About a year later Ren Jie returns to find that everything has changed for the worse. His girlfriend has been forced into a life of prostitution, his elder brother (Ku Feng) has become a drunken vagrant and lost all of his credibility, and the gang’s former accountant, Gan Wen-bin (Chuan Yuan), has taken over with the aid of a corrupt senator and wants Ren Jie dead.

Ren Jie sets out to make an attempt to set matters right by attempting to take down the gang he grew up in, Ren Jie crosses paths with his father’s killer, the villain known as the “Rambler” Jian Nan (David Chiang) whose true motives remain a mystery after he repeatedly comes to Ren Jie’s defense.  Eventually Ren Jie and the Rambler decide to team up in an uneasy alliance with each other, each of them with knife in hand put their differences on hold to turn a city full of vicious killers into a bloodbath.

Overall The Duel was a solid movie with very good fight choreography that departed from the traditional styles we have become used too.  There was a lot of blade play in this movie, which of course meant there was a lot of fake blood.  But the fight scenes were great even with all of the blades, there were times where the movie turned into a blood bath.  It was an enjoyable movie to watch, and worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre.

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If there’s any movie to exemplify the honor and selflessness of the Shaolin monks it would be Shaolin Temple Strikes Back. In this epic, monk Ce Ling starts off as a humble warrior whose job it is to protect an 11 yr old princess from the Manchu horde. When the Manchus kill her father and slaughter his kingdom, they attempt to kidnap her in order to force her hand into marriage with a Manchu king. Ce Ling is a loyal retainer to his whiny princess and even goes so far as to join the Shaolin Temple when they seek refuge there and she commands him to do so.

The Manchurian horde is led by a master of Kung Fu who goes by the name Wang Ye (Chen Shan). Wang Ye poses as a simple spice merchant in order to get intel on the princess’s whereabouts and is good friends with Shaolin’s renegade drunken monk – himself a skillful martial arts master. When Wang Ye suspects that the princess is being held by Shaolin, the polite friendship between he and the drunken monk turns violent and it soon turns into an all out war pitting Shaolin against the Manchu invaders.

monk vs wangye Shaolin Temple Strikes Back (1972)While Ce Ling is behind the temple walls, he learns their martial arts, even the deadly bo staff techniques of the drunken monk himself. Already a dangerous fighter, Ce Ling becomes even stronger and when the Manchus finally break the truce by killing innocent monks, he is ready to fight alongside his brothers to protect the princess.

Hosting one of the most bad-ass Kung Fu bosses in a movie – Wang Ye is the epitome of stylish evil, wearing silk robes, sleeping with refined women and clean to a fault. The only thing more impressive than his appearance is his dangerous Kung Fu fighting. Played by  my favorite Kung Fu actor Chen Shan, the man is a spectacle to watch in this movie. I will promise you that if you have never heard of him before seeing this, you will become a fan immediately after.

One of of the most notable things in Shaolin Temple Strikes Back is the use of the legendary one finger strike which is depicted in the very beginning by a monk standing inverted with his feet supported by a wall balancing only on his two pointing fingers. This strike is so precise that it can be used to burrow a hole through flesh, damaging your vitals and instantly killing you. The Kung Fu in Shaolin Temple Strikes Back is probably the best that I have seen and I have seen plenty. The movie has just about everything for the kung fu fanboi; you have a drunken monk, you have staffs, swords, bare knuckle boxing, you name it and Shaolin Temple Strikes Back has it.

If you’re going to start off a newcomer to Kung-Fu theater, this is the movie to do it with. Fighting femmes, lordly bad guys, brave heroes, self sacrifice… it’s all here folks. Shaolin Temple Strikes Back is one of my favorite movies in the genre. If you have never had the pleasure of seeing Chen Shan fight on film, that is if you haven’t seen other great movies by him such as Shaolin versus Lama or Wutang versus Ninja then this movie will make you want to see more of him. Chen Shan has a Tae Kwon Do background unlike most other actors, so you get a variety of kicks that you will not see anywhere else.

So go and purchase Shaolin Temple Strikes Back back right now if you don’t already have it in your collection. It is a guaranteed must-see; while the dubbing leaves room for improvement at times, the action has no equal and the story is great. If that isn’t enough, then pick it up to witness the legendary one finger strike in action!

