18 Homens de Bronze 2

It is well noted this movie is related to another 1976 movie with Carter Wong "The 18 Bronzemen" by title only. My alternative title for this movie is "19 Steamed Buns". Carter not only defeats the 18 bronze fighters, he also finishes off eighteen plus one steamed buns at the table.

In my reviews I have traced the history of the training sequence. I mentioned brief training sequences in 1972 "The Thunderbolt Fist" and 1974 "Ever Victorious Hall". 1975s "Thou Shall not Kill" had a longer sequence plus got into the mental part of the training. Starting in 1974 Chang Cheh's "Shaolin Temple" movies began to establish the training sequence as an expected part of the story. In 1976 "The Himalayan" carrying buckets of water uphill is part of the training sequence. That exercise is used dozens of more times in these movies. Personally, I have lugged water uphill and can confirm it is exhausting.

The movie is a showcase of Carter Wong's skills with a lame story behind it. Literally no one is running China while Carter, the emperor, goes off to play at Shaolin Temple. Unfortunately the movie gets to the point where all the action looks the same, powerful and precise but repetitive and ultimately leaving the viewer with not much memorable to take away.