revere's ride, gun fights at noon in the wild west, etc. Hell, almost all of the movies about Wyatt Earp are based on lies he told about how heroic he was, after all the witnesses had died. Basically he was a gangster fighting other gangsters, and the US Marshalls ran him out eventually. Much as I wouldn't like to think it, some of these old "shaolin" heroes could have been thugs themselves, with the Triad connection, etc.I am basing a lot of this on serious Chinese history forums where grad students go to converse. Of course, just because there are doubts on the roots of certain kung fu systems doesn't make them any less beneficial, or the stories less fun. I still like cowboy movies, even if they are BS, same as Kung Fu movies.

[Tex Killer]

remember there are plenty of myths in US and World History-Paul Revere's ride, gun fights at noon in the wild west, etc. Hell, almost all of the movies about Wyatt Earp are based on lies he told about how heroic he was, after all the witnesses had died..

Heh, I did read only very recently those duels with quick drawers&master shooters are bullshit stories. Old handguns ( colt, remington ) were so inaccurate that if you want to hit the wall of barn you have to be inside or very close to it..No way headshots or shoot the gun from opponents hand...

[Iron_Leopard]

Great movie but what I find hilarious is that these films stick to a formula so much that it actually ruins the narrative. It's obvious this is a prequel to Five Shaolin Masters but Shaw Brothers films HAVE TO HAVE THE VILLAIN DIE at the end of every film. I can't recall if we actually see MA Fu Yi die but I know when he emerged from the temple at the beginning of FSM he didn't have any wounds from being stabbed by a spear.

[reason108]

On 3/17/2017 at 9:51 AM, Iron_Leopard said:

Great movie but what I find hilarious is that these films stick to a formula so much that it actually ruins the narrative. It's obvious this is a prequel to Five Shaolin Masters but Shaw Brothers films HAVE TO HAVE THE VILLAIN DIE at the end of every film. I can't recall if we actually see MA Fu Yi die but I know when he emerged from the temple at the beginning of FSM he didn't have any wounds from being stabbed by a spear.

 

And, don't forget, in some of these movies, a particular actor is playing a particular character then in the sequel or prequel, that particular actor is playing a totally different character. Makes it really confusing. 

 

[thekfc]

1 hour ago, reason108 said:

 

And, don't forget, in some of these movies, a particular actor is playing a particular character then in the sequel or prequel, that particular actor is playing a totally different character. Makes it really confusing. 

 

Yep.

In 5SM the 5 titular characters played the 5 characters who escaped at the end of Shaolin Temple who left together - characters Fong, Hu & Hong went the other way.  However, the cast played different character than what they played in Shaolin temple. I think David Chiang & WLW were the only one who played the same character. The other 4 switched characters.  IIRC,  Fu Sheng played Lau Wing character, Chi Kuan-Chun played Yueh Hua characters, Meng Fei played Wong Chung character and I think Ti Lung played a completely different character. Someone can correct me if wrong.

 

 

[LuFengLover]

On 7/9/2007 at 9:27 AM, Guest june said:

Hello All,

 

Who do you thinks was teaching Fu Sheng "Tiger / Crane" during the Wang Lung Wei fight? The old man or Chi Kwan Chun???

 

 

It's obviously CKC.  The person is too tall to be the old monk. Plus the old monk in the kitchen would be risking too much. He has probably spent most of his life at the temple and the rules are thoroughly embedded in him. He wouldn't disguise himself to teach the kid he knows is reckless and hellbent on revenge.  The old monk wouldn't risk going against the abbot and the punishment that would come.

CKC, on the other hand, he wants what Fu Sheng wants.  Revenge!  He's already mastered tiger/crane. He does feel guilty for allowing his friend to be beaten. CKC isn't risking much by teaching Fu Sheng secretly. 

Edited April 22, 2017 by LuFengLover

[Tex Killer]

On 4/22/2017 at 3:28 PM, LuFengLover said:

It's obviously CKC.  The person is too tall to be the old monk. Plus the old monk in the kitchen would be risking too much. He has probably spent most of his life at the temple and the rules are thoroughly embedded in him. He wouldn't disguise himself to teach the kid he knows is reckless and hellbent on revenge.  The old monk wouldn't risk going against the abbot and the punishment that would come.