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Before I go into the review of this film I must preface by saying that this movie has hands-down some of the best kung fu sequences I have ever seen. The choreography is ridiculous and the fights, especially the ones later on in the movie are intense. Chang Shan is a master but Chang Tin Chee is equally impressive as the two protagonists drop knees on the opposition utilizing the devastating “Seven Steps” technique.

Plot: Tiger is a rogue and mischief maker, he is also student to the legendary Iron Hands master Li San Pei. While goofing off in town one day, Tiger comes across a medal which he takes home to his master who shows much concern. Turns out that the medal was one of five, belonging to a member of the Five Hands Gang. Master Li San Pei reveals himself as a pursuant of the gang and employs his student to help reveal all five members so that he can stop them for their crimes against their nation. Before Tiger can help however, he must first master Li san Pei’s “7 Step Style”, a Kung Fu that can be described as dropping knees unto the legs of your opponent to render them useless. After mastering the style and setting out with his master to find the elusive five, the two men soon realize that the members are closer than they thought and a corrupt General is at the center of it all.

The movie itself is of the quality you should expect from these old classics, for a DvD it is still gritty, skips at times and there is about 5 minutes of raw Mandarin where they forgot to dub English over. Luckily this small piece of bad editing is within a fighting scene, so you will not miss out on the weak plot line at all. Speaking of plot line, the movie flows through and ends without you knowing what exactly it is that the 5 Hands Gang has done to deserve their fate. All we are given is the “traitors to our country” line and a whole lot of ass whipping. Nevertheless, the action more than makes up for the other weaknesses and I am confident in recommending this to you.

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The movie starts out with a guy planning to take his own life by hanging himself, suddenly he gets hit with something.  A bum/beggar falls out of a nearby tree, and was the person who hit the suicidal man with something.  The suicidal man explains that a man is forcing his daughter into marriage and he can’t live with himself because he failed to prevent it.

That is when we find out that the bum is not just a bum, but he’s the famous kung fu hero “Bamboo Stick.”  Bamboo Stick decides he is going to help the suicidal man, and they head to the wedding to break it up.  At the wedding we see the man about to marry the suicidal mans homely looking daughter.  I have never seen this actress in any other movies, but the bride is definitely not easy on the eyes.  Bamboo Stick intervenes, and in the resulting fracas he kills the evil guy, unfortunately it’s the son of his old rival Lung Yung Fang.

Lung Yung Fang vows to take revenge on Bamboo Stick, as he moves in one of Bamboo Stick’s students tries to save his master and is quickly defeated.  In the process Lung Yung Fang steals a precious treasure the student was guarding for the government.  The student, Quan Chen Chi, escapes and is soon wanted by the authorities for losing the jade ring, which puts Bamboo Stick in an even bigger conundrum.

The movie then starts to follow Quan Chen Chi and Cliff Lok, they wander around for most of the film defeating evil and getting in random altercations.  Eventually the story gets back on track when Lung Yung Fang finds them.  He starts to fight with Quan Chen Chi and uses the “Iron Head” technique which kills Quan Chen Chi.  Bamboo Stick reappears back in the film, after learning of his pupil’s death and a battle ensues, but Bamboo Stick seems grossly over matched against his arch rival.  Badly wounded he is nursed back to health by Cliff Lok and teaches the young man powerful kung fu as a reward for helping him recover.

When the Lung Yung Fang again finds our heroes he is in for a surprise, mainly the young fighter stuffing noodle batter in his face.  The emphasis is taken off of Bamboo Stick and centers on Cliff Lok fighting the villain.  Eventually Cliff Lok uses a technique taught to him by Bamboo Stick and blinds the bad guy with noodle batter then chokes him to death with a split bamboo stalk.  It was probably one of the oddest finishing moves in Kung Fu movie history, but it got the job done.

The production quality on Ol’ Dirty Kung Fu is decent, and the dubbing is average.  The movie was a bit strange overall, and the choreography of the fights was only average, there were really no epic battles in the movie that will draw you in.  This move was one chosen for the Wu-Tang collection, and it seems all the films chosen for that collection had funny, catchy names, but the movies left some things lacking.

