THE MING PATRIOTS is a typical period kung fu flick about Ming rebels battling against some Qing bad guys. It's one long chase film about a Ming princess and her valuable cargo of precious jewels and her attempts to escape a dastardly Qing warlord. The only thing standing between her and destruction is a loyal group of patriots, presided over by the hard-kicking Bruce Li.Once again this is a kung fu film that was lensed out in the Taiwanese countryside, which gives it a certain visual flair. I always found Li to be one of the better Bruce Lee imitators, and at least he tries to act amid all the fighting. Judy Lee has a nice supporting role as a fellow kung fu fighting patriot, while Chang Yi essays the role of the super-villain who is seemingly unstoppable in his pursuit of the princess.Inevitably a film like THE MING PATRIOTS wins or loses on the quality of the fights alone. They're plentiful here and I enjoyed them throughout, although inevitably something is lost in the poor quality, pan and scan print that I watched. Watch out for some real life animal cruelty that would be more at home in an Italian cannibal flick, and stock music liberally borrowed from both spaghetti westerns and old Hammer Dracula movies.

The copy of REVENGE OF THE PATRIOTS that I saw was made from a VHS copy replete with glitches. It was also matted (the top and bottom of the image cut off to simulate a widescreen format), but, because the image had already been panned and scanned, the result was abysmal. ("Matting" was also used to try to make the teleseries KUNG FU user friendly for the newer, widescreen flat screen televisions. There, too, something was lost in the translation: shots carefully composed for the square screen simply didn't fit the newer format.) Carter Wong has an all-too-brief part in which he goes down swinging, and there are some decent but not really great fight scenes scattered throughout, but the thing that sticks out most in my mind is the on-screen slaughter of a pig (shades of SOUTHERN COMFORT)... This is the kind of thing that takes you out of the movie and dumps you squarely back in The Real World- which is the very place you went to the movies to escape.

Bruce Li stars as a kung fu fighter who with a group friends defies the Ching Dynasty, using his martial arts and sense of honor he succeeds though not without some personal losses. Revenge Of The Ming Patriots is one of Bruce Li's better martial arts movies. What is most interesting aside from the period piece drama is that it appears that the choreography is ahead of it's time, which in itself looks like the pre-cursor for Jet Li's Once Upon A Time In China II. Indeed the plot is basically ripped off from numerous Shaw Brothers classics, but the pace here is fast, the martial arts sequences are good and the story works despite it's simplicity. Bruce Li is saddled with a bad wig and (of course) bad dubbing but Revenge Of The Patriots has its moments and it's obvious this set the standard of things to come. In other words, as a curiosity piece, this is worth a look.* *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty Good)

REVENGE OF THE PATRIOTS (aka THE MING PATRIOTS, 1976) is a standard-issue historical kung fu tale of Ming patriots fighting off pursuing Qing troops in the period right after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. While the storyline is basically one long chase, the film is distinguished by location filming in Taiwan, a strong cast led by Bruce Li and Judy Lee, and above-average fight choreography by the Lau Brothers.A group of patriots takes on the job of guarding the Princess (Ching Chien), daughter of the late Emperor, who is carrying the Emperor's Last Will and a case of the royal jewels. The lead escort, Li Ti Lung (Bruce Li), and his partner are joined by Li's kung fu-fighting sister, played by Chia Ling (aka Judy Lee). The three try to take the Princess to safety, despite pursuing troops, an advance party of hired killers, and a devious married couple who are trying to get the jewels for themselves. At one point, the heroes come up with an ingenious plan to hide the jewels and the will. They buy a pig, kill it, open its carcass, stuff in the cargo, sew up the carcass and send it floating down the river, with the aim of intercepting it at their destination. (WARNING: the actors actually slaughter a live pig, open its carcass and then sew it up. This is not faked.) After many skirmishes along the river between the escorts and their pursuers, the Qing troops and their kung fu fighting general (Chang Yi) take on the heroes in a sprawling confrontation in which the Ming patriots are joined by some unexpected allies.There is one clever and diverting character--a loud-mouthed, chubby, unkempt drunk (Chan Wai Lau) on a donkey, who intervenes at key points with a form of `stumbling' kung fu. He acts scared and clumsy yet his moves disrupt and hold off the pursuing Qings, in a manner not unlike the drunken kung fu perfected in such later movies as DRUNKEN MASTER (1978) and DANCE OF THE DRUNK MANTIS (1978).Star Bruce Li had a brief spell of stardom in the 1970s thanks to his resemblance to the late Bruce Lee and his own considerable kung fu skills. Kung fu diva Judy Lee/Chia Ling, as Li's fighting sister, is as ferocious a fighter here as in any of her best films (QUEEN BOXER, EIGHT MASTERS). The formidable villains include longtime kung fu stalwarts Chang Yi (EAGLE'S CLAW) as the Qing general and Lung Fei (RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER) as the lead Qing killer. Effective fighting cameos are provided by Carter Wong, who appears at the beginning as a fighter who prevents the princess's capture, and Roy Chiao, who pops up as the Ming commander at one key point.The film was directed by Au Yeung Chuen and the fight choreography is credited to the Lau Brothers, presumably Lau Kar Leung and his brother Lau Kar Wing, both prominent Hong Kong kung fu directors in their own right. The music score includes generous portions lifted from Ennio Morricone's score for the Italian western THE BIG GUNDOWN (1967). The print of this film available on tape and disc in the U.S. is extremely poor in quality, with distinct fluctuations in picture sharpness and sound and color levels. It appears to have been compiled from two different source prints with different aspect ratios.