CKC, on the other hand, he wants what Fu Sheng wants.  Revenge!  He's already mastered tiger/crane. He does feel guilty for allowing his friend to be beaten. CKC isn't risking much by teaching Fu Sheng secretly. 

It was sure old monk...nothing else would make much sense. Ok if want help friend but ckc his character seemed so loyal to shaolin rules(he did break them later when left temple to have revenge but training was completed then) and got impression it was more important than friendship. On the other hand old monk was showing some sympathy to fu sheng(in form this is way you have to handle logs).

I think there was scene he looked at fu sheng after one of beating by wang lung wei just before night training started to that quite clearly made strong impression he was teacher.

Edited February 24, 2019 by Tex Killer

[teako170]

Don't know if it was supposed to be CKC or old monk in the film, but in reality, this was the person hidden in the shadows.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by teako170

[ShawAngela]

2 hours ago, teako170 said:

Don't know if it was supposed to be CKC or old monk in the film, but in reality, this was the person hidden in the shadows.

 

Thanks !

Does he have a name (of course he does,but I mean a famous name) or  is he just an obscure stunman who we will never know because he has just been in the shadow in many movies ?

Nice musuculature !!

[teako170]

19 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

Thanks !

Does he have a name (of course he does,but I mean a famous name) or  is he just an obscure stunman who we will never know because he has just been in the shadow in many movies ?

Nice musuculature !!

Oh famous indeed. He is Chi Kuan-chun's master, Chiu Wai.

Chiu Wai’s Dai Sigung / Si-Tai-Gung (aka Great Grandmaster) was Wong Fei Hung.

Chang Cheh credited him as an action director on Shaolin Temple. I had originally went into a more in-depth look of Chiu Wai and Chi Kuan-chun's relationship in my Alex bio but it got removed during the various drafts. He has a YT vid here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLad1-uicao
 

[ShawAngela]

4 hours ago, teako170 said:

Oh famous indeed. He is Chi Kuan-chun's master, Chiu Wai.

Chiu Wai’s Dai Sigung / Si-Tai-Gung (aka Great Grandmaster) was Wong Fei Hung.

Chang Cheh credited him as an action director on Shaolin Temple. I had originally went into a more in-depth look of Chiu Wai and Chi Kuan-chun's relationship in my Alex bio but it got removed during the various drafts. He has a YT vid here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLad1-uicao
 

Wow !!  A disciple of the great Wong Fei Hung !! Thank you very much for the information and the clip !

[morpheus]

On 4/19/2007 at 10:06 AM, Guest teako170 said:

...or "Death Chambers" for the ol' timers

 

Got these two photos. I'm guessing they're from Shaw Screen or HK Movie News. I believe this might be some of the earliest photos of Kuo Chui and Chang Cheh together b-t-s (that I've seen). Would love to have larger photos of either of these. Paging Dr. 7...?

I'm so sorry this is like 12 years late, I only joined this awesome forum recently.  Here's a larger photo of the partial cast of Shaolin Temple (1976).  BTW who is the cute girl standing by David Chiang?  I can't seem to identify her.

Edited July 5, 2019 by morpheus

[morpheus]

Image from the bottom of the theatrical poster.

Edited July 5, 2019 by morpheus

[ShawAngela]

39 minutes ago, morpheus said:

I'm so sorry this is like 12 years late, I only joined this awesome forum recently.  Here's a larger photo of the partial cast of Shaolin Temple (1976).  BTW who is the cute girl standing by David Chiang?  I can't seem to identify her.

 

I first thought that it was Lily Li, but she doesn't play in the movie.

It must be Shih Szu, who plays in it.

[panku]

8 hours ago, morpheus said:

I'm so sorry this is like 12 years late, I only joined this awesome forum recently.  Here's a larger photo of the partial cast of Shaolin Temple (1976).  BTW who is the cute girl standing by David Chiang?  I can't seem to identify her.

Here's another shot where it does look like Lily Li. She may have been the actress to originally play the part Shih Szu did.

[ShawAngela]

6 hours ago, panku said:

Here's another shot where it does look like Lily Li. She may have been the actress to originally play the part Shih Szu did.

I think that you are right and that I wasn't mistaken the fisrt time.

I just watched The criminals 5 and Lily Li has exactly the same haircut in it...

