isla s
This is very fast paced with rantic swordsmanship scenes towards the end, which was choreographed well. I liked the scenes with the moving/rotating wooden implement the guy had to avoid - it felt a little Indiana Jones-esque. The spikes outside, in the garden type area, seemed pretty cool. Some of the sound effects were so outrageously silly, they made me laugh or certainly smirk a bit.
It was quite gripping towards the end but not especially engaging early on, hence my rating.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Filled with the stars of the second and third generations of director Chang Cheh's stable of actors such as Alexander Fu Sheng, David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chi Kuan-Chun, as well as several of the actors that would later become collectively known as the Venoms Mob, Shaolin Temple — also known as Death Chambers — is so much more than just the prequel* to Five Shaolin Masters.
The leaders of the Shaolin Monks have started to come to the conclusion that time is running out and they must train more fighters to fight the Qings, yet they're still forcing fighters to sleep outside the temple for weeks at a time to test their resolve.
Two of those fighters — Fang Shih Yu and Ma Chao-hsing — are accepted and must survive the even harsher world that is inside the temple. Fang Shih Yu struggles to learn tiger boxing and keeps failing until a mysterious person begins teaching him the tiger-crane style, which makes him a much stronger fighter.
Yet will all the training — and new monks — be enough when the Qing army attacks and attempts to burn the temple down?
This movie has an amazing training sequence that lasts ten minutes within the maze inside the temple. You have to respect people that only are concerned with fighting and meditation when they're not building thrill rides that beat people into submission. And the last half an hour is one gigantic fight as the monks use all the skills that they've learned in the film.
*Actually, it's the fifth part of the Shaolin Cycle, following Heroes Two, Men from the Monastery, Shaolin Martial Arts, Five Shaolin Masters and The Shaolin Avengers.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
camille l
Shaolin Wooden Men est probablement le premier vrai premier rôle de Jackie Chan dans le genre de film pour lequel il est connu et reconnu depuis quarante ans maintenant. Le film, réalisé par Chen Chi-Hwa est un mélange efficace de comédie débile, de film d'action débridé et de tremplin pour Jackie Chan, qui y joue un moine muet tiraillé entre deux styles de kung-fu. Prenant le parti de passer pas mal de temps sur l'entraînement du personnage principal, cela renforce bien la deuxième heure et la séquence de l'épreuve des Shaolin Wooden Men, véritable invention cinématographique. Evidemment, tout ceci est encore un peu long et les sautes de ton sont parfois étonnantes, mais on est vraiment en présent du premier vrai bon film avec Jackie Chan en tête d'affiche.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
delysid d
Very Special Kung Fu Finest Quality
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
05/07/19
Full Review
Audience Member
The kung fu move are slow and look choreograph. But this is the style back then. A young Jackie Chan who is mute fight the 5 kung fu stances master (Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Crane, Panther) and win. He was dreaming. Along with his brothers, they learn kung fu from Shaolin. They wear iron shoe to collect water. A nun give him words of encouragement. He is slow and nearly expel but persevere. When he is young, his father is killed by a masked fighter. He follow 2 monks sneakily into a restricted cave and saw an old man Hwang Jang Lee been chained. Jackie pick up the bun and give it to him. He want Jackie to bring him wine next time. Hwang is happy after drinking the wine and wants more, promise Jackie he will get rewards. A guy attempted the wooden men alley and fail badly. Hwang tell Jackie he is mastering a skill call Lion Roar and gonna break free. Jackie try to steal the wine from the senior again and is caught, punish to clean kitchen everyday. Hwang decide to teach him kung fu. The nun saw him practicing the moves and say it is deadly. She want to teach him another kung fu that is evasive and useful. So he learn from 2 masters and become good. Hwang says he is good enough for the wooden men test and want him to pass something to a man after he graduate from Shaolin. Jackie pass the test. The master abbot know he learn all his kung fu from the captive monk and ask if he pass things to him. He know it will be troublesome for Shaolin. Jackie go downtown and found the person. At an inn, Jackie beat up some gang bullies who cause trouble. The messenger pass the message to the gang. Turns out the Hwang is leader of the gang. He breaks free and rejoin the gang downtown, going on a killing spree on the people who captured him. The gang capture the inn daughter as ransom. Jackie follow the brother to meet up. Shaolin 18 Luo Han is send to fight Hwang but no use. Jackie saw the fight and get the brother to distract the monks and Hwang escape. He assure he will settle the abduction problem. They seek shelter at a stranger house. Hwang thought a bald man is monk and kill him. Later he kill the whole family. He chase off Jackie and the brother. The duo couldn't find the people at the meetup point. The sister return home safely. A man keep asking for information. Jackie cross path with him and isn't his match. He is the killer of his father. Jackie left the care of the inn and find the blind monk as instructed by the master in Shaolin. Turns out Hwang is his first disciple. He set up a gang in town and was capture back by 3 kung fu masters. The blind monk ask the master to teach Jackie kung fun to defeat Hwang. The 5 kung fu stances masters are defeated by Hwang. The killer came to assist the Shaolin monks. Turns out he isn't the killer. He make use of the peculiar kung fu move in order to lure the real killer out but to no avail. He fight Hwang and reveal he is the inventor of the peculiar kung fu. Jackie intervene and fight Hwang and speaks finally. Jackie manage to win him and he didn't kill him to revenge. Instead ask him to follow the monks go back and repent because he is afterall his master. Hwang fakingly agree and tried to kill Jackie but he evade the move and he kill himself. Jackie become a monk in the end.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I own this on DVD in a seven movie pack along with:
* The Fearless Hyena (1979)
* Battle Creek Brawl (1980)
* The Young Master (1980)
* Dragon Lord (1982)
* Project A (1983)
* Project A Part II (1987)
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
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