Born Invincible - 太极气功 (1978) PLUS ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

36 Styles reaches it's final week and this entry I'm going to be looking at yet another cult classic among fans of old school Kung Fu Cinema and it is none other then Born Invincible. Directed and produced by Joseph Kuo and featuring fight choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping, Born Invincible is a Taiwanese production (Often mistaken as a Hong Kong production) that combines competent story telling and some simply terrific action. It also features the popular "Silver Fox" a character archetype who practices a certain martial arts style and has become so proficient their hair turns white and their body becomes impervious to any sort of attack except they have one weak spot which must be located and exploited if their opponent hopes to defeat them.  

the character has featured in numerous Kung Fu films and has been played by the likes of Hwang Jang Lee, Chan Sing and Lo Lieh. it's with a lot of excitement that I get to review this one because it's a film I've wanted to review for a long time.

When the students of a martial arts schooled intervene during an assault of an old man and his daughter, the masters of the thugs responsible turn up at the school. After killing both the school's master and the old man, the students take a vow to train hard and hope to avenge their fallen teacher.

The first thing that struck me about Born Invincible was the story. While in terms of the plot it was seen-it-all-before type stuff, it was told in a very competent and very well plotted way. There's no scenes that take place that serve no purpose and every story point is hit at the right time and at the right place. Usually one would have to find a Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest film for this kind of thing but it's wonderful that an independently produced film can actually have something going for it other than the martial arts action. I thoroughly enjoyed the story here and thought it was one of the film's more stronger elements. I suppose this could be put down to the fact that Joseph Kuo was the director. Kuo was a very prolific independent director and producer who gave us such old school titles as The Seven Grandmasters, 18 Bronzemen and The 36 Deadly Styles. Those are some of the more better made and infinitely more watchable indy films made during that era so it doesn't come as a surprise that Born Invincible maintains the same level of quality.

The interesting thing about Born Invincible as that there doesn't seem to be a single protagonist through out. Each time a character steps forward that looks like they are the lead they end up being bumped off and then the film focuses on another character. I liked this aspect of the story because it actually builds Carter Wong (who plays the main villain) as a credible threat and makes the final confrontation between hero and villain in the final reel all the more exciting to watch. Another thing that caught me off guard was how good the acting is among most of the cast. Lung Fei appears in the earlier part of the film as the martial arts school Master and he actually delivers a very good and believable performance and found myself actually caring about this character when he walked into battle with Carter's character. The Old Man played by an actor

Su Chen-Ping puts a lot of effort into his performance so when both he and the master are killed you really feel for the loss of the other characters.

Brothers Jack Long and Mark Long also feature as two of the leads. Both of them show they could be decent actors when given good material to work with and they also get to do a lot of action. Jack Long especially has two stand out fights against Lo Lieh. Everyone who knows their Kung Fu movies will be more then familiar with who that is. After all he did star in one of the most well known Kung Fu movies ever made, King Boxer AKA Five Fingers of Death. I liked these fights especially as Lo uses as a baton with lots of hidden blades to give that extra advantage whenever he fights anyone with bladed weaponry. I love it when a martial arts movie breaks out with the creative weapons such as this as it shows some real imagination was put into it.

I think that's one of the main attractions that makes Born Invincible so popular among fans of the genre. There is a ton of fighting here and all of it is very high quality. I think you would expect nothing less given Yuen Woo-Ping directed them. The first major clash that sees two killers played by Sunny Yuen and Corey Yuen respectively against some stunt guys has the two of them work in tandem with each other and has a very Peking Opera flavour to it which I really liked. The exchanges of technique and weapons movement is something you would expect to see in a final reel fight and not the opening bout and shows that Sifu Woo-Ping will always be regarded among fans as one of the best choreographers to ever work in the genre. I've yet to find a film he was involved with during the 1970s where I thought his fights were lacking or in any way sloppy. I think it's wonderful he's still active in the industry today and hope that he gets to direct another film as it's been a long time since True Legend came out and I haven't seen a traditional Kung Fu film made since that was as immensely satisfying or memorable.

The choreography is very weapons heavy for the most part. Which is good as Woo-Ping knows how to put together a good fight involving props. Sunny and Corey gets some really good fights in, even if they're wearing silly wigs on their heads. They have a tremendous fight with another actor called Alan Chui. Their exchanges of technique are flawless and it leaves wanting to see more which we fortunately do. Chui in particular uses some excellent sword styles. Chui is a stuntman/actor/action director and has been responsible for some of the action seen in titles like Rebellious Reign, Chinese Ghost Story and The Killer. The fact we have such people in the film leads me to believe this is why the fights look as good as they do. You essentially have Woo-Ping and his brother Sunny, Corey and also Alan. Four men who know how to put together excellent fighting so it would to be hard to believe that these talented individuals would give the audience anything that would be considered terrible.

