‘ Men From The Monastery '
Starring : Chen Kuan-tai, Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-juan
Director : Chang Cheh
Synopsis
The movie comprises of a few subplots.
The first subplot is about Shaolin disciple Hung His-kuan. He fights and kills the Manchus but realizes that he could only do that much as one man.
Next is another Shaolin disciple Fang Shih-yu. He fights his way out the " death alley " in order to pass out from the Shaolin temple, afterwhich he helps some oppressors by defeating a villainous Manchu.
The third subplot is about Shaolin disciple Hu Hui-chien. He avenges for the death of his father by challenging his foes with the assistance from Fang Shih-yu.
The three Shaolin disciples are brought together when the Manchus burn the Shaolin temple . They gather other Shaolin disciples and go into hiding until the Manchu fighters track them down in the explosive finale .......
Director Chang Cheh’s stereotyped kung fu flick with fantastic fighting choreography …
Rating : 3 stars of 5
1 comment:
I hate to say that "Men From Monastery" is not the usual Chang Cheh's movie I expected! Nope.
The fighting choreography remains A1 and all the Kung Fu actors are good looking, musculine and fantastic with their deadly kicks and triumph punches.......In fact, it's an attractive proposition well handled by Director Chang Cheh who no doubt elicits a commanding performance from all his stars like Fu Sheng, Chan Kuan Tai, Chi Kun Chun etc......
But, the script is disappointing. Nothing fresh and challenging but a whole bunch of direct 'nicks' from other "Shaolin series".
The worst thing is: out of the blue, the colour of the 'borrowed' scene changed on the screen and had me worrying and trying to work out whether my TV/DVD player has reached its life span?
Perhaps, Director Chang Cheh has run out of ideas. On the overall, in spite of the fact that it's not entirely fresh, it's still an enjoyable Kung Fu epic on a familiar theme of "Shaolin Series".
Oh yes, it definitely gets a thumb up with Fu Sheng's performance alone. But alas, again, all my heroes died except Chan Kuan Tai!
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