The Shaolin Temple

This is a very cool movie, I loved every second of it. Jet Li, in his first film, displays some of his most brilliant fighting moves and skill. It's no wonder this flick made him a superstar and martial arts icon.

The acting is quite alright, though the plot, which really no one cares about, is actually quite interesting.

All of the fights were totally massive and stylish, the pace was excellent. The weapons fight between Jet and the main bad guy general dude is awesome. Jet moves unbelievably fast in this bout and they repeat this excellent performance in the final battle. Jet shows true skill, just like the rest of the cast here.

"The Shaolin Temple" is the first Chinese martial arts film to use gongfu artists instead of actors. Initially, the Japanese investors hired actors, but didn't like the results, so they hired regional and national wushu champions. Although Jet Li is the main character and his wushu is exceptional, don't underestimate the other gongfu artists; they are just as good. The film was two years in the making due to injuries the cast received doing their own stunts. The credits state that the fight choreography was done by Pan Qing Fu, but this is not so. The cast choreographed their own fight scenes and deserve the credit they've been denied.

Jet Li's first movie, and it set the stage for his future success. Really good kung fu, really good action, and not too many slow points. Pretty typical storyline; evil warlord kills boys father, boy escapes to Shaolin temple, improves his skill and fights a lot of people. But for a movie this old, the fighting is really done well. I'm sure that this is a pretty hard movie to come across, but if you ever get the opportunity to see it, by all means take advantage of it.

No camera tricks. No high production value (even compared to the Hong Kong Kung Fu movies at that time). No stunt men/women. No wire. It is just pure Kung Fu. The location is real and so are the fighting. It belongs to the classic that we miss in today's Kung Fu movies. If you practice Kung Fu, you have to watch it repeatedly to learn a lot from the real masters. It is quite good for the first Kung Fu movie made in China (about 20 years ago).

This is Jet Li's first film as a lead actor, and it doesn't disappoint. The martial arts action is great and the scenery around the Shaolin Temple in Luoyang, China is breathtaking. There are a variety of weapons and styles that are showcased in the film, adding to the action. In particular, seeing the 3 sectional staff used in combat was really cool, and there's one guy who does flips off of his head!

It is a rare one to find but if you can find it, I recommend seeing "ShaoLin Temple".