I'm still not a fan of many kung-fu comedies and this one was no different, even though it was directed by Cheh Chang and features the Venom Mob. While I didn't really care about the story of two goofballs helping out a kung-fu master (kind of a low rent version of "The Hidden Fortress"), this film did feature enough solid Venom Mob fight sequences to make it worth watching.

Despite the negativity surrounding this title, I thought MAGNIFICENT WANDERERS was a decent film. It's a fun filled comedy-action picture with a notably lighter touch than the majority of Chang Cheh's work. The picture stars the ubiquitous Alexander Fu Sheng who along with his allies Yi-Min Li and Chi Kuan-Chun makes a living as a hustler, earning coins from the local public and employing all sorts of deviousness in his bid to make ends meet.The main storyline concerns the efforts of an idiotic Mongol general to have loyal Chinese rebels wiped out. The bad guys are largely a bunch of laughable goons, although occasionally the likes of Phillip Kwok have cameo roles as various henchmen. One of the main stars is David Chiang, who plays his usual impish role as a mysterious fighter figure who ends up teaming up with our heroes.Although there's a marked emphasis on joking around and humour here, there's still plenty of the fine action you'd expect in a Cheh movie. The fights are plentiful and well-staged, and colourful too. Chiang and Fu Sheng as are good as ever while Yi-Min Li really stands out with his awesome acrobatic abilities. The tournament-style ending is unusual but successful, and overall I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Fu Sheng and his two friends are hustlers out to make a buck any way they can. They set themselves up as fortune tellers, but, when they fail to lure in the suckers, Fu Sheng dons a patently ridiculous-looking beard (that hangs from his ears like a pair of glasses). The Authorities frown on such scams and attempt to rout the trio. They fail. The trio then enlists the aid of local bad boy David Chiang, who we first see sitting in a nice tavern (or a brothel), fondling his pair of golden balls. These balls aren't just for show, either: he has an ammo belt full of them and a specially-designed bow to fire them. Using golden balls has two purposes: they hurt when they strike and, when the victim realizes that he's been shot by a ball of gold, he automatically tries to grab as many of the missiles as he can (thereby allowing Chiang to get away). The local Prince, a "giant" who turns out to be a real dummy (literally: he wears a clumsy costume that makes him look much larger than he is, though he comes across as little more than a puffed-up scarecrow- like most politicians), sends soldiers after Chiang, Fu Sheng, and their partners. This gives the quartet the opportunity to rob a gold shipment AND raid the Prince's personal treasury. The final battle takes place at an outdoor army camp and involves extensive use of trampolines- but there's more than enough solid action and kung fu gags to keep one watching (and laughing). THE MAGNIFICENT WANDERERS isn't one of Chang Cheh's best, but it's far from his worst.

Tried to get through the dubbed version, so it's a little unfair, but this is a lame, slapstick attempt at humor, that looked like they cranked it out in between other, better films. "You guys still got your outfits on from Shaolin Avengers? Come over and film this-". Movies like this are what really hurt Shaw Brothers and let Golden Harvest eat there lunch, in the long run. At one time, Shaw brothers would film actors in two or three movies in one day, as they constantly cranked out movies. Some were great, for what they were, but others, such as this, really look like an after thought. One of the reasons is that they wanted to save time, so if you were made up for a period movie, you may be doing two different flicks in one day.