The New Shaolin Boxers (1976)

Truly Dreadful Film

A Disappointing Continuation

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is one of those film where you want to scream at the townsfolk WTH!? Zhong Jian (Fu Sheng) is a sweet guy with White Knight Syndrome in a town where the people simply look the other way no matter what happens. Jian is a cab driver who saves a woman from assault in the opening scene. She actually gets angry with him for protecting her. JIan's uncle, Zhong Zhi-Mun (Lo Dik), is none too pleased with Jian for fighting. The reasons are irrelevant to Zhi-Mun.Jian seems to find trouble no matter what he does. He simply cannot stand by and watching the townsfolk being harassed by the local thugs lead by Feng Tian-Shan (Johnny Wang Lung-Wei). Jian is appalled to see the townsfolk ignore a man dying in the street after being attacked by Tian-Shan's men. No one will help Jian get the man to a doctor.Jian finds himself compared to Li Ting (Stephan Yip Tin-Hang), who is making something of himself and stays out of trouble. Jian soon learns the perfect Li Ting has secrets. Li is indebted to Tian-Shan's gang for gambling. Li is given a way to resolve his debts at the expense of his girlfriend, Xiao Li (Wu Hsiao-Hui's introduction film). Li is told to think long and hard about his options.JIan's Wushu Master Zhou (Shan Mao), decides Jian is too naive for his own good and sends him off to learn Choi Lee Fut Kung Fu with Master Zhu (Chan Wai-Lau). There are some humorous moments while Jian learns to control his emotions while practicing the Choi Lee Fut. Jian returns to town to attempt to follow his new training and stay out of trouble, He borrows $200 from his uncle to buy a taxi to earn money. It's broken down and needs some serious TLC, but it will be Jian's lock stock and barrel. He promises to repay his uncle, even if it has to be done after his death (a rather foreboding moment i the movie)Jian learns Master Zhou has been murdered by Tian-Shan and things are not kosher between Li Ting and Xiao Li. Li Ting has agreed to Tian-Shan's terms for eliminating his gambling debts and hands Xiao Li over to them after having sex with her. Jian gets into more trouble attempting to rescue Xiao Li from the mess Li Ting has created for her. Jian's taxi boss becomes another collateral damage victim when Tian-Shan's gang destroys his taxis in retaliation to Jian's interference.Jian's family, friends and neighbors have gathered to have a whine-fest over Jian's behavior. Jian has gone off to deal with Tian-Shan and his gang. Someone needs to stand up to them. The townsfolk feel nothing bad would happen if Jian simply stayed out of Tian-Shan's way. Xiao Li announces none of them understand anything and leaves the room crying. Li Ting is engulfed with extreme guilt yet stills say nothing of his own bad behavior.The battle between Jian and Tian-Shan has some good moments. When Tian-Shan uses the claw hand he used on Master Zhou, it's clear what the outcome will be. The final scene is a gathering of friends and family at Jian's Uncle's home. The police arrive to present Jian's uncle with the $200 he had given Jian for the taxi. The police comment on what an upstanding man Jian was, while those gathered reveal the guilt they've been hiding.Fu Sheng shines in this movie. Seeing venom members in it was a treat. If the townsfolk had actually revealed spines, I might have given it a better score.

THE NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS is a Shaw Brothers vehicle for martial artist Alexander Fu Sheng, who often plays as part of an ensemble cast but here gets to take centre stage and effectively runs away with the part. Chang Cheh is the ubiquitous director bringing Fu Sheng's ferocious fighting style to the screen, and the result is one of the studio's better outings.This is a deadly serious story about Fu Sheng's hot-headed youth and the trouble he gets into with some local thugs. It's a little like Jackie's DRUNKEN MASTER II in that respect and follows the same template, albeit without the extra smuggling back story. Fu Sheng goes around fighting various goons and causing trouble in the first half of the story, despite the fact he can't fight particularly well, before he's sent off into the mountains to train with an old master. On his return, all hell breaks loose.Everything about this film screams professionalism. The fights are top quality and mix fine choreography with starling bloody violence. Fu Sheng is full of charisma and really strong in the fight scenes too. The sets and costumes are expertly crafted and the iron claw weapon is one of the most vicious I've seen in any Shaw Brothers movies. The supporting cast is also exemplary: good old Wang Lung Wei is the top bad guy yet again (and the reason he was so often cast in this role? He's good at it!) and Beardy one of his top henchmen. A number of Venoms also show up on the cusp of stardom: Chiang Sheng, Phillip Kwok, Lu Feng, and Wang Li all pop up here, some in bigger parts than others. THE NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS remains watchable throughout and becomes more and more gripping as it goes on, right until the hair-raising climax. It's a classic.

THis is certainly one of the best of the films by Chang Cheh just before he wondered off into Deadly Venom fantasy land - this is a film made for adults, despite it's genre status, dealing with themes painful to the Chinese, and not very pleasant to the rest of us. Chang Cheh's behind-camera crew of the period is at the top of their form, and the film just looks good and feels right. But the focus of the film is Alexander Fu Sheng, and he is a real delight. I've seen him before, but never so charismatically riveting to look at, nor in so believable a performance. Furthermore, his fight scenes are top notch, and, clearly traditional, somewhat ahead of their time (although not in the credits of the version I have, almost certainly the work of Liu Chia Leung). But Fu Sheng is so adept in them - and so glowing with youthful confidence - I seriously think he could have whipped Bruce Lee; certainly this film could have positioned him to be the fabled "next Bruce Lee" that Hong Kong directors searched for, had he lived longer. But at least we have this one undeniable classic from Fu Sheng supported by a team expert in the genre .

GRAND MASTER OF DEATH (aka DEMON FIST OF KUNG FU, 1976) was directed by Chang Cheh, the pioneering Hong Kong. kung fu filmmaker. With a simpler story and a lower budget than most of Cheh's Shaw Bros. epics, this film nonetheless boasts three top kung fu performers and a steady stream of well-staged fights.Alexander Fu Sheng stars as an eager kung fu student who insists on intervening when townspeople are bullied by the town bosses and their hired thugs. For his own good, he is sent away by his teacher to a mountain temple where he learns new techniques from a venerated kung fu master. When Fu Sheng returns to town, his original teacher has been killed and the gang is trying to force a female friend of his into prostitution. He then goes into action against the town bosses, played by kung fu greats Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan (who worked together as villains in numerous Shaw Bros. films).While not a masterwork of the genre, it is still well above average and a worthy showcase for the considerable skills of its dynamic star. Fu Sheng's actress wife, Jenny Tseng, also appears in the film.ADDENDUM (4/7/17): I initially reviewed this on the basis of a pan-and-scan, English-dubbed VHS tape. Since then, I've acquired the R3 Celestial DVD edition, letter-boxed and in Mandarin with English subtitles, and it's like seeing the film for the first time. The fight scenes are superb and there are plenty of them, with the best saved for the lengthy finale. What I need to emphasize about this film is that it's one of the very few where Fu Sheng is the sole heroic lead and doesn't have to share the fighting chores with anyone else. There are only two major villains, but, as played by Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan, they are formidable enough to keep Fu Sheng busy for a tidy 96 minutes. The script plays like a rough draft for THE CHINATOWN KID (1977). On the DVD, the film is preceded by a three-minute demonstration by Fu Sheng of the Choy Lay Fut (Tsai Li Fu) technique.