REVIEW:
An early '80's title like Ninja vs. Shaolin Guards conjures up images of epic battles between Shaolin monks and mysterious ninja assassins who lurk in shadows, at least in my mind. In this regard, I was disappointed with the film as the ninja hardly factor into this story at all. The film does exhibit some epic qualities in the outdoor settings on and around the Great Wall of China and with the story of a quest, which seems to be inspired by mainland Chinese productions, but ultimately fizzles.

The emperor, Yuen Chi Kei sends one of his chief officials, a sniveling hunchback to take a Golden Sutra from the abbot of a Shaolin monastery. The abbot refuses and puts up an formidable defense until Hung Ching, one of his own priests turns traitor and stabs the poor old man in the back while he gets a distracting eyeful from a female who bares her tattooed breasts! Four loyal monks rush to his aid and the abbot commands them to take the Sutra to Tibet where it will be safe from the emperor's grasp. They enlist the aid of a young girl who knows the way. As they travel across the countryside, the band of heroes are hounded and waylaid by all sorts of enemies from a bow-wielding hunter to their very own brothers from the monastery who have been duped into believing that the four monks killed the abbot and stole the sutra. Of course, Hung Ching is the real killer and his thirst for power pushes him to hunt down the monks with the help of his secret band of ninja.

The film begins by getting the viewer acquainted with the four monks, led by Alexander Lo. Lo has a passing resemblance to Bruce Lee and his physique, which is on full display is just as impressive. I cannot say the same for his martial arts this time around, although this may have more to do with Robert Tai's middling choreography. There is a fair amount of mostly forced humor with the fourth brother constantly dreaming of women and play-fighting with his brothers. While these types of films often walk a fine line between comedy and drama, this one mixes the two quite awkwardly. After leaving the monastery, Fourth Brother goes to enlist the aid of his uncle and hit on his cousin, but arrives with his brothers to find her father killed. A bizarre fight ensues when it turns out that most of the corpses around the house are actually the killers. This sort of of unrealistic ambush happens several more times when the group is later attacked by "corpses" who literally explode from their coffins or when a fighter busts out of a frumpy-looking snowman!?

While the idea of a band of monks racing to escape the clutches of a Shaolin traitor and his crew of killers is a mildly refreshing idea in this genre, the filmmakers waste the premise on a lot of nonsense, blatant errors, and painfully senseless fighting technique. When a single opponent with a bow starts firing arrows at you and your two companions from 10 feet away, charge him! Don't just stand there, you nobs! These guys deserved to be shot. And when they mention that Tibet is just over the next mountain shortly before they partake of the final battle on the Great Wall, I had to laugh since they would still have a very long way to go Southwest of their position.

By the end, I was reminded of what film I was watching when a mob of ninjas finally popped out of the ground to attack what was left of our heroes. Their throwing stars and combustible colored smoke proved just as ineffective as their skills. The lead villain's only remaining trick was to allow himself to be folded back with his head between his feet, thus ending his career as the new abbot and his life. Ninja vs. Shaolin Guards - its none too exciting, but might inspire you to improve your flexibility so that you don't end up like Hung!

Big Brother (Alexander Lou) and his three friends are four rookie monks who for various reasons want to join the Shaolin Temple. Even though Big Brother is the best fighter in the Shaolin Temple, his uncle Hung Ching (Han Ying) forbids him from entering the holy order. As the four young monks guard the only pathway to the Shaolin Temple, a messenger from the corrupt Emperor named Yun Kun Kong and his guards encroach upon the holy terrain. Big Brother warns them to turn back, but instead Yun Kun Kong orders his guards to arrest them. A fight breaks out, with Big Brother and his cohorts beating back the sword-wielding attackers. Big Brother is about to attack Yun Kun Kong when Hung Ching arrives to break up the fight. He scolds the young monks and escorts Yun Kun Kong back to the temple. Then Hung Ching takes them to the chamber of the Abbot where Yun Kun Kong accuses the wise old master of being in league with the rebels. The messenger claims all will be forgiven if the sacred tome called the Golden Sutra is handed over to the Emperor. The Abbot is sympathetic to the underground all right, and retaliates by beating the tar out of the armed guards! Yun Kun Kong has a plan however, to divert the attention of the old Abbot--he orders the female guard to drop her top and the resulting peepshow forces the Abbot to look the other way. The once-loyal Hung Ching uses this distraction to lay a killing blow upon the body of his master. Hung Ching has always desired to rule the Shaolin Temple, and now he is ready to set himself up with a position of power.