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An inquisitive young child Chan Yuan Lung (Jackie Chan) wants to learn kung fu but does not have the money to pay for lessons. He finds a willing teacher in the form of a lowly beggar (the great Simon Yuen Siu-tien in his signature role), known as “The Man Who Isn’t There,” who is also a martial arts master. After several years of instruction, Chan has become quite the martial artist, but his father (Tien Feng) abhors violence and forbids him to use his talents.

Chan’s temper seems to be continually tested by some local thugs and his father’s punishments grow more and more severe.  This leads to Chan being forced to plunge his right fist into broken glass out of anger at being able to do nothing to help his father. The beggar is able to heal his pupil’s hands and Chan is once again making trouble for the local gang lord, foiling his henchmen and destroying their dockside extortion racket. The triads burn down his home in retribution, killing Chan’s father, and setting the stage for a final blindfolded duel between Chan and the main villain (Korean fighter Kwan Yung-moon).

The star’s acrobatics are entertaining, but not on the level of what he would accomplish later on in the decade, and the editing and continuity are a mess. The film does have some mild pleasures, particularly the endearingly comic antics of Simon Yuen, who is able to make the most of his limited screen time and the dubious nature of the footage. Ultimately though, MASTER WITH CRACKED FINGERS is the kind of unabashed ripoff that gave old school kung fu films such a bad name in the West and will only be of interest to die hard Chan fans.

Master with Cracked Fingers is a fairly standard Kung Fu movie from the 1970s. This was before Chan made a name for himself for combining comedy with Kung Fu, and therefore the movie isn’t overflowing with humor, and really is a pretty standard Kung Fu movie, not exactly miles away from the slop Godfrey Ho directed.  In an even more Ho-esque move, the movie is not all it seems. Originally made in 1971 as The Little Tiger from Canton, the movie faded into obscurity pretty quickly, which is quite understandable, given how generic and formula Kung Fu following it is.

The DVD quality is below average and the audio is nothing to write home about, but the Popeye them interwoven throughout the move was a bit comical.  You are watching a Kung-Fu movie and the theme song to Popeye comes on, it was a bit unexpected and was one of the only unique things about this movie.  Other than that it is a fairly standard movie that was released well before Jackie Chan was a star, and only resurfaced after  he had made it big in America.

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Shaolin Invincible sticks is about a school of stick fighters, and one fighter on the warpath in an effort to destroy all rival stick fighters.  Lu Tai-yeh and his accomplices are the antagonists in this film, and start by challenging the Chen Stick Fighting School.  Chen Ku-yung who is raised by three uncles after he inherited the Chen School when his father died.  His father was a famous stick-fighting master who recently passed away, and although great his son had lazily taken up the lessons provided by his father.

Word comes to the family that a vicious fighter named Lu Tai-yeh is methodically killing off all rival stick fighters. The three uncles realize that they have spoiled Chen, who has not taken his training seriously. They kick him out of the school for his own good and he’s forced to fend for himself. Chen befriends another stick fighter and helps his friend’s family establish a Kung Fu school, but is ultimately kicked out again.

Chen finds work at an inn just as Lu and his gang of thugs arrives in town to challenge his friend’s new school. Chen attempts to aid them, but he’s defeated and retreats for further training. As Lu descends on the Chen School, Chen and his friends rush to stop them.  But they are too late Lu Tai-Yeh kills the old man and his friend in a duel to the death.

Chen Ku Yung and Yu Yu (the daughter of the school master) flee. Lu Tai-Yeh also eventually finds his way to the house where Ku Yung’s uncles live and kills two of them, leaving only one alive. At this point, Ku Yung must train himself for the eventual showdown with Lu Tai-Yeh.

This movie is also known in some distributions as Fists of Shaolin although the fighting is done almost exclusively with sticks.  Sticks of every type, lone ones, short ones, medium ones, they went out of their way to make sure Sticks were the main theme of the movie.  The fighting sequences are actually good, but not as good as some of the other stick fighting movies like “Eight Diagram Pole Fighter”, but it’s an enjoyable watch when it’s all over.

The picture quality is a little bit lacking in the version that we had, but it’s watchable enough.  There is of course tons of humor sprinkled throughout this movie at various times, and yes it can be a bit cheesy coupled with the dubbing.  The fighting sequences are good, but the story is a bit lacking at times.  These types of stories where a bad guy just wants to go around and kill every other fighter of his type for no apparent reason generally don’t contain much story.  The question is do we really enjoy watching these movies for the storyline anyway?

