Thank God for Celestial Entertainment's re-releasing of this classic! Okay, the plot is rather straightforward, and not terribly original (a revenge theme in a Martial arts movie. Nope, never seen that before!) But it is very well acted, very well directed and damn if the fight scenes aren't excellent.

Basically, it follows the historic destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Manchus. The assault is led by Pai Mei, (yup, the same Pai Mei from Kill Bill 2, in fact, Bill even talks about this in that movie) played by Lo Lieh. Gordon Liu who played Pai Mei in Kill Bill 2, appears briefly as a Shaolin student who informs Hong Xiguan (played by Chen Kuan Ti) that Pai Mei killed their master. Gordon Liu sacrifices himself so that Hong and some of the other students may escape.

A few years later, Hong, hiding out as a Peking Opera performer, meets and marries another Martial Artist, played by Lily Li. They eventually have a child. But Hong cannot enjoy married life for too long, because he still has to train to avenge his master and his fellow students.

A good example of vintage Kung Fu films. Not to be missed by any Kung Fu film connoisseur.

This movie is a great Shaw Bros. pic, except I liked the remake Fists of the White Lotus a bit better. Still they're both great, especially Master White Brows aka Pai Mai and Lau Kar Leung's intense choreography.

This movie is dark and there's little comedy which effectively sets up the revenge theme (a revenge theme in a kung fu flick?) to help motivate our hero from Shaolin. Tai Chen Kuan as Hung Hsi Kuan shows formidable Tiger Claws style and some neat training sequences with bronze statues and vital point strikes. BUT, I really loved watching Ying Chun (Li Li) and her crane style. Man, if you're going out with her, you better be able to break her leg stance! Plus, her effort and grace in movements are as good as Kara Hui's in Fists of the White Lotus. It's a strange, yet wonderfully hypnotic combination of kung fu and dance.

Now, the action. What do you expect from the real deal kung fu master Lau Kar Leung? Countless opponents, one on many battles, quick strikes, and amazing choreography are the strong points here. Pai Mai's battles are so awesome that he really seems invincible. I can't get enough of him dragging guys along with his groin! One of the strangest, yet highly entertaining kung fu villains ever. Plus, Lo Lieh mastered that menacing look that says, "You want to fight me? Are you kidding??" Strangely enough, I wasn't really rooting against him.

The only downside I can find with this one is that Gordon Liu only makes a brief cameo. However, Gordon Liu is the main star in Fists of the White Lotus AND he battles Lo Lieh as the menacing White Lotus. So, watch both films because they're the great stuff that SB movies are made of.

Hardly a classic kung-fu movie; the film is bogged down with dialogue and plays out as more of a family drama than the Shaw Brothers fight flick that it supposedly is. Still, an excellent cast and some good production values count for a lot and director Liu Chia-Liang can always be relied on to deliver some strongly-choreographed scenes of action and battle. For the first half of the movie, we are mostly involved in the antics of top fighter Hung Hsi Kuan, as he marries the delectable Li-Li Li and has a kid in the process. A lot of the screen time is taken up with training in the tiger and crane styles and some of it involves a cool wooden dummy which shoots ball bearings from its head!

The villain of the piece is the late, lamented Lo Lieh, playing a bizarre monk-type character who appears to be a eunuch (!) and who can only be injured between 1pm and 3pm (don't ask me, I didn't write this). Lieh has some great fight sequences as repeated assassination attempts are made and generally fail – he's definitely one of the toughest characters I've seen in a martial arts flick and the fights involving Chen Kuan-Tai, Lieh, and Wong Yue are dynamic and excellently shot. Unfortunately, in the place of fighting, we get loads and loads of unamusing humour at the start of the film (generally involving the buffoonish John Cheung, from SNAKE IN THE MONKEY'S SHADOW) and a plot that crawls along at a snail's pace before finally delivering the goods at the end with a splendidly violent battle to the finish.

This is worth watching for the cast alone. Chen Kuan-Tai and Wong Yue are fine as the fighter and his son and both deliver some classic kung fu moves. Lieh is a splendid villain as always and Li-Li Li is lovely as the wife. Gordon Liu pops by for a cameo, Lam Ching-Ying has a walk-on before he was famous and Cheng Hong-Yip is another villainous creep. Not a classic genre effort, but there's some good fighting at the end, if you can sit through all the melodrama beforehand.