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Powerful

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

SHAOLIN PRINCE is a very fine Shaw Brothers martial arts film from 1982, featuring Ti Lung and Derek Yee in the leading roles and involved a plot with bizarre and fantastic touches. It does, however, generally remain grounded in reality without going completely over the top like some of the other Shaw fantasies from the era. The film has an electrifying opening in which the master bad guy (stock '80s Shaw actor Jason Pai Piao) attacks the loyalist king, kills him, and goes after his babies. There are two real ones and a ton of pretend ones and most of them get massacred in surprisingly bloody moments that you'd never see in a film made in the west. Thankfully the two real princes survive the massacre and the film cuts to a couple of decades later in which they team up to tackle the guy who had their dynasty all but wiped out.After the fantastic opening segment - which has to be one of the strongest openings I've seen in a Shaw film - the story just carries on entertaining. The main thrust of the narrative is quite straightforward, but there's always an outlandish sub-plot or two to keep you occupied; watch out for the random 'exorcism' scene which is hilariously portrayed. I found that Lung and Yee made a good double act as the heroes as their two styles complement each other nicely and they're great in the action stakes. The supporting cast is very well picked, including the likes of Ai Fei and Ku Feng as officials, and Yuen Wah in an excellent role which finally has him starting to get the recognition he well deserved. Best of all is the cross-eyed joker Tau Wan Yue, who along with his two brothers steals all of his scenes as the trio of 'Holy Fools'.As you might expect, there's plenty of comedy in this film which works really nicely and the surrealistic touches were much appreciated by this viewer. The pogo stick scene is hilarious. Lung is something of a straight man in this but I loved him all the same. Things build to an unusual and impressive fight climax that involves a kind of 'chair fu' that you'll never have seen done before; it's visually impressive and thoroughly intricate. Watch out for the guy with the flaming sword and the 'water man', two more great characters in a fantastic film (in both senses of the word).

This little film has stuck with me for decades. It's basically everything Shaw Brothers, rolled into one hilarious, action-packed, visually stunning masterpiece.For those unfamiliar with the Shaw Brothers, this movie contains over the top kung fu (or gung fu/ gong fu if you want to get technical), great slapstick comedy, and a hint of the paranormal. Tang Chia's directing style is so unique, and actually has great control over his actors.It took me years to find the name of this movie back in the infancy of the internet, as I had a bootleg copy... I have a copy bought from Amazon now so there's that fix.Definite must watch, even if you're not big into fists and kicks, because at least you'll laugh your socks off.

A cool film, no doubt, designed by the Shaw Bros. Superhumans abound, from the Ninth Prince and his iron glove whose two entended fingers can snap swords like bamboo, to an aquatic assassin who fights with two herringbone-cleavers, to the intertwined mass of the 18 Shaolin monks whose combined bodies create an unstoppable single fighter that protects the secrets of their Temple. You even have a Chinese exorcism, complete with possessed young girl slashing off heads with long needle-like claws, and this only a brief sub-plot.The final confrontation alone, between the film's two young fighting heroes and the evil Ninth Prince, astride an ornate royal transom that turns into a sword-shooting, body-crushing battering ram, makes the movie well worth seeing. A groove.

It has been a while since I saw it. It's good, but nothing spectacular. I think it is a Shaw Bros. film, so the action was decent. Hoaky costumes and some crazy Shaolin monks in it. Not bad.