Kung-Fu Master (1984/Lionsgate DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C     Extras: D     Feature: B+

 

 

Tan Zong is a Shaolin Monk, pacifist by nature, but when Emperor offers him to become his new martial art drillmaster for his army, he is forced to choose... serve under him or be destroyed.  But even before answers he is tested and hounded by assassins.  When the Emperor threatens to destroy the Shaolin Temple Tan Zong is forced to act...  Welcome to the world of Kung-Fu Master.

Tan Zong is said to be the greatest Kung-Fu master, but before that he a Shaolin monk.  He supposedly renounced all worldly things and strives to live a life of peace with training and meditation, but it seem life just won't let him do so, all sort of martial arts masters are coming out of the woodwork to claim a piece of him or some bounty on him.  The only good thing Tan Zong has going for him is iron hard impervious trained body. Along with the other Shaolin monks they must face the Emperor's wrath and army.

 

If you are a martial arts fan and don't mind there is not much plot then you would be interested in this movie.  The martial arts were impressive and shows many different styles, anything from a flying coffin, cloth weapons, umbrellas with blades, benches, staff, swords and spears.  Honestly it felt like they could of call this movie 'Shaolin Ninjas'.  All the stunts, acrobatics, were real and it is quite impressive to see kung-fu coordinated on such a mass scale.  The picture was fine, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix much weaker than expected as the audio is old and this mix shows its limits.  My only other complaint is that being Asian, I noted some of the Mandarin translations were a bit off and could have been corrected, but if you are into monk(s) beating up armies of bad guys and martial arts mayhem, then this is something you might want to watch.

 

 

-   Ricky Chiang