Review: The 18 Bronzemen was one of the earlier classic kung fu movies to vividly portray the trials of Shaolin pupils in what would become a staple of the genre that reached it's zenith with Lau Kar Leung's magnificent 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). This film also marked an important point in the career of director Joseph Kuo by firmly establishing him as one of the premiere independent martial arts filmmakers of the '70's.

Having gotten his start by co-starring in several films alongside Polly Kuan, Ting Peng stepped into the leading role of Shao Lung. As a child of a Ming official killed by a Ching General, Shao Lung becomes a fugitive. After four years of harsh, internal training meant to prepare him for the rigors of learning kung fu, the boy is sent to Shaolin Temple where, unbeknownst to him, a protector is assigned to guard his life and help him eventually get revenge on the general. Years go by as he struggles to meet the extraordinary demands put upon him by the temple trainers. All of this is preparation for the ultimate test, which is to face a series of deadly challenges that must be overcome for Shao Lung to be allowed to leave the temple. Despite early setbacks, Shao Lung and his martial brother Wan (Carter Wong) pass through booby-trapped hallways and overcome the brutal 18 bronzemen through combat and tests of endurance in order to emerge victorious. The narrative then speeds up as Shao Lung leaves Shaolin with Wan, learns the full truth of his past, and prepares to face the general. Along the way, he hooks up with Miss Lu (Polly Kuan) who just happens to be the girl he was arranged to marry as a child. Together, the three face the general.

Ting Peng plays a relatively weak martial artist and is easily upstaged by the strong presence of Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China). It doesn't help that Peng, who is more at home in swordplay films is not a particularly charismatic actor. Kuo smartly features Wong who is in his prime here and proves to be the film's focal point for raw, martial arts prowess. Backing him up is the highly competent Polly Kuan in one of her lesser roles. She only turns up in the latter half of the film and her kung fu skills are displayed sparingly. Chang Yi, a brilliant character actor and kung fu villain is pretty much wasted as the general who only appears briefly.

Joseph Kuo is a name that should be burned into the skull of any kung fu fan, but not necessarily for this film. His films are almost always superior efforts among his peers. Although his best work in films like The 7 Grandmasters (1978) and Dragon's Claws (1979) was yet to come, he provides plenty of quality kung fu filmmaking here. While most directors did little more than flip on the camera and tell their stars to have at it, Kuo went the extra mile despite limited resources. A detailed model of Shaolin temple (that was later destroyed for The Blazing Temple) is obviously just that, but is well made and effectively conveys a broad scope for the film. The story is an ambitious one in that years go by with an attempt to chronicle the life of one man as he becomes a martial arts hero. We get to see so much in one film including elaborate combat with painted warriors and animated bronze dummies, massive spiked walls that threaten to crush Carter Wong, and the obligatory teahouse brawl. The camera work is especially well done. Kuo get so much right that it's all the more disappointing when he fumbles. Unfortunately it happens more than once. The first half of the film is concerned with the Shaolin training and is the best portion. It could have easily been expanded to fill the entire running time. But, our heroes eventually leave and this is where things get sloppy. I love Polly Kuan, but her role appears to have been unnecessarily written in as she adds no significance to the plot. The scenes themselves seem hastily edited together to speed things along. By the end, our heroes face the general and a group of look-alikes. The setting changes from a village street to a hilltop and the general's clones simply vanish in what is one of the worst and most dumbfounding bits of editing you'll ever see in this genre, and that's saying a lot.

The 18 Bronzemen is a mixed bag with a strong beginning and weak finish. Check it out if you enjoy the fanciful depictions of Shaolin temple training or Carter Wong's trademark grimace. But most significantly, this film begins a collaboration between Kuo and his stars Polly Kuan and Carter Wong that leads to improved efforts like The Blazing Temple (1976), The Shaolin Kids (1978), and even the sequel to this film, Return of the 18 Bronzemen (1976).

Before them lie corridors of traps and huge bronze men, some wielding clubs, staffs, and swords, others dressed in huge armor plated suits, which will destroy anything which crosses their path. Once through the dreaded chambers, the Shaolin disciples will have the Shaolin crest of the dragon and tiger burnt into their forearms by lifting a huge bronze pot. Outside, our heroes meet up with more patriots and fight against tyranny.