You'll notice I haven't commented on Carter Wong yet. That's because I wanted to dedicate this part of the review to him. Carter Wong for lack of a better word is simply brilliant in this. His performance as the evil Tai Chi Master is so good and he delivers some of the best fight scenes in his career. It's easy to see why Body Invincible is regarded as one of his best films. He has a lot of fights in this and each one features some excellent choreography. He has a great fight with Jack Long in the latter part of the film. His movements don't seem to be based on traditional Tai Chi, it seems the style doesn't really work when it comes to film fighting so it looks like Woo-Ping and co had to come up with a style that would work and just call it Tai Chi. He's also quite intimidating. 

Carter had a look that suited him more as a bad guy then a good guy. I mean, come on, remember Big Trouble in Little China? Exactly, Carter is straight up gangster in this and he delivers some tremendous action. His final fight against Mark Long is great as well. Mark uses a lot of acrobatic techniques to try and locate Carter's weak point. Meanwhile Carter stands there taking hits and gives that really scary death stare. If you like your fights fast, furious, acrobatic and heavy on punching then you'll love what Born Invincible has to offer. 

Born Invincible is a fantastic entry into such a rich and varied genre and if you haven't seen it, you need to. 

To finish off what has been an incredibly fun event month for me, I present you the opportunity to win a brand spanking new 36 STYLES shirt inspired by this wonderful film.

All you have to do is send me an e-mail at chopsticksonfire@hotmail.co.uk with your name, address and shirt size. The closing date is Saturday August 4th, any entries received after that date will be ineligable. The winner will be selected at random and announced the following day. However if you don't feel so lucky then the shirt can be purchased HERE

So ends 36 STYLES SEASON. For me it's been a wonderful time and has given me an excellent opportunity to talk about movies that really are classics. Thanks for taking the time to read my reviews, I hope you liked them. Keep checking back for more reviews, articles, columns and retrospectives right here on Chopsticks On Fire.

Shaolin vs Lama - 少林斗喇嘛 (1983)

It's time for week three in the 36 Styles Season and today we're going to taking a look at the hardcore classic that is Shaolin vs Lama. If you're fairly new to kung fu cinema and haven't heard of Shaolin vs Lama, don't worry. It's a fairly obscure title to new comers and is popular among some of the more hardcore fans of martial arts cinema. It's a Taiwanese production as opposed to Hong Kong but is often misidentified as such. This is a very common mistake as Taiwanese productions did often feature Hong Kong talent so telling them apart can be tricky. 

The thing that gives away the fact it is a Taiwanese production is it's star Alexander Lo Rei, himself a Taiwanese native. Lo Rei was an action star who appeared in many, many low budget independent films and Shaolin vs Lama is considered by many to be one of his best. Having seen it, I can easily understand why. With it's combination of efficient story telling and surprisingly good fight choreography, Shaolin vs Lama is well worth your time.

Lo Rei is Yu-Tin, a wandering kung fu expert who seeks out masters of different fighting styles in hopes of learning new techniques and finding a master who can turn him into the ultimate fighter. One day he saves a young Shaolin Monk, Hsu Shi (William Yen) ffrom being beaten. Yu-Tin persuades the novice monk to take him to Shaolin Temple so that he can improve his Kung Fu. The rest of the monks do not like him being there and he is promptly discharged from the monastery. Suddenly a former monk appears (Chen Shan) who now practices the Tibetan Lamanistic arts and hopes to wipe out the Shaolin for good.

Shaolin vs Lama isn't anything special when it comes to the story. If you've read my reviews when it comes to old school fight flicks, I often mention the story is very by the numbers. Shaolin vs Lama does nothing to try and buck this trend in any way shape or form. Classic stories of good guys vs bad guys are the oldest stories ever told. For good reason too. They're simple and easy to tell. So if you're a low budget movie producer and you don't have the time or money to work on a complex story with three dimensional characters and with a well told narrative then you go with what you can do within your limitations and choose a story that can be told given the resources available. So I tend not to hold that against a movie. After all, if I wanted to see a different story with each Kung Fu movie I watched then I don't think I'd be a fan of genre at all.

