REVIEW
'The Buddhist Fist' is an old-school martial arts revenge flick with a smattering of comedy. With Yuen Wo Ping directing, and his brothers helping to choreograph the action, this is yet another Yuen Clan classic, despite the fact that many fans of the genre have probably passed this one by.

It's flawed, so let's get the negativity out of the way. It's the plot that lets Buddhist Fist down. There is reference to a valuable Jade Buddha statue that everybody in China wants to get their hands on, and some superfluous search for a missing man, but any excuse for a story is picked up and dropped faster than an ugly baby. There is a period of about 45 minutes early on in the film where the plot seems to be confusing, until you realise that it's not you that lost the plot, but the writers themselves. As you would expect, the plot is only there to provide excuses to start fights, but we'll come back to that later.

As for the cast, everybody does a sterling job, and the characters are all beautifully cartoonish, just as you would expect from the Yuen Clan. It's easy to tell even the cameo players apart, because in the Yuen universe, everyone has a huge hairy mole, a humpback, buck teeth, or a lazy eye. It's a good job, too, because characters (especially bad guys) often come out of nowhere to provide a fight or set-piece, and then vanish without a trace before briefly popping up later to provide some minor exposition.

Yuen Cheung Yan, for example, pops up for ten minutes as a gangster, hams it up gloriously, has a fight, and then spends the rest of the movie behind the camera. Simon Yuen Senior does the same thing, and its even possible to spot Simon Yuen Jr as long as you don't blink, or have transparent eyelids like some kind of man-fish.

This is Sunny Yuen's (Yuen Shun Yi) movie, though. Usually seen playing maniacal bad guys, he is bizarrely given the role of leading man. His physical abilities are impressive, but apart from the fact that he now seems retrospectively typecast, he just doesn't have the right face to play the wide-eyed and smiling good guy. With his big round head and intense stare, he walks around looking like some kind of evil boiled egg. It's like seeing Vinny Jones singing along with Barney the Dinosaur.

Obviously, there is Kung Fu in the film. Lots and lots of Kung Fu. The fighting rarely stops, and it's dazzling from start to finish. There are no special effects here, and only a little wirework, yet the fighters punch, kick, grapple and contort with breathtaking results, punctuated with moments of humour. Dull choreography can be the death of a martial arts film, but 'The Buddhist Fist' is alive and kicking, unpredictable and inventive. Most impressive is the agility of the older cast members, and Simon Yuen Senior's 'Sleepy Kung Fu' is great. This isn't a movie you would see because of its story, but fans should put this high on their list of essential viewing.

Wo Ping's younger brother Yuen Shun Yi gets a rare leading role as an orphan, brought up and trained by a Buddhist monk alongside his friend Chui Siu Ming. As he gets older, he decides to move to the city and ends up working with Chan Lung in a barber's shop before they are both fired for fighting a customer. As a result, Shun Yi goes back home to look for his godfather, who unbeknownst to him, has been kidnapped after uncovering a conspiracy. The plot follows a formulaic seek and revenge storyline with a few plot-twists thrown in to keep it relatively fresh. However, what we all want to see from a film like this is intricate kung-fu choreography, and for the most part, it delivers.

From start to finish there is barely a scene without action, with most of it being the typical hand-to-hand variety, but now and then a few weapons and wires are thrown in to spice things up. Yuen Shun Yi lacks the fluidity in his execution when compared to genre favourites like Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan, so is not convincing as a character with almost perfect skills. On the other hand, Chui Siu Ming gives a flawless display but has appeared in very few films since, choosing to use his skills as a choreographer often working with the Yuen Clan and occasionally with my personal favourite, Sammo Hung.

Unfortunately, for veterans of old-school flicks, the choreography on display here is nothing new, and a lot of it takes place in the dark, which makes it less than easy to follow. A couple of old favourites like Lee Hoi San turn up to add extra quality to the execution, and the finale itself is a very good example of Wo Ping's early work. But all in all it's a merely solid flick without being anything special.

PICTURE: The box claims that the print has been remastered and presented in its original widescreen ratio, however, this should be taken with a pinch of salt. In my experience, films of this genre and era were usually shot 2.35:1 while this is slightly over 2:1 hinting at minor cropping. Fortunately, none of the fights are harmed and the print itself is fairly good, if displaying some grain, with some scenes clearer than others.

