Director: Taylor Wong
Year: 1982
Country: Hong Kong
Alternate Titles: Ru lai shen zhang
Genre: Kung-Fu/Martial Arts
Plot:
Following his master’s death, a martial arts master ventures out into the world to find those who are responsible for the seclusion he went into years ago to prevent knowledge of a secret kung-fu move from being exposed to the masses. When challenged by several other masters of a secret martial arts sect that’s interested in keeping the knowledge secret as it can overthrow their own power, he retreats to a secret cave looking for solitude to carry out the end of his days. When several other fighters arrive looking for help in their own skill set, it draws the attention of the other fighters looking to finish what they started and head out to battle the master fighter once and for all.
Review:
Overall, this is a generally solid and likable effort with a lot to like. Almost all of these positives are centered around the generally fun and enjoyable series of action setpieces on display which are immensely fun to see play out. The special effects here are overall fun, starting with the standout costume used for the practical dragon-like creature that lives with the master which is an intriguing design in concept with an equally outrageous if obvious execution that’s quite over-the-top in how cheesy it appears. That goes for the animated flame breath it has that leaves an explosive impact and sets the stage for the rest of the action here involving the team swarming through the underground tunnels or caves trying to fight off the inanimate objects or high-powered villains of the film that are out to prove their top-flight skills that includes such quality as the extending foot of the one fighter, a series of flying objects commanded about the screen, or creating supernatural powers from their hands or fingers that help to enhance the fighting throughout here.
That is the other impressive aspect here as the traditional fighting on display is so over-the-top and glorious that there’s no time to really get a handle on the ludicrousness of what’s happening. The film’s dip into more overt wife-fu factors with the characters flying about their surroundings, leaping inhuman bounds, or accomplishing superhuman feats of acrobatics without difficulty manages to leave a strong impression here with the frenzied pace keeping the film so loaded with fights between everyone that there’s no downtime at all. Getting fights in with the different villains here, each given their own agenda and reason for trying to take out the warriors that have banded together, gives off the kind of frantic energy here as the hand-to-hand fighting is featured quite nicely to offset and ground the more dynamic high-end acrobatics such as the final fight at the temple that shows off no end of high-quality combat. Graced with some appropriate bits of humor in some of the characters and this one comes off rather nicely.
Outside the fighting and special effects, though, this one suffers heavily from a plot that makes absolutely no sense at all. The whole point of what's going on involving the jilted lovers getting involved in the secret fight between the master of the sacred technique and the other fighters looking to knock him off for their own gain is so confusing and complex it's quite hard to lose what’s happening quite easily. There’s nothing about what teaching him the move to begin with is supposed to help him accomplish or why he needs to leave the sanctity of the cave to do so, or what the sisters tagging along with him are supposed to accomplish as they can’t learn the full technique for reasons that are left unexplained. That's’ a factor the majority of the film suffers from as it segues from one over-the-top fight to the next and has such a frantic energy to it that there's at times little need to keep track of what’s happening in favor of just going along with the events at play.
Overview: ****/5
An immensely fun and over-the-top if confusing martial arts effort, the important parts here are where his one works well is a great touch as the confusing nature of what’s going on doesn’t detract from this one at all. This one comes off best for fans of this more fantastical part of the genre, this era of the studio’s output, or fans of the creative crew while most others out there might want to heed slight caution with it.
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