1 comments about Royal Tramp 2.

1. The book on which Royal Tramp 1 and 2 are based (The Deer and the Cauldron by Jin Yong) was originally published as a serial in a Chinese newspaper, so the idea of splitting the story up into parts made sense.
   

   As a result, this film is every bit as good as the first one, and I would strongly recommend buying both films. I would also recommend against watching this film first, since the two films really do make up a single story.
   

   I don't think it will give too much away to say that in this film, Wilson Bond (or Wei Xiao Bo/Trinket Wei - translations vary) defeats his enemies, becomes supremely powerful, and marries all the beautiful women he has met. After all, that's the kind of movie this is, and that's the kind of character Wei is. (In the book, you can bet that any time he's introduced to any new powerful group, he'll be a leader of the group within the next 50 pages, and any time he meets a new beautiful woman, he'll be married to her in the next 100 pages. :-)
   

   I also like that this film contains most of my favorite actresses from Hong Kong: At the end of the first movie, the Empress Dowager (played by the fabulously beautiful "Sharla" Cheung Man) was found to be someone else in disguise. That "someone else" is played in part 2 by Brigitte Lin, another of my favorite female stars. (I would have been happy to watch another couple of hours of the lovely Ms. Cheung, but at least we got a brief appearance from her at the beginning). This film also has Helena Law Lan (who bears a striking resemblance to Michelle Yeoh in this role) as the One-Armed Nun, Michele Reis, Chingmy Yau... Ahhh. If the plot weren't so good, I could just spend my time watching the pretty women.
   

   I can't recommend this movie (or part 1) highly enough. This one is really a must for any fan of Hong Kong cinema, and a great introduction for those who aren't fans yet.

No comments about 7 man army.

5 comments about Fearless Fighters.

1. I dont really know how to describe this movie other than it was really bad. It has some truly poor quality acting. You are saying bad acting in a kung fu flick, no way! English dubbing has never been a big issue with me as it has with others and refuse to watch English dubbed movies. However, the actors are just terrible actors in the way they perform the actions. The actors look like it was their first time doing kung-fu fights. That's what I meant by bad acting. Jackie Chan is a horrible actor in terms of speaking but makes up for it with his actual actions which bring comedy and a sort of charisma to the big screen. Well the actor's performance looked like they never did on-screen fight scenes and they looked like they were doing a theatrical play fight every single time. Yes it was that bad.
   Secondly it was bad because of the terrible fight coreography. The fight scenes were just plain dumb. I have no problems with people flying and walking on the walls and the water and doing neat tricks that defy logic and whatever magic they throw onscreen. That stuff makes kung-fu fighting on the big screen a pleasure to watch. However, the directing was so horrible the flying stunts show the person jerking in the air as if you knew they were flying and hanging by an invisible string. Again it looked like theatrical directing on stage. To the people who made this bad film, this is not a theater! It looks sloppy when you do that junk.

   Thirdly, the storyline and directing from scene to scene was very sloppy and choppy. One minute the guy falls off a cliff the next he meets his master and is crying because he's lost use of his arms and legs then next he hobbles into battle with bionic arms and legs that shoot off. Oh yes it's that terrible. Yes I have no problem with laughing at outrageous stuff that shows up in a kung-fu flick and some of the silly lines they throw out. But come on it looked really sloppy. I have no problem laughing at, it but it wasn't intentionally done to make people laugh. For example, Ricky-Oh has to be the most outrageous kung-fu flick ever made. Where the leader boss turns into an ogre that looks like a plastic badly done oversized rubbermaid giant. Now that's just knock-your-socks off hilarious. It was consistently throughout the film where it was badly done to make you laugh and go wow what next?! But this was amateurishly done and just poor directing.

   The storyline follows a normal path. Where a clan robs a merchant transporting gold to the goverment with well armed guards. Another part of the clan knows about the robbing and the leader goes and takes the gold to do a good deed and send it back to the goverment and then ask for forgiveness to his clanmates so that everything will return to normal. However, the leader who robbed the gold does not appreciate this and kills his backstabs him and tells the government that his clanmate leader robbed the gold. Naturally he has the stash at his house and is in the process of returning it and gets taken to jail. While the leader is in jail his family is killed by the robbers. And of course you know by now he meets a few friends when he escapes from jail and seeks revenge. Revenge is a common theme in these movies. Oddly enough the actors are actually good looking esp. the females.