[morpheus]

11 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I think that you are right and that I wasn't mistaken the fisrt time.

I just watched The criminals 5 and Lily Li has exactly the same haircut in it...

 

18 hours ago, panku said:

Here's another shot where it does look like Lily Li. She may have been the actress to originally play the part Shih Szu did.

 

Thank you both!!!

[morpheus]

Ah yes, here is a studio shot of Lily Li; definitely her.

[paimeifist]

This is a cool movie, with a stellar cast featuring a who’s who of Chang Chehs preferred actors of the time, + the Venoms before they were stars and Lee Yi Min.

I didn’t remember how EVERYONE looks so good in the fight scenes in this movie. Even guys who aren’t  known for memorable fighting performances such as Bruce Tong looked stellar. Everyone looked so good that it’s hard to say there was a standout performer, but if there was one I’d say it’s Shan Mao. He just looks great and intense both hand to hand and with weapons. His fight with Lee Yi Min was probably my favorite of the movie, as their styles contrast each other very well. To me it’s awesome that Bruce Tong and Shan Mao are memorable in a movie featuring the likes of Lu Feng, Philip Kwok, Wang Lung Wei, Ti Lung, etc..

The fights prior to the final 30 minutes are solid but not great, and there doesn’t seem to be enough of them.

I would enjoy the plot more if they left a bit of mystery around the traitor rather than revealing it straight away. Seeing all the characters develop is cool enough to keep the movie from being boring though. 

Spoiler

Having seen this movie at least twice before, I did have this feeling of impending doom while watching it that I felt was kind of cool. Just knowing the effort of the protagonists would be for naught. This makes me wonder if the end would be surprising for those who either don’t know the story or haven’t seen the movie. (I think the back of the DVD I had the first time I saw it spoiled it for me… lol)

 

One thing I found interesting for a Chang Cheh movie is that the heros lose but many of them survive.. rather than dying but “winning” as is often seen in Chang Cheh films.

Haven’t started the special features on this one yet, but looking forward to them.

[HeavenSword]

A classic , 2 hour Shaw epic that kept my attention throughout . The first and middle section mostly deals with long training routines but it’s fun to see and shows us the personality and progression of some of the cast.  I do agree that the plot involving the traitor could have been done better, I instantly knew who it was when he took off his hat lol.  This one has an all star cast and it was cool to see everyone together . Ti Lung , David Chiang, Wang Chung, Yueh Hua, Tony Liu, Bruce Tong, Ku Feng, Wang Lung Wei, Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan Chung. It’s stacked ! All of the venoms are here also except for Sun Chien. On this rewatch I spotted Lo Meng and Wei Pei a few times in the background. If Lo Lieh , Chen Kuan Tai, Gordon Liu, Jason Pai Piao, Beardy , Danny Lee and Sun Chien were here this would be the ultimate Shaw movie .

 

The massive climax at the end with the temple getting raided was excellent, with everyone showing off what they learned . I’d say the best fights were Ti Lung vs Wang Lung Wei, Bruce Tong vs Wong Ching and Li Yi Min vs Shan Mao but everyone looked great here. Hand to hand, sword swinging, animal styles , acrobatics, pole work, it’s all here and looks superb. This is a classic Kung fu flick ! 
 

 What was Hong Xi Guan doing the whole time at the temple? We only see him four  times and it’s only for a few seconds. Thought that was kinda weird . 

[lilmanjs]

Watched Shaolin Temple myself last night. Only major gripes were the obvious continuity error between this and Five Shaolin Masters and the terrible music choices. I kept wondering what random western they got the music from and when the epic journey was gonna happen. Other than that the action was top notch, the story was well paced and the alley sequence kept my attention the entire way through. Watching the outsiders leave one by one or fail on various traps was fun to see as well as a little side note to keep the whole letting outsiders in as mentioned at the start.

[Killer Meteor]

20 hours ago, lilmanjs said:

Watched Shaolin Temple myself last night. Only major gripes were the obvious continuity error between this and Five Shaolin Masters and the terrible music choices.

I don't think it's a continuity error. It's a different take on the same story with the same actors. Same way Chi Kuan Chun plays Hu Huei-chien in three different films that all depict his fight at the cotton mill.

I suppose the modern day version was be Michael Keaton playing Batman in both the 1989 Tim Burton film and Batman Begins.