Director and martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping is best known to American audiences for transforming Laurence Fishburne and Keanu Reeves into kick-ass kung fu cyber-warriors in The Matrix, but this Hong Kong pro has ... more »been turning out some of the best fight scenes in Asian cinema since 1971. He directed Jackie Chan in his breakthrough hit Drunken Master and helped turn martial arts champion Jet Li into a screen legend by choreographing Once Upon a Time in China and Fist of Legend. By contrast his 1980 The Buddhist Fist is achingly old-fashioned, a familiar revenge film about a poor but stalwart small-town orphan who returns home from the big city to find a tangled mystery involving oodles of assassins and a criminal godfather known only as "Big Small Feet." The plot is secondary to the spectacle, a tight series of precise strike-and-pose sequences that were all the rage in the 1970s, slick and practiced but stiff compared to the fluid 1980s style. Stars Yuen Shunyi and Tsui Siu Ming have neither the charisma nor the grace of Jackie or Jet, but they do pull out some furious moves in flare-ups both grim and goofy, including a deadly dinner date that brings new meaning to the term food fight and an impressive climactic duel to the death. Chunks of the score were shamelessly ripped right out of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. --Sean Axmaker« less
IF YOU LIKE THE ORIGINAL KUNG-FU FLIX THIS ONE IS IT.
05/10/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"THIS MOVIE FEATURES SOME OF THE MOST ORIGINAL AND ELECTRIFYING KUNG-FU STYLES IN THE BUSINESS. IF YOU LIKE THE ORIGINAL STYLE KUNG FU MOVIES THIS IS NO DOUBT ONE YOU HAVE TO HAVE."
Buyers Beware!
D+10 | Seattle | 07/09/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a wonderful, classic Yuen Wo Ping movie. It even stars Yuen Shun Yi, the star of Yuen Wo Ping's original sequel to Jackie's "Drunken Master", the amazing "Dance of the Drunk Mantis". There is one, very large downside to this though, regardless of the accompanying info Tai Seng printed to describe this disc, THERE ARE NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES! Please buyers beware! I first learned this at a wonderful website that includes a synopsis of DVD quality for nearly every version of every Hong Kong DVD you could imagine. Please visit here before buying your next Hong Kong DVD. You will find that some Hong Kong DVDs are of excellent quality, but you will also find that some are of either bad quality, or are misadvertised. "The Buddhist Fist", although a wonderful movie, is unfortunately a prime example of the latter."
There is no reason not to like this movie!
scott | New York | 04/09/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Another great movie from the Yuen clan.This one has Tsui Siu Ming(who also co-directed) and Yuen Shun Yee(A.K.A. Yuen Hsin Yee) as two orphan friends who were trained in martial arts since they were very young.After being together for a long time,Shun Yee has to leave and work in a near by town.Siu Ming on the other hand stays at the monastery and is framed for rape and murder by a greedy shop owner(Li Hai Sheng),and forced to steal a giant jade buddha.When Shun Yee's stepfather overhears Siu Ming and the shop owner talking,he's caught and tortured by Siu Ming.When Shun Yee returns to the country,he goes on a search for his stepfather,eventually finding that the villian is his best friend,which leads to the final confrontation of friend vs. friend.This movie came out in 1980 at a time when the Yuen clan's choreography seemed to get better with each movie.A lot of familiar faces in this movie.Yuen Siu Tin,Yuen Cheung Yan,Yuen Chun Yeung,and Yuen Yat Chor all have cameo roles.It's too bad that Yuen Shun Yee wasn't a bigger star on screen.He was definately great as a villian in films such as Drunken Tai-Chi,Dreadnaught,and the Miracle Fighter films.But he also proved himself as a good guy in this film as well as Dance of the Drunk Mantis.He shows up every now and then in films and he still does a lot of choreography work.The last thing I saw him in was Iron Monkey as the righteous manchu soldier."
Great Kung Fu fighting style. Buy it and enjoy it now.
scott | 08/31/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Whenever you see "Yuen Woo Ping" (the director of this film) on ANY kung Fu movie, you should buy it without thinking too much. He is one of the best Kung Fu movie directors. I enjou all of his Fung Fu movies. Yuen's family's Kung Fu fighting style is quite unique and worth watching. This film will not disappoint you. Buy it now and enjoy the great Kung Fu fighting techniques. Another his best film worth watching is the "Secret Master" (story about Chinese legend Ho Yen Ka)."
Truely, one of the best...absolutely stunning !
John McCormack | Mahopac, NY United States | 12/16/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The plot and characters may take a back seat to the fighting but, my god, what action scenes ! They reminded me alot of "Iron Monkey" and "Matrix" and for good reason since the same guy choreographed the fight scenes in all three. I honestly have no idea how they pulled it off ; the moves are absoulutley supernatural , even when you take into consideration the minimal special effects. Really, I'm shocked its not more well known. You'll be hard-pressed to find a Martial art film that comes close to this firey gem."