   My grades:

   Action: C+
   Plot: C+
   Fight Acting: F-
   Acting/Dialogue: D-
   Directing: F-
   Entertaining factor: D-
   To watch it again: F-

   Overall grade: D-

   If you want to watch a good classic kung-fu flick watch 5 Deadly Venoms.




2. While I am glad there's a company releasing films like this in the USA now, I have a concept I would like to share with the discerning reader, and following reviewers of this DVD: THIS ISN'T A KUNG FU FILM. Really.
   I sincerely hope that Image will figure out a better way to market the films they put out than slapping "KUNG FU" all over the place, and writing a press release that gives a mistaken impression also...unless of course, it IS in fact, a Kung Fu film!
   
   This film is properly described as "Wuxia" or Swordplay genre. This is the 21st century, let's start getting this stuff straightened out finally, OK? One reviewer here, however much they are a Kung Fu film fan, needs to go do a little reading-up on the history of HK/Taiwanese cinema before doing writeups...no offense.
   
   The film, which is unfortunately without original language and english subtitles, is a fairly average example of this genre, which in the early 70's was still without developed choreo, wirework, and effects that were so dominant in the late 70's and early 80's films (and later, in the over-the-top ones of the 1990's New Wave era) BUT i'll give them credit - they used what they had, and did the best they could. Obviously a low budget Taiwanese film, it will be fairly entertaining if you enjoy, say, swashbucklers, or are familiar with this genre, but if you were expecting "Enter the Dragon" or "Venoms" quality fight choreography, well, sorry! That's a different animal entirely...
   
   As most of the old school Wuxia films are not yet available in the US (unless you're hip to Shaw Brothers and Celestial Pictures' remastered DVDs, and online Asian retailers) this might be a good place to start though IF you haven't seen King Hu's "A Touch Of Zen". Miramax is STILL sitting on some dozens of classic Wuxia and Kung Fu films that they had purchased a few years ago, which is a shame really, THOSE would be the best example of this sort of film for you to look at...
   Well, aside from any of King Hu's work outside of Shaw that is.
   
   Also, keep an eye on Image, as I understand they are looking to start bringing out other examples of HK films from the Shaw Brothers (FINALLY!) in the USA, possibly with your choice of Original language and English dubs, and English Subtitles as well. This one, well...Points for putting it out at all, albeit
   under a mistaken identity.



3. Back in the early 1970s independent distributor Richard Ellman and film editor Richard Brummer presented American audiences released this Chinese made nugget titled Fearless Fighters, originally released in 1973 by an entity called Sun Wah Motion Picture Company, with the American version released in 1974. I know not who wrote, directed, or even starred in this film, but I will tell you this, I thought it a lot of fun, and worthwhile to anyone who digs on old school martial arts 'B' films featuring a whole lot of crazy, high flying action.
   
