JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Jonah Abbott
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
BA_Harrison
Chia-Hui Liu plays Liu-Yu De, an 18th century Chinese student who joins a group of rebels fighting against the tyrannical Qing dynasty. When the rebels are rounded up by General Yin and his men, Liu-Yu De barely escapes his village with his life; wounded and exhausted, he eventually makes his way to the Shaolin temple, where he becomes a monk known as San Te. After seven years, during which he becomes the temple's most outstanding pupil, San Te leaves, finding his way back to his village where he shows the Qing rulers a thing or two about kicking ass.As much as I love a training sequence in an old school martial arts movie, I do believe it is possible to have too much of a good thing; that's how I feel about The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which spends an inordinate amount of its lengthy running time focusing on San Te's schooling in kung fu. Crossing water on floating sticks, hitting reflecting wooden posts, watching an oscillating flame, head-butting sandbags, spinning metal discs with a stick, rolling heavy stone blocks, using a weight on a pole to bang a gong (get it on): what starts out as fun eventually feels like a challenge in itself.The film does benefit from a strong central performance from Chia-Hui Liu, who is a truly spectacular martial artist (his weapons work is particularly impressive), and boasts lavish sets and costumery, but with so-o-o-o-o much training, coupled with a familiar plot that delivers few surprises, this one didn't entertain me quite as much as I had hoped given its legendary status.I feel like a bit of a philistine giving such a highly regarded film the lowest rating amongst the reviewers here on IMDb, but I can't bring myself to give it any more than a 6.5/10 (rounded up to 7 for IMDb).
gavin6942
The anti-Ching patriots, under the guidance of Ho Kuang-han, have secretly set up their base in Canton, disguised as school masters. During a brutal Manchu attack, Lui manages to escape and devotes himself to learning the martial arts in order to seek revenge.I do not happen to watch a lot of "kung fu" or martial arts films. But from what I understand, the Shaw Brothers made the best and this was among the best of the best. I can believe that, because it really has a sharp look to it while still being full of butt-kicking goodness. Which, you know, is what we want.I wish I knew more about the genre so I could recognize the names involved. Beyond Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Donnie Yen, I just do not know the martial arts world very well. Perhaps it is something to look into and then re-visit this film.
Anssi Vartiainen
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin showcases that sometimes it is style over substance. Sometimes a mere training montage, usually a short five to ten minute segment in the middle, can be stretched out to cover almost the entirety of the whole film, while still remaining a good movie.The story is very simple. Liu Yude (Liu Chia-Hui, or Gordon Liu as he's known in the West) is a simple student, whose teacher is brutally murdered for his anti-government views. And thus Liu Yude begins his journey to learn kung fu and become the legendary martial artist San Te in order to have vengeance. The rest of the movie is almost entirely various training sequences the monks put him through.And it is awesome! Strange it may sound, but in this case it needs to be seen to be believed. All the various exercises are massively outlandish, each one more unbelievable after another. Everything from running over water floating on nothing but reefs to ringing bells with a eight feet stalk of bamboo to carrying water with swords strapped to your elbows. And more and more until you want nothing more than to see what torturous training method they come up with next.Plus, the actual martial arts fights are phenomenal, Gordon Liu shines brighter than any kung fu actor before or since, the sets, locations and soundtracks are all state of the art and as a whole it's just a fantastic sports slash martials arts movie. Definitely worth checking out.
dirtyharry167
I first came across this film when it was listed as number 1 on the total film best Kung Fu movies list. I then decided to watch it on viooz. overall its a very good film, I can understand its reputation as one of the best of its genre. as I understand the movie was released in the late 70s 1978. for its time its flawless and ahead of its time. the movie tells a story of revenge. the main character who finds himself in a village taken over by government forces. as a result of this knowing himself and his friends will not be able to stay calm under occupation join rebels. however the government end up killing the rebels his friends and family resulting in him fleeing to shaolin temple in order to learn Kung Fu in which he plans to use against the government forces in revenge for the deaths of his friends and family. overall for a kung Fu movie this is a well deserved classic.
