Shaw Brothers Cinema

The Saloon
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Shek Kin also had better fighting than Enter the Dragon in Lackey and the Lady Tiger, The Young Master, and in some other films. In Bruce Lee’s movies, about the only person who was really allowed to shine in the fight scenes was Bruce himself. Hwang In-Shik in Way of the Deagon is an even more extreme example of how Bruce would ‘steamroll’ through and make fools of guys who were much better than he let them show onscreen.

The Teahouse (1974)

An interesting gangster movie and social commentary about how the laws in early-70s Hong Kong allow juvenile delinquents to get away with crimes as they victimize customers and employees at a Teahouse run by Cheng (Chen Kuan-Tai). I’ll be watching the sequel, Big Brother Cheng, next chance I get. Directed by Kwei Chih-Hung, who would later become known more for his gross-out horror movies for Shaw Bros.

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Big Brother Cheng (1975)

The sequel to The Teahouse, Chen Kuan-Tai reprises his role of Cheng, the owner of a teahouse who now becomes a vigilante to combat Hong Kong’s rampant crime. Although also interesting and containing more action than The Teahouse, the turnaround of Chen’s character seems rather abrupt. His character is very different from part one. Also featuring Wang Yue, Wei Hung, Huang Kin-Lung (AKA Bruce Le), Lee Hoi-San, etc. The Teahouse was highly successful in Hong Kong, and Big Brother Cheng surpassed it.

The Shaolin Avengers (1976)

Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Bruce Tong (Tang Yen-Tsan), Tsai Hung, Lung Fei, Chen Hui-Lou, Wang Lung-Wei, Shan Mao, Leung Kar-Yan, Cheng Tien-Chi, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, etc. A vastly improved remake of Men from the Monastery, which Chang Cheh himself directed only two years earlier. Although a Shaw Bros production, it was filmed in Taiwan during Chang Cheh’s Taiwan period (1974-76). Excellent movie, which begins with the final battle and is told in flashbacks.

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The Treasure Hunters (1981)

This film marked the return to films of Alexander Fu Sheng (Chang Fu-Sheng), after recovering from serious injuries on movie sets. It also debuted his younger brother, Chang Chan-Peng as his co-star. Also starring Gordon Liu, Wang Lung-Wei, Yang Ching-Ching, Wilson Tong, Lau Kar-Wing, etc. The final battle is epic, and Wang Lung-Wei and Yang Ching-Ching are perfect as the arch-villain and his mute sister.

A Deadly Secret (1980)

Starring Jason Pai Piao, Wu Yuan-Chun, Shih Szu, Yueh Hua, Wei Hung, D!ck Wei, Ai Fei, Chan Shen, Kuan Feng, etc. Decent wuxia film about an innocent man (Pai Piao) on death row for knowing ‘the deadly secret’, which has to do with a hidden imperial treasure. A corrupt official has him tortured to reveal the secret, which he won’t. One of the torture scenes is particularly brutal. Wu Yuan-Chun plays a weak kung fu student whose own teacher wrongly sets him up for prison so he can hopefully learn ‘the deadly secret’.

Bloody Parrot)1981)

A weird and enjoyable wuxia film starring Jason Pai Piao, Tony Liu Yung, Kuan Feng, Yang Ching-Ching, Chan Shen, Ku Kuan-Chung, Jenny Leung, Wong Mei-Mei, etc.

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I’ve been meaning to see Deadly Secret. I’ll wait on it awhile. It doesn’t sound like anything too special. Treasurer Hunters is a great one. I like Bloody Parrot too. A good wuxia/horror, with a little bit of Django thrown in. Disappointing finale, but I can forgive it. There’s not enough martial arts horror movies.

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Yes, Treasure Hunters is one of my favorites. And A Deadly Secret is okay, but not overly special. And as for martial arts horror, I’ve always felt that many wuxia films in general have a bit of a horror feel to them anyway, even ones that aren’t horror-related. Like some of Chu Yuan’s (Chor Yuen) wuxias. The dream-like surrealism and sometimes eerie atmosphere lends itself well to horror-like elements.

The Shadow Boxing (1979)

This was actually titled The Spiritual Boxer 2. However, this film is vastly inferior to The Spiritual Boxer (1975), and is not a true sequel, as Wong Yue plays a different character, a ‘corpse herder’ who transports hopping corpses back to their hometowns for burial. Every great filmmaker can have a dud among his works, and for director Lau Kar-Leung, this is my least favorite. I knew that going in, having seen it in the early '80s. It’s mainly desirable to own if you’re a completist like me.