   As the story begins we see a man practicing his martial arts skills by throttling a tree, collecting the leaves that fall on his sword blade, and then using said leaves much like one would use throwing stars, impaling them into a target, in this case, a tree, possibly the same one from whence the leaves came, I don't know, but I digress...cut to a convoy, lead by an elderly man on horseback. Some highwaymen appear, and we learn they're members of the Eagle Claw fighting clan. Seems the convoy is carrying a shipment of royal gold intended for distribution to the poor, and the fighting clan, lead by an odious fellow, aims to procure the goods...not very honorable, but soon enough we're knee deep into a fight sequence and we see the old man, who's actually the `All Mighty Imperial Lighting Whip', opens a six-pack of whupazz, as his whip skills are quite impressive (one might even go so far as to say they're da bomb). He manages to fend them off, but the clan returns in greater numbers (and with archers), eventually taking the gold and leaving the old man mortally wounded. Now, the man we saw at the beginning, whose name is something like Napalm (at least that what I kept hearing...actually, it might have been Lei Pong), who is a member of the Eagle Claw fighting clan, being the decent, honorable fellow he is, tries to get his fellow clan members to return the gold and cop to their crimes, but they're having none of that as they frame him, get him arrested, and kill Napalm's entire family (in an effort to get rid of any witnesses), except for his annoying, young son whom I've dubbed `the boy of never ending tears' given his penchant for the waterworks (thankfully, he's not in the movie all that much). Now the old man with the whip bites its, but not before relating what happened to his son and daughter, both of whom team up with Napalm, break him out of jail, hook up with another sword wielding female who looks like a flying nun, all in an effort to retrieve the stolen gold and seek revenge on the clan what caused all the trouble in the first place. But wait, the evil clan isn't just sitting around counting their dough (actually, they are), but realizing the impending danger, they go ahead and hire the most ruthless killers they can find, creating a veritable army of bloodthirsty cutthroats this side of the Yangtze River. Oh yeah, it's go time all right...
   
   Now I'll admit, I don't know the various, different types of martial arts films from a hole in the ground, but I know what I like, and I really dug this film. Perhaps it was the fact that you couldn't go five minutes without a fast and furious fight sequence breaking out, but it was more than that...how could you not enjoy a film with characters with names like Soul Picker, One Man Army, Solar Ray of Death, and Dragon Razor? Well, I suppose you could, if it were poorly done, but I didn't feel that the case here. Most of the action involves the use of weapons, swords, pole arms, spears, whips, bow and arrows, throwing knives, hand claws, along with some unusual pieces like short, curved handheld blades referred to as flying sparrows, and shiny sewer cover sized discs used not only to try and slice opponents, but also to focus and reflect the sun into powerful blasts capable of great damage (perhaps not as effective at night...moon power seems a lot less menacing than sun power, unless you're talking in terms of vampires or werewolves). Also we see items one might normal not associate with as being weapons used as such, including leaves, hats, cups, etc. On the wacky side there's even one character in the film who becomes seriously injured, and has some of his limbs replaced with mechanical type, spring loaded replicas, ones which he can launch and do critical damage to an enemies guts....woo hoo! The Six Million Yen Man...anyway, as I said, the action is virtually non-stop throughout, and, at least I thought, done very well. Most of the characters seem to have crazy go nuts, superpower-like abilities in that they can jump up mountain sides or across lakes, and some can even catch arrows shot at them and throw them back at the archer with such force and accuracy as to kill (there's a great scene where an old man catches a number of arrows shot at him, mostly in his hands, and one in his mouth). I lost count of how many people got killed in this movie, but I'd guess it was near the triple digits as often we'd see a large number of enemies surround a hero character, only to quickly get pared down due to the awesoma skills of the protagonist. Some of the weapons didn't look entirely realistic (some swords had the appearance of being made of wood and covered in foil), but the actual fighting and stunt work looked pretty amazing to me, and one could tell the performers were highly trained in their various crafts. Heck, there are even a handful of bloody deaths, if you're into that sort of thing. There is a story present, one that does get a little convoluted at times, but overall I felt it was easy to follow, and didn't suffer overly from the introduction of pointless and unrelated elements, as I've seen in other films of this type. Once in awhile the transitioning from scene to scene seems a little awkward as things don't always jibe, but overall things work out well. The one aspect that was the goofiest to me was the dialog, specifically in using a very westernized manner of speech during the dubbing of the film. If possible, I'll choose to watch a movie like this with its original audio, and use English subtitles, but that's not an option here as all that's available is the track created for the American release of the feature.
   
   This DVD release of Fearless Fighters marks Image Entertainment's first foray into releasing martial arts films, and I hope they continue, as the widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic presentation is very good. The picture does have wear, but overall it seemed very clean, and the Dolby Digital audio comes on strong. As far as extras, there's a very worthwhile and entertaining commentary track featuring Richard Ellman, the distributor who brought this film from China, and editor Richard Brummer, who was responsible for editing the American release of the movie. Also included is a rough looking theatrical trailer (with optional commentary from Ellman and Brummer!). As an added bonus, there was a mail-in questionnaire card inside the DVD case, one that states if returned, Image would send back a 16" by 24" poster, featuring the same artwork used on the cover of the DVD case for the film. I mailed the card in and the poster came within a week.
   
