Member falkor Posted January 5, 2010 Member Share Posted January 5, 2010 That's a good photo, seeing all the veterans of the mainland classics together in one shot! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member taizukungfu Posted March 27, 2020 Member Share Posted March 27, 2020 The Shaolin Temple (Chinese: 少林寺) is a 1982 Hong Kong–Chinese martial arts film directed by Chang Hsin Yen and starring Jet Li in his debut role (though his name is misspelled in the credits as Jet Lee) along with Ding Lan and Yu Hai in supporting roles. The film is based on the Shaolin Monastery in China and depicts Shaolin Kung Fu. The film was among the first major co-productions between Hong Kong and mainland China, and the first to be filmed in mainland China with a mostly mainland cast. Shaolin Kung Fu, one of the oldest, largest, and most popular styles of Chinese martial arts, originated and was developed in the Shaolin Temple in central Henan province in China. Shaolin Kung Fu is the most famous type of Chinese Kung Fu, practiced among many other martial arts at the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province. Cast Jet Li as Jue Yuan Ding Lan as Bai Wu Xia Yu Hai as Sifu Hu Jianqiang as Wu Kong Jian-kui Sun as Se Kong Liu Huailiang as Liao Kong Wang Jue as Ban Kong Du Chuanyang as Wei Kong Cui Zhiqiang as Xuan Kong Xun Feng as Dao Kong Pan Hanguang as Zhi Cao Fan Ping as Hui Neng Jiang Hongbo as Hui Yin Shan Qi Bo Tong as Hui Yang Zhang Jianwen as Fang Zhang Yang Dihua as Seng Zhi Wang Guangkuan as Li Shimin Yu Chenghui as Wang Renze (Wang Shichong's nephew) Ji Chunhua as Tu Ying Pan Qingfu as First General Su Fei as Second General Chen Guo'an as Third General Bian Lichang as Fourth General Wang Guoyi as Fifth General Kong Fanyan as Sixth General Sun Shengjun as Seventh General Yan Dihua as Shaolin Senior Monk Hung Yan-yan as Shaolin student 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 9, 2021 Member Share Posted May 9, 2021 In Wong Jing's memoir, he reviewed this movie: "The story was fairly average but the scenery was truly first-grade. It made the Shaw Brothers movies look bad because most of their period movies were like watching a play in that they were studio-bound. Shaw fans aside, people could no longer watch Shaw's period movies. In Jet's film, the Wushu performers were on a whole new level of physical dexterity. The bar was too high to surpass. When I saw him in Shaolin Temple, I thought he had the best postures. In Taiwan, his nickname is Kung Fu Emperor. Their adulation for him is very impressive considering the relations between Taiwan and Mainland China. Even for modern movies, nobody beats Jet Li in terms of on-screen form. Most on-screen fighters have to rely on the quality of the choreography in order to look good, even if their body is rusty. Jet can make bad choreography look good." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted May 9, 2021 Member Share Posted May 9, 2021 BTW, the "seasons change" scenes were filmed at Shaw Bros. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 9, 2021 Member Share Posted May 9, 2021 True, but I think Jing was referring to everything else. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted May 9, 2021 Member Share Posted May 9, 2021 Not referring to Wong Jing's comment, except SHAOLIN TEMPLE did not seem to inspire a big wave of films made in that style. Just a hand full of Mainland-lensed movies(the Jet Li followups and stuff like RED DRAGONS OF SHAOLIN) and at least one Taiwanese movie that looks Mainland(SECRET OF TAI CHI). Jet Li even dropped out of movies for a while (IIRC DRAGON FIGHT actually brought him back). It's odd because I think international distributors missed the boat on at least trying to distribute SHAOLIN TEMPLE to domestic cinemas in the North America in the early 80s. The storytelling is very broad and easily accessible for casual viewers, much more than a typical Shaw Bros. production. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 9, 2021 Member Share Posted May 9, 2021 Jet Li also missed the boat in doing movies as a kid. Producers made offers but they were rejected. He could have been the Huang I-Lung of his time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted May 9, 2021 Member Share Posted May 9, 2021 This genre has more "could have/should have" missed boats than any other. