“Shaolin Martial Arts” Theatrical Poster
Director: Chang Cheh
Cast: Chi Kuan Chun, Alexander Fu Sheng, Fung Hak On, Feng Yi, Leung Kar Yan, Gordon Liu, Lau Kar Wing, Johnny Wang Lung Wei, Tino Wong Cheung, Irene Chan Yi Ling, Bruce Tong Yim Chaan, Simon Yuen
Running Time: 107 min.
By Ian Whittle
“I go out and sweat blood to make a swell picture and then the critics and the exhibitors all say, ‘If this picture had love interest it would gross twice as much.’“
That’s a line from my all-time favourite movie, King Kong (1933), but I bet Chang Cheh frequently found himself saying it. His Yang Gang style of filmmaking became increasingly male-dominated as the 70s progressed, but every so often he presumably came under pressure from the front office, and he would suddenly let the girls into the treehouse (though heaven forbid they should be allowed to do anything as cool as fighting). The main example is probably 1978’s Invincible Shaolin, in which three of the Venoms each get a girlfriend, and in several ways, that film is a remake of 1974’s Shaolin Martial Arts – a film that feels less like a Chang Cheh movie, and more like one from its co-choreographer, Lau Kar-leung.
Set generations after the destruction of the Shaolin Temple (which Chang and Lau had just shown in Heroes Two and Men from the Monastery), the films begins with a ceremony at which both Shaolin and Manchu students are present. A petty squabble over a ritual results in a Manchu killing a Shaolin student, and a fight breaking out. The Manchu government decides to crack down on Shaolin and has its martial instructors (Fung Hark-on and Kong Do) recruit two Qi Gong Continue reading →
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