   Cookieman108



4. Now the movie is nothign special, but does have a few fun weapons. Add in some really good acting and you have a decent movie. The fighting is the thing that slows this film down. It is just slow and doesn't look that good. A few of the fights are fun, but that mainly comes from the acting ability. One man Army, the Devil Ripper, you will see what I mean.
   
   Now the thing I found very interesting was the commentary from the people whio originally released in America back in the 70's. They talk A LOT about how they had to cut the film up a ton becasue there was too much dialogue, and they talk about the dubbign extensively. I had almost as good of a time listening to the commentary. So the movie is decent, but the commentary is very interesting for us that want to know how these movies got released, who released them, basically all the info I wanted to know. I couldn't ask for more.
   
   The pictrue is letterboxed with very good picture quality.



5. No, it is not the finest movie ever made, but this movie is awesome for what it is. Tired of movies with stinky plots, slow parts, art scenes, character development? Look no further -- this movies has NONE of that. It is PURE FIGHTING. Oh sure, there is a vague plot, but you won't make sense of it until halfway through the movie. There was even a 38 second romantic interlude followed immediately by fighting. There are absurd jumps (literally) where the action moves from one locale to another. If you are looking for a movie that is easy on the brain, look no further.
   
   If you want something a bit more cerebral, try to figure out what is going on. When they fight a group of, well, random guys, one of them runs off to warn the evil leader. The good guys are headed towards that same evil leader. The bad guy takes roughly 2 minutes to get there and he is injured. The bad guy leader has enough time to put a contract on somebody's head, hire a killer army, and set up ambushes. Meanwhile, the good guys take a full day to get there. There is plenty more where that came from.
   
   Sit back and enjoy!

3 comments about Kung Fu Mahjong.

1. Spin-off from Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer genre, cheerily contrived and hammed up. Sad love story of mistaken identity whit the Mahjong prodigy hero and the casino boss's daughter... Loved it. Funny acting and great showdown ending. Features the "Ten Commandments of Mahjong" sequence, perfect for students and masters alike. Special features includes Mahjong for Dummies primer menu. I'm happy to own it.



2. The husband and wife of Kung Fu Hustle star alongside a hilarious cast in this entertaining film. This is actually one of my all-time favorite movies! The actors are all really funny, the storyline is great, and you will be surprised that there are some sad moments in the film as well. The storyline is a wacky gambler tries to outrun people he owes money to and accidentally stumbles upon a waitor in a restaurant who is a young man with a superhuman memory. He can remember any order anyone throws at him once and repeat them all perfectly. For example, " I want egg omelet, with tabasco sauce on one side but not the other, three coffees, one with brown sugar and cream, one with the sugar and no cream, and one with only milk, 4 hashbrowns, 2 of them cooked halfway only..." those aren't actual lines from movie but you get idea. The waitor has several people throwing outrageous orders at him that are long and complicated and he doesn't write them down, he remembers every word as soon as he hears. He can even read the phonebook just once and memorize each word perfectly in it. So the gambler sees him as opportunity and tries to teach the young man how to gamble and play mahjong so they can play tournaments and make big money. Unfortunately they are up against some pretty bad mob bosses and also the young man's aunt (the lady from kungfu hustle) who is dead set against him gambling and playing mahjong. Plus, the young man falls in love with a girl but it has deadly consequences. If you guys watch the film, you will laugh all the way through and fall in love with these memorable characters and constantly be surprised at each new twist.



3. Billed as a light comedy - it is just dreck. Save your money and your time and skip this one.

No comments about Five Fingers of Death.

No comments about The Ultimate Ninja Collection: Ninja the Protector.

1 comments about Katas and Applications (Self Defense and Martial Arts Inc. Series).

1. Highly recommend these self defense programs. High Quality and excellent instruction.

5 comments about Pride FC 1 - From the Tokyo Dome.

