The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1979)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Good concept, poorly executed.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is considered an all-time classic and, after seeing it for the first time, I more than see why. It's focused most of all on the training of martial arts, specifically the Shaolin style (if there is one, I could be wrong on that). We get the set up that the movie needs - a warlord crashes into a village, takes over (and called 'Tartars' no less), and a young man who is the son of a seafood shop-owner, runs off to get training with the Shaolin monks.For me, this may be the greatest action movie I've seen having to do with training. I don't know if it's a completely great film overall - by the third act some of the characters are a little over the top in their mannerisms who the new San Te (the masterful Gordon Liu, later utilized by Tarantino in the Kill Bill movies) wants to recruit for his "36th Chamber", which is only to train new monks.Of course one will have to wait for the sequel to see how the entire 36th Chamber operates. But for now, with this film, I'd say about over an hour in the middle, probably more, is just dedicated to showing how San Te grows through each and every Chamber. Every obstacle is gripping and wonderful to watch, some of them we see how rigorously he has to practice (walking across small logs on a small body of water is one of them, a highlight for me), and some of them are nearly ridiculous (how the older monks keep tapping for a wrist-tapping exercise on a gong which reaches a frenzied pace).I think though, certainly if one is in the mood for it, this is what I love seeing in a martial arts movie: growth, experience, gaining not always so much full attack strength but just the ability to focus or moving your eyes really quickly from one point to the next. Does the hero use all of these skills in the climax? Eh, maybe he will later if not now. It's just a lot of fun and it's exciting and almost kind of enlightening in a wholly B-movie way to see this guy become tougher and stronger and ready to be ready to defend AND attack.Oh, and the fights are bad-ass, to be sure, when they do finally come, as the director Liu Chiang-Lang (also the choreographer) cuts and shoots his fight scenes so that there's total intensity, but really it's all on the performers to make it work, not relying on the equipment. So, if you like some fast-zooms and some wicked sound fx and, most importantly, a story that is simple enough you can follow it (a problem sometimes with kung fu flicks for me is the plots are needlessly complex, not all but a good portion of them), 36th Chamber hits the spot. It's the kind of action flick that gave me energy after I watched it, like I wanted to do 100 push-ups or something. But I digress.

SPOILER ALERT the scene begins with a Chinese possibly southern Chinese town which has been taken over and is now being occupied by Ming army's this leads a group of students one of those being the main character San Te played by Gordon Liu who starred in both Tarantino's Kill bill films. after the group of students joins fellow rebels they are found out by the Ming army and most of them and their families are killed except for San Te who travels to the Shaolin temple in order to learn Kung fu so he can avenge the deaths of his friends and loved ones. he is accepted though spends a year as a monk before he begins learning Kung fu along the way he learns vital lessons about life and sense and turns into a true hero unlike characters in other kung fu movies like enter the dragon, drunken master, fearless and many others kung fu films the main character San Te is seriously likable, as you get deeper into the film your respect and like grows for him. overall this is a straight 10 out of 10 no lies this film is the sheez.

San Te is a student that finds himself rallying behind his teacher in resistance to the Manchu government. When many of his friends and family die as a result of the government's ruthless tactics San Te tries to become a Shaolin monk in an attempt to learn Kung Fu in order to gain revenge on the Manchu officials.36th Chamber is a brilliant martial arts film. It is artfully directed and edited and endlessly entertaining containing some of the most interesting "training scenes" that I have seen in a martial arts film, or any film for that matter. The fight choreography is almost completely flawless throughout and each fight seems to tell a story or have a purpose in the overall narrative. There isn't fighting for fightings sake. While that may sounds like a drawback it certainly isn't. Also, while seemingly a revenge flick 36th Chamber is more about the power of learning and teaching. The vast majority of the film contains some element of teaching or implementing teachings in one form or another.The brilliance of the directing and editing is that one San Te starts learning to become a Shaolin monk he has to pass 35 Chambers to do so. Now obviously showing all 35 Chambers on film in their entirety would probably make for an exorbitantly long film here the first 6 or so chambers are focused on showing San Ta's tackling of the "easiest" of the chambers to increase his strength and dexterity. The later chambers are handled more quickly and the process of each is shown through other characters enduring the tests while San Te is shown to be mastering them. Seen in its entirety this entire section of film is quite brilliantly directed and edited. In addition, later when San Te exhibits the different things he has learned in his fights it is done without a "remember that?" type flash back like other films have done. The film assumes we are smart enough to remember or merely uses similar camera cuts and angles from the training sequences to aid in recall.

Gordon Liu (also known as Lau Kar Fai) stars as a young man who's friends and family have been killed by the new government. He wakes up at the Shaolin Temple, a place he has only heard about a couple of times. When he realizes he is at the best place possible to learn kung fu, he begs and begs to learn so that he can revenge his family. He does finally get taught, but has to start with the basics. Every part of his body must become stronger before he can learn how to fight. After he finishes the first stages of training in record time, he is now highly respected and moves onto learning actual fighting styles. He breezes through this and becomes a great fighter in only 5 years or so. This is not one of those movies that has 1 or 2 training sequences. Gordon is shown in at least 13 of the chambers and half of the movie is spent at Shaolin. So after he has become a master fighter, he is given a high honor and told that he can become second in charge of any of the 35 chambers. A senior monk played by the great Lee Hoi San objects to this and says that he can't have this honor unless Gordon defeats him in a weapons duel. Lee Hoi San does not play a villain, but he does not think that Gordon is a good enough fighter to receive so much praise. His plan works better than he could have ever imagined. He ends up helping Gordon improve as a fighter and as a person. Gordon is told he can leave Shaolin now, and he goes to take revenge on the evil General who killed his family.One thing that sets this movie apart is that it tries to be a real movie, and it succeeds. Watching Gordon grow up into a man is remarkable to see. The commentators didn't notice, but a lot of the stuff in this movie is very real. When Gordon has to use the pole with the wieght on the end to hit the bell over and over again, that is a real weight on the end of the pole! Gordon talks in the interview (included on this disc) about how the sabres that Lo Lieh uses in the final fight are real, and it just makes the movie that much better. Don't expect your average tale of revenge. I was touched deeply when I first saw this and there are not many kung fu movies that have as much meaning and feeling, making it one of the best if not the best kung fu movie of all time.