Viewer Comments:Shaolin Temple
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Great display of skills.
Jet Li's debut movie and not one to miss. He's about 16 to 18 in this film and it showcases a lot of wushu and Chinese martial arts elements. When you view this film you'll see why he is a martial arts master. Bad acting, but a film with a lot of heart and dedication to traditional Chinese martial arts.
Jet Li's film debut is required viewing. Jet is at his physical peak, and the Drunken Pole vs. Drunken Sword battle is one of his very finest. This whole film is packed with amazing training sequences and fights.
It's interesting to see such a young Jet Li--he's just a kid in this one! The story is nothing to get excited about, but the action is good, especially the training scenes. Jet Li seems to spend the entire second half of the film screaming "SHIFU!!!!!", but it's worth watching.
A remarkable debut by Jet Li - outstanding Wushu. I can't say whether it is at all accurate to Sui Dynasty era Shaolin, but it's remarkably good.
-Jeffrey Frawley (see my profile)
I'm not a huge Jet Li fan by any means. But I have always had a soft spot for this one.
The beautiful mainland locations really add authenticity, and creates a different atmosphere than movies shot in HK or Taiwan.
The story is pretty standard Shaolin movie stuff. But it has a more epic feel to it, due to the excellent locations.
It also has pretty imressive production value for a mainland movie (perhaps because it was the first movie to be funded by the red Chinese goverment, or so I've read).
Most of the fighters in the film are real life martial arts champions and display some amazing skills. Sadly, the camerawork and editing of the fight scenes are not on par with HK productions. But it's not terrible either.
All in all, a decent Shaolin movie. Didn't care for the two sequels though.
Good film. Jet is the man. Shaolin Temple students kicking major butt with Jet at the helm.
-Kung Fu Classic Viewer (see my profile)
This is a great film. A young, spry, incredibly agile Jet Li is here in really incredible form. I liked the story, too. Monks who can throw down always win me over!
A fair movie. It just dragged.
A young Jet Li was impressive in this movie, but the movie didn't move at a quick enough pace for me to give it a better rating. Definitely worth a buy if you're interested in seeing Jet Li in his early days, though.
Certainly a classic and now remastered and much better looking than I remember it. Now the beautiful scenery can be seen and enjoyed as well as the martial arts action. Definitely a must buy for fans of classic Jet Li. This was his first and was at his peak. The other two in the series is Kids from Shaolin: Shaolin Temple 2 and Martial Arts of Shaolin which was directed by Lau Kar Leung.
Beautiful Mainland China locations, great fights and nice training sequences - this is THE ENTERTAINMENT that I love. Yes, there are some better kung fu films but I cannot see anything wrong about this one. Nice wushu flick. Very recommended.
This was the first Jet Li movie I watched in the 80s; however, I didn't know it was him until 20 years later. I believe this was his first movie as well and it showed viewers possibly the first glimpse of the official Shaolin Temple, as Mainland China was not so accomodating in earlier years. I stand corrected. Nevertheless, a very solid entry by Jet Li, this movie showed some amazing training scenes/techniques at the start by fellow monks and then midway with Li training in every season which was a nice touch. Fans will not be dissapointed as this movie has it all, please buy the uncut version. Another great movie!!
-Noel 'Bravo' Francis (see my profile)
This is a great film. Not quite as good as "Martial Arts of Shaolin", but vastly superior to "Kids From Shaolin".
The story's pretty decent, especially compare to most HK kung fu films. The action scenes are fantastic, if a little too much like wushu demonstrations at times.
Animal lovers may wish to avoid this though. I'm not sure the dog and sheep deaths were faked. Early '80s China for you.
-John Firth (see my profile)
http://www.myspace.com/johnafirth
Pretty good movie. After a while, though, the fight scenes got a little repetitive. The story reminded me a little bit of "The Invincible Pole Fighter".
Another excellent film. See Jet Li in great action, he's very special in this, his very first major film. A must-see for kung fu fans.
One name: Jet Li! How young was he? He was awesome even in youth! Good storyline, action was off the hook, I loved it almost as much as "Fearless".
| [Jet Li's] earliest film is Shaolin Temple, and probably the best in terms of showcasing his jaw - dropping movements. No wires - this is pure Jet! The plot is is barely there but Jet doesn't need one. An evil warlord has Jet and and his father enslaved and seriously abused. The prisoners are dropping from exhaustion and starvation. When the evil despot kills Jet's father he manages to escape and vows revenge. After a painstaking journey he is found by the local Shaolin Monks. They nurse him back to health despite their own problems with the warlord and refugees.
Jet trains and wants to get revenge as soon as possible. He has to develop more skills if he is going to kill the warlord. He has difficulty fitting in because Shaolin Monks are not supposed to be out for revenge. It's during this time he meets a young woman who tends sheep, who is the daughter of one of the monks. He fathered her before becoming a Shaolin Monk. Jet cannot control his desire for revenge and so he leaves Shaolin and goes looking for the man who killed his father. When he finds him he also discovers the girl who tended sheep has been kidnapped by the warlord. He uses a varity of forms including Drunken Boxing. He rescues the girl but is unable to kill his sworn enemy. Times are difficult and the warlord attacks the Shaolin Temple. Jet (and everyone else) have to fight long and hard to save Shaolin. When the Abbot is killed the monks lose their peaceful order. A fantastic end fight scene is the icing on the cake. You are never going to see so many real martial artists fighting at the same time! It is a very long and you will be glad it is! Can he ever find peace in his heart? See it and find out! You will be watching it more than once. The gore factor is excellent, only a bit here or there. This is a wonderful movie--a real gem! |
This film is a classic. A young Jet Li before Hollywood. The martial arts techniques are extraordinary... This is a definite must-get for any fan of martial art movies.
Shaolin Temple and Amelie are my 2 favorite movies right now. It's a freakin' work of art. Bad dubbing, dog eating, didn't have the blood geyser, and it's still one of the most amazing movies showing peak human perfection. The action is jawdropping. Anything less than 5 stars is someone's closeminded preconceptions. It's the best,Ive seen yet.
"The Shaolin Temple" is the story of a young slave (Jet Li) whose father is killed by the slave master during a fierce battle. He escapes to the Shaolin Temple where he becomes fascinated by the skills of the Shaolin Monks. So fascinated he intends on learning Kung Fu to avenge his father's death.
I have seen many martial arts films, but none have ever demonstrated the dedication needed to become an expert in Kung Fu like "The Shaolin Temple".
The film demonstrates Kung Fu techniques in the Shaolin training ground them transforms them into breathtaking fight scenes.
The story line is weak. However this puts more emphasis into the action scenes which are virtually unrivalled unless matched against "The Shaolin Temple 3" or Jet Li's latest offering "The One".
"The Shaolin Temple" is definitely my all time favorite martial arts film.
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