1. Rickson Gracie, the world's greatest fighter, leads the way in Pride's first event and in one of it's greatest cards ever assembled. Stunning knockouts and submissions fill this event. Rickson Gracie shows the world why he's ranked number one. And his cousin Renzo puts on a memorable display of fighting prowess and incredible offense from his back. Highlights are Oleg v Goodridge, Dixon v Murakami, and the aforementioned fights.



2. This is the very first PRIDE show. It was held on October 11, 1997 at the Tokyo Dome.

   The first match is between EFC veteran Kazunari Murakami and IFC Kiev Tournament finalist and AFC veteran John Dixon. Murakami is famous for his win over Bart Vale and his knockout loss to Maurice Smith. This is a good fight but anything great.

   The second fight is between UFC 6 Champion,Ultimate Ultimate 1995 finalist, WVC and MARS veteran Oleg Taktarov and UFC 8 finalist,IVC 1 Tournament winner Gary Goodridge. Taktarov has wins over Dave Beneteau, Marco Ruas and Tank Abbott. Goodridge has wins over Cal Worsham and Jerry Bohlander. This has one of the most brutal knockouts in history of Mixed Martial Arts.

   The third fight is between MARS and World Combat Championship tournament winner Renzo Gracie and Lumax Cup 1997 veteran Akira Shoji. Gracie has a knockout win over Oleg Taktarov. This was a great fight to watch and was the best fight on the show.

   The fourth fight is between Universal Vale Tudo and UFC 9 veteran Koji Kitao and newcomer Nathan Jones. This is alright fight but nothing special.

   The fifth fight is a kickboxing fight between Ralph White and the K1 Grand Prix 1993 8 man tournament winner Branko Cikatic. Not a good fight at all.

   The sixth fight is between UFC 5 and Ultimate Ultimate 1995 Tournament Champion Dan Severn and UFC veteran Kimo. Severn has wins over Oleg Taktarov, Ken Shamrock, Tank Abbott and Dave Beneteau. Kimo is famous for giving Royce Gracie a tough fight. This is not a good fight at all. This fight should be on one of the toughman TV shows.

   The main event is between Japan Vale Tudo 1994 and 1995 Tournament winner Rickson Gracie and Pro Wrestler Nobuhiko Takada. This was good fight despite the length.

   I recommand this for buying.




3. Lots of impressive names on this tape. Some highlights are Kazunari Muakami's textbook harai-gosh judo throw and the skull-crushing KO ending of the Goodridge/Taktarov fight. That was one that the ref should have stopped earlier. The White/Cikatic fight is kickboxing, and ends in disqualification. Cikatic's tactics wouldn't even be legal in MMA. Mitsuharu Kitao is Koji Kitao from UFC 9. His opponent must not have been told the rules, because he certainly didn't expect to be taken down. His panicked screams are pretty embarassing even to listen to. Rickson triumphs over an ill-prepared Takada.



4. OK... I've been reading everyone elses reviews and agree that PRIDE is the Premier MMA event on the planet... this isn't a good Pride tournament when you compare it to the likes of PRIDE 11 but it's still ok.... Dan Severn vs Kimo is one of the biggest bores you will ever see in MMA which is a shame but apart from that it's a pretty good card. The Pride fights have superb commentary .. it's not only accurate but alo really funny... a thing missing from alot of MMA , it's nice that the commentators are having fun.. Bas Rutten's pretty funny.
   there are better PRIDES than this one... don't make it your only PRIDE FC tournament, but it would like really nice in your collection.



5. Wow this video is great, as a die hard UFC fan this is way better
   then the Ultimate Fighting Championship.the dan seven vs.kimo
   fight was boring but the rest of the fights were great, the best
   fight was between akira shoji and renzo gracie.the main event
   had the famous rickson gracie,who alot of people thank is the best fighter in the world,vs.the famous japanesse pro-wrestler
   nohuikbo takada

5 comments about Shaolin Wooden Men.

