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Just caught this again on El Rey Network
It was great to see it again. I had forgotten what an exemplary Shaw Bros flick this is. It's such a freaking hilarious film - the bridal chamber stuff and Pai Mei's killing move is over the top. And Chen Kuan-tai's fight up the temple staircase is fantastic. Such Kung Fu!
I'm starting to really get into El Rey. Flying Five Finger One Armed Eight Pole Shaolin Exploding Death Touch Thursdays ROCK! <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.elreynetwork.com/#/vault/kung-fu">http://www.elreynetwork.com/#/vault/kung-fu</a><!-- m -->
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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I ride with El Rey.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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This sequel features the mighty Gordon Liu again, and Lo Lieh is just THE BOSS with his villainous Kung Fu skills SPOILER of course, his Bak Mei character died in the previous film, but this is his doppleganger brother who is exactly the same in every wayEND SPOILER. It uses many of the same locations, including that temple staircase. In a stereotypic try-2-take-revenge>get-ass-kicked>train-more>try-2-take-revenge-again>get-ass-kicked-again>train-even-more plot, Liu learns wimmen's kung fu and spars against paper men, both of which allow for him to show off his hammy Kung Fu comedy skills, particularly when fighting like a woman. He gets his comedy-relief buddy to be his punching bag, dressing him up in weird paper props to practice the special Kung Fu techniques he is developing between revenge attempts. Kara Hui turns in a fine performance as the pregnant Kung Fu hottie and then the wimmen's Kung Fu master. There is also a wushu character, played by Yeung Jing-Jing and named Ching-Ching. It's weird but I kept hearing my own name there. But she does some early old-school Modern Wushu compulsory Changquan moves, which fit in quite nicely in this film and looks downright traditional alongside the Hung Gar influenced fight scenes of Liu. Gratuitous acupuncture (one acupuncture attack had me thinking quite fondly of dear brother LB) and some crippled fu. Major sword fights. There's some great eagle-eye camerawork (pre-drone obviously) and it showcases many magnificent Shaw Brothers' Lot set pieces.
El Rey has rekindled my luv of Shaw Brothers dubbing. It's one of those rare cases where the dubbed versions are as good, if not better, than a subbed version. The goofy voices really add to the entertainment value.
And I'm coming to respect Lo Lieh more and more. I always liked his stuff, but he's really standing out as amazing in the Flying Five Finger One Armed Eight Pole Shaolin Exploding Death Touch Thursdays.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