This is a very frustrating film. The majority of it is taken up with magical spells to control and move the zombies, and the intended comedy that results. But the comedy feels very tired and forced. Also starring Lau Kar-Wing, Gordon Liu, Huang Hsing-Hsiu, Wilson Tong, Lee Hoi-San, Norman Chu. Many great names in kung fu movies, but very little action. When the action does roll around, the best involves Gordon Liu, but then it cuts away to show Wong Yue trying to use ‘vampire kung fu’, which he can’t remember, so must be reminded by being told the next move during a fight. Just when it looks like the action will get going, it either stalls or ends rather abruptly. Huang Hsing-Hsiu cuts her hair and dresses like a man, but as always in these movies, the only people fooled are the characters in the movie.

I wonder if Lau Kar-Leung’s heart was even in this film, or if he was forced to make some quota due to contractual issues. Among Lau’s works, this one often seems forgotten or overlooked.

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Men from the Monastery (1974): Cheh Chang’s earlier film, Vengeance, is far superior. This one is virtually plotless and in its series of fight scenes, barely distinguishable from one another, it’s hardly worthwhile: then the final 15 mins kick in, the violence is increased, it becomes a Shaw Bros. equivalent of The Wild Bunch and it switches to b/w (surely an influence on Tarantino’s Kill Bill); it becomes a brutal, interesting film for its climax. In a way, I feel vindicated: I always watch a film to its end, no matter how poor, always hoping it will suddenly improve, show a spark of intriguing originality. 95% of the time they never do, but here for once, the climactic fight scene justifies the time spent watching the previous, none-too-memorable hour and a quarter.

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I wouldn’t compare Vengeance with Men from the Monastery, as they are completely different films, in spite of the fact that both are directed by Chang Cheh. Chang’s filmography runs the whole gamut, from pure classics to some duds. I wouldn’t necessarily rate Men from the Monastery as poor, but I certainly rate it as the least entry in his “Shaolin cycle” of films. Chang must have thought so, too, as only two years later, he remade a much better version of it (IMO), “Shaolin Avengers”.

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Wits of the Brats (1984)
Sometimes movies aren’t as good as you remembered them to be. This was the case for me with this one. Starring Chang Chan-Peng (Alexander Fu Sheng’s younger brother), Nate Chan, Wong Yue, Wang Lung-Wei, Lin Hui-Huang , Lee Hoi-San and Fu Sheng himself. Mostly a lot of overdone comedy; only the scenes involving Wang Lung-Wei seemed to carry much weight, and they are few and far between. It’s clear that directors Wong Jing, Fu Sheng and Lau Kar-Wing were running out of ideas at Shaw Brothers by this time, though it is an early example of Wong Jing’s work.

The Lady is the Boss (1983)
A modern-day reversal of My Young Auntie, about a Chinese-American girl (Kara Hui Ying-Hung) who is appointed head of a martial arts school in Hong Kong led by a strict traditional master (director Lau Kar-Leung). Instead of sticking to tradition, she recruits the school’s only students, played by Gordon Liu, Hsiao Hou, Chang Chan-Peng, Wong Yue, and Robert Mak, to aggressively advertise the school, bringing in all sorts of oddball students. She is also completely non-traditional in her teaching approach, which creates friction with Lau’s character. They eventually run afoul of a gang led by Wang Lung-Wei, Lung Tien-Hsiang, Sun Chien, etc.

The movie is shrill and has the ubiquitous overdone comedy of the period (including an odd scene with Lau Kar-Leung himself doing a bit of disco dancing), but action-wise, it still holds up today. The movie is also a nod to some of Lau’s earlier films (36th Chamber of Shaolin, Mad Monkey Kung Fu), and if you’re not familiar with Lau’s work, some gags will not make any sense. Lau’s kung fu performance is of course amazing, and as in My Young Auntie, he has another great fight scene with Wang Lung-Wei. Though not up to the quality of My Young Auntie, it’s still a good watch, IMO.

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I rate personally “men from the monastery” extremely high. Part of it comes likely from thing it´s one of first shaws I ever owned as expensive dutch ex-rental tape. I am not so fond of “heroes two”(I had that as dutch tape also+some others), in theory I should love this. There is nothing wrong in story or fights but I can`t get over few things, 1st is tunnel concept and 2nd is “brother” thing which does not bother me in other movies maybe fu sheng overacts or sth…3rd main villain is not that convincing in fight.

Shaolin avengers is indeed excellent but it would be even better if told in “right way” instead of using flashbacks.