When Big Brother and his three fellow monks return to the temple, they find the prone body of the Abott. He is still clinging to life, and he explains his death them, about Big Brother’s uncle Hung Ching betraying the Shaolin Temple. With his last his breath, the Abbot insists that they deliver the Golden Sutra to another monastery in Tibet. They reassure him that they shall deliver the sacred tome for the good of the people of China. That won’t be easy however, because while all this is going down, Hung Ching is convincing the rest of the Monks and Officials that Big Brother and his friends are the ones who killed the Abbot. Soon, there is a price on their heads and the Brothers must tread carefully on their way to Tibet, as danger (in the form of assassins) lurks at every turn. Not only hired killers, but even the common man want to collect the bounty. The Fourth Brother reveals that he has a cousin nearby named Ah Mei, whose father has connections with the underground and he will be sympathetic to their cause. Ah Mei rejoices to see her cousin and takes them back to her father’s cabin. There they find that her entire family has been slaughtered by Yun Kun Kong’s assassins—and the killers are still there laying in wait. The four monks, led by Big Brother take them to task. After the killers are defeated, Ah Mei blames them for the death of her family. She is forced to join their cause however, because more assassins are on the way. The Brothers and Ah Mei traverse the harsh winter terrain on their way to deliver the Golden Sutra. The road is fraught with dangers and assassins who manage to widdle the group down from five to three. Finally, with every one else injured and unable to continue, Big Brother delivers the Golden Sutra to the Tibetan temple, only to find the traitor Hung Ching waiting for him. The two square off, with Big Brother fighting for the freedom of the Shaolin Temple, and Hung Ching fighting for his own benefit. Big Brother is shocked to discover that his Uncle has superior martial arts skills—but not his newphew’s fighting heart!

NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS is directed by William Cheung Kei, who also gave us the superb independent efforts, DEATH DUEL OF KUNG FU (also featuring the fantastic ‘Eagle’ Han Ying), NINJA SWORDS OF DEATH, and EAGLE’S KILLER. There are a lot of similarities here between this film and DEATH DUEL OF KUNG FU. Again, William Cheung Kei wisely employs the great ‘Eagle’ Han Ying as the lead bad guy, and the presence of this performer makes the movie for me. It appears the director employed some of the same sets and background actors from that film, so I suspect NINJA VS. SHAOLN GUARDS was filmed in Korea where DEATH DUEL OF KUNG FU was lensed. Only in this film we have Alexander Lou in the lead role, instead of Wang Dao. William Cheung Kei is one of better independent directors (after Lee Tso Nam, of course) and he masterfully controls certain elements of the film. For instance, the pacing is rock solid—there is barely a slow moment in NINJA VS. SHAOLN GUARDS as the main cast is constantly pursued by people who try to kill them. He injects extreme violence perfectly into the narrative. The plot is thin but William Cheung Kei makes the most of it. However, the director has no idea how to handle comedy in a martial arts film, as evidenced by the comedy on display here. Look how great his DEATH DUEL OF KUNG FU turned out with its dead serious tone. Now imagine that film tarnished by silly comedy committed by goofball characters. It’s sacrilege, right? In NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS, death is everywhere and the tone is morbid. These somber moments that the director works so hard to achieve are ruined by cheap comedy relief. For instance, when Ah Mei and the heroic monks return to find her father dead, one of the doofus monks is attacked by a bad guy pretending to be a corpse (in a very clownish way). This detracts from the drama and emotion of her father’s death scene.

