Whenever I find a movie in which Chi Kuan-Chun and Su Feng appear, I have to watch it. I love watching them in action. I was surprised to see Chi portray a man who uses his actions before thinking through a situation. It's a rare character style for him imho. This story starts with Manchus being invited to a ceremony at a Shaolin school. The Manchu leader has to be an ass, as usual. The Manchu attempt to show they are just as good as the Shaolin fails miserably at the ceremony and leads to a Shaolin student being killed. he Manchus are on a mission to, surprise, wipe out ALL Kung Fu schools. Now, here's where I was scratching my head. Hark-On portrays his usual slimy type character who brings in two other Kung-Fu masters from Chinese schools to annihilate the Shaolin. Hark-on an the other two are standing with the Mancu leader, it is mentioned that all Kung-Fu schools, including Hark-On's and those of the other two, will be destroyed once the Shaolin are gone. No one seems bothered by this. Which tells me these three only care about money and position.The Manchus appear at the Shaolin school and kill two more members. ALL Shaolin students scatter to find a way to retaliate. 4, Chi Kuan-Chun, Su Feng, and two others, go off to find their master, who has gone into hiding for obvious reasons. The 2 others who join Chu and Su are sent off to train in ways to defeat the men hired by the Manchu. Though they improve their skills, thanks to Hark-On's interference, they are defeated.The rest of the movie is Chi and Fu being trained to defeat the Manchu, with supportive women at their sides. This is unusual, as it's my first time seeing Chi's character have a romantic involvement. Fu and Chi learn the techniques needed to defeat the "undefeatables"hired by the Manchus. The styles used are interesting. Chi, who usually fights at arms length, must fight close quarters. Fu learns Tiger and Crane to defeat his foe. Hark-On's interference cannot stop what will eventually happen. I was glad to see Chi and Fu walk off into the sunset with their ladies.

When the ruling dynasty in China sends soldiers to destroy the Shaolin Temple, students use their martial arts to defend the school.Having now seen more than a handful of "kung fu" movies, I am starting to see Chang Cheh as the definitive director of the 1970s, or at least among the top tier. His work is very much what I think of with the generic sort of film. And, from what I understand, this film was one of many that was a big inspiration on Tarantino's "Kill Bill". I believe that.This is simple film at its best. The sets are not elaborate, but the focus is really just the fights and a touch of humor. The character development is mild, as it should be. This is not an individual struggle, after all.

SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS starts off with a religious ceremony: a group of Shaolin students and Manchu warriors gather to honor "the God of War." Things seem to be amiable enough between the two groups, though there's definitely some tension brewing. Liu Chia-rong gives an impressive demonstration of the guan dao, the preferred weapon of the aforementioned God of War. The Manchus aren't impressed and take up the weapon and USE it on Liu Chia-rong himself. Later, a second and then a third student are killed and the Shaolin students flee. Enter "steel skin" Yu (Wang Lung-wei) and "inner strength" Pa (Leung Kar Yan); they promptly kill two of the Shaolin men, Mai (Gordon Liu) and Ho. Yao (Fu Sheng) and Pao (Chi Kuan Chun) are sent to learn that very special technique that will enable them to deal with the murderous "steel skin" killers. Yet another of Chang Cheh's many martial arts masterpieces, SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS also happens to be one of his best. Highly recommended. (Don't take my word for it: it's available on THIS site, through HULU.)

SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS (1974) is one of a handful of near-epic kung fu movies made by Chang Cheh in Hong Kong in the 1970s. At 111 minutes, it's also longer than most. This one is important because it is the first to focus the film's narrative on the heroes' martial arts training and the need to master certain styles in order to defeat an enemy's style. This structure would be adopted by many of the best kung fu films of the next six years.The plot highlights a group of students forced into a running conflict with a band of ruling Manchurian kung fu champs. Two students are sent off to learn particular styles in order to defeat the Manchu champs. When they fail, two other students are sent into hiding with reclusive masters for a period of years to study even more specific styles. One learns tiger and stork styles, while the other studies Wing Chun and has to learn to hit a massive iron bell from inches away with enough force to cause it to ring. In the end, they come back and defeat all four Manchu champs.The all-star 1970s kung fu cast includes Gordon Liu (MASTER KILLER) and Billy Tang (SHAOLIN AVENGERS) as the first two students and Alexander Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun as the second pair of students--the main characters. The teacher who trains Fu Sheng in tiger and stork style is Simon Yuen (the original DRUNKEN MASTER). The main villains are Leung Kar Yan and Wang Lung Wei, two performers who were often paired as villains in 1970s kung fu films. They are joined in the final battle by two other formidable villains, Feng Ko-An (aka Fung Hak On) and Chiang Tao. Lau Kar Wing is in the cast also. The credits indicate that the film is 'introducing' Liu Chia Hui (Gordon Liu), Liang Chia Jen (Leung Kar Yan) and Wang Lung Wei. A year before he began directing films himself, Liu Chia Liang (aka Lau Kar Leung) was co-fight choreographer on this one.This film and DEATH CHAMBER (aka SHAOLIN TEMPLE, 1976, not to be confused with the Jet Li film), another all-star kung fu film of epic length, are arguably Chang Cheh's two most significant masterworks from his entire career. A trilogy of sorts is formed with the addition of FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH (FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS, 1975) which covers the activities of the characters following the burning of Shaolin. All three films circulate on poor quality bootleg VHS tapes. If there was ever a crying need for restored prints on letter-boxed DVDs, this is it.ADDENDUM: Since doing this review, I've acquired the Celestial Pictures R3 DVD of a restored, remastered edition of this film. That's the one to see.