FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS
(Hong Kong 1974)
Original Title: Shao Lin Wu Zu (aka) Five Masters of Death
Directed by Chang Cheh Produced by Run Run Shaw Action by Lau Kar Leung, Lau Kar Wing Starring: Ti Lung, David Chaing, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan Chun, Mang Fei, Leung Kar Yan, Fong Hak On, Tsai Hung, Johnny Wang Lung Wei, Chiang Tao, Gordon Liu, Jamie Luk, Lau Kar Wing Reviewing: Arrow Video Shaw Scope UK Blu-ray Release Genres: Traditional Kung-Fu / Drama
Rating - 4 / 5
Arrow Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis (Book): The Qing Emperor fears the martial artists from the Shaolin monastery, and so he gives the orders to burn it down. Most of the inmates who resisted the Manchus are either killed or dispersed. The lucky ones who escape included Hung Xiguan, in addition to five men, who flee to central China. They are Cai Dezhong, Ma Chaoxing, Fang Dahong, Li Shikai, and Hu Dedi. These five heroes try to join forces with other anit-Qing elements in central China. Among the Shaolin men in Ma Fuyi, a traitor, who in league with the Manchu henchman, Chen Wenyao, plots to destroy the Shaolin heroes once and for all. Ma Chaoxing is captured by the traitor, but he refuses to reveal anything. Meanwhile, Hu Dedi, with the help of Chieftain Kao, and the chieftain's followers, rush to the help of Ma Chaoxing. A fierce battle ensues, and Ma is freed, but the brave chieftain dies. The anti-Qing patriots begin to realize that in order to lick the Manchu lackeys, led by Chen Wenyao, Bao Yulong, and others, they must improve their kung-fu skill, because their opponents are also experts in martial arts. Then the patriots return to the gutted monastery, where they spend more than a year perfecting still more kung-fu techniques, such as the 'Crossed Fists', 'Triple Jointed Stick', 'Rolling Technique', 'Tiger Stork Technique', and 'Pole Technique'. The decisive battle is fought, resulting in the complete routing of the Manchu gangsters. But Fang and Li also die martyrs to liberty. The anti-Qing forces are further reinforced by the arrival of fresh troops from admiral Zheng Chenggong of Taiwan. More bitter struggles against the Manchu tyrants follow... (119 Mins)
Dragon Dynasty US DVD Synopsis: Directed by the legendary Chang Cheh (Five Deadly Venoms) and featuring an all-star cast, Five Shaolin Masters is ''one of Chang's best Shaolin films” (Kung FU Cinema). Five students who escape the destruction of the Shaolin Temple must organize a rebellion and train to fight their deadliest opponents. The relentless action, choreographed by Liu Chia Liang (36th Chamber Of Shaolin), shows off many different authentic Shaolin kung fu styles and unique weaponry, making this one of the best cinematic displays of martial arts ever. (116 Mins)
Views: Under orders from the Qing Emperor, the Shaolin Temple is destroyed and set alight by a small army of Manchu villains. A small group of disciples manage to escape the slaughter and spread out across the land to settle in peace, although many are caught and killed by the enemy. But five strong minded and highly skilled Shaolin disciples are determined to make a change, and soon set out to find their brothers in a bid to stop their enemy and save their country. As they begin to roll out their plan and start training, it soon becomes apparent that the disciples had a traitor in their midst all along. Now, they must do what they can to stop the evil Manchu fighters and bring their traitorous brother to justice before he gives away all of their secrets – even if it means fighting to the death. So the heroes return to the ruins of their old home where they study a host of new techniques for over a year, before they set out of revenge against the Manchu thugs!
Widely known as part of Chang Cheh's Shaolin cycle, Five Shaolin Masters plays like a sequel of sorts (or companion piece I should say) to Chang Cheh's Heroes Two, using the same shots of the burning temple and a brief narrative that mentions the characters of that film (where Fu Sheng played Fong Sai Yuk even though he returns here as a new character). It also comes in as a sequel to Cheh's own Shaolin Temple (that was actually made a couple of years later) and continues the tale of how these characters got to this point. This time we follow the story of five Shaolin escapee's – although we know that there are more scattered throughout the story, one of which is a traitor, and many other heroes who give their lives to let the heroes continue their journey. This set-up leads to a slightly uneven first hour that sees the team split up and get into fights, most of whom barely have any real chance to flesh-out their story except for Fu Sheng's character of Ma Chao Xing. It's also an hour that could possibly have been tightened to make things run a little smoother (respectively), before the brothers get back together with the understanding that 'united they stand, divided they fall'. It's at this point that Five Shaolin Masters picks-up and becomes a lot more enjoyable in it's second half. After some extensive training which takes place over a year, the five young masters eventually come face-to-face with the enemy, resulting in a lengthy end battle that's pretty damn enjoyable. To help make the action last, Cheh has the team split-up which allows for each star to have their own finale in reality. This sees some impressive battles with Mang Fei vs Leung Kar Yan, Ti Lung vs Tsai Hung, David Chaing vs Chiang Tao, Fu Sheng vs Wang Lung Wei, and Chi Kuan Chun vs Fong Hak On. Of course, not everyone survives their battle and we get treated to some pretty cruel final blows – most notably when Ti Lung takes the top of Tsai Hung's skull off with his pole. But that kind of violence is just typical of a Chang Cheh flick from this period – as was the homo-eroticism portrayed on-screen with bands of topless, handsome young men, bonding through brotherhood and flexing their muscles.