Besides the badly incorporated comedy bits, NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS contains one other major component that hurts the film. Fight Choreographer Robert Tai came up with some impressive battle scenes. Unfortunately, his handiwork is compromised by the constant high speed filming. With a talented cast including Alexander Lou and Han Yin, you do not need to speed up the film. These guys are professionals and are naturally quick enough to blur the naked eye. They don’t need any overcranking to help them. This is really a waste since Alexander Lou in the best physical shape I’ve ever seen him, and on his worst day Han Ying is still quicker than a Gazelle. Tai also employs some primitive wirework which was quickly becoming the norm back in 1984. So overall the intricate choreography loses it’s full impact. This is a major oversight on the part of the filmmakers. However, the film does offer one of the weirdest and wildest bits that I’ve ever witnessed in the genre. In the beginning, when the Shaolin Guards attack the Abbot only to be beaten back, a full-bodied female guard disrobes, and flashes her heaving, tattooed bosoms in front of him. The Abbott is so repulsed and shocked by her tempting behavior that he turns away, allowing Hang Ying to deliver a super-bloody death blow. NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS does not have a good script or good acting, but it has these weird moments that can only be attributed to cult appeal. Later on, the heroes come across a haunted Temple. When they attempt to stay the night they are accosted by the dead (looking more like stunt men in rags) and soon find themselves fighting these ghosts. Ironically, NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS has remarkably few actual Ninjas. They show up in the last 10 minutes to make life difficult for Alexander Lou before his climatic fight with Han Ying. Speaking of him, Hang Yin gets the films best moment when he takes on an army of Ninjas during the credits. To bad the rest of the movie could not attain the promise of this opening title sequence.

SIGHT
Tai Seng presents NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS in full frame 1.33.1, cropped from the original 1.85.1 ratio. This is a cheap movie that lacks production value and set design; so there is not much compromised in the cropping, unlike a big budget Shaw Brothers picture where composition is everything. The DVD is mastered from a Betacam SP master source, so indeed the transfer is superior to VHS. There are some of the usual problems that plague martial arts flicks of this era like grain, scratches, and a lack of detail. The color is kind of faded much like Tai Seng’s MASTER OF DEATH (if you’ve seen that you’ll know what I’m talking about). It looks like they shot the film on rainy days only, so don’t expect any bright colors. On the positive side, the image is sharp and exhibits no softness like many Ground Zero DVDs I’ve come across (CHINESE SUPER NINJAS anyone?). The martial arts choreography is impressive, if only it weren’t overcranked like a Wuxia film. If it was in realtime, you could appreciate Robert Tai’s handiwork more. Tai Seng’s transfer preserves the action nicely.

SOUND
The Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 soundtrack is above average with very little analog noise, tape hiss, or pops that inhabit videotapes. The frequency levels are far reaching and pleasing. Yet we did detect some crackling in the audio delivery at certain points (and no, it’s not the sounds of bones breaking!). The extensive use of swords and other clanging weapons reverberate in the soundtrack. The English dubbed dialog is serviceable, with the voices emanating cleanly from the center channel and without distortion. But beware--some of the voices of Alenander Lou’s Monk Brothers posses goofy intonations. The score is clearly library stock themes that we’ve all heard before in numerous other independents. Some of these themes are inappropriate funk/disco stuff that does jive with the historical setting. With the exception of the occasional crackling, Tai Seng serves up a decent audio presentation.

FEATURES
Nothing, except for the requisite 30-second Martial Arts Theatre compilation trailer.

CONCLUSION
NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS is the best entry in Tai Seng’s Alexander Lou Ninja series. If you have to choose one, we recommend this DVD. Perhaps it’s the historical context that saves the film, or that unlike the others it has a genuine plot. Having Han Ying as the villain is also something in its favor. Despite it’s shortcomings, NINJA VS. SHAOLIN GUARDS also has some cult elements which warrants a viewing. This is one violent and bloody Kung Fu movie and the aforementioned "flashing titty" attack is a stroke of genius and worth the price of a rental alone. The overcranked fights are my biggest complaint, along with the out-of place humor. But my viewpoint certainly won’t necessarily be shared by everyone. We do want to give Tai Seng a huge thumbs up in the area of their new package design, which certainly improves upon the generic look of previous years. The new look is colorful and striking and more in tone with what’s on the shelves of the martial arts section at your local videostore.