If you want to see some of the coolest Shaolin training sequences ever, check this one out. Gordon Liu always plays the best young Shaolin fighting monks (he's done it ALOT) and this is his great directing debut. This movie actually has a story to it. Although the hero wants to learn shaolin kung fu for direct revenge at first, his training causes him to seek a different path. During this path, he goes through alot of crazy funky training sequences. If you're a kung-fu fan who loves to see insane tests of skill, this is your movie. Plus, if you love this one, see "Shaolin and Wutang" with Gordon Liu and Adam Cheng.

36th Chamber of shoalin

As a lifelong devoted fan of chop socky I still did not see this film until last year because it was impossible in the U.S.(at least it seemed to me) to get a orginal language 36th Chamber of shoalin. Knowing that any video that said Shoalin Master killer or just Master killer would be a English dubbed atrocity I decided to wait.

Perhaps the best geek news of 2003 for me however was Celestial pictures releasing region 3 versions of old Shaw bros classics. Original language, subtitled well, subtitled bonus features, Dolby surround, Beautifully re-mastered and packaged. Director Liu Chia liang's masterpiece the 36th chamber was my first purchase in the series. The new re-issues have some of his other classics like executioners from shoalin(which Kill Bill 2 paid direct tribute to),8 diagram pole fighter and soon Legendary weapons of China.

36th chamber tells a fictionalized tale of the shoalin monk who broke rank with his temple and taught Kung Fu to the people. While the true story probably did not have the elements of revenge that make the story of the film that hardly manners this is a movie not a history class. It is a lesson the non-violent resistors of the world need to here again and again. When Gordon Liu and his fellow students ask them selves how can they defeat their violent enemy words of logic.

They decide that if they are going to effectively fight back what they learn at the university is not enough. So they travel to the shoalin temple. At the shoalin temple they are masters of martial arts but they stay out of worldly affairs. The 35th chamber of shoalin is the highest level and it is not a measure of strength of combat ability. It is enlightenment, mastery of oneself.

So this epic film, a 2 hour chop socky flick that's story takes place over 10 years, has a interesting plot. Can this man driven by anger complete training in Buddhist temple where his motivations are against the very basics of there teachings. It is impossible to imagine Hollywood making movie that includes forty minutes of Buddhist philosophy, training and no love story. Well lets face it I not sure a woman is in this movie at all.

The martial arts in this film are amazing and every bit as impressive as stuff done today. The training parts while probably not realistic are entertaining and don't bore. The acting is all well done. The direction is steady, the story well told.

For fans of this film note that the director, star and studio teamed up last year to make a film called drunken monkey. Shaw bros big return to Kung Fu movies has been well received. It's next on my list, to rent.

I found this Cantonese / Mandarin film in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, it was a film I had heard the two titles and seen images of many times, so I hoped it would be a worthy inclusion for the book. Basically young student Liu Yude, later named San Te (Chia-Hui Liu), is drawn into the local rebellion against the Manchu government by his activist teacher, government officials oppose this uprising and liquidate the school, and friends and family members are killed. San Te decides to seek vengeance against these deaths, he flees to the Shaolin temple following wounds from an attack by Manchu henchmen, seeking Kung Fu training, San Te is initially rejected by the Buddhist monks, as an outsider, but the chief abbot allows him to stay, taking mercy. A year passes, martial arts training begins for San Te in the 35 chambers of the temple, he advances more rapidly than any student previously, he is depicted along the way as inventing the three section staff. However as San Te is nearing the end and completion of his training education, he is exiled in a secret way from the temple to go against the oppressors and aid the people. San Te returns to the outside world, specifically his hometown, and assists the people by teaching them his skills in martial arts, but he is forced into conflict with the Manchu governor, before he can complete the political revolution he was inspired to. In the end San Te triumphs in his battle and returns to the Shaolin temple, he establishes the 36th chamber of Shaolin, a special martial arts class for the ordinary people to learn the ways and skills of Kung Fu. Also starring Lieh Lo as General Tien Ta, Yue Wong as Miller Six, Chia Yung Liu as General Yin and John Cheung as Lord Cheng. The leading actor, who later in his career was cast in Kill Bill as The Bride's master Pai Mei, does very well as the dedicated fugitive turned masterful student, the simple revenge story does not stand out highly, this film is all about the inventive training sequences and fight scenes, I can see why it was considered a landmark of the genre, probably more so in its day, an interesting Kung Fu martial arts adventure. Worth watching!