In fact, it's the unoriginal story that helps the film as it allows it to flow at a very quick and easy to follow pace and makes the film all the more watchable and ultimately more enjoyable. The cast is pretty good too. Lo Rei shows he was a competent leading man and it's a wonder he wasn't a bigger star. Had he been able to work with some of the bigger names in the industry he could have gotten the recognition he deserved. As it is though, Lo Rei is just one of many actors that never hit it big for one reason or another but he does have legacy that he should be proud of and celebrated. He wasn't a terrible actor by any means and he could do lots of good looking and varied action. I do have some of his other films on DVD so after watching this I feel compelled to check them out.

The rest of the cast are quite good as well. William Yen as the young monk gets some nice little moments of acting as well as showing off his skills as a screen fighter. He doesn't get much to do but what he does show is very good. The other cast members I don't want to talk about except Chen Shan as the main villian. He's a Taiwanese native much like Lo Rei and is an expert in Tae Kwon Do. He made a number of films over a twenty year career but many fans say that Shaolin vs Lama is the best that he's done. He makes for a good bad guy. He's sufficiently mean looking and has some absolutely cracking fight scenes.

That's another thing. There was a lot more action in this then I was expecting. You would think I'd be used to that sort of thing but it still surprises me when certain films have a lot more action then I expect. Also, the choreography is damn good. A lot of independent films had very mediocre choreography. It was very stiff, slow and boring but there's none of that here. They were put together by someone called Peng Kang who did the action on films such as The Chinese Stunt Man and Life of Ninja. He has a very fast, frantic style to his fights and seems to favor punching combinations but he does throw in a few kicks but he does seem to favor a lot of grappling moves, there's even a couple techniques I'm almost certain seemed to have been slightly modified from professional wrestling.

There wasn't a single fight I didn't like during the entire run time. I could go into detail about them all but that would take far too much time. One which I will talk about is a scene that see's Yu-Tin's Shaolin Master go up against Chen Shan. There's some really fast exchanges and lots of acrobatic leaping. It's also the first scenes which sees Chen use the Shadow Boxing Style. It seems to be a style crafted specifically for the film and derives movements from Drunken Boxing and Mantis Style. It's a very unorthodox form but looks good on screen and allows Chen to show off his skills. I liked this scene because the impact of the moves looked extremely painful giving the fights a very brutal edge to them I didn't expect. As I watched it I couldn't help but be reminded of Jet Li's Shaolin Temple. Not only was the familiar look but the choreography of that film had a very similar feel to it. I find it interesting that Hong Kong weren't the only country capable of doing tremendous action scenes.

There's also the jaw-dropping finale which has Lo Rei fight Chen Shan in a one on one duel. I loved this fight, it was so insane. The choreography was absolutely perfect and it showed that a lot of hard work went into it. Both fighters push themselves to show they are good at what they do. Another neat little idea is when Lo Rei busts out the Buddha Finger technique which has the practitioner use the knuckle of their middle finger to give their punches extra impact and allow Lo Rei to find Chen's weak spot. That sort of thing was always coming up in films like this and it does give the fight just that little bit more brutality whenever a hit is landed.

Shaolin vs Lama is yet another must see in the canon of martial arts cinema. It's not hard to track down and can be found at a fairly cheap price so picking it up should be a no brainer to you at all. With it's simple story and excellent fight choreography I urge you to try and see this as soon as you can.

36 STYLES offers two different designs inspired by the film so if you want a spiffy looking shirt to go with the film then click HERE and HERE

That's all for this week. Come back next time when 36 Styles Season will be coming to a close and I'll be reviewing a film that I can't wait to talk about, it is of course, Born Invincible!

Master of the Flying Guillotine - 獨臂拳王大破血滴子 (1976) PLUS FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY!

It's now time for what you've all been waiting for. 36 Styles Season has officially begun and to start off with I'll be reviewing what is considered by many to be an all out classic in every sense of the word. It is of course Jimmy Wang Yu's 1976 Old School Kung Fu fight fest that is Master of the Flying Guillotine!

A sequel to Wang Yu's earlier film One Armed Boxer (Though you don't need to have seen it to follow the story) Wang Yu returns as the solodextrous Kung Fu master who is busy teaching at his own martial arts school when a blind monk(Kam Kong) appears armed with the titular flying guillotine and holds a grudge against our hero who had killed his two best students in the previous film.

First of all let me start by saying I've been itching to write a review for this for a long time. The DVD has been sitting on my desk waiting patiently to be watched and I'm glad I finally gave myself the opportunity to revisit what is one of my favourite Kung Fu films of the 70's A lot of really good movies were made during that era and narrowing it down is never easy but this is a movie that has always had a place on my list, regardless of what other films I get to see. So it's with lots of energy and enthusiasm that I'm able to finally put my thoughts down into the written word and hope you enjoy reading the rest of my review.