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Seven Blows of the Dragon was produced by the Shaw Brothers Studios, it tells the tale of 108 rebels who defended 12th Century China from Sung invaders.  Based on the classic Chinese novel The Water Margin, this is one adaptation of a literary cultural milestone that is about as far from stodgy and stolid as it can possibly get.

In 11th century China, the corrupt Sung Dynasty’s cruel oppression led 108 heroic men and women to become outlaws and fight the government as The Mountain Bandits.  They were admired by the common citizen and despised by the Sungs. In the opening scene, the evil Sung General Golden Spear slays rebel leader Heavenly King using his special martial arts styles. The rebels quickly embark on an epic journey to recruit Jade Dragon Yen Ching, the only man with the skill & technique to best Golden Spear in personal combat.

If they succeed in wooing Jade Dragon, by default they also get the elder master’s supreme bodyguard named Young Dragon.  With those two on their side The Mountain Bandits theoretically cannot lose.  When two disguised members of the Bandits arrive in the Northern Capital to approach Jade Dragon, Young Dragon sees through their disguise and has them detained while the authorities are summoned. While awaiting the constables, Jade Dragon senses the goodness in the captives and allows them leave before the authorities arrive, but that act of respect has repercussions for Jade Dragon when it is witnessed by the steward of his house.

While Jade Dragon has spent his every waking moment in hard martial training, he has ignored his young wife, and unknown to him the Steward was filling in for him when his wife had needs.  When the steward witnessed Jade Dragon letting the Bandits go he used it to get rid of him for good. When the authorities arrive, the steward accuses Jade Dragon of treason and the elder master is immediately arrested and sent to jail, to await his punishment.

Jade Dragon discourages his bodyguard from fighting the authorities; he thinks that he can find a way out of the situation on his own.  Trusting in the corrupt Sung authorities, it soon becomes clear that there is no way out and the officials intend to make an example of Jade Dragon.  The Sung want to illustrate what happens if any sympathy is shown to the wanted outlaws. Concerned for his master’s life, Young Dragon attempts to rescue the elder warrior but is unable to successfully take on the scores of soldiers set against him (though he does fight like a man possessed), so, in an act of desperation, he runs to The Mountain Bandits for help.

The bandits are only too happy to help and the rest of the movie details a few failed rescue attempts before our heroes succeed in freeing Jade Dragon. As the heroes make their way out of the city, Golden Spear is deployed and vows to bring down all and sundry, but most especially Jade Dragon, who was revealed earlier to once have been Golden Spear’s greatly respected friend.  The forces of the corrupt government and our heroes face each other on a battlefield and five elite members of The Mountain Bandits — Leopard, Tigress, Black Whirlwind, Magic Sword, and Fearless One are chosen to take on the best the Sung have to offer while Golden Spear and Jade Dragon engage in a final battle.

Set on a mountaintop in mainland China, the director focuses as much camera time on the lush scenery and panoramic views as he does on the actors. This gives the film an epic feel and pioneered a style that’s been copied ever since, most notably in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  The quality of the DVD was somewhat sub-par, so it took away from the experience and left you wondering if only HD was around back then.  Overall this is a good entry into the Kung-fu genre, and is a recommended watch.

Trailer for the Movie:

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By:  Mark Pollard

Gao Jian (Yuen Tak) is a low-ranking kung fu student frequently bullied whose fortunes change when he begins training with a wounded kung fu expert (Chen Kuan-tai) hiding from the ‘Three Devils.’ Forced to leave his school, Gao returns a year later to get revenge for the kung fu expert’s death at the hands of the Three Devils and to free his school from their subjugation.

Oh, how the mighty had fallen. Once the dominating force in Hong Kong filmmaking, by 1980 Shaw Brothers was reduced to following the trends of upstart independent filmmakers. But these upstarts were no lightweights. Filmgoers had grown weary of tragic swordplay epics and Bruce Lee rip-offs. The people wanted kung fu they could laugh at and Yuen Wo-ping and Jackie Chan were just what the doctor ordered. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978) was Jackie’s first major hit and set a new direction for the genre to follow. Not only did comedy kung fu flourish for a number of years, but so did films that aped the plot. SB’s The Master was one such film that worked both angles to great success thanks to competent direction, excellent kung fu action, and fine performances.

