The first student (Tony Leung Siu-Hung; no not the Tony Leung from Jet Li's "Hero") hooks up with a woman (played by Wong Mei-Mei) who makes bean curd (and happens to have her elderly blind father kung fu master living next door to her--a neat little side plot that goes nowhere but has some fun fu with 'eggs') and convinces her to become his teacher. Leung is probably the smoothest fu artist of the three students. He learns to focus his fights through his legs not arms/fists--the female teacher is a "boot-woman".

The second student (played by Ng Yuen-Jun) befriends a drunk-cripple (played by Han He) as his new teacher. The student uses the crane style he has learned from his new teacher to fight a dude he finds at his teacher's house (turns out to be a drunk friend of the teacher whom the teacher is using to "train" the student). Early in this particular fight (at approximately 72 minutes into the movie) the student strikes a "Daniel-san" pose that will make many familiar with the "Karate Kid" movies chuckle.

The third student (played by Austin Wai Tin-Chi) tries stealing dried fish from a fisherman (played by Jamie Luk Kim-Ming), who turns out to be a fu expert. The student asks the fisherman to teach him and the latter agrees to do so, but only if the student stays with him for two years (which of course the student agrees to, only to break his word later when he needs to return to town). This student learns to fight with a pole--comes in handy in the finale fight with Kwan, who sports a spear.

While the students are being taught new styles/techniques, the former teacher (Hau) takes up drinking and the sword, to master the drunken sword. Training sequences for the students and the former teacher are all good and fun to watch. Really none of the martial artists with any screen time are slouches in this flick, everyone is sharp and talented.

The finale pits the three students and their former teacher against Kwan (hence the "5 Super Fighters" title) in a fu extravaganza; starts out hand-to-hand and moves to weapons. Most of the fighting is between Kwan and the three students--the former teacher spends much of the time drinking and passing out. Eventually the teacher and Kwan go at it, followed by the gang-up and final blows of the movie.

Some of Lo Mar (director) and Lam Chiu's (cinematographer) camerawork is really innovative and creative as 70's fu flix go; some of point-of-view shots (e.g., a brief sequence early in the film where the viewers see Kwan Fung's punches coming at them from behind the right ear of one of the three young heroes of the movie he is fighting--very impressive and not oft done in that era) and slow motion/momentary motion stops to punctuate action were VERY effective.

All in all this is a solid 5 star flick in terms of old skool fu, with a 3 star plot, so a good 4.5 star flick. If you like old skool, pick this one up; you won't be disappointed.

The movie centers around three martial arts students and their master seeking revenge on a mysterious and very angry kung fu villian, played by Kwan Feng, who enjoys challenging and humiliating local kung fu masters.

The story gets interesting when the three students run away from their sifu after he loses face in a defeat to this traveling master of disaster. The students run away to learn better fighting skills in order to take revenge for their embarrased teacher.

The students eventually find masters to teach them various kung fu skills and now it's revenge time.

Hats off to action director Hsu Hsia and the always flawless Hau Chiu Sing. "Five Superfighters" is a very entertaing kung fu film.

In my opinion, any discussion of this movie's greatness begins with a mention of Hau Chiu Sing. This movie, in addition to "Snake Fist Vs. The Dragon", demonstrates once and for all that Hau Chiu Sing is the greatest onscreen practitioner of drunken kung fu ever. His virtuosity is simply a sight to behold; the drunken swordplay scenes may be the best put on film. His scenes alone would be enough to recommend this film.

However, this movie is more than just Hau Chiu Sing. The training and fighting scenes involving his three students are also excellent, particularly those involving the "kung fu corrector". The choreography of this film is so superb it reminds me of other classics such as "The Prodigal Son".

Furthermore, the comedic moments that accompany some of the training and fight sequences are actually funny, and the comedy is used sparingly and appropriately, unlike most of the oldschool films of this period, whose directors seemed to believe that grating non-stop slapstick was somehow appealing.

I highly recommend this gem to anyone. It is one of the all-time greats. A must-buy.

The premise is simple: a bad guy calling himself "The Kung Fu Corrector" wanders into town to, well, correct kung fu. As he does this, he manages to beat a trio of students' master, shaming him. The students each seek out new masters in order to perfect new styles and take revenge for their original teachers' loss. Trust me, it's a lot simpler than I made it sound.

It's your standard affair. Interesting training sequences, mild comedy and more than a fair share of fights. Unlike many conventional kung fu flicks, the action is where this gem excels. I can honestly say some of the best uses of spear and staff can be found in this movie. It's possibly THE best, bar "The Odd Couple." The empty-handed forms are lightning quick, powerful and incredibly enjoyable. There are moments that make this above par when it comes to kung fu movies. The addition of the teacher and his turning to drink is a nice addition to this standard tale.

Overall this is a ballistic, action packed outing. Comparisons have been made between this and "Monkey Kung Fu"; and while I think the latter is better, "Five Superfighters" more than holds its weight in a sea of wannabes and solid actioners.

Superb.

The lead villian, comes to town sporting a sign reading "the repairman of bad Kung Fu".

Of couse this starts fights galore for the offended schools and masters of the town, and it's not long before our young heroes and their master get their heads handed to them. This leads to shame for the master, and the students decide they will seek out new masters to learn additional styles and return in six months to gain revenge, and restore their teacher's faith. Even the master, not privey to the students plan, learns a new drunken technique, and is also better when the finale takes place.

This film seems as if it were written for the Venoms, and the guys here perform admiralbly. I feel it could have been better with the Venoms, however, the fights were still top Shaw quality.

Check out "Five Superfighters": 3.5 stars and good Bad Kung Fu.

What you think of Five Superfighters will largely depend on your opinion of Kung-Fu comedies. This also implies that you are a martial arts movie fan; Five Superfighters will not appeal to a viewer who doesn't like this genre.

Five Superfighters has a mixture of positive and negative aspects. The good: director Lo Mar is definitely influenced by Chang Cheh, especially in his cinematography. He loves to use the zoom, but at a slower speed. The comedy in the film is genuinely funny and entertaining; the scene with the student trying to steal eggs from a blind master is especially effective. The finale is like watching a Mexican wrestling match: lots of creative double- and triple-team manouvers. The bad: the soundtrack is pure cheese. Some of the selections are craptacular, and they distract your attention away from the story... The main villain is a one-dimensional Kung-Fu bully whose only function is to act as a foil for the main characters.

Overall, you may get a strong sense of deja-vu from watching Five Superfighters: the locations and scenery will look very familiar, the story will look very familiar, and the character development, such as it is, will look very familiar. What will stand out strongly is the choreography and the entertainment value.

In spite of its derivative nature, Five Superfighters has enough going for it to preach to the converted.