SOUND: DD2.0 English Dubbed, Mandarin or Cantonese soundtracks with no subtitles. It was good of Tai Seng to include Chinese language tracks, but they were less than eager to provide the subtitles to make the tracks useful!!

TRAILERS: Trailers for a selection of Wo Ping films.

EXTRAS: A biogrpahy for Yuen Wo Ping.

On the DVD scene, Tai Seng has been making a name for themselves by importing some great DVDs over from Hong Kong, and releasing a budget DVD line consisting of recent and classic HK titles. This budget line has been something of a disappointment, mainly because the DVDs have all been full frame, with English dubbing only. With the release of THE BUDDHIST FIST, Tai Seng makes a giant step forward. This DVD is the first title in their budget line that is letterboxed, and includes alternate bilingual languages to go along with the English dub track. Hopefully, this is the start of something big for Tai Seng, which they can develop into a successful line of classic widescreen martial arts DVDs (which would be a boon to fans everywhere).

The movie stars Yuen (DREADNAUGHT) Shunyi as the confused Ha-Sien, a young man looking for his missing grandfather. Shunyi was a capable martial artist who never hit it big. Gordon (SHAOLIN MASTER KILLER) Liu is the real star of this film, even though he is not the hero. He plays Ah Sheng’s life-long friend Si Ming, a Shaolin monk. Like every classic martial arts film, there is a wise old kung fu master in the film played here by Yuen (DANCE OF THE DRUNKEN MANTIS) Chun-Wei. San Kuai plays the deformed hunchback assassin, named Liu Chow Mu. This movie was filmed by the talented Yuen Clan who were responsible for classic martial arts films such as the original DRUNKEN MASTER, SEVEN GRANDMASTERS, and BORN INVINCIBLE.

When Ha-Sien was a young boy, he was often beaten by bullies. One day, a bald kid named Si Ming pulls the bullies off of Ha-Sien, and introduces the boy to the martial arts. Over a decade later, Ah Sheng is all grown up, and is now a talented martial artist, thanks to an old Shaolin master. Si Min (Gordon Liu) is also a star pupil and is an accomplished Shaolin monk (also serving under the old master). The old one has taught Ha-Shien and Si Ming one half of the deadly Buddhist Fist technique. Ha-Sien returns to the Shaolin temple after being away for many years, and he is disturbed to find that that his old grandfather has been missing for over three months.

One night, a thief in a black mask sneaks into the Shaolin temple, and tries to steal the sacred Jade Buddha. The masked thief sneaks away without the artifact, but returns to wreak havoc on temple residents. Meanwhile, a shadowy character hires some assassins to take out Ha-Sien, including hotel owner Boss Chen (Simon Yuen), and a hilarious hunchback, Liu Chow Mu! Ha-Sien must overcome many obstacles (including assassins and the masked thief), to find out whether his grandfather is alive or dead—and to find out who is responsible for the old one’s disappearance.

There is a lot of stuntwork and a high body count. Here is a brief description of some of the mayhem:

REVIEW:
A quality genre film yet not up to director, Yuen Wo Ping's highest standards. The story is more cohesive than most with the revenge theme reserved until near the end when our hero finally finds his father.

All the actors play their parts well and several unique characters add spice to the film. One of the hired assassins out to kill our hero, Ah Chiang is Lou Mao Chu, a pale-faced hunchback whose specialty is the "Holy Ghost Claw".

The choreography is a cut above standard old school fare with several standout fights. Hong Kong veteran, Simon Yuen as a guard, thwarts a thief's attempt to steal a precious Jade Buddha, all without breaking it. The highlight is the final melee between our principle characters, Ah Chiang and his childhood pal, Si-Ming. Throughout the film, Woo Ping's trademark use of unusual props during the action adds an element of creativity. A shaving razor becomes a weapon in the hands of a skilled barber. A checkerboard shields its wielder from flying chopsticks. Even a bird cage manages to get in on the act.

For solid kung fu action you can't go wrong with this early Wo Ping picture. With ample humor, action, and memorable characters, The Buddhist Fist manages to entertain despite the fact that it pales in comparison to later Wo Ping classics.