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 10, 2021 Member Share Posted May 10, 2021 Tell me about it. One thing that never ceases to astonish me is how prolific that a lot of the Kung Fu actors were, considering how many takes can be required of the average shot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted October 29, 2022 Member Share Posted October 29, 2022 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted March 14, 2023 Member Share Posted March 14, 2023 Man its hard to believe this fit into the “classic” era! I thought this movie was AWESOME, and really, about as good as it gets for the prototypical “kung fu” movie. In spite of the simple and formulaic story, the plot was engaging due to solid acting performances from the cast - not an easy feat to pull off! It was cool to see the Shaolin Temple theme with a more “realistic” feeling take (as much as I love the Shaw Shaolin movies) But the plot being better than expected is really just a nice bonus for the fights which are amazing. I never thought I’d see the rope dart used effectively, especially WITHIN a fight (as opposed to just form work) yet it’s done here. Jet Li of course is just outstanding. I think he may be the most athletically gifted screen fighter of all time after seeing this (among his many other gifts!). Great fights throughout. I watched “Martial Arts of Shaolin” years ago and felt underwhelmed - I hardly even remember it. I definitely want to give it another shot after seeing this though. I recently got the Shawscope Volume 2 set, so I’ll be revisiting that soon. I really want to see more mainland flicks after seeing this one though. If anyone has any other recommendations, please send them my way. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted March 14, 2023 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2023 12 minutes ago, paimeifist said: I really want to see more mainland flicks after seeing this one though. If anyone has any other recommendations, please send them my way. A good place to start is ‘South Shaolin Master’, which is outstanding, & plenty more recommendations here! - 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted March 14, 2023 Member Share Posted March 14, 2023 The guardsman, with Cheng Pei Pei 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted March 14, 2023 Administrator Share Posted March 14, 2023 2 hours ago, paimeifist said: Shaolin Temple (1982) Man its hard to believe this fit into the “classic” era! I thought this movie was AWESOME, and really, about as good as it gets for the prototypical “kung fu” movie. In spite of the simple and formulaic story, the plot was engaging due to solid acting performances from the cast - not an easy feat to pull off! It was cool to see the Shaolin Temple theme with a more “realistic” feeling take (as much as I love the Shaw Shaolin movies) But the plot being better than expected is really just a nice bonus for the fights which are amazing. I never thought I’d see the rope dart used effectively, especially WITHIN a fight (as opposed to just form work) yet it’s done here. Jet Li of course is just outstanding. I think he may be the most athletically gifted screen fighter of all time after seeing this (among his many other gifts!). Great fights throughout. I watched “Martial Arts of Shaolin” years ago and felt underwhelmed - I hardly even remember it. I definitely want to give it another shot after seeing this though. I recently got the Shawscope Volume 2 set, so I’ll be revisiting that soon. I really want to see more mainland flicks after seeing this one though. If anyone has any other recommendations, please send them my way. The "training as the seasons change" montage in SHAOLIN TEMPLE (the Jet Li one) is one of my all-time favorite bits from kung fu cinema, and I often play that scene when I need a quick fix of the good stuff that we all love. A deluxe, English-friendly HD release of this and KIDS FROM SHAOLIN would be most welcome. And I've always dreamed of doing some artwork of the first film. 2 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said: A good place to start is ‘South Shaolin Master’, which is outstanding, & plenty more recommendations here! - Thanks @One Armed Boxer (aka. "The Human Forum Compass"). 1 hour ago, ShawAngela said: The guardsman, with Cheng Pei Pei I'm not familiar with this one. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted March 14, 2023 Member Share Posted March 14, 2023 20 minutes ago, KUNG FU BOB said: A deluxe, English-friendly HD release of this and KIDS FROM SHAOLIN would be most welcome. I've got a DVD version with Eng subs if you're interested? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted March 14, 2023 Administrator Share Posted March 14, 2023 1 minute ago, J.J. Hayden said: I've got a DVD version with Eng subs if you're interested? Thanks very much for the kind offer @J.J. Hayden, but I do own both of the Mainland Chinese SHAOLIN TEMPLE films via DVD with subs. I was just saying that they (well, especially the first one) are films that I'd welcome Blu-ray upgrades of, and would enjoy having some interviews, BTS footage, featurettes, and audio commentaries for. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sym8 Posted March 14, 2023 Member Share Posted March 14, 2023 9 hours ago, paimeifist said: If anyone has any other recommendations, please send them my way Yellow river fighter 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted March 14, 2023 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2023 7 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said: I'm not familiar with this one. The compass has your back . Pretty sure this is a cut-down TV series edit, and Yuen Biao also shows up briefly. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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