1. I agree with the other reviewers who said the Columbia-Tristar veriosn cuts out so many good moments (what WERE they thinking!?!?!)! I have the English dubbed version, and it's pretty good - I'd recommend it to all kung-fu movie-philes (and especially Chan-o-philes!). The athletics are superb, although the film quality is not top-notch (it is, however, orders of magnitutde better than the "pea-green" situation with the Columbia release!!!!!!). it IS one to enjoy!



2. REMEMBER WHEN JACKIE CHAN KICKED ASS? REMEMBER WHEN JACKIE CHAN WAS THE COOLEST MARTIAL ARTS STAR ALIVE? WELL, UNFORTUNATELY, THAT WAS BEFORE HE GOT OLDER AND BEFORE HE STARTED POPPING UP IN HORRIBLE MOVIES LIKE ''AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS'' AND ''SHANGHAI NOON''. IN THIS CLASSIC MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE FROM THE 1970S, JACKIE CHAN PLAYS A YOUNG MAN WHO'S CONSTANTLY HAUNTED BY THE FACT THAT HE WITNESSED HIS FATHER'S MURDER. AFTER LEARNING SEVERAL STYLES OF MARTIAL ARTS FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT PEOPLE [INCLUDING A PRISONER WHOM HE BRINGS FOOD TO EVERYDAY IN EXCHANGE FOR KUNG FU LESSONS], HE SOON SETS OUT TO FIGHT THE WOODEN MEN AND AVENGE HIS FATHER'S MURDER. A VERY GOOD MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE THAT HAS MEMORABLE FIGHTS, WHICH'RE ALWAYS FUN TO LOOK AT. THE MOVIE'S WORTH IT ALONE FOR THE CLASSIC CONFRONTATION BETWEEN JACKIE CHAN AND THE WOODEN MEN.



3. If you want UNCUT ORIGINAL version, ALWAYS look for ORIGINAL LICENSED Production. NOT US Release. Its a foreign film, it should not be US version to begin with~! HELLO!!!?? Why settle for LESS with US Version where they edit and cut so many excellent scenes especially with Jackie's Fighting Scenes. And US Release ruins the speed and sound as well. I have been collecting Jackie Chan's movies both HK and US Release Version for quite some time now. I found HK Version to be MUCH MORE in enjoyable, and HIGHER in Quality. American Market always like to "Americanize" and "Control". Regional Code Regulation thing is one of the example to CONTROL the Market. Why not let everyone enjoy the same HK Original Release move the same way ENTIRE WORLD enjoys it ?? No one makes Hollywood American movies to "French version" or "Chinese Version" ~! This what Americans are doing~! Well, enjoy the cheap "American version" then~! LOL



4. Shaolin Wooden Men was the second film Jackie Chan did for Lo Wei Productions and the first film he did under director Chen Chi-Hwa (who also directed Jackie in Half a Loaf of Kung Fu) - though Lo would get Supervising Director credit. Chan was lent out to this up-and-coming director who would give him more room to experiment. Jackie gave more effort on his martial art styles by mutating traditional forms like the snake form (one of Jackie's favorites) giving more flowing and flamboyant movement and being less classical in structure. Unfortunately, he did not have much say in his character development with a character that was still in Bruce Lee's shadow. Shaolin Wooden Men was considered the second flop in a row for a Jackie Chan led film.
   
   Jackie played a mute young man (called Dummy in the dubbed version) whose father She Lan was killed by an unknown assailant. I've read a couple of different rumors on why Chan was mute in this film: to make it easier on him acting and the other rumor was that Lo did not have confidence in his acting skill. Jackie's character has sworn revenge and to increase his martial artist skills he becomes an earnest student in a Shaolin monastery. He has trouble at first adjusting to monk life. Such activities as using lead shoes to carry water up and pour in barrels and chopping wood was difficult for the mute but he would note be prevented from learning Shaolin martial arts. It would normally take five years of this training before he could start on his fighting training, but the mute was crafty. He learned balance techniques from a drunken monk (Miu Tak San). He befriended a visiting female Buddhist named Nun Woo Mei (Cheung Bing Yuk) who taught him "Ten Shadows Eight Steps" to make him lighter on his feet. Several scenes of this technique reminded me of several of Missy Elliot's videos.
   
