THE NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS is a Shaw Brothers vehicle for martial artist Alexander Fu Sheng, who often plays as part of an ensemble cast but here gets to take centre stage and effectively runs away with the part. Chang Cheh is the ubiquitous director bringing Fu Sheng's ferocious fighting style to the screen, and the result is one of the studio's better outings.This is a deadly serious story about Fu Sheng's hot-headed youth and the trouble he gets into with some local thugs. It's a little like Jackie's DRUNKEN MASTER II in that respect and follows the same template, albeit without the extra smuggling back story. Fu Sheng goes around fighting various goons and causing trouble in the first half of the story, despite the fact he can't fight particularly well, before he's sent off into the mountains to train with an old master. On his return, all hell breaks loose.Everything about this film screams professionalism. The fights are top quality and mix fine choreography with starling bloody violence. Fu Sheng is full of charisma and really strong in the fight scenes too. The sets and costumes are expertly crafted and the iron claw weapon is one of the most vicious I've seen in any Shaw Brothers movies. The supporting cast is also exemplary: good old Wang Lung Wei is the top bad guy yet again (and the reason he was so often cast in this role? He's good at it!) and Beardy one of his top henchmen. A number of Venoms also show up on the cusp of stardom: Chiang Sheng, Phillip Kwok, Lu Feng, and Wang Li all pop up here, some in bigger parts than others. THE NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS remains watchable throughout and becomes more and more gripping as it goes on, right until the hair-raising climax. It's a classic.

THE NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS is an outstanding example of what Chang Cheh was capable of doing, given the right tools. The right tools in this case were a solid script, a young superstar on the rise, and a behind-the-scenes crew at the top of their respective games. The focus is all on Fu Sheng as Zhong, a lowly young coachman with a penchant for getting himself into trouble; he doesn't go looking for trouble, but, when it presents itself, he has no problem whatsoever stepping up and trying to lend a hand to the victim(s). Therein, of course, lies his problem: whenever he attempts to right a wrong, he finds himself in deeper than he was at first. (When he tries to defend helpless merchants from bullying thugs, he inadvertently destroys the stalls and goods of the merchants themselves- as well as his own uncle's stand.) He gets knifed when he tries to prevent a gang member from raping a young woman. Needless to say, the gang doesn't take his interference lightly and the gang's leader, Feng, played by Wang Lung-wei, decides to teach the young Zhong a lesson. Which he does. To add further injury (material) to injury (physical), the gang decimates the entire fleet of coaches driven by Zhong and his co-workers. When he realizes that Zhong has irked "the wrong guy," Zhong's Master, Zhou, closes his kung fu school and sends Zhong to the mountains to learn a special brand of martial arts (which we see Fu Sheng demonstrating during the opening credits, in what must be the longest such demonstration I've ever seen in a martial arts movie). Feng, using a black metal claw (of the type traditionally used by ninjas for climbing), kills Zhou. The gang then proceeds to rape and turn to prostitution a young woman who just so happens to be a friend of Zhong's (as if murdering his Master wasn't bad enough). This sets the stage for the Big Finale, which doesn't disappoint- and which packs an Emotional Wallop as well as a physical one. Fu Sheng's technique throughout THE NEW SHAOLIN BOXERS is tight and beautifully choreographed and shot (the beautiful cinematography rates special mention: it's craftsmanship of the highest order); truly outstanding filmmaking.

The incomparable Alexander fu Sheng is featured in this adult drama concerning honor and loyalty, and painful lessons. Fu Sheng turns in a great performance as Chien Chung, the coach driver who cannot resist defending the people of his small village when they are attacked by the local gangs. Strangely, the people he helps are ungrateful, and he gets labeled as a 'troublemaker," and as a bad guy. After a nasty conflict arises with a ruthless gang boss, he is sent away to a remote mountain, where he can possibly find his way out of a violent mindset. On this mountain Chien is instructed in a rare kung fu technique, and he returns home with a new strength, which it turns out he will need; in his absence the gang has terrorized his family and neighbors, and murdered the man he is most loyal to. Chang Cheh's serious drama features surprising character development and involves the viewer in the dramatic elements of the story, which is rare for this genre of film. Fu Sheng creates through his performance, a character that we can genuinely like; to the point that when a tragedy befalls him, the audience feels it. I was actually a bit choked up at the films tragic conclusion! The fight sequences are fine, as expected; greatly executed but not as flashy as is typical for a Cheh film. And without the lavish period costumes (this is a more contemporary story) "New Shaolin Boxers" becomes more realistic and easier to relate to. The way in which he protects his childhood friend from being sold into prostitution, at the risk of his own life, makes Fu Sheng's character a classic noble hero. While not the best kung fu action epic ever, "Shaolin Boxer" remains one of the finest performances of the great Alexander Fu Sheng, and is a timeless piece of filmmaking as well. It should be shown to people who think that this genre of film can't be serious drama as well as just fight scenes.

GRAND MASTER OF DEATH (aka DEMON FIST OF KUNG FU, 1976) was directed by Chang Cheh, the pioneering Hong Kong. kung fu filmmaker. With a simpler story and a lower budget than most of Cheh's Shaw Bros. epics, this film nonetheless boasts three top kung fu performers and a steady stream of well-staged fights.Alexander Fu Sheng stars as an eager kung fu student who insists on intervening when townspeople are bullied by the town bosses and their hired thugs. For his own good, he is sent away by his teacher to a mountain temple where he learns new techniques from a venerated kung fu master. When Fu Sheng returns to town, his original teacher has been killed and the gang is trying to force a female friend of his into prostitution. He then goes into action against the town bosses, played by kung fu greats Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan (who worked together as villains in numerous Shaw Bros. films).While not a masterwork of the genre, it is still well above average and a worthy showcase for the considerable skills of its dynamic star. Fu Sheng's actress wife, Jenny Tseng, also appears in the film.ADDENDUM (4/7/17): I initially reviewed this on the basis of a pan-and-scan, English-dubbed VHS tape. Since then, I've acquired the R3 Celestial DVD edition, letter-boxed and in Mandarin with English subtitles, and it's like seeing the film for the first time. The fight scenes are superb and there are plenty of them, with the best saved for the lengthy finale. What I need to emphasize about this film is that it's one of the very few where Fu Sheng is the sole heroic lead and doesn't have to share the fighting chores with anyone else. There are only two major villains, but, as played by Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan, they are formidable enough to keep Fu Sheng busy for a tidy 96 minutes. The script plays like a rough draft for THE CHINATOWN KID (1977). On the DVD, the film is preceded by a three-minute demonstration by Fu Sheng of the Choy Lay Fut (Tsai Li Fu) technique.