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.

I feel like Shaolin Temple is unfortunately a film that bites off a little more than it can chew. It introduces many characters early on, many of whom want to train at the prestigious titular temple. While they're training, there seems to be an undercover figure inside, giving away weaknesses in the temple to its outside enemies, who want to destroy the heavily guarded temple - and take out its well-trained personnel - at any cost.

That main premise is an engaging one, but it spends almost no time on it until the final act. The rest of the movie feels a little like a collection of fairly random scenes. They're all good on their own (plenty of training for those who like scenes with characters mastering certain skills), but they don't always feel like they add up to much. It's the martial arts movie equivalent of listening to a compilation album rather than a properly planned and structured studio album.

But when it comes to action, it's still pretty solid. There are fun scenes, things pick up more in the second half, and it's nice seeing a Shaw Brothers movie with a slightly beefier budget (I'm guessing) than usual, but I can't help but feel a little bit disappointed in Shaolin Temple when assessing it as a whole.

An entertaining kung fu film, with acting, plot and fight scenes a cut above the average chop socky. All of the cast are likeable characters and skilled martial artists. Alexander Fu-Sheng's proto-Jackie Chan comedy antics are fun to watch, and his austere companion shows particularly impressive skills. For me, the film's only glaring flaw is the size of the cast -- at times, things get a little confused as the film chops and changes between various subplots, and some of the characters are not as fully fleshed-out as one might wish.

But a kung fu film should be judged first and foremost on the quality of the action, and Shaolin Temple definitely delivers on that count. The film climaxes with a high-bodycount battle that allows each character to show off his skills against a worthy opponent.

Overall, Shaolin Temple is an enjoyable low-budget kung fu movie. Not up to the quality of a good Jet Li film, but definitely worth a look for fans of the genre. My rating: 8/10.

Misc notes: The 1987 Warner Home Video release I saw was (predictably) poorly dubbed, and lacked full cast & crew credits.