The New Shaolin Boxers

1976 [CHINESE]

Action / Drama

9
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 293 293

martial arts kung fu

Plot summary

An honourable carriage driver finds love and death when he battles particularly homicidal street punks

Director

Ma Wu Photo
Ma Wu

Top cast

Ka-Yan Leung Photo
Ka-Yan Leung as Wang Chen-chai
Philip Kwok Photo
Philip Kwok as (as Kuo Chui)
Lung Wei Wang Photo
Lung Wei Wang as Feng Tien-shan
Jamie Luk Photo
Jamie Luk as Fung's assistant
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
887.94 MB
1280*538
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds ...
1.61 GB
1904*800
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by BrianDanaCamp

Kung Fu showcase for the great Fu Sheng

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.
Reviewed by Leofwine_draca 9 / 10

Alexander Fu Sheng burns up the screen

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 best 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, 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.
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