The Iron Monkey star Chen Kuan-tai is the kung fu master hiding from three “parasites of the martial arts field” who have wounded him. He makes his way to a kung fu school where a cheeky student of low rank named Gao Jian (Yuen Tak) nurses him back to relative health in secret. His own master Shi (Lau Hok-nin) is apparently a ‘poser’ when it comes real kung fu know how and most of Gao’s fellow students simply abuse him. Gao begins training under Chen’s expert guidance. A fair amount of time is spent in training that incorporates the breaking of many clay tiles, plus sword work. As with the choreography, the training is all shown very clearly with logical cause and effect while the purpose behind each action is explained. This is a welcome departure from so many esoteric explanations and displays of kung fu that lesser productions feature. An unwise plan to raise money for Chen’s medicine leads Gao to a brothel where one of the Three Devils is being entertained by throwing taels of gold at topless women. This only gets Gao into hot water with master Shi. But Shi really explodes when Gao makes another mistake by displaying the kung fu he’s learned, thus exposing that he’s gone behind his master’s back to study kung fu with a rival expert. In order to escape punishment, Gao leaves just before the Three Demons catch up with Chen and then proceed to take over the kung fu school. Gao returns a year later ready to get revenge and free his school.

The Master is hardly original or even engaging when it comes to the plot or the comedy bits, but it excels in the key element of filming great kung fu sequences with inviting clarity. The opening tea house duel between Kuan-tai and Johnny Wang, who plays the leader of the Three Devils, sets the standard by which director Tony Liu and choreographer Hsu Hsia manage to maintain. Acrobatics by stunt doubles are thrown in and a reoccurring ‘money shot’ features Johnny Lung’s character doing spinning, mid-air attacks that will take your breath away. Aside from these trampoline-assisted aerial assaults, there is no wire work or reverse camera work. There isn’t even any noticeable use of those obnoxious zoom-ins. The only gimmick used with regularity is slow-motion action shots to emphasize the power of attacks. These and other shots make it easy to follow the action and appreciate its quality.

Yuen Tak, a fellow graduate of the same Chinese opera school that Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung emerged from, delivers an awesome action performance. Truthfully, I don’t care for his acting or the character he plays, but he displays a well-rounded set of physical abilities worthy of the ‘Yuen’ name. His sword-handling in training and in his final bout with Johnny Wang is particularly entertaining. The hilt of his sword has a long tassel hanging from it that Chen earlier explains is designed to confuse an opponent when in motion. Yuen’s foes are fairly entertaining as well. The Three Devils include Johnny Wang as Yan Qing-wang with his Leopard Fist, whose special weapon is a knife attached to the end of his braided hair. This appears long before Yen Shi-kwan used a similar attack against Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China (1991). The other two characters include Fan San who wields dual blades (Wing Chun knives) and Zhou San-zhao who carries a coat full of darts that he is capable of tossing with expert precision.

The humor in The Master is less successful and only seems to be a half-hearted effort to appease demand. Chan Lau has one of his least interesting roles as the leading tormentor of Yuen, along with Lam Fai-wong. Yuen Tak’s clowning lacks the charm of Jackie Chan or even the lessor Mang Fei. On the flip side, the soundtrack is always complimentary with a combination of orchestral and more upbeat synthesizer music. The camera work is accomplished with nicely done panning shots. The shooting of interior sets and outdoor locations is fairly uniform, although I can always easily spot that distinctive blue sky wallpaper.

There is nothing particularly outstanding about The Master and it seems pretty routine for a 1980 production. Yet there isn’t much to complain about either. Frequent kung fu mayhem of high quality overcomes nagging faults and makes this old school movie worth hunting down.

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Invincible Armor is another movie brought to us by the Shaw Brothers, and is one of the best movies of this genre.  What makes invincible armor great is the simple idea; you have an invincible fighter who has one week spot which has to be found by his opponents.  The fact that they had to discover the weak spot made for an entertaining last battle, I would recommend this movie to anyone.

General Chow Lu Fung (John Liu) witnesses a pack of bandits chasing a man named Hu Lung (Lee Hoi San). Chow watches as Hu Lung impressively fights off his attackers, who are trying to take away his precious sword. When the bandits flee, Hu Lung begs Chow not to arrest him. Instead, Chow reveals to the man that he is seeking to recruit fighters into the Ming underground. Hu Lung agrees and Chow takes him to the elder leader of the rebels, Mr Liu. Chow convinces his master to that Hu Lung will be a great asset to their cause.

