Shaolin 2011

It's been a hot minute since I have had the time to really sit down and get into a flick so I could post a review. I finally got a free Saturday morning, so I decided to jump at the chance! My movie of choice this morning was Shaolin, also known as The New Shaolin Temple.

Shaolin, directed by Benny Chan, is an updated version of Jet Li's first movie, The Shaolin Temple. It stars Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers), Xing Yu (Ip Man, Flash Point, Kung Fu Hustle) and there is a special appearance by Jackie Chan.

Shaolin is set for U.S. release this September, but has been sitting in my entertainment center on DVD for a few month now, so I wanted to peep it and let y'all know my thoughts.

The movie is set in the warlord era of Early Republic China. Hou Jie (Lau) is the main character and the movie shows us his journey from greedy warmonger to righteous Shaolin monk. Hou Jie begins the movie as a ruthless warlord with his eyes on money, power and respect. Dude has his blinders on though because he doesn't see that his second in command, Cao Man (played perfectly by Nicholas Tse), is gunning for his number one spot. Cao Man tries to have Hou Jie taken out, and in the scuffle his daughter is wounded. Hou Jie goes to The Shaolin Temple out of desperation, hoping that they can save his daughter. She dies from her injuries, his wife leaves him, and dude's life is basically in shambles.

Hou Jie soon meets a cook monk named Wudao (Jackie Chan), who provides him food and shelter in his time of need. Feeling guilty of all the ill shit that he has done in the past, Hou Jie decides to devote his life to Shaolin. While at the temple, he learns Shaolin's principles through martial arts and he finds peace and is truly at one with himself.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Cao Man is into all types of shit. He has taken control of Hou Jie's army and is cahoots with foreigners. They are selling him weapons in return for Chinese artifacts. Cao Man is using the townspeople to slave and unearth these relics, and then killing them to keep his secret safe.

Cao Man soon finds out that his old leader is alive and in Shaolin, and leads his army to the temple to capture him. Hou Jie has a plot to distract his old boy while some of the other monks free the remaining imprisoned laborers. This eventually leads to Cao Man attacking the Shaolin with plans to destroy the sacred temple. Wudao is helping lead the refugees to safety, and is involved in one of the better fight scenes of the film.

Peep it here:

Hou Jie and Cao Man meet for a final battle, and Hou Jie is victorious, but he sacrifices himself to save Cao Man from a falling beam, and he eventually falls into a Buddha statue's palm for a peaceful death.

The surviving monks take out their remaining foes, but the Shaolin Temple is now in ruins. Wudao breaks it down that even though the Temple is gone, the Shaolin spirit inside of them.

Overall, I give Shaolin 4 out of 5 fists. I think it would have been a perfect 5 if there was a little more action, and if there more training scenes. I think the best part of any movie dealing with the Shaolin Temple is showing how these dudes go through all types of craziness to learn the ways of Shaolin. The training scenes in this movie were good, but could've been a lot better.

Regardless of that, the story was air tight and I think the performances by Andy Lau, Xing Yu, Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan were all on point.

Shaolin is a must see. If you can cop it at your local Kung Fu connect before it hits theaters in September, do it.

There weren't too many clips on YouTube so I am going to leave y'all with the Official Trailer for the movie.

Peace & Blessings for now,

The Sage


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Secret Rivals

It's been more than a minute since I posted a blog entry, and I'd like to thank this damn cold I currently am suffering from and my wife for bringing me back. The cold has me laid up on the couch, and my wife was nice enough to buy me 5 movies yesterday from my Martial Arts connect (thanks honey...I luh you woman!)

So I woke up this morning sick as shit, but also feeling like a kid on Christmas!!! I decided to go with Secret Rivals. I just finished reading the Rza's book The Tao of Wu for the third time, and The Abbott bigs up this movie as a classic. I don't remember seeing it as a kid, so I was especially excited when my wifey brought home parts I, II and II.

The plot of the movies is pretty basic, but interesting enough to hold your attention. Northern Leg (played excellently by John Liu) travels to Korea in search of the man who killed his parents. The person responsible is a feared martial arts expert known as Silver Fox (one of Hwang Jang Lee's first of many roles), who also is involved in the robbery game. This attracts the attention of a government law enforcer known as Southern Fist (Wong Tao), who is in town posing as a potential bodyguard for the King (who is in cahoots with Silver Fox).

The two heroes do not hit it off at first, since they are keeping their true intentions secret from each other. They are also pursuing the same woman, which complicates things even more. Eventually they realize that although they have tremendous fighting skills, alone they are no match for Silver Fox. In the final scene, Northern Leg and Southern Fist team up and work together to open up a first class can of whoop ass on their foe.

