Years ago I kept seeing the VHS box cover for this at the local video store. My buddies and I looked at it, saw the title, and laughed hilariously at what had to be the biggest piece of Kung Fu b-movie schlock ever transferred from celluloid to video-tape.Needless to say we rented it. And, it turned out to be a pretty decent movie ... in a kung-fu sort of way. The would be heroes shirk their training, but learn the hard way that there is no easy way to success.We see them regain new strength and resolve, and eventually launch forth to succeed in their mission.Me, I don't know what I was expecting when I rented it 30 years ago. I figured it had some stupid plot about two rival schools fighting, horrible dubbing, and maybe even some high wire acrobatics. Not quite the case.Don't get me wrong. It's still Taiwanese B-movie fare, but there's a little more heart here than what one might've expected from that era of kung fu films.Enjoy with some popcorn.

Enjoyably silly kung fu version of the dirty-dozen, with comedy characters and high-jinx mixed in with a dash of mildly gory violence. A bunch of misfits (why these guys were selected for an 'incredible mission' is never explained) have to be turned into 'top kung fu fighters' by top kicker John Liu. The misfits consist of a strongman (who looks and sounds like Vinnie Jones), an acrobat, a cowardly coffin maker, a guy who works in a brothel (and looks fairly convincing when dressed as a woman in one of the film's sillier plot strands) and a couple of standard guys. Robert Tai must get a mention as an albino bad guy with a cool cape. There's also some picturesque locations, from steaming volcanic mountains to lonely windmills on a hill. As a fan of cheesy dubbing, the voice-overs are hilarious, from John Liu's cowboy style drawl to some bizarre nerdy snivelling voices for the film's baddies and our hero undertaker. Some genuinely funny jokes (the juggler revealing his 'speciality' and the entire team remaining completely unimpressed) and great lines "When I say jump, you bloody well jump, and when I say crawl, you bloody well crawl!" to "Teacher, what should we do if you tell us to kill you? ....You should do it, but I'm unlikely ever to ask you!" (this followed by a crash zoom of John Liu's smirking face - it's not foreshadowing, it's never mentioned again). The kung fu is pretty good - a lot of complicated group fighting. There's even a twist at the end! A lot of fun, I enjoyed it - although the ending is sad, Hamlet-style death for everyone except 'top kicker' John Liu.

I received a copy of this movie for Christmas, and I must say that it was pretty funny. Especially the dub job. It seems there was one guy providing all the voices (including the women's voices!) One exchange that was particularly hilarious was the two guards talking about going to the "house of ill repute", with the one guard saying "Well, don't let me down!" I was curious if there was any info available on the work of the other actors besides John Liu. I know that I saw the actor who portrayed "Shorty" in an earlier Jackie Chan movie whose name escapes me as I type this. In any event, this is an entertaining movie that reminds me of the old kungfu flicks that used to come on every Saturday afternoon. Just a little piece of nostalgia.

Basically a bunch of oddballs are recruited by a Kung Fu master named Master Sher(John Liu) to be trained for a truly deadly, dangerous and somewhat suicidal rescue mission. "Don't push them so hard Master..they'll come to hate you." "I don't want them to die..that's all." At first these guys are laughably inept and downright embarrassing to their master but after one particular embarrassing defeat at the local brothel they come to realize the value of the knowledge the master possesses and finally become serious about becoming trained fighters and show considerable improvement in attitude as well as skill as the time approaches to undertake the mission. The ending to this otherwise fun film is unfortunately rather dark and takes away from the enjoyment although there are two very entertaining if somewhat lengthy kung fu battles as a result of this.