Mr. Liu agrees, but states that Hu Lung must prove his worthiness by facing Mr. Liu one-on-one. Chow watches as Hu Lung takes on Mr. Liu in a friendly test of martial arts skill. During the fight, Hu Lung whips out his sword, and plunges it into Mr. Liu’s jugular. Chow cannot believe what has transpired, and rushes over to assist his dying master while Hu Lung leaps over the wall. Chow is outraged; it was all a setup that he unwittingly fell for. Mr. Liu’s second-in-command, General Wei, comes around the corner and sees Chow standing over the body over his fallen master, both of them covered with blood. He blames Chow for the death of Mr. Liu, and hauls him off to the Royal Court.

Chow explains to his compatriots that it was a planned assassination attempt that killed Mr. Liu, but no one believes him. The verdict is death, and the guards close in on Chow to finish him right then and there. Chow grabs the guard closest to him and holds the man’s own blade to his throat, prompting the others to back off. Chow swears to the others that he is innocent, and vows to bring the assassin to justice before leaping away like a jack-rabbit. Chow is now considered a fugitive, and he must trust no one on his self-appointed task of clearing his name.

The Emperor’s Minister of State, Cheng (Hwang Jang Li in white beard and eyebrow appliances) decrees that all his forces hunt down and destroy the renegade General Chow. Cheng sends for his best and most faithful government enforcer Shen Yu (Tino Wong) to personally track down Chow and execute him. Shen Yu informs his superior to consider it done. After weeks of searching for the killer, Chow finally tracks down Hu Lung, and thrashes him mercilessly.

Chow lets him live though, because he wants him to stand trial. Suddenly Shen Yu shows up and tells Chow that he is taking him back to the court. Chow resists and the two men begin a very evenly matched duel. Their contest quickly becomes a three-way tryst when a mysterious bearded old man (Philip Ko) shows up and insists on getting involved. In the confusion, Chow slips away much like his quarry Hu Lung did minutes earlier. Meanwhile, a nervous Hu Lung returns to his masters’ lair, whom we discover is same old man who interjected himself into the previous duel. Hu Lung confesses to his master that the Minister of State Cheng is the one who put him up to the murder of Mr. Liu.

Chow goes on and meets up with a young kid and his sister on their private property. It seems the kid’s grandfather perfected the Iron Armour technique (which renders it’s user impervious to pain or injury) and trained the kid before the old man died. The kid and Chow quickly become friends, and the kid volunteers to reveal to Chow the secret of the Iron Armour technique in exchange for regular martial arts training. Shen Yu, ever on the lookout for Chow, overhears that he is staying with a brother and sister at their villa. Shen Yu goes there and questions them, and they go about telling Shen Yu how noble Chow is. Suddenly Chow comes along, and tries to persuade Shen Yu that he is innocent. Shen Yu suspects that Chow is as honorable as the kid says he is, but he is not fully convinced. Chow asks Shen Yu for more three days to catch the killer or he will turn himself in. The kid manages to slip Chow the scrolls that

Cheng and his brother meet up to discuss the situation with Hu Lung. Cheng reveals his plans to his brother and informs him that he is going to kill Hu Lung personally (the only one who knows he was involved with the murder). Cheng’s brother returns to his home where Hu Lung is hiding out. He informs Hu Lung that Cheng plans to kill him. The brother suggests they set a trap for Cheng and kill him by taking advantage of his weak spot on his neck.

The next day, Cheng’s brother and Hu Lung put their plan into effect. Hu Lung is (loosely) tied down with hidden daggers which he plans to bury in Cheng’s throat when he comes to finish the job. Sure enough, the evil Cheng meanders his way down the street threatening to end Hu Lung’s wretched life. Just as Cheng is about to deliver the death blow to his supposedly-helpless victim, Hu Lung breaks free and buries his blade deep into the master’s throat. Cheng’s brother seemingly appears out of nowhere, believing his wicked brother has met his end. Cheng reels back, but does not perish. His brother is shocked when Cheng reveals that his throat is no longer his weak point!

