Shaolin Temple (1976)

Very best movie i ever watch

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I wanted to rate this film higher for it's Kung-Fu fighting action. The story is good, except (as other reviewers may have noted) that the subplots and supporting characters get confusing and/or forgotten. A character early in the film gets introduced, and then never reappears despite becoming a plot focus of several other characters. A lot of time in this movie is spent on the training, which is good. But, often, this is at the sacrifice of telling the story. I struggled to keep in mind that this is a film from the 1970s, and so storytelling was different. I would have preferred that the training be condensed down in a montage in order to save time on film for the more important storytelling. This is the primary reason that I rated it a six-star film rather then rating it higher.

As did the pilot for the American teleseries KUNG FU, SHAOLIN TEMPLE gives us aspiring acolytes whose mettle is tested by secluded priests. Realizing that the Manchus are intent on destroying the temple and everyone inside it, the elder priest decides it's time to invite in some who might not otherwise be admitted. Among them are six soldiers, including Cai (Ti Lung), Hu (David Chiang), and Ma Fu Yi (Lung Wang). When upstart pupil Fang (Alexander Fu Sheng) laughs at Ma, he is pummeled- repeatedly- until he is discreetly taught Tiger and Crane kung fu by a masked master whose moves he copies at night after everyone else is asleep. Fang eventually exacts his revenge on Ma- whereupon the treacherous Heixien, one of the higher-ups in the temple, takes Ma under his wing and enlists his aid in bringing down the temple. Throughout the movie, we see some of the training methods used to toughen up the disciples, a la THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, and Che's sure-handed direction is seemingly effortless. The action is, of course, topnotch and the death of Kuo Chui during the flaming finale caught me by surprise.

The Only Kung Fu Epic worth watching. The best training ever. The main character spending a hundred day's on his knees outside the shaolin temple show how desperate he is to learn kung fu to fight the manchu dogs who have taken over china.

DEATH CHAMBER (aka SHAOLIN TEMPLE, 1976) is the closest Chang Cheh came to making a true kung fu epic. It tells the story of the final months of the Shaolin Temple, culminating in a raid by Manchu warriors and the burning of the temple. Previously, Chang had made several films about the aftermath of the burning of the temple, in which Fong Si Yu and the other fugitives flee the Manchus and regroup (HEROES TWO, MEN FROM THE MONASTERY, FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH, etc.), but this is the only one that actually includes the final battle and the burning of the temple. It's two hours long and boasts more Shaw Bros. kung fu stars in one cast than any other film, with the possible exception of Chang's later SHANGHAI 13 (1983).The film focuses on the training of an impressive group of heroes, each in a different style or specialty, all while the ruling Manchurian forces contrive to undermine the stability of Shaolin Temple. The training scenes themselves are remarkable for the cleverness and scope of the techniques employed, from leaping up with weights on one's legs and balancing on jagged rocks to stoking fires and stirring huge vats of rice to learn pole fighting. The students are all chosen on the basis of their willingness to kneel outside on the temple steps for days at a time, without eating, drinking or resting, to show their dedication.Alexander Fu Sheng plays Fong Si Yu (spelled as Fong Sai Yuk when Jet Li played the part in 1993) and Chi Kuan-Chun plays Hu Wei Chen, both characters they'd played in earlier movies. David Chiang and Ti Lung, co-stars of many of Chang Cheh's early 1970s kung fu films, play soldiers who seek refuge in Shaolin after a disastrous loss on the battlefield. Relative newcomers Billy Tang, Lee Yi Min (MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING) and Kuo Chui (Philip Kwok, one of the 5 Venoms) play additional students. Two other Venoms are in the cast--Chiang Sheng as a good guy, and Lu Feng as a bad guy. Additional villains include Wang Lung Wei, Wang Ching, and Ku Feng.After lots of training scenes and assorted betrayal and intrigue, the action leads to a massive battle involving all of the cast and filmed amidst the sprawling Shaw Bros. backlot with its fortress, temple, and bridge overlooking Clearwater Bay. An earlier film, FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH (aka FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS, 1975), charts the activities of the surviving characters following the burning of Shaolin.This film and SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS (1974), another all-star kung fu film of epic length (listed on IMDb as SHAO LIN MARTIAL ARTS), are arguably Chang Cheh's two most significant masterworks from his entire career. A trilogy of sorts is formed with the addition of FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH (1975), which takes place after the burning of Shaolin and includes many of the same actors as DEATH CHAMBER. All three films circulate on poor quality bootleg VHS tapes. If there was ever a crying need for restored prints on letter-boxed DVDs, this is it.ADDENDUM (Feb. 10, 2008): In April 2003, this film was released under its original title, SHAOLIN TEMPLE, on Region 3 DVD in a new, restored, remastered edition, letter-boxed, in Mandarin and with English subtitles, by Celestial Pictures/IVL as part of its then-new line of Shaw Bros. restorations. The other films in Chang Cheh's Shaolin cycle, listed above, have all been released by Celestial as well. No need to keep those bootleg tapes anymore.