   In order to leave the Shaolin monastery Jackie would have to pass a test of fighting. He would have to go through a gauntlet of mechanized Wooden Men (strangely looking like a Monty Python gag) that many monks with more advanced training that the mute have failed. The mute was lucky in finding a Shaolin prisoner who befriended him and in exchange for food and wine would train him. Fa Yu (Kam Kong) is a curmudgeon character who says he is only captured until he learns "The Lion's Roar" which will shatter the internals of his enemies (or at least provide a cheesy sound effect.) He taught the mute several techniques which would help him pass the gauntlet as well as improve his fighting prowess.
   
   The Shaolin Wooden Men only play a small part of this film. The mute inevitably passes the test and burns the dragon and tiger insignias into his forearms by lifting a searing hot cauldron that marks the opening into freedom and the beginning of his travails. First he must deliver a message from Fa Yu to a gimpy pharmacologist who owns the Tsun Chung Pharmacy in the town of Ching Ho who is part of the Green Dragon and White Tiger gangs. This pretty much establishes Fa Yu with those gangs and the rest of the film deals with the (other) inevitable aspects of his escape and why he was imprisoned by the Shaolin.
   
   The martial arts are above standard, but not as good as the later Jackie Chan films. Though the final fight sequence does last awhile and is the highlight fight of the film. The plot is a martial art cliché with a student enrolling in a Shaolin Academy to learn Kung Fu to avenge the death of his father. There is also the ubiquitous training manual "Justice against the Devil" given to Jackie by a blind monk. However, the relationship between the mute and his teacher Fa Yu is an interesting angle reminding me of the relationship of Yuen Biao and Lau Kar Wing in Knockabout. Chan seems a little unsure of his acting ability, even without voice, but he always looks professional with the martial art choreography. I think most people will like the later Jackie Chan films better, but if you find a decent copy of this film they will think it is a decent film -- though not much better. Note: look for an early small speaking role for Yuen Biao.
   
   DVD Info: Choosing the right copy is also important. I own two different copies of the film both with their own problems. The Columbia copy reigns in about 96 minutes though it misses 10 minutes of the beginning. These ten minutes are very fun to watch. It includes the "showcase" beginning with Jackie fighting four monks each with a different animal style. It then includes his character having a nightmare dealing with the Shaolin Python Wooden Men and then a sequence showing normal life at the Shaolin temple. The Columbia version is also cropped to a 1.78 aspect. The line on the DVD about preserving the original aspect is hooey. The benefit of this DVD is that it has the Mandarin soundtrack and good subtitles. The second version I own is the Telefilms Internation DVD (also R1 and also hooey about being the Original Uncut Version) which has the original aspect, a more clear screen and the beginning that is missing in the Columbia version. This version is missing ten minutes that are in the Columbia version though it cost me only two dollars. It is missing any extras like subtitles or other languages. So the best thing to do is look for a copy that has 106 minutes or over, is not cropped and is not R1.



5. 
   Jackie stars as a mute who has grown up at a Shaolin monastery since he was a boy and trains to become a fighter so he can revenge his father's death one day. He meets a prisoner played by Kam Kong, one of the most likeable kung fu actors ever. He develops a strong relationship with Jackie and helps him with his training so he can beat the Shaolin wooden men and leave the monastery. Jackie taking on the robot like wooden men was actually exciting because of his great acting and kung fu skills. This movie is definitely one of his best physical performances. There is a lot more to the story and it all results in an incredible emotionally charged ending.
   
   It was great to see Jackie giving such a different type of acting performance, but the kung fu is of course the brightest spot in the movie. Kam Kong is a large man and can do some amazing kung fu with that big frame. I wish him and Jackie would have fought more in movies.
   
   I love cheesy movies, but this is the complete opposite. There is no cheese to be found, it's just a very good kung fu movie.
   
   3.5/5
   
   I have the DVD from Telefilms International and it's watchable. Hong Kong Legends just released this uncut, but I don't know of any other uncut versions.

No comments about King of the Cage Underground: Enforcers.