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.

I don't care how beautiful a movie is if it fails to entertain, and this movie is so mind-numbingly boring any discussion of virtuoso cinematography and lavish set designs is pointless. This movie would put even the most ardent HK film-fan to sleep.

Anyone who has ever read reviews of this director's work will rarely, if ever, find words like fun, fast-paced, riveting, exciting or even entertaining. Instead we get descriptions that contain words like langurous, brooding, convoluted and my personal favorite from the lexicon of arrogant critic-speak, challenging. These are all just euphemisms for "boring", which is how all of Wong Kar-Wai's incomprehensible, supremely self-conscious, snore-inducing vanity pieces can be described.

Aside from the absolutely remarkable fight scene involving Gordon Liu near the very beginning of "Executioners from Shaolin", there is little else to recommend in this boring film. Even its greatest asset, Lo Lieh, is given scant few minutes of screen time.

The flaws in this film are numerous. The film is so dominated by scenes of Chen Kuan-Tai's extremely mundane domestic life it almost makes the revenge scenario against Pei Mei feel like an afterthought. What little fight action that does occur is slow and uninspired. Moreover, Chen Kuan-tai is never even remotely Lo Lieh's match, even after 17 years of training. The sheer one-sidedness of the fights makes them more tedious than exciting; I won't even go into the absurdity of Pei Mei's kung fu style. And to make matters worse, the training sequences that occur prior to the Hong Xiguan-Pei Mei showdowns are boring, consisting mostly of Chen Kuan-tai banging away on an immobile bronze dummy, when he isn't busy ripping the bark off trees.

But far and away the biggest flaw of the whole movie is the character of Hong Wending, played by the perpetually annoying Young Wang Yu. Regardless of the film, whenever Liu Chia-liang used Young Wang Yu as his comedy relief, it always produced the same annoying-as-hell slapstick result, and this film is no exception. The fact he is portrayed as an exremely effiminate, almost girlish, buffoon with a pronounced lack of kung fu skill does not help matters. That he is able to beat Lo Lieh at the end, after his father had failed twice at the same task even after two decades of training, is an insult to the intelligence of the viewer. This movie is utterly disappointing and completely forgettable.

I personally bought this film because I am a huge fan of the great Wang Tao. However, his very limited screen time left me disappointed. Angela Mao's presence in this film also left quite a bit to be desired as she was wholly unconvincing as an exponent of the snake style. Adding insult to injury, many of the fights were choppy owing to the very obvious removal of frames in an attempt to speed up the encounters.

If you are a Wang Tao completist, this film may interest you; all others should steer clear of this sub-par effort.

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.

You will start laughing within the first two minutes of this movie. The supposedly American truck driver that assaults the heroine of the film has an Eastern European accent thicker than Yakov Smirnoff's. And evidently half of the NYPD is from Australia. Why the decision was made to set the beginning of the movie in the United States and have the actors speak English is beyond me. But it sure does make for some hilarious viewing.

Another key element in this comedy is Jade Leung's "acting". Evidently the only direction she was given was to open her eyes as wide as possible when yelling. Her facial expressions, especially in the beginning, are an absolute riot. She may be the only actor in the world with less range than Keanu Reeves.

Mixed in with the comedy, this movie does have some good action sequences and thus it is fairly entertaining, as long as you aren't expecting production values better than those found in a high school A/V club production.

This film, as with most set in the so-called "martial arts world", has an often convoluted plot that leaves you scratching your head at times. However, in the case of this movie, it really draws in the viewer as more and more details are revealed about the various characters and more is learned about the motivations behind their actions.

And while those who are searching for a lot of empty-hand fight scenes may be disappointed, the weapons fighting is excellent; this film has some of the best sword-fighting choreography I have ever seen. It is unfortunate that the people who made this otherwise excellent movie almost ruined it by speeding up some of the fights to almost cartoonish levels. This is the flaw I mentioned earlier. And it goes beyond merely removing a couple of frames, a technique to which most old-school fans have grown accustomed. There were several times in the movie that the fights were sped up so much, it appeared as if someone had hit the fast forward button on my DVD player. This occurs during several fights throughout this otherwise great movie. This flaw really drags down my rating of this film.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.