Executioners from Shaolin

The film opens with Pai Mei using his retracting groin skills (no – seriously) to defeat a Shaolin master Zhishan, scattering his students. Pai Mei sends his Governor Kao Tsinchung and his soldiers after the students and, while leader Tung Chinchin makes a heroic stand, Hung Hsikuan leads the rest to safety, vowing to return and avenge his master and Tung. Hiding out as a traveling opera company, Hsikuan is leading the students as a master of tiger style when he meets performer Ying Chun, a master of the crane style. The two fall in love and will eventually have a child called Wending, although as the decades pass and Hsikuan trains, both he and Chun know that he must return to face the white wispy haired danger of Pai Mei.

Just like the martial arts which Wending will grow up developing, this film is a real mix of things that don't always seem like they should work but generally do. The plot is straightforward "avenge your master" stuff but it is spread over decades and involve several confrontations to good effect. The central villain should be comically silly with his ability to essentially lift his genitals back into his body, but aside from it looking a bit silly, it doesn't affect the tone of the film. At the same time we also have the romance between Hsikuan and Chun, and lots of comic moments as well as moments of death or loss. All told it is a total mix and it could have been that none of it worked but actually it gels very well and at only 90 minutes doesn't feel too long or that it crams things in.

The comedy is genuinely cheerful and funny while the romance between the two leads actually works and is quite sweet. The fight sequences are frequent and impressive, with a brutal tone to much of the film which keeps you interested. Chen Kuantai is very good in the lead – a likable type even if he doesn't age particularly convincingly. Li Lily works very well with him – I liked her as I have in other things and the two have a good chemistry. Gordon Liu is a nice find (I get the reference now) and makes a good villain despite the slightly daft special power he has. Chiang Tao is a decent presence but I particularly liked Wong Yue as the oldest version of Wending – he was fun and fitted well into the family of the leads. The sets and direction are roundly good and the film has an enjoyable pace to it which is consistent no matter what is happening.

With such a mix of content, it is impressive that it all gels so well and in the end, Hong Xi Guan is a very enjoyable film with lots to enjoy.

EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN is director LIU CHIA-LIANG (LAU KAR-LEUNG) very different contribution to the Shaolin Temple series, begun by CHANG CHEH. Unlike CHANG who seems to have a strong dislike for women, and actresses, LIU provides LILY LI the opportunity to portray a strong, complex female role.

From her very first scenes as a travelling street entertainer who defends her turf in a duel with the famous Shaolin fighter HONG XIOGUAN (aka HUNG SZE KUAN); marries him but keeps him at bay on their wedding night using her martial arts, FANG YUNG is a match for her vengeance obsessed husband.

HONG is one of the few Shaolin monks to survive the earlier massacre. In fact he and his men escaped an ambush only because one of his friends - Brother Tong - sacrifices himself to give them all time to escape.

And the same thing happens again, when he challenges ABBOT PAI MEI (aka "White Brows"), even though he is clearly no match for him. He rejects his wife's advice, seemingly because she is a woman. And using the same pigheaded logic, he makes the terrible decision not to learn her crane style.

Thankfully the son stands up to his father, and learns from his mother. When Hong returns to fight White Brows a second time, there is a sense of inevitability. The son fights to stop his father, who dissuades him with empty rhetoric, and then goes to his death.

In this film this is very significant because the filmmakers have gone to great trouble to establish a strong family unit, only to have it torn asunder because the father is too set in his ways to change. Thus the audience really does feel a sense of loss, and are saddened that the wife and son cannot put the love they have for Hong into words. The need to seek vengeance has become very personal.

The film itself has a wonderful mix of combat and training sequences; sizeable dollops of romance and humour (Cantonese style), and enough plot to hang everything together.

Best of all, it actually has something to say: the film ends, abruptly, leaving you with very mixed emotions.

I first saw this on a Southgate video. The new 2004 Celestial Pictures Region 3 DVD in 2.35 widescreen with rich saturated colours makes you want to watch the film over and over (it also has some very intriguing extras). And it does help to hear the film in its original Mandarin, rather than dubbed!

8.5/10 * a 4 star martial arts classic.

This was one of those films that I watched over and over, whenever I could. I've seen it on TV, usually in NYC on Channel 5 Saturday afternoons at 1pm, 3pm, or 5pm, on Drive-In Movie. I have also paid to see it repeatedly years ago in the old Times Square movie theaters. They used to specialize in Hong Kong martial arts films before Giuliani killed them all off. That's one thing I really miss about the old Times Sq...

This movie had it all: great plot and writing, great acting and action, even great dubbing. I really wish it would come out on DVD or even VHS...

Thank God for Celestial Entertainment's re-releasing of this classic! Okay, the plot is rather straightforward, and not terribly original (a revenge theme in a Martial arts movie. Nope, never seen that before!) But it is very well acted, very well directed and damn if the fight scenes aren't excellent.

Basically, it follows the historic destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Manchus. The assault is led by Pai Mei, (yup, the same Pai Mei from Kill Bill 2, in fact, Bill even talks about this in that movie) played by Lo Lieh. Gordon Liu who played Pai Mei in Kill Bill 2, appears briefly as a Shaolin student who informs Hong Xiguan (played by Chen Kuan Ti) that Pai Mei killed their master. Gordon Liu sacrifices himself so that Hong and some of the other students may escape.

A few years later, Hong, hiding out as a Peking Opera performer, meets and marries another Martial Artist, played by Lily Li. They eventually have a child. But Hong cannot enjoy married life for too long, because he still has to train to avenge his master and his fellow students.

A good example of vintage Kung Fu films. Not to be missed by any Kung Fu film connoisseur.

A couple unite - she is fluent in the crane style of kung fu, he in tiger style. They have a son, but the boy's father is killed by the evil eunuch Bai Mei. Disguised as a girl, his mom trains him in crane style while he secretly learns tiger style from his father's training manual.

This was directed by Lau Kar-leung before his "36th Chamber" films, which are arguably some of the best-known kung fu movies ever made. I say "arguably" because my knowledge comes not from being a lover of martial arts films and more from knowing about these movies because of the Wu-Tang Clan (who, incidentally, I am also not really a fan of).

Everything you want is here. The different styles of martial arts (tiger and crane this time), and plenty of choreographed fights that look like complex dances, and the over-the-top sound effects to make each hit hit explosive. Definitely worth a watch for fans of the Shaw Brothers.