As the two brothers join in mortal combat, Chow shows up and sees Hung Lu watching the action like a vulture. Chow chases Hung Lu off into the woods. The invulnerable Cheng vanquishes his own brother and moves on. Chow corners Hu Lung and prepares to apprehend him when a band of killers show up called The Gang of Three. One of the gang members is Hu Lung’s brother who orders him to go to their home and wait for him. The Gang of Three prepare to silence Chow for good, but Shen Yu arrives to even the odds. Chow and Shen Yu send the Gang of Three members to meet their masters, and then head to Hu Lung’s home to finally apprehend him.

They arrive to find that Cheng was there waiting for Hu Lung and disposed of him. With no one to rectify the situation, Chow mourns his freedom. Shen Yu now knows that Chow is indeed honorable and not the murderer, so he frees him from custody. The two set out to Cheng’s palace, which is now armed to the teeth with Ninja warriors. Shen Yu uses a spear to shred his opponents, but is unable to get the best of Cheng, who thinks he has the upper hand in the situation. Cheng is unaware that Chow knows the Iron Finger style, the only technique that can counter the Invincible Armour.

But first, Chow and Shen Yu must fight through Cheng’s lethal Eagle Claw style if they are to get close enough to discover the man’s weak spot.  Which is his testicles, it’s where his weak spot is. Yet he has the ability to draw his testicles in and it’s humorously shown by quickly inserting a reverse shot of two eggs flying up and out of reach of a hand. The penis actually plays a big part in internal kung fu lore. Jang-lee’s character has remained celibate throughout his life which supposedly keeps a martial artist from losing internal power and thus, his Iron Armor is “doubly strong.” Also, kung fu masters supposedly have the ability to reel in their privates, making the traditional weak spot for all men moot.

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The movie starts out with Chi-San telling Tung Chien-Chen that he has taught him all he can, and that he is ready to leave the Shaolin temple.  He gives him one warning that he must avoid getting into fights, but Chien-Chen tells him he must avenge his families death, his master tells him he must wait on the correct time to go after the Manchu’s.  Master Chi-San then asks him to leave along with several other students, and ask him to find Wei-chen, and for them to gather with the other leaving students and do nothing rash.

Wei-chen killed two Manchu teachers, and the Manchu are waiting for an opportunity to get their revenge.  The Master of the Wu-Tang feels that Chi-San and the Shaolin are stupid for trying to cross the chings, and feel that Wu-tang should show loyalty to the Chings against the Shaolin.  Wu-tang dispatches three teams to go and fight Shaolin men in Canton among other places in order to show Wu-Tang’s strength and loyalty.

The first team runs into Tung Chien-Chen and they attempt to ambush him, but he smells the trap and then goes through an impressive display of strength by carrying two hug jars filled with water and moving them with ease.  A fight ensues and the Wu-Tang team injures Tung Chien-Chen, but he gets away and falls into a house where the family living there takes him in.  He finds that the people that took him in are a brother and sister who are familiar with the throwing knives technique and how to counter it, as the Wu-Tang warrior he fought specializes in it.

They teach him how to counter the throwing knives technique, and Tung Chien-Chen leaves to go find the knife throwing Wu-Tang Fighter.  He goes back to the place they fought before, but the fighter is not there.  Then a big commotion happens as Hu Wei-Chen is coming into town, which has all of the restaurant patrons starting to flee.  Hu Wei-Chen turns out to be the other Shaolin fighter that Chi-San asked Tung Chien-Chen to meet up with, so they head back to the house where the brother and sister live.  The Wu-Tang knife fighter sees them leaving and throws a knife, Tung Chien-Chen catches the knife and keeps it, the fighter gives chase and when they get to the house he is challenged by Tung Chien-Chen.  He is quickly beaten by Tung Chien-Chen who then allows the cronies he brought with him to take the body back to Wu-Tang with a message for them to check their skill before challenging Shaolin.

Two Wu-Tang fighters put up a poster challenging the two Shaolin fighters to a fight, and they have to come to the Wu-Tang rather than fighting on the Shaolins turf.  Tung Chien-Chen is up first and he makes quick work of the first Wu-Tang fighter knocking him on his ass, and making him walk away from the fight and quit.  As the second Qu-Tang fighter jumps into the fight, Hu wi-Chen jumps in and he takes him on; which was not a good idea for the Wu-Tang fighter.  He battles with Hu Wei-Chen who ends up ripping his manhood off and killing him, just as the first Wu-Tang fighter comes back with reinforcements.  The brother and sister show up and stop the fight because Shaolin won fair and square, and the poster said man on man, they left with the Shaolin fighters.