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Boxer Rebellion (1975)

Director: Chang Cheh

Starring: Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Leung Kar-Yan, Li Li-Hua, Hu Chin, Jenny Tseng, Richard Harrison, Wang Lung-Wei, Sun Yueh, Bruce Tong, Yukio Someno, Cliff Ching, Chiang Tao, Gordon Liu (cameo).

Boxer Rebellion was probably the most ambitious, expensive of Chang Cheh’s works. It is a large-scale epic that runs 2 hrs, 17 minutes long. Although a Shaw production/release, it was actually filmed in Taiwan by Chang’s film company. After reading a few older reviews of the film, it seems most reviewers are put off by thinking Chang didn’t know what type of film he wanted; historical epic or kung fu movie. The first 10 minutes is taken up excellently as the empress dowager (Li Li-Hua) is impeccably prepared for another day of luxury by her attendants. This contrasts sharply with the scenes of carnage, or Fu Sheng’s lighthearted moments. IMO, the point is just that; the contrast between the seemingly safe, opulent and pampered world of the empress dowager, and the chaos and horror of the real world.

Anyone expecting a straight historical narrative in a Chang Cheh movie is not very familiar with his work. Of course there are historical inaccuracies. Of course there is national/political bias, just as there was in the American movie 55 Days at Peking. Why would armed Japanese soldiers with rifles still loaded choose to close in and fight with bayonets against Chinese ‘boxers’ armed only with swords and bare hands? The point of a movie is entertainment. There are still aspects of truth presented, such as the idea that the boxer cults promoted, that rituals made them impervious to the foreigners’ bullets, were in fact a scam.

Boxer Rebellion has some deeper character development (for a “kung fu movie”) than most Chang Cheh films. Particularly, the characters portrayed by Li Li-Hua, Chi Kuan-Chun, Fu Sheng and Hu Chin. Richard Harrison portrays the German commander of the
eight allied nations against China.

I appreciate this film more now than decades ago. To be seen in all its splendor, see the full, original-language version, not the English-dubbed version (retitled The Bloody Avengers), which was heavily cut.

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[quote=“Filmlovr1, post:470, topic:2162”]Boxer Rebellion (1975)

Director: Chang Cheh

Starring: Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Leung Kar-Yan, Li Li-Hua, Hu Chin, Jenny Tseng, Richard Harrison, Wang Lung-Wei, Sun Yueh, Bruce Tong, Yukio Someno, Cliff Ching, Chiang Tao, Gordon Liu (cameo).

Boxer Rebellion was probably the most ambitious, expensive of Chang Cheh’s works. It is a large-scale epic that runs 2 hrs, 17 minutes long. Although a Shaw production/release, it was actually filmed in Taiwan by Chang’s film company. After reading a few older reviews of the film, it seems most reviewers are put off by thinking Chang didn’t know what type of film he wanted; historical epic or kung fu movie. The first 10 minutes is taken up excellently as the empress dowager (Li Li-Hua) is impeccably prepared for another day of luxury by her attendants. This contrasts sharply with the scenes of carnage, or Fu Sheng’s lighthearted moments. IMO, the point is just that; the contrast between the seemingly safe, opulent and pampered world of the empress dowager, and the chaos and horror of the real world.

Anyone expecting a straight historical narrative in a Chang Cheh movie is not very familiar with his work. Of course there are historical inaccuracies. Of course there is national/political bias, just as there was in the American movie 55 Days at Peking. Why would armed Japanese soldiers with rifles still loaded choose to close in and fight with bayonets against Chinese ‘boxers’ armed only with swords and bare hands? The point of a movie is entertainment. There are still aspects of truth presented, such as the idea that the boxer cults promoted, that rituals made them impervious to the foreigners’ bullets, were in fact a scam.

Boxer Rebellion has some deeper character development (for a “kung fu movie”) than most Chang Cheh films. Particularly, the characters portrayed by Li Li-Hua, Chi Kuan-Chun, Fu Sheng and Hu Chin. Richard Harrison portrays the German commander of the
eight allied nations against China.

I appreciate this film more now than decades ago. To be seen in all its splendor, see the full, original-language version, not the English-dubbed version (retitled The Bloody Avengers), which was heavily cut.[/quote]

Haven’t seen it so far. I like Chang Cheh and if any Shaw director can breathe life in a large-scale historic action movie, it’s Cheh.

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The Chinatown Kid (in Mandarin dub).