Here is a clip of the final fight scene:

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with Secret Rivals. Although the movie was released in 1976, the story and action have withstood the test of time. John Liu and Wong Tao do an excellent job as "rivals-turned-partners." Hwang Jang Lee also thoroughly impresses as the menacing villain Silver Fox. The score, like most martial arts films, sets the mood for each scene.

I give Secret Rivals 4 1/2 Fists. It is definitely the type of movie that I am glad is in my collection. I can't wait to watch parts II and III! You should be doing the same!!!

Peace & Blessings for now,

The Sage

P.S.---be sure to follow me on Twitter @KungFuTheater and you can e-mail me SaturdayMorningKungFu@Gmail.com

Also comments are appreciated, good or bad!! Let me know what you think!!!

Raekwon "Shaolin vs. Wu Tang"

It's been a minute since I posted something up here.....haven't had time to put up a full fledged review, so I decided to hit y'all with a video....Raekwon the Chef of The Wu Tang Clan is dropping a new album this Tuesday March 8th, so I wanted to give it some promotion because they are part of the reason this blog even exists....they definitley helped enhance my love and knowledge of martial arts cinema.....

Anyway....here is the video of the title track, "Shaolin vs. Wu Tang"......dope martial arts theme and animation going on in the video......I actually heard the album too and am interested in seeing who handled the bulk of the production because I love the way they sampled music from some martial arts movies.....

Here is another one of my favorite joints off the album......peep the ill sample...too lazy to do the research but I think it's from Ip Man....definitley from a martial arts flick though....

Drop me a comment here or on Twitter ( @KungFuTheater ) and tell me what you thought...go and cop Rae's album on Tuesday......support that real shit!!!

Peace & Blessings for now,

The Sage

Fighter in the Wind--- A South Korean Classic??

This week's review is on a 2004 Korean Martial Arts flick called Fighter in the Wind. Now I am usually biased to Chinese Martial Arts Cinema, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this film. For a movie to hold my attention, it has to have a solid storyline, great fight scenes, and a killer score, and Fighter in the Wind does not disappoint in any of those categories.

The story is a based on Choi Bae-dal, better known as his Japanese name Masutatsu Oyama, creator of the famous Kyokushin-Karate. Most of the movie deals with the struggles he faced as a Korean living in post-World War II Japan. Bae-dal goes from wanting to be a pilot in the military to trying to make a living on the streets of Japan, but he is always met with Japanese strong arms who take ever chance to beat and embarrass him.

While dealing with a bunch of sword yielding Yakuzas, Bae-dal is saved by Bum Su, a talented martial artist also from Korea. He forms a bond with him, and Bum Su eventually gives Bae-dal a copy of Musashi Miyamoto's "Book of 5 Rings," which details techniques on how to fight and survive.

Soon the Yakuzas come back for revenge and wind up killing Bum Su. Bae-dal eventually goes to the mountains for one of the coolest training sequences I have ever saw. Peep it here. The music is incredible in this scene:

When Bae-dal come back to civilization he has one goal in mind, to fuck up every single martial arts school in Japan! Dude was seriously on a mission! Peep as he enters a dojo and literally KICKS the shit out of everyone!!



Bae-dal is eventually reunited with Kato, a pompous military official who embarrassed him in the beginning of the film. Hearing how Bae-dal has been going to dojo after dojo and taking out master after master, Kato challenges him in what is a great final fight scene. Peep it here:




I was thoroughly impressed by Fighter in the Wind, so I give this movie a rating of 4 FISTS. As I said earlier, I am partial to martial arts films from China, having been disappointed by plenty of releases from Thailand (Ong Bak 2 and 3). But this movie had it all. The storyline was not a classic, but it was strong enough to keep me interested. The fight scenes were a lot better than I expected, making me want to research more films starring Yang Dong-guen, who played the role of Bae-dal. He was a solid actor, not over-dramatic, and I didn't see any wires helping out the choreography so that is always a plus in my book! Also, I personally always find the score can make or break a movie, and the melodic metal-type sounds found in Fighter in the Wind definitely do the scenes justice.

Do yourself a favor and rent/purchase/borrow Fighter in the Wind. You'll thank me later....

Peace & Blessings,

The Sage


Be sure to leave a comment, positive or negative....they are always welcome.....

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Kung Faux Clips

I'm not gonna front I slept on this show......Kung Faux was a comedy tv series which had classic kung fu flicks with voiceovers from hip hop aritsts....it was pretty funny....here are some clips for your viewing pleasure....