I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Some things I liked some I did not.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Classic 70's kung fu, Tarantino might have taken some of his ideas from flicks like this, even the Matrix franchises.The main actors starred in over a dozen films together, although this film has nothing to do with the 5 Deadly Venoms characters, it does not take away its entertainment value. I originally viewed it as "Mortal Combat", perhaps this film was incorrectly renamed "Return of..." due to the infamous video game.Directed by Chang Cheh, he showcased the talented skills each actor possessed, the training/fighting sequences with Philip Kwok (blinded) and Chiang Sheng (scholar maimed an idiot) displayed their "light skills" - acrobatics and incorporating weapons are amazing, Sun Chien (legs cut off) showed off kicks better than a Rockette, Lo Mang (rendered deaf-mute) demonstrated upper body strength training with multiple boxing bags.As an avid VenomBratPacker, I enjoyed "Return of..." aka "Mortal Combat" more than "5 Deadly Venoms".

I don't know why this is entitled, "Return of the Five Deadly Venoms". When I saw it, the title was "Crippled Avengers". I think some idiot mistakenly labeled it "Return..." because 5 of the six actors from "Venoms" is in it. Thing is, of those six characters, one of the guys playing a Venom is not in Crippled Avengers, so it's definitely not a return at all. Here are the "returnees" as I know them by their characters in Venoms: Toad, Scorpion, Lizard, Centipede and the Apprentice that was schooled in all 5 fighting styles.For anyone interested, this same group shows up in another movie I just saw called, "Killer Army". I really enjoyed this movie. The fight choreography I see in most action films today makes me want to hurl--seriously, it's pathetic and disgusting. I've been told the actors in these movies attended the same school Bruce Lee did--a theater school where they learned drama, acrobatics and swordplay.All of the scenes are shot on sound stages (which always gives films an otherworldly feel which I think boosts the audience's sense of fantasy.)It's a little 2-dimensional, but you have to remember the era. Besides, these films were stories about legends and folk heroes, so the lack of the dimension and the scenery lends it a storybook feel.This story is about justice. It's about how even when circumstances look bleakest, you still have the choice to turn your situation into something positive or negative. Watch this and compare the villains to the heroes. This is white-hat/black-hat storytelling at its most romantic.

Any serious fan knows this as either CRIPPLED AVENGERS or MORTAL COMBAT. We need to find some better artwork to associate the image more correctly. It's actually a pretty good film, featuring some amazing action sequences and everybody's favorite 70s visual tropes (zooms, extreme close-ups, etc.). It was recently re released on DVD as part of the Shaw Brothers collection. The plot's a classic with the four heroes all being crippled in one way or another by a Manchu (?) warlord, and the foursome learning to work together despite their handicaps to fight back. Faces and style will be familiar to fans of the 5 Deadly Venoms as it's by the same director and features much of the same cast.

"All in color, for a dime" - that's what comic books were said to offer in their "Golden Days", action and adventure impossible to perform in "real life", presented in a colorful, but inexpensive, format. Of course nowadays, comic books cost as much as movies, and actually more than "bargain basement" video, such as this re-release of the Shaw Bros. classic "Crippled Avengers".As I write this, "The Fantastic Four" is going into national release; it is hard to believe that Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee spent some 30 years trying to get that film made; and it will have cost millions of dollars; and it involves tons of computer-graphic effects; and it is being hyped "4 wall", as the ad-men say, i.e., in every possible media, as if it were the new "Gone With the Wind"; when, after all, it is only a childhood fantasy, however entertaining.Fortunately, by the time he began making the "Venom" ensemble pictures, famed Hong Kong director Chang Cheh had learned to stop taking such films all that seriously. While the production values of this film are quite good for their day, Chang Cheh is not intent on making a classic here. He merely wants to make a colorful comic book of a movie suggested by Chinese folk legends, allowing the Venom actors (most of whom had actually trained in dance and acrobatics) a chance to show off their athletic talents. And just to be on the safe side, he placed at the center of the film Chen Tai Kwan, a classically trained martial artist who had also developed considerable skill as an actor. His presence adds credibility to what, after all, is itself a childhood fantasy.For its kind, for its day, this is an exceptional bit of genre fluff; and one has to mention the creative charge brought to this film by a performance ensemble in its prime, and in which everyone is clearly having a great time providing their audience with a great time. This film is just dam' fun to watch, and more than once! One loves these characters, despite the occasional bit of ham, and I repeatedly find myself in awe at the acrobatics of the concluding fight sequence, even though I have seen similar, & more spectacular, feats performed live (i.e., w/o the aid of editing) at a circus. I suppose that's partly because the actors rely as little on the editing as possible, and the director insists on getting as much on film in single takes as possible, and wisely shoots the fights in full-shot, so we can watch these bodies move with as much grace as the actors can conjure. But it's also because all involved are asking their audience to set aside adult judgments on their performance and simply enjoy a well-rehearsed and directed bit of old-fashioned Chinese-style showmanship. When people say "they don't make them like they used to", this is the kind of film they're talking about. A genre-defining moment in the history of "old-school" kung fu films, this film was frequently imitated, and never bettered.