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I love this movie so much

Really Surprised!

Better Late Then Never

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

By 1980, the entire genre of Chinese martial arts movies--which, in my estimation, had always benefited from its rough-edged quality--was being formalized into something comparable to American soap operas or even Italian Mannerist painting. Better production values are fine, but not when the end result is a film so slick and shiny that it's painful to look at. In technical terms, "The Master" (which aired on cable TV in the mid-1980s as "Three Evil Masters") is a product of its time, but has enough heart to work. Yuen Tak convincingly portrays a bullied, low-ranking student at an unethical kung-fu school who gives refuge to an injured martial arts master (Chen Kuan-tai, who's always worth watching). Chen was wounded in a fight with three bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside, and in exchange for food and shelter he teaches Yuen some valuable moves. Gradually, Yuen becomes a better fighter and must singlehandedly confront the bandits--led by fearsome, white-haired Wang Lung-wei--when they decide to take over the kung-fu school. Terrific fight choreography by Hsu Hsia, and a maddeningly catchy opening theme (which plays beautifully over Chen Kuan-tai's first brawl with the villains) by Eddie Wang. Seven and a half stars.

THE MASTER gets off to a great start, with Jin Tianyun (Chen Kuan Tai) being attacked in a tea house. The fight scene is great, with a little twist of its own: Jin thinks he's up against three opponents- The Three Devils-, but he's nearly fatally wounded by a fourth attacker- the owner of the tea house himself. Jin escapes by diving through a window- with the treacherous owner's knife still in him. Meanwhile, Gao (Yuen) is being mercilessly bullied at "The Decent School of Martial Arts." Gao gets reprimanded when he fights back and his suffering is compounded. When he returns home that night, Jin arrives, nearly dead, and Gao takes him in. As Jin secretly recovers (Gao would be in even deeper **** if Jin's presence were known), Gao discovers that Jin had once beaten Gao's master, Shi. Jin muses that he'll live to be 90. "How can a blind man see the future?" Gao wonders. To get money to buy medicine to help Jin, Gao goes undercover in a brothel and steals it. He is "outed" and beats a hasty retreat. When Jin has recovered enough, he confronts the pretentious Shi, but is injured again. When he flees Shi's school, he's ambushed once again by The Three Devils and killed. The 3 then decimate Shi's school and take up permanent residence. Gao becomes a waiter in a tea house. There is plenty of solid action throughout THE MASTER and it's beautifully choreographed and shot. The one and only flaw is a single reverse-action shot that stands out in my mind because it's the ONLY real flaw in the entire film. That's why I rate it a solid ten.

Easily one of my favorite Kung Fu films, 3 Evil Masters delivers in both dynamic choreography and excellent quotes. The dubbing is phenomenal in this Shaw Brothers gem as you will finish the movie repeating the jokes or threats by the characters "'I despise your killing, and raping… your… despicable!" (quotes such as this). The only down part in the film is the incredibly poor quality of the movie itself, the beginning is plagued with blurriness and the end had a few glitches reminiscent of the old VHS tapes (the ones that have been watched hundreds of times). This does not take anything away from the story, action and legendary delivery of a Shaw Scope movie, however.Chen Kuan Tai is a righteous kung-fu master and has grown tired of the 3 Evil Masters and their crimes. Taking it into his own hands to take them on, he ends up badly wounded and has to retreat to the Kung Fu school of an old rival. Within the school he meets a bullied orphan and reluctantly teaches him his invincible kung-fu and sword techniques. After eventual death, Chen Kuan Tai's orphan student masters the style on his own and takes revenge on the 3 Evil Masters.Ridiculously great fighting and hilarious slapstick (reminiscent of most Kung Fu movies) are mere bonuses to the host of likable good guys, annoying side characters and badass bad guys. This is one of the best movies to start any newb fan on their journey of fine Kung Fu cinema. A must for the collector, if you haven't seen it, or barely remember it, then check out the 3 Evil Masters ASAP.

Decent plot and good classical 80s Kung Fu make this a worth seeing film. Contains some quotes used in GZAs 1995 album Liquid Swords, and as a general rule of thumb, any film that the Wu Tang quote is worth seeing. I would put this on a par with 5 Deadly Venoms. Classic plot line of - young student with potential is studying under a poor Kung Fu master and is bullied by fellow students. He looks after a real master who is wounded by the 3 evil masters and who teaches him an old, powerful form of Kung Fu to eventually defeat the 3 evil masters. "The Sword. It's the best weapon of all. Two sharp edges and a long spine. The blade is very thin and it's easily damaged you'll remember that. The vital thing is the point. Pay special attention to it, your life could depend on it".