Also, as with most of Chang's productions from the 1970s, viewers are graced with an incredible cast of stars and Five Shaolin Masters is no exception. Of course, there are the five main heroes of the show played by the wonderful Ti Lung (who is probably my favourite of the lot) had already starred in over 25 Shaw Brothers productions by this stage and had only cemented his place as a leading man just a few years earlier – many of which were alongside his Five Shaolin Masters co-star and good friend, David Chiang, who already had close-to two decades of experience in the film industry before Lung had joined the studio. The third star would be Alexander Fu Sheng, whose character seems to get a little more focus than the rest as well as bringing a little humour to the film. Fu Sheng had only been in the business a couple of years when this film came about, but had a good 10 or 11 titles under his belt for Shaw Brothers including Heroes Two, Men From The Monastery, Shaolin Martial Arts, and the so-so Na Cha The Great. The often forgotten and superb Chi Kuan Chun joins the team in what would only be his third role after Men From The Monastery and Shaolin Martial Arts – all of which were made the same year by director Chang Cheh. And last but not least, the handsome Mang Fei completes the team in his 7th role and first for the Shaw Brothers studios. The infamous Gordon Liu pops up for a brief cameo as an imprisoned Shaolin disciple who, after getting rescued by one of the heroes, sacrifices himself to help them escape. This was still an early role for Liu having played an extra in The Hero Of Chiu Chow, as well as making more of a debut in Breakout From Oppression the year before, and giving a memorable performance in Shaolin Martial Arts which would have been his first for the studio just before this. Of course, only a few years later, Liu would become a huge star in his own right with roles in films such as Challenge Of The Masters and 36th Chamber Of Shaolin. While a host of other recognisable faces show up throughout, including a young Eric Tsang, Jamie Luk, Lau Kar Wing, Chui Fat, and Bruce Tong, the list of baddies is just as impressive as the main stars. Prolific Taiwanese actor Chiang Tao (often known as Kong Do) plays General Chen, the man with the whip-like ponytail who leads the Manchus against the Shaolin heroes. He is backed by the amazing Leung Kar Yan and Fung Hak On. This was only Beardy's (Leung's) second role in the film industry right after his debut in Shaolin Martial Arts for Cheh and, once again, he doesn't fail to impress. For a kung-fu legend that had never learnt any real martial arts, the man comes across as genuine as any true star and steals most of the scenes he appears in. Much like David Chiang, the late Fung Hak On had been acting since the early 50s and quickly grew to become of the most skilled and recognisable kung-fu actors in the business. After many years as an extra or bit-player for the Shaw Brothers studios, Fung's career took a turn for the better in 1973 with more serious roles that even then, saw him star alongside a young Jackie Chan in Chu Mu's Not Scared To Die/ Eagle Shadow Fist. By the time Five Shaolin Masters came about, Fung had worked on many of the studios biggest titles and rarely failed to entertain. Shaw Brothers powerhouse and one of my all time favourite villains, Johnny Wang Lung Wei makes quite the impression as traitor Ma in what would only be his second role after Shaolin Martial Arts much like Leung Kar Yan. Of course, Wang would go on to become a fan favourite of kung-fu fans as well as a successful director in his own right with films such as Hong Kong Godfather, The Innocent Interloper (which I just love), Fury, Angry Ranger, and the infamous Cat.3 flick Escape From The Brothel. And the great Tsai Hung, who went onto star in over 130 films, joins the Manchus as a deadly fighter with a bladed rope. This kung-fu actor had already appeared in almost 50 titles over the course of 4 years before starring in this, including many of Jimmy Wang Yu films such as One-Armed Boxer, Knight Errant, Seaman No.7, and Beach Of The War Gods.
While Wu Yueh Ling assists Chang Cheh with the directing, famed brothers Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing handle the action. While the former had been in the business as an actor a good decade before his younger brother, the pair quickly made a name for themselves in the film world from acting to directing – and obviously as action-choreographers. And what else would you expect as direct descendants of the legendary Wong Fei Hung? As any well-versed fan of Hong Kong cinema would know, Wong Fei Hung (as most famously portrayed by Jackie Chan and Jet Li) was the teacher of Lam Sai Wing (as portrayed by Sammo Hung in The Magnificent Butcher). Butcher Wing would then go on to teach kung-fu to Lau Jan – the father of Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing, who would have then taught his sons the ways of the martial arts, respectively. Regardless, the pair manage to produce a bevy of fun fight scenes in Five Shaolin Masters that are spread across its lengthy running time and makes use of their highly skilled cast members, as well as delivering some finely choreographed moves that mixes weapons work with hand-to-hand combat.
While it does have some flaws here-and-there, Five Shaolin Masters still makes for a highly entertaining watch and is still one of the Shaw Brothers best kung-fu movies (and there are a lot). With a memorable score, that is heavily borrowed from many Italian movies of the late 60s/early 70s, the film doesn't exactly offer anything exhilarating and is typically Chang Cheh in many ways – but it does the job in giving fans of old-school kung-fu flicks, plenty to care about. Aside from the Dragon Dynasty DVD release of Five Shaolin Masters, the version of the film I reviewed was released as part of Arrow Video's Blu-ray box-set called Shaw Scope Vol.1, and I have to say that it's never looked better...
Overall: A lot of fun thanks to a great cast and some exciting fight scenes, Five Shaolin Masters is a Shaw Brothers classic that is well worth the watch!
Arrow Video Blu-ray Extras: Appreciation Film of Chang Cheh by Tony Rayns, Interview with Kong Do, Featurettes on David Chiang and Ti Lung, Alternate Opening Credits, Trailers, Image Gallery
DVD Extras: Trailers
Watch my unboxing video of this Arrow Video release HERE
