Another small point that I found to be ridiculous was the seeming ubiquitousness of Carter Wong's presence. It didn't seem to matter where the students hid, Carter Wong, out of the middle of nowhere, seemed to always wander upon them at the most inopportune times.

For the people who take solace in seeing Lo Lieh's name in the credits, I will warn you that his screen time is limited in this film. This film would have benefitted immensely if he were the lead villain. Carter Wong pales in comparison.

This film does have several flaws though. When discussing the beginning of the film, several of the lengthier reviews have pointed out Joseph Kuo's obvious use of a model for the distance shots of Shaolin Temple. This wasn't really a big deal for me. The most ridiculous part of the Shaolin Temple portion of the movie was not the model, but rather a scene that occurs during the bombardment of the temple by the Ching. The shots inside the temple show monks being killed and fires igniting everywhere. With all the carnage that is occurring, the abbot still insists that the monks cannot leave the temple until they defeat the bronzemen that guard one of the exits. I am not kidding; more people die to the bronzemen than are killed by the Ching. This bit of stupidity almost made me stop the film right then and there. Another stupid moment occurs when Carter Wong returns badly injured from a failed attempt to kill the emperor. Instead of treating his wounds, the teacher orders him hung upside down and beaten.

Aside from a few ridiculous moments, this movie does have some good fight scenes, although I wish there had been more of them. As for the reviewers who mock the emperors anti-sword vest, it is certainly much more plausible than having him invincible except for the presence of one hidden weak point, a ridiculous device that is used far too often in old-school movies.

For me personally, the most irksome part of the whole film (I use the term loosely when describing this piece of shit) was its ridiculous anti-Americanism; evidently justifying 9-11 was supposed to imbue this "provocative" film with a measure of anti-establishment street cred. The message this dreadful movie seemingly wishes to convey is that terrorists, including the "heroes" of the story, are really only misunderstood idealists rather than cold-blooded mass-murderers.

As with any other film starring Hwang Jang Lee and John Liu, you would expect a lot of kicking action, and this film definitely does delivers on that front. This film contains, in my opinion, the best fight sequences ever produced by these two men. The kicking sequences will have you picking your jaw off the floor.

This would not be an old-school classic if it didn't contain some old-school cheesiness. The first half of the film in which Gold Fox's brothers discuss going to a martial arts tournament in the capital has little or no bearing on the film and serves primarily as a poor excuse for throwing in more fight sequences. Given the quality of these fights, it is tough to complain much about this though. There are also some unintentionally funny moments in this film as well. It is hard not to laugh when you see the iron hand that is supposed to have replaced the hand of one of Gold Fox's brothers. It is also fun trying to spot the numerous and blatant continuity errors within the film. A perfect and hilarious example is Yiu Lam's disappearing and reappearing sweat stains in a fight versus Tino Wong.

However, it is things like this that give old-school films much of their endearing charm. Combine that charm with the amazing fight sequences and you have a film that you will want to watch over and over. I recommend this to all fans of old-school kung-fu films, and if you love high-kicking action this one is definitely for you.

There are also some excellent fight scenes contained within this film, with many strange and unusual weapons making appearances.

However, this movie is not without its flaws. I am no fan of wire-fu and magic-fu and this movie has both in almost every frame. But given the rest of the film, this is not surprising. It would have been nice to have seen some more plausible fights though. But given this flaw, the film is still highly entertaining and it represents the pinnacle of the fantasy kung fu genre, in my opinion.

This movie also contains some well-worn cliches that fans of the genre will be tired of by now. The secret kung fu manual every incompetent martial artist in China is after, the man that is obviously just a woman dressed as a man, the mysterious character behind the mask whose real identity is obvious about fifteen minutes into the story. They are all here and more.

The production values, as with most independent productions, are nothing to write home about either. This is evident about 20 seconds into the film when the title is flashed on the screen and reads "Mask of Venjence". This was merely a harbinger of things to come.

As a final caveat, Tan tao-liang is only on screen for about thirty seconds. Fans considering the purchase of this movie after seeing his name on the cast list should steer clear.

Any discussion of this film's positive qualities has to begin with Ti Lung. His work in this film should silence any naysayers who question his acting chops. It is a very rare occurence to find multiple reviewers praising the acting contained within a kung fu film. The fight scenes in this film are also incredible, particularly when Ti Lung squares off against Chen Kuan-tai or Philip Ko. It was also a welcome surprise to see Chen Kuan-tai play the villain.

Unfortunately the film does have its bad points as well. Virtually every Shaw Brothers film from this period contained a degree of slapstick comedy, and this film is no exception. As with most kung fu "comedies", the comedy here is more annoying and tedious than it is funny. On the other extreme, the melodrama in this film is so overwrought it is almost suffocating. It delivers its anti-drug message with the subtlety of a jackhammer to the head. The most ridiculous example of this is a scene in which a woman poisons her children and hangs herself because her husband has become a neglectful opium addict.

Even with its flaws, I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys good acting and excellently choreographed fight scenes.

The film does have its good points though, chief among them being the presence of Wang Tao. It is almost impossible for this guy to be in a bad kung fu movie. His charisma and skill automatically elevate even the worst of old school kung fu films. His fight scenes in this film are excellent, although I wish there would have been more of them. The predictable plot does not exactly help this film either. Also, those expecting to see a Lo Lieh film will be quite disappointed as he exits about five minutes into the film. This is a shame as it is one of the rare old school films where he is not the villain.

But if you are a fan of Wang Tao, this is a highly recommended must have for your collection.

Unfortunately the above description cannot make up for what has to be the most ridiculous, stupid, insane (I could go on like this for a paragraph, but that would be beating a dead horse) plot twist in the history of Hong Kong cinema. It's worse that such a revelation occured near the end of the film, as it spoils the 70 minutes which precede it. For me the twist was so ludicrous, I almost considered giving this otherwise brilliant movie 1 star.

Buy this DVD for the brilliant first 2/3 of the film. But be warned though, the plot twist is asinine in the extreme, in my opinion.