Eureka Video Blu-ray Synopsis: After working with the legendary King HU on his Palme d'Or winning A Touch Of Zen, Sammo Hung worked with directed Huang Feng (Lady Whirlwind, Hapkido) on a series of martial arts masterpieces which continuously broke new ground for action cinema, the culmination of which was The Shaolin Plot. After the release of this film, Sammo (who has one of his first major acting roles here,playing a deadly monk with an unusual choice of weaponry) began his own career as a director and would play a huge role in the 'Golden Age' of Hong Kong cinema – an era which revolutionised action filmmaking around the world. Hong Kong movie veteran Chen Hsing (The Iron Fisted Monk) plays a tyrannical ruler with the aim of collecting all existing Chinese martial arts manuals in order to obtain ultimate power. After obtaining the Wu Tang manual, he sets his sights on the Shaolin Temple and the secrets of their fighting style. Two Shaolin Monks (Casanova Wong and Yeong-moon Kwon) must team up with a Wu Tang fighter (James Tien) to defeat the villainous despot. On home video for the first time in the UK from a new 2K restoration, Eureka Classics is proud to present a towering classic that deserves to be recognised as one of the best and most important works of martial arts cinema. (109 Mins)

 

Views: The evil Chinese dictator, Prince Daglen, has taken on the hobby of collecting all volumes of martial arts manuals; abusing his power in a bid to become the ultimate fighter. After beating the head of the infamous Wu Tang clan, the prince yearns to fill the last shelf in his library which is that of the Shaolin Temple, but first he needs to take care of the Wu Tang leader's son who managed to escape. With Daglen's men hot on his heels, the Little Tiger finds support from a lone monk who unfortunately loses his sight during battle. Regardless, the monk promises to train Little Tiger so that he can take revenge for the murder of his family. Meanwhile, Prince Daglen devises a plot that will help him sneak into Shaolin Temple where he can steal the kung-fu manuals from the inside – eventually becoming stronger than those that guard it. But upon the Little Tiger's return, Daglen's cover is soon blown and, by taking the head abbot hostage, he manages to escape. Now, with the help of Little Tiger, the monks must attack the palace to save their leader and put a stop to the evil prince once and for all!

 

In all these years of watching and collecting kung-fu movies, I've never had the pleasure of ever seeing The Shaolin Plot – until now of course, thanks to this Blu-ray release from Eureka Video with a gorgeously restored 2K print – and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed! Oozing shades of Broken Oath and The Flying Guillotine, you can clearly see the inspiration Sammo took from both this and it's director Huang Feng for his directorial debut, The Iron Fisted Monk (that was made later the same year), and the classic Warriors Two which soon followed. But 1977 was a great year for many reasons (and not only because I came into the world then) with Golden Harvest pumping out 8 titles including One Arm Chivalry Fights Against One Arm Chivalry starring the late Jimmy Wang Yu and Lau Kar Wing, The Lady Killer with Sylvia Chang, Ironside 426, and aforementioned classics Broken Oath and The Iron Fisted Monk. At the same time, Jackie Chan was about to start production on Snake In The Eagles Shadow with Yuen Woo Ping, and the Shaw Brothers studios were dishing out classics such as Executioners From Shaolin, Clans Of Intrigue, The Brave Archer, Mighty Peking Man, Battle Wizard, Chinatown Kid, and so much more. But it would be Golden Harvest that started to shake things up, allowing people like Sammo Hung to explore and exercise a whole new form of action-choreography, with that of The Shaolin Plot breathing a new lease of life into a typically cliched story.

 

Although he had been appearing in many movies for well over a decade already, The Shaolin Plot would offer Sammo more of a solid role, much like of John Woo's Hand Of Death from the year before. Of course, once again, it would be playing the role of a villain – a stereotype he would soon cast aside later that year when he directed and starred in The Iron Fisted Monk. Here, Sammo plays a cheeky renegade monk who wields a pair of deadly symbols – used in a similar fashion to the popular 'flying guillotines' that have been used in countless kung-fu classics. Although dressed in a bald cap and super-designer facial hair there's no denying the big man's moves and charm when on-screen, and I really enjoyed him in this role as well as the abundance of slick moves he displayed and choreographed. It was also great to see the majority of his future team alongside him once again including a young Yuen Biao, Mars, Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Wah, Stephen Tung Wei, Peter & Billy Chan, Chung Fat, Austin Wai, and more. Fan favourites Fung Hak On, Chin Yuet Sang, and Yen Shi Kwan play side-kick villains to Hung; getting the chance to put on a great show – especially the latter – and Mang Hoi cameos as a beggar assassin, who gets to show off some drunken monkey.