Jimmy stars in what has to be one of the best films he's appeared in. Say what you will about the man himself  but you can not deny he has been a part of some great examples of Chinese Cinema. From his days at Shaw Brothers to his more turbulent days at Golden Harvest, Wang Yu is an actor who happens to be in films I've liked and was thrilled to see him duke it out with Donnie Yen in Peter Ho's brilliant Wu Xia. What he may have lacked in acting skills he more then made up for it in commitment. The way he fights in the many scenes within the run time show that while he may not have had the advanced skill set of people like Gordon Liu, he still tried hard to make himself look like a legitimate tough guy and his stoic acting works in his favour here.

The rest of the cast in terms of their acting is ultimately forgettable. They tend to let their fists and feet do their acting for them and I didn't mind that too much at all. It has to be said though, Kam Kong stole the show as the blind monk out to kill Wang Yu's character. While he didn't say much, he let his body language do the talking. The way he walks to how he moves his head when he's listening for his opponents next move shows that he's a lot more dangerous then he appears. Especially given the fact he carries with him a deadly weapon capable of ripping people' s heads cleaning from their bodies.

He also looks impressive swinging the guillotine around his head and ends up creating one of the most iconic images of classic Kung Fu Cinema. The film also tries to squeeze in as much action as it can handle. The film's main plot is stopped dead in it's tracks when Wang Yu attends a local martial arts tournament. This sequence features several fights with each combatant displaying a different fighting style. Familiar faces such as Lau Kar-Wing, Philip Kwok and Jimmy Lee appear briefly. Each fight have varying degrees of quality. Which is odd given Kar-Wing was the action director along with his brother Lau Kar-Leung. The highlight for me personally came from a fight between Jimmy Lee as a Tiger & Crane fighter going up against a Muay Thai fighter played by Sham Chin-Bo. Both fighters are constantly sizing each other up and are forced to continually change their strategy in order to gain the upper hand.

It made the fight look slightly more realistic and I would have loved to have seen that kind of approach taken with the rest of the fights but what we're left with is still entertaining as the different fighting styles of the combatants does allow the Lau brothers to be able to make each fight feel different and unique. It's a shame that in some of the more interesting looking match ups, the choreography comes off as a bit limp. The only explanation I can think of was a severe lack of time because given what both Lau brothers have done I find it hard to believe they would intentionally be this sloppy. Of course it could just be that the performers were incapable of doing what was demanded of them. Which is something you do tend to see on old Kung Fu movies.

Another memorable fight happens when Wang Yu goes one on one with an Indian Yoga expert played by Wong Wing-Sang. His character possesses the truly mad ability of being able to stretch his arms allowing him to be able to keep his body at a distance while being able land hits on his opponent. It's been noted this was what inspired the character of Dhalsim in the popular video game franchise Street Fighter. The choreography is a little awkward but given the actor had to work with prop arms it's totally understandable but we're left with an honest to goodness crazy fight scene that makes the film all the better.

Finally we reach the finale where Wang Yu finally takes on the Blind Monk. I loved this fight, as it's just a knock down, drag out straight up brawl with both actors tossing each other around. The most interesting aspect for me comes from how Wang Yu uses the environment as a way of trying to stay one step ahead of the Monk. There's a nicely done sequence in which he smashes bird cages and uses the panicking birds as a distraction which allows him to land a few hits. This makes sense as Wang Yu has to compensate for the fact he only has one arm and has to be extra careful, especially when constantly evading the flying guillotine.

Master of the Flying Guillotine is a film truly deserving of it's status among fans and if you haven't seen it yet, you owe yourself to track down a copy and watch it immediately as it's a film that reminds us why we love the martial arts genre with a passion.

Now it's time for me to announce the first ever Chopsticks On Fire Giveaway. Courtesy of SHAOLINCHAMBER36 one lucky reader will win this fantastic MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE shirt!

http://www.shaolinchamber36.com/master-of-the-flying-guillotine-t-shirt/

All you have to do is send an e-mail with your name, postal address, shirt size and desired colour (click the link below the image for colours available) and send it to chopsticksonfire@hotmail.co.uk. Closing date for entries will be Thursday July 12th, any entries received after that date will be ineligable. The lucky winner will be selected at random and announced the following day Friday July 13th when I will be posting my review. Good luck everyone check back next week when I'll be posting a review for Dance of the Drunk Mantis!