I was a bit surprised that the Mandarin version is different in several ways from the English and, I’m assuming, Cantonese dubs. There are scenes I don’t recall from the English version, and others that were deleted. The Mandarin version has more scenes of Sun Chien’s character in Taiwan. Scenes that were deleted included the more violent and bloody fights, the beginnings of some fights, the scene where Fu Sheng’s character is offered a woman for the first time, scenes of gangsters making out with their women, etc. At least two characters were completely deleted; the half-Chinese gangster played by Tsai Hung, and his knife-wielding bodyguard/assassin played by Wang Li. The end fight is also briefer and it, as well as the movie itself, ends completely differently. It’s clear that Shaw Brothers gave Sun Chien’s character greater emphasis to appeal to the Taiwan audience. Why they shortened or deleted the more violent fights is a mystery. Chang Cheh’s other movies, including the ones shot in Taiwan, all had pretty violent scenes.

Generally, I prefer Mandarin dubs, but in the case of Chinatown Kid, I prefer the English dub. IMO, it gives the movie its best feel.

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The Brain Stealers (1968)

Directed by Inoue Umetsugu.

Starring: Lily Ho, Peter Chen, Chin Feng, Betty Ting Pei, etc.

Interesting Shaw Brothers sci-fi flick about a man who develops a drug to accelerate plant growth to solve world hunger, who becomes the target for a mad scientist bent on (you guessed it) world domination. Although a Shaw film. It plays more like a 1960s-era Toho sci-fi movie. Featuring a machine that can transfer the mind of one person into the body of another.

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I have now complete collection of shaw brothers kungfu/wu xia which are officially released. Mostly IVL but in some cases r1(bastard swordsman which are technically better than r3) and vengeance of a snowgirl+black tavern as thai…

Happy me!

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Been working my way through the Shawscope Volume 1 box set and thoroughly enjoying it. For the most part anyway.

Am about half way through it so far.

King Boxer (Jeong / 1972)
The Boxer From Shantung (Chang / 1972)
Five Shaolin Masters (Chang / 1974)
Shaolin Temple (Chang / 1975)
Mighty Peking Man (Ho / 1976)
Challenge of the Masters (Lau / 1976)
Executioners From Shaolin (Lau / 1977)

King Boxer is the standout from these. A classic that never gets old for me. But the others are also very enjoyable and nice to see the full range of Shaw kung fu stars of the seventies featured in various combinations. David Chiang, Cheng Kuan Tai, Alexander Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Gordon Liu. Love them all and some top rate chop sockey stuff throughout.

The one dud in the set so far is Mighty Peking Man. Oh boy. A cut price King Kong rip off set in Asia sounds like it could be “so bad it’s good” type fun, but in reality just turns out to be awful. The shit special effects are the only entertaining part of it. The rest is just plain snooze inducing.

That aside, the set is proving to be a winner and I’m looking forward to watching the second half over the next week or so.

It is a beautifully put together box set too. Expensive but worth the cash if you can afford it.

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I love that one! I’m not sure there’s a dud in that set (I’ve largely forgotten Chinatown Kid and Dirty Ho so maybe they’re the duds; I don’t recall disliking any, though). Loved King Boxer but IIRC the highlight of that set for me was the mindbending Crippled Avengers which already looked like it would be fun and then turned out to be way more fun than it looked.

I’ve barely looked at my Volume Two set yet.

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I ended up finding King Boxer quite ‘meh’. It was good but it didn’t really feel like it did anything extra from a regular Kung Fu flick to wow me. I did however love the Venom stuff from that set. Really looking forward to grabbing the second set when it comes down to a nice low price :+1:

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Just watched Chinatown Kid today and enjoyed it quite a bit actually.
Crippled Avengers I haven’t watched for years but remember it being excellent so looking forward to that on Bluray. Same with Five Venoms.

1 Like
479

Finished off the Shawscope Volume 1 box set over the past few days.

The Five Venoms (Chang / 1978)
Crippled Avengers (Chang / 1978)
Heroes of the East (Leung / 1978)
Dirty Ho (Leung / 1979)

Enjoyed all of these. Crippled Avengers is a stand out and is marvelously bonkers. Difficult to pick a favourite but it was possibly Heroes of the East with the mix of Chinese and Japanese martial arts and the difficult wife who smashes the garden up while practicing.

Also quite enjoyed the 2 soundtrack CDs.

It’s a great set though expensive. Not sure I will be getting the volume 2 as I already have the 36th Chamber films on Bluray and it’s a lot to pay.

I really wish there was a volume of Shaws from the 60s as I think some of their best films were from that era.

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Loved Vol 1 as well, but I’m gonna wait a bit for the price to drop for the 2nd one. Volume 1 has been consistently dropping down to £55 on Amazon in the past few months so I’m gonna wait til the 2nd one reaches that point too