The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)

[Drunk Monk]

I've seen this one many times. I didn't watch it on El Rey again though. I've been so addicted to Shaw Brothers (thanks El Rey) that I dug it out of my DVD collection. It's still great. Classic Shaw. It retells the tale of the Brothers Yang (see Saving General Yang - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3071&p=18409&hilit=general+yang#p18409">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3071&p=18409&hilit=general+yang#p18409</a><!-- l --> and Legendary Amazons - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2447">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2447</a><!-- l -->) with Gordon Liu as the legendary 5th brother, which allows him take on the role he was best at - that of a warrior monk. While it's got some fine sword fights, it's the pole arm work that is outstanding. Multiple opponents going at it in complex scenes of pole arm mayhem. And speaking of mayhem, there's this whole dog theme - well, wolf actually, where there are wooden wolf dummies that need some dental work. Lots of caning canine canines. Dental fu. How to extract teeth with Iron Head. And the coffin pyramid for the finale fight - simply brilliant Shaw.

I remember the first time I heard the Yang Brothers myth. I was working on video scripts for Sifu Wing Lam and one of the Hung Gar staff forms was called 5th brother, 8 diagram. Sifu told me of the tale and mentioned this film, which I had seen but just didn't make the connection.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Does the word Shaw always need the modifier 'Classic'?

[Drunk Monk]

It's always so in the Kung Fu circles. All fans of the Shaw genre drop that superlative for any of the standout flix. I was trying to shift it over to 'vintage' for a while, this being part of my constant and completely futile effort to correct Kung Fu chinglish - broadsword is the worst one but that cannot be fixed at this point. I gave up on it.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Greg: Yes -- it is in the Kung Fu style guide

[Drunk Monk]

Watched this again just because... well, it's part of something I'm putting together for the Den, and I figured I'd have it on in the background while I wrote/dozed off. Didn't work. I became totally engrossed in it once more. 

A few things I overlooked in my earlier review here:

This was the final film of Alexander Fu Sheng, who died in a tragic car accident in mid production. That's why his story arc just evaporates at the end. It is his final performance.

Lar Kau Leung owns his cameo. His weapon work is always so on point, always an inspiration to watch.

Gordon Liu revisits his 'bust into the temple, be too violently bent on revenge to get accepted, get accepted for his determination, undergo weird training, wreck the weird training, leave the temple and exact revenge anyway, and earn a long robe' motif. I wonder how many times he's played this role...dozens maybe.

Kara Hui owns her role like always. She is such a badass when fighting and finds that sweet point between grace and brutality with such complexity that I'm awestruck once again.