The 18 Bronzemen: Viewer Comments

As a rule, when a movie spawns several sequels and the box art on each video sequel is similar to the first film video box art, it stands to reason that the original was hugely popular. Such is the case here. This is the first of what were ultimately 4 "18 Bronzemen" films (Eighteen Bronzemen, Eighteen Bronzemen 2, Eighteen Bronzemen 3, Eighteen Bronzegirls). This legendary classic stars Carter Wong in what may be his signature role. Relatively simplistic, this movie introduces us to a labryinthe of bronzed expert challengers as the final test before completing Shaolin training. The mythology of the bronzemen is explored on multiple levels, including the theft of 18 demonstrative and instructive small bronze statuettes in various poses, representing secret strikes. The fighting is perhaps only slightly better than average, but the unique intruguing concept makes the movie worth watching and owning. This movie is probably for classic lovers only. I have seen all 4 installments of the Bronzemen. Somewhat out of keeping with typical kung fu movie-making practices, the sequel, Eighteen Bronzemen 2, actually retains the star Carter Wong and the director, Joseph Kuo, in what appears to be a conscious legitimate bigger and better extension of the first film. For these reasons, Bronzemen 2 is clearly the best of the lot, followed by Bronzemen 1, followed by Bronzemen 3, and much further down Eighteen Bronzegirls (a slightly campy ignorable Carter Wong-less spinoff). Final rating Eighteen Bronzemen 1 --- 3.5.