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Highly Overrated But Still Good

Great Film overall

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of those film where you want to scream at the townsfolk WTH!? Zhong Jian (Fu Sheng) is a sweet guy with White Knight Syndrome in a town where the people simply look the other way no matter what happens. Jian is a cab driver who saves a woman from assault in the opening scene. She actually gets angry with him for protecting her. JIan's uncle, Zhong Zhi-Mun (Lo Dik), is none too pleased with Jian for fighting. The reasons are irrelevant to Zhi-Mun.Jian seems to find trouble no matter what he does. He simply cannot stand by and watching the townsfolk being harassed by the local thugs lead by Feng Tian-Shan (Johnny Wang Lung-Wei). Jian is appalled to see the townsfolk ignore a man dying in the street after being attacked by Tian-Shan's men. No one will help Jian get the man to a doctor.Jian finds himself compared to Li Ting (Stephan Yip Tin-Hang), who is making something of himself and stays out of trouble. Jian soon learns the perfect Li Ting has secrets. Li is indebted to Tian-Shan's gang for gambling. Li is given a way to resolve his debts at the expense of his girlfriend, Xiao Li (Wu Hsiao-Hui's introduction film). Li is told to think long and hard about his options.JIan's Wushu Master Zhou (Shan Mao), decides Jian is too naive for his own good and sends him off to learn Choi Lee Fut Kung Fu with Master Zhu (Chan Wai-Lau). There are some humorous moments while Jian learns to control his emotions while practicing the Choi Lee Fut. Jian returns to town to attempt to follow his new training and stay out of trouble, He borrows $200 from his uncle to buy a taxi to earn money. It's broken down and needs some serious TLC, but it will be Jian's lock stock and barrel. He promises to repay his uncle, even if it has to be done after his death (a rather foreboding moment i the movie)Jian learns Master Zhou has been murdered by Tian-Shan and things are not kosher between Li Ting and Xiao Li. Li Ting has agreed to Tian-Shan's terms for eliminating his gambling debts and hands Xiao Li over to them after having sex with her. Jian gets into more trouble attempting to rescue Xiao Li from the mess Li Ting has created for her. Jian's taxi boss becomes another collateral damage victim when Tian-Shan's gang destroys his taxis in retaliation to Jian's interference.Jian's family, friends and neighbors have gathered to have a whine-fest over Jian's behavior. Jian has gone off to deal with Tian-Shan and his gang. Someone needs to stand up to them. The townsfolk feel nothing bad would happen if Jian simply stayed out of Tian-Shan's way. Xiao Li announces none of them understand anything and leaves the room crying. Li Ting is engulfed with extreme guilt yet stills say nothing of his own bad behavior.The battle between Jian and Tian-Shan has some good moments. When Tian-Shan uses the claw hand he used on Master Zhou, it's clear what the outcome will be. The final scene is a gathering of friends and family at Jian's Uncle's home. The police arrive to present Jian's uncle with the $200 he had given Jian for the taxi. The police comment on what an upstanding man Jian was, while those gathered reveal the guilt they've been hiding.Fu Sheng shines in this movie. Seeing venom members in it was a treat. If the townsfolk had actually revealed spines, I might have given it a better score.

The incomparable Alexander fu Sheng is featured in this adult drama concerning honor and loyalty, and painful lessons. Fu Sheng turns in a great performance as Chien Chung, the coach driver who cannot resist defending the people of his small village when they are attacked by the local gangs. Strangely, the people he helps are ungrateful, and he gets labeled as a 'troublemaker," and as a bad guy. After a nasty conflict arises with a ruthless gang boss, he is sent away to a remote mountain, where he can possibly find his way out of a violent mindset. On this mountain Chien is instructed in a rare kung fu technique, and he returns home with a new strength, which it turns out he will need; in his absence the gang has terrorized his family and neighbors, and murdered the man he is most loyal to. Chang Cheh's serious drama features surprising character development and involves the viewer in the dramatic elements of the story, which is rare for this genre of film. Fu Sheng creates through his performance, a character that we can genuinely like; to the point that when a tragedy befalls him, the audience feels it. I was actually a bit choked up at the films tragic conclusion! The fight sequences are fine, as expected; greatly executed but not as flashy as is typical for a Cheh film. And without the lavish period costumes (this is a more contemporary story) "New Shaolin Boxers" becomes more realistic and easier to relate to. The way in which he protects his childhood friend from being sold into prostitution, at the risk of his own life, makes Fu Sheng's character a classic noble hero. While not the best kung fu action epic ever, "Shaolin Boxer" remains one of the finest performances of the great Alexander Fu Sheng, and is a timeless piece of filmmaking as well. It should be shown to people who think that this genre of film can't be serious drama as well as just fight scenes.

THis is certainly one of the best of the films by Chang Cheh just before he wondered off into Deadly Venom fantasy land - this is a film made for adults, despite it's genre status, dealing with themes painful to the Chinese, and not very pleasant to the rest of us. Chang Cheh's behind-camera crew of the period is at the top of their form, and the film just looks good and feels right. But the focus of the film is Alexander Fu Sheng, and he is a real delight. I've seen him before, but never so charismatically riveting to look at, nor in so believable a performance. Furthermore, his fight scenes are top notch, and, clearly traditional, somewhat ahead of their time (although not in the credits of the version I have, almost certainly the work of Liu Chia Leung). But Fu Sheng is so adept in them - and so glowing with youthful confidence - I seriously think he could have whipped Bruce Lee; certainly this film could have positioned him to be the fabled "next Bruce Lee" that Hong Kong directors searched for, had he lived longer. But at least we have this one undeniable classic from Fu Sheng supported by a team expert in the genre .

GRAND MASTER OF DEATH (aka DEMON FIST OF KUNG FU, 1976) was directed by Chang Cheh, the pioneering Hong Kong. kung fu filmmaker. With a simpler story and a lower budget than most of Cheh's Shaw Bros. epics, this film nonetheless boasts three top kung fu performers and a steady stream of well-staged fights.Alexander Fu Sheng stars as an eager kung fu student who insists on intervening when townspeople are bullied by the town bosses and their hired thugs. For his own good, he is sent away by his teacher to a mountain temple where he learns new techniques from a venerated kung fu master. When Fu Sheng returns to town, his original teacher has been killed and the gang is trying to force a female friend of his into prostitution. He then goes into action against the town bosses, played by kung fu greats Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan (who worked together as villains in numerous Shaw Bros. films).While not a masterwork of the genre, it is still well above average and a worthy showcase for the considerable skills of its dynamic star. Fu Sheng's actress wife, Jenny Tseng, also appears in the film.ADDENDUM (4/7/17): I initially reviewed this on the basis of a pan-and-scan, English-dubbed VHS tape. Since then, I've acquired the R3 Celestial DVD edition, letter-boxed and in Mandarin with English subtitles, and it's like seeing the film for the first time. The fight scenes are superb and there are plenty of them, with the best saved for the lengthy finale. What I need to emphasize about this film is that it's one of the very few where Fu Sheng is the sole heroic lead and doesn't have to share the fighting chores with anyone else. There are only two major villains, but, as played by Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan, they are formidable enough to keep Fu Sheng busy for a tidy 96 minutes. The script plays like a rough draft for THE CHINATOWN KID (1977). On the DVD, the film is preceded by a three-minute demonstration by Fu Sheng of the Choy Lay Fut (Tsai Li Fu) technique.