Die 72 Todesrebellen der Shaolin

THE 72 DESPERATE REBELS is a mildly crazy Taiwanese martial arts movie starring the unlikely-named Barry Chan as the erstwhile hero whose job it is to take out a huge pirate gang led over by a hulking leader who dresses as a monk. What follows is a film fill of glitz, glamour and cheese, not to mention plentiful action; the problem is that it was done on a very low budget, which means it's all rather silly and inconsequential.

The action scenes are adequate but far from the best the genre has to offer. Bai Ying and Chen Sing play in support. One of the supporting characters is called the Ghost Killer and proves to be a rival to Chan. The only part of the film I really liked is the character of the pirate leader, who has been clearly inspired by Richard Kiel's Jaws in the Bond films, as he has the same power teeth and imposing, over the top presence. There are some crazy antics at the climax involving his character which did raise a few smiles but overall this is a lacklustre movie.

Anyone who thinks this is the worst movie or even the worst kung-fu movie ever made hasn't seen very many. It's true that "72 Desperate Rebels" suffers from many of the problems of the genre -- poor writing; stock situations and characters; uninspired, cheesy acting -- but there are many saving graces in this particular outing.

Top of my list would be the presence of marvelous, always menacing, veteran villain Pai Ying as the bandit chief. He doesn't have much to do here, but it's always satisfying to see him. Also, even though it was just a short cameo appearance (and rather disappointing for that), there's a brief fighting scene featuring a very buff Chen Sing in his prime. The rest of the cast consisted of people I never saw before or since.

Second, the production values are surprisingly high for an indie film company. Even the extras have great costumes. There are good sets and outdoor locations, especially along what looks like the southern Taiwan coast. I particularly appreciated the absence of the cheap camera tricks like slow motion and fast, back & forth Leone-style cuts so overused by Hong Kong companies. Scene setup and art direction are quite good, all things considered.

Third, some of the action actually showed some flashes of creativity. As the Young Heroes fight their way up the hierarchy to get to the bandit chief, they pass through some rooms of a sort of magic causing them visual disorientation, dizzying flag twirling, and a bizarre contraption of small, deafening bells attached to an overhead bamboo framework. Not terribly believable, but interesting to see. Also, when the Young Heroes plus add-ons like the blind man and the one-armed swordsman have fought their way up to be able to confront the 7-foot tall pituitary giant, the tricks they use against him and his counter-moves showed unusual cleverness. Kept me watching all the way to the end.

I rented this movie from Netflix and would recommend it. The one thing I really missed in it was the scene so common in Hong Kong "BC vs YH" movies from the 60's and 70's where the lower orders of the bandit gang come back to report the the Young Heroes have beaten them soundly. The chief stands up, waves his fist at them, and shouts "You idiots," and the gang -- all neatly lined in ranks like a military company -- bow and shout back "Yes, Sir!"

Directed by Lin Bing, this kungfu classic features all sorts of various characters and concepts. The pirate Po Ho Nim has gathered 72 fighters to guard him from the Chinese government. However, a band of fighters from various parts of China take a stand and seek out Po to defeat him. This film also is memorable for its 7 foot tall, gold toothed monk who can bite through metal (a reference to James Bond?). The films action starts out slow, but picks up its pace as the heroes take on 4 different branches of Po's army. The ending, however, is a bit disappointing and anti climatic. All in all, classic kungfu action, if you don't take it too seriously.

Rating: 8/10

Using the old, Bandits versus Heroes storyline, The 72 Desperate Rebels is a pretty decent, late seventies kung-fu flick from Taiwan that features a 7 foot tall monk with gold teeth as one of the villains, some nice costumes and sets, and plenty of good kung fu action!

King Hu regular, Pai Ying (Royal Warriors, A Touch Of Zen) is the big chief who has his 72 fighters protecting him at all times. As narrated at the beginning, each of the fighters is ranked by a different coloured hood in regards to how many people they have killed. It's corny, but it looks good. The Emperor's spy, a vengeful daughter and a mercenary team up in a bid to stop the army of bandits, no matter what it takes...

The fight choreography is done by Ling Kao (Ge) who, although having done a pretty good job in what was seemingly his first film, only did one or two afterwards. The fights aren't anything spectacular, but do keep moving and have plenty of nice acrobatics and swordplay to keep things interesting. Wang Yu regular Lung Fei co-stars as the blind swordsman, in a good guy role for a change.

Although it does have some imaginative moments, 72 Desperate Rebels never really gives us anything to hit the rewind button (so-to-speak) which is quite a shame really. The ending, although anti-climatic as a final battle in a wu xia movie, definitely says, 'it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt...'

Overall: Somewhat imaginative, but nothing amazing with plenty of fight action!

Forget the films of Ed Wood. This film is definitely a contender for the worst film of all time. Tension, drama, script, acting, direction you name it, this film fails at every level.

Every cliché of the Kung-Fu genre appears in this film. A blind swordsman, an indestructible enemy, interminable sequences of Kung Fu that seem more like country dancing than a form of combat, a plot so inchorent if not stupid it should get the kind of critical acclaim reserved for incoherent art house films and heroes so irritating they deserve a fate worse than death.

The most stupid scene is probably in the inital scene where the merits of the 72 killers are described, each group wearing different colour head band to signify the number of people they have killed.

Enormously funny if watched with a group of people in the right frame of mind.