Joseph Kuo hits the mark with this spellbinding, big budget offering, a great movie which spawned a sequel and several imitations.

Of indepedent maestro Joseph Kuo's many kung-fu hits, '18 Bronzemen' is perhaps the one that has had the most influence throughout the latter years of the genre. Since its creation in 1976, this relatively lavish production has seen many of its elements creep into a number of other films, ranging from the Shaw Brothers hits to low-budget attempts to feed of the popularity of the concept. Thankfully, even though the themes and situations are mercilessly etched in the minds of all fans, this still retains an excellent entertainment quality. Kuo's makes good use of a fairly generous budget, splashing the money on the above-average set design and utilising a small army of extras. The cinematography is also slightly more polished than the usual independent fare and shows the kind of spark that sadly wasn't present in all of Joseph Kuo's films, while the action holds its own today after over twenty-five years.

Kuo deserves recognition as a director within the martial arts cinema world, though his abilities are limited. His qualities are clearly seen here i.e. the innovation without a major studio behind him and that extra touch of class that lifts him above the many other directors who toiled in the independent field. Nonetheless, '18 Bronzemen' does give way to the weakness that have often hamstrung the director - namely the definitive sense of control that makes the difference between the great and the good. Importantly, Kuo lets the odd moment of peculiar editing affect an otherwise slick kung-fu drama; the final twenty minutes in particular seems far too rushed in comparison to the majority of the film. Perhaps the pressure to mold this potentially epic movie into a convenient 90-minute chunk means that '18 Bronzemen' doesn't have the courage of its convictions and squanders its chance to be a landmark film. 'The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin' remains the seminal Shaolin-training epic, but '18 Bronzemen' has much to help it stand out from the crowd and is by all means a recommendation.

The plot is a pretty basic revenge story but that isn't really much of a concern as there is enough going on to keep the viewer interested. The focus here is really on the fighting, of which there is plenty.

A young boy, who's parents have apparently died in unfortunate circumstances (a flood), is left in the care of Shaolin temple. The real story is that the boy is the son of a Ming general who has been killed by the invading Manchus. The film then moves on eighteen years and the young boy, Shao Lung, has grown up (and is played by Tien Peng). Deciding that he must avenge his father's death Shao Lung asks permission to leave the temple but before he is allowed to go he must prove himself worthy by passing the test of the 18 Bronzemen. He is joined by fellow class mate Wan Tai Chun (Carter Wong) and the two enter the chambers of the 18 Bronzemen. In each chamber they are faced by a different challenge which includes bronze painted men wielding staffs and swords or who are completely dressed in iron armour.

The training and tests take up the major part of the film and certainly seems to be where most of the budget went as it shot entirely within effective studio sets. The fighting is brilliantly choreographed and both Carter Wong and Tien Peng put in excellent performances. Tien Peng's staff fight against three bronze men is a standout moment as is Carter Wong's stunning battle against 3 bronze swordsmen. This just goes to show how skilled a fight choreographer Chan Siu Pang was even in earlier works such as this.

Eventually the two pass the tests and win their freedom. In the outside world they meet Polly Shang Kwan who's past is linked to Shao Lung's. After a couple of attempts on Shao Lung's life (his enemies obviously anticipating an act of revenge) the three go on the offensive against the Manchu general that killed Shao Lung's father.

This end sequence really struggles to match the intensity of the battles seen earlier in the film but is still worthwhile. I've not seen many of Polly Shang Kwan's films (actually only one, 'the Traitorous', comes to mind) but her performance in this does make me eager to see more. Apparently a black belt in Judo, Karate and Taekwando, Polly certainly comes across well in her screen fights in this film.

The final fight scene did confuse me a little as there seemed to be a massive continuity error. One minute they're fighting in street set, in the very next shot they're somewhere in the countryside. That's my only very slight niggle in this otherwise excellent film. The final showdown is an intricate three on one battle that in any other movie would have been outstanding, here it is dwarfed by the 18 Bronzemen sequences.

An unmissable film and a genre classic that should be in every kung fu film fan's collection.