 

The brilliant Chen Sing stars as the twisted prince, and offers a great performance that is further boosted when his plot to infiltrate Shaolin begins. At this point he plays a beaten mute-monk, with his left eye practically hanging out. And while we all know it's just amazing practical effects work created to help him enter the temple, one has to wonder where the hell he got the latex, a fake eyeball and horror make-up from – let alone a highly skilled make-up artist in the 14th Century – but it hardly takes away from the star's performance. James Tien stars as Little Tiger, a role I would love to have seen Jackie Chan star in for a number of reasons. Regardless, Tien does a fine job and is put to work physically when it comes to the fight scenes. Of course, both he and Hung (as well as Chan and most of the extras mentioned above) had worked together the year before on Hand Of Death, so he more than likely knew what to expect with Sammo's choreography. While James never really became an A-list star of Hong Kong cinema, he still made quite the career for himself going on to star in Jackie's Magnificent Bodyguards, Spiritual Kung Fu, Half A Loaf Of Kung Fu, Fearless Hyena, and Dragon Fist, as well as joining Sammo over and over again in many of his productions from The Prodigal Son to Millionaires Express, Dragons Forever to Blade Of Fury, and so much more. While he had appeared in some small roles leading up to The Shaolin Plot, Korean super-kicker Casanova Wong gets his official introduction as one of the warrior monks of Shaolin, alongside his equally impressive countryman Kwan Yung Moon. Both highly impress when the action kicks-off, and both went onto have a pretty healthy career in the world of kung-fu cinema. The same year, Wong would get his first big starring role alongside Sammo in The Iron Fisted Monk before starring in films such as Wonderman From Shaolin, The Legendary Strike, Warriors Two, Duel Of The 7 Tigers, Duel To The Death, Warriors Of Kung Fu, and then some before directing his one-and-only feature with Sword Of Evil Power in 1985. Starring in a similar amount of films over the same period, Kwan appeared in a run of better movies for the most part. From Action Taekwondo to Master With Cracked Fingers, and Shaw Brothers hits like Killer Constable, Return To The 36th Chamber, and My Young Auntie; Kwan nailed some great roles in plenty of memorable films, going on to star in Kirk Wong's The Club, Billy Chong's Kung Fu Zombie, Sammo Hung's brilliant The Dead & The Deadly, Ninja In The Dragons Den, and Duel To The Death, as well as Jackie Chan's Dragon Lord and Project A...

 

Director Huang Feng appears as the Chief Abbot, continuing the theme of popping-up in the most of his self-directed projects. Although he had been acting since the early 50s, Huang only made the move to directing in 1971 with Angela Mao Ying's entertaining martial-arts adventure, The Angry River – one of the first films for new film studio Golden Harvest and producer Raymond Chow. Over the course of 7 years, Feng would direct a total of 14 titles including Bandits From Shantung, Lady Whirlwind, Hapkido, When Taekwondo Strikes, and The Himalayan – most of which would include Sammo Hung in a small role and as the choreographer. Interestingly enough, Huang would end his directing career with The Legendary Strike; another Angela Mao Ying that saw many stars from The Shaolin Plot return, except for Sammo. Recognisable actor Chang Ching Po appears as Huang's second in command, and although he doesn't get to bust a move as such, still leaves a good enough impression due to his performance. Having already starred in films such as Heads For Sale, Iron Bodyguard, The Skyhawk, and A Queen's Ransom, Chang stuck with Sammo over the next lot of years gaining roles in films such as The Iron Fisted Monk, The Victim, Encounters Of A Spooky Kind, The Prodigal Son, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, and more. Over the years, Chang had actually been the assistant director on many of the films he starred in as well as classics such as Valley Of The Fangs, King Boxer, The Pirate, Last Hurrah For Chivalry, and even The Shaolin Plot – making his first and last effort as a director in 1974 with The Sharp Fists In Kung Fu; which had action choreographed by Lam Ching Ying. And last but not least, the great Kam Kong plays the lone monk who comes to James Tien's rescue, delivering a host of strong kicks and moves only to find himself blinded by monk Sammo's sneaky attack. I really liked Kam in this role and was pleasantly surprised to see him appear, before being just as shocked to see his end – with the monk getting burned to death as he sits in a prayer position. It was a scene that emulated that of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc's Saigon protest in 1963, where he burned himself to death in the middle of an intersection to highlight the discrimination against Buddhists. Starting life in the film industry in 1973, Kong went on to star in over 60 films across two decades including classics like The Blazing Temple, One Armed Boxer Vs The Flying Guillotine, Shaolin Wooden Men, The Flash Legs, Snake & Crane Arts Of Shaolin, Half A Loaf Of Kung Fu, The Silver Spear, and so much more.

 

While The Shaolin Plot may bear many similarities to a number of traditional kung-fu flicks from the 1970's, I still found it to be highly enjoyable. Huang Feng certainly knew how to direct a solid piece, enhanced with some beautifully shot scenes and packed with plenty of amazing kung-fu action and, of course, I can't forget the incredible finale of the show which is worth the price of admission alone! To be able to see such a beautifully restored version of the film is indeed a blessing, and I can only hope that these indie distributors continue to pump-out more unseen classics for us fans of Hong Kong cinema over the years to come!

 

Overall: A classic in many ways, The Shaolin Plot offers some incredible kung-fu action and plenty to enjoy!

 

Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth, Trailers

​

Watch my unboxing of this Eureka Video release HERE

​

Support the site by getting your copy HERE