The Wu-tang upset with the fact that the brother and sister taught the Shaolin  how to counter knives hatch a plan to murder the sister, who happens to be marrying Tung Chien-Chen.  The Wu-Tang raid the wedding and end up kidnapping Tung Chien-Chen, along with murdering the brother and the sister in a classic Shaw Brothers brawl.  They end up kidnapping Tung Chien-Chen while Hu Wei-Chen is sleeping off his hangover in the store room.

The Manchu’s attack the Shaolin stronghold, and several Shaolin experts meet up with Hu Wei-Chen in order to regroup.  They Wu-Tang hold off killing Tung Chien-Chen until they receive word from their higher leaders.  In the meantime a Wu-Tang style fighter named Wei Sing Hung shows up at the Shaolin base, and asks to speak to Hu Wei Chen alone.  Wei Sing opposes the Manchu government, and does not want to be a part of the Wu-Tang although he was raised in it, he promises to help Tung Chien-Chen escape.

Wei Sing helps Tung escape from his Wu-Tang captors, and he returns back to the Shaolin base where Hu is waiting.  The Wu-Tang discover Tun has escaped, and Wei Sing indicates that it must have been Shaolin men.  As Tung is paying his respects he runs into the Wu-Tang fighters Kao and the monkey style brothers.  Kao invites them to feast with him as he gives them food and drink, Hu Wei was warned about Kao, so it seems he is playing the dumb role.

One of the females discovers that Wei Sing freed Tung Chien-Chen, but she says she will not report him.  Kao heads back to the Shaolin base bearing food and gifts, and tells them he appreciated their company.  Kao has all of the Shaolin fooled, and he goes back to the Wu-Tang and hatches a plan on how to wipe out the Shaolin once and for all.  Kao leaves with Tung planning to kill him, Wei Sing goes to warn Hu Wei and they leave to catch up with Tung and Kao.

Kao stabs Tung in the back at a pressure point to immobilize him as he attempted to show him how strong he was by uprooting a tree, and they are laying a trap for Hu Wei.  Hu Wei shows up, and Wei Sing reveals his betrayal to Kao as he tries to take the needles out of Tung Chien-Chen’s back during the fight with a magnet.  Kao attempts to finish off Tung, but the other Shaolin get in his way as Hu Wei takes on all three Yun brothers and their monkey style Kung Fu.

Wei Sing removes the needles from Tungs back and Tung proceeds to start fighting Kao while; Wei Sing fights the Wu Tang leader who raised him.  Wei Sing defeats the Wu Tang leader, but spares him and starts to walk away.  The Wu Tang leader annoyed with Wei Sings betrayal to the clan goes to stab him, Hu Wei warns Wei Sing who turns and stabs the Wu Tang leader with his sword killing him.  The female assassin who killed Tung’s wife shows up and asks Wei Sing why he betrayed the clan and murdered her uncle, Wei Sing has a soft spot for her as they have flirted several times in the past.  Unfortunately Wei feels guilty and conflicted, so he stabs himself with his sword ending his misery.

Hu Wei was injured when he warned Wei Sing, but he dispatches the Yun brothers after a lengthy excited battle.  He is bleeding all over the place and he joins Tung in fighting Kao who have fought fairly even at this point, but Kao mortally injures Hu Wei and he stabs Tung with his spiked staff as well.  Hu lays on the ground bleeding, but grabs the legs of of Kao and holds him in place while Tung basically snaps Kao in half with his tremendous strength.  Hu Wei and Tung lay on the ground laughing then both die from their wounds, there are bodies laying everywhere.  But two Shaolin fighters survive and leave the area in order to fight against the ching another day.

This movie was very good and enjoyable, a great installment in the Shaw Brothers line of movies.  The fighting scenes were good, and you would expect no less from the Venoms.  With it being the Venoms the characters were all likeable and well developed, that includes the villains in the movie as well.  The DVD quality was actually good, and the sound and dubbing were not too bad as well.  The choreography is not the best I have seen, but above average for movies of this type and you will enjoy the fight sequences.   I would recommend this movie.

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