Once in a while it’s god to watch something really old and good. Watching old movies helps to understand better how far we came in the last few years. “Shao Lin san shi liu fang” (aka “36th Chamber of Shaolin”) is considered to be one of the first kung fu movies. It is as old as I am – dated back to 1978. It is a true classic which is still fun to watch even after so many years.
Directed by: Chia-Liang Liu
Genres: Action, Drama
Cast: Billy Chan, Lung Chan, Shen Chan, John Cheung, Wah Cheung, Nan Chiang
IMDB raintg: 8.1
My rating: 7.0 [rate 7.0]
By today’s standards the film is rather slow and tries to have too much of a story. Approximately half of the running time is spent on story and character development. But what gets lost in the first half of the film is paid in full in the second – when martial arts training and fights start. The kung fu training of the monk in the Shaolin is one of the longest that I’ve seen in the movies so far. And the overall level of martial arts is pretty high. Fights are exciting and choreography is outstanding. There are a lot of different weapons demonstrated and compared.
This movie makes me very nostalegstic about the old times…