The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)

It's Manchu vs Ming in this classic kung fu movie. I've watched it twice now, and while it has some splendid choreography and Gordon Liu is a kung fu beast I can't say it's my favorite. I did give it a .5 bump on re-watching.

A good third of the movie is devoted to Gordon training through the 35 stations at the Shaolin temple. The scenes are rigorous and impressive. Lau Kar Leung (Gordon Liu's brother IRL) is one of, if not my favorite martial arts choreographer. No slow stop action fight scenes or training scenes. While the scenes are slowed down for the human eye to follow, the movement is constant. A wide variety of weapons and challenges are used which highlight Gordon's abilities. The only caveat I have is that like a novel's page needs some white space to rest the eyes, I could have used some breaks from the action to develop the main character and give me more reasons to understand him, the people he sought to help, and the monks who trained him.

The sets, costumes, and production values are above average for a 1978 kung fu film. The copy I saw was dubbed which always takes away from the viewing experience. Almost any male actor who worked for Shaw Brothers was in this movie. It was fun to pick out all the ones I knew.

One of my favorite kung fu actors, Lo Lieh, plays the Big Bad though he sees very little screen time. This is Gordon's hero's journey. Through training and sacrifice his character seeks to avenge his family's death and bring kung to his people so that they can protect themselves from the enemy. A better than average kung fu film to pass your time with.

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