Well Deserved Praise

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

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.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Three kung fu experts (Feng Lu, Chiang Sheng, and Sun Chien) from the North Shaolin temple are summoned to train the Qing army, but must first prove themselves in a friendly fight against the current South Shaolin trainers. North wipe the floor with their cocksure opponents. Later that day, in a move designed to pit North vs South and destroy Shaolin once and for all, devious Qing General Pu (Wang Lung-wei) kills the shamed South Shaolin trainers, pinning the blame on the new arrivals from the North.On hearing of his students' deaths, the South Shaolin master sends three more of his men to exact revenge, but this time around, two of them are accidentally killed by the Northerners, the third injured fighter returning to his temple to relay the bad news. Realising that none of his students are good enough to beat the North Shaolin, the South Shaolin teacher picks three more men (played by Lo Mang, Kuo Chui and Pai Wei), each to train under a different kung fu master. Six months later, the trio leave to face the North Shaolin, even though both North and South now suspect that they are being manipulated.With the Five Venoms on top form, kung fu fans can rightfully expect some astonishing old school martial arts action in Chang Cheh's Invincible Shaolin, including an entertaining training sequence that shows off the impressive skills of Lo Mang, Kuo Chui and Pai Wei (Lo Mang does one finger press-ups with a large polystyrene rock placed on his back!!!) and a wonderfully bloody final battle that makes use of lots of red paint as North and South battle it out before joining forces to kick some well-deserving Qing butt. Be warned though, even though evil General Pu gets his comeuppance, it's not without several of the supposedly invincible Shaolin fighters also buying the farm (the Northern fighters dying in front of their helpless fiancées).

Three North Shaolin teachers (Lu Feng, Chang Sheng, and Sun Chien) are called on by the Manchus to teach their soldiers and are urged to challenge the current South Shaolin teachers. They defeat the South Shaolin teachers and, that night, the head general (Wang Lung Wei) kills the South Shaolin teachers and blames their death on the North Shaolin teachers.What does this film have going for it? For one, this is one of the few Venom films featuring Wei Pai (the Snake). And as another reviewer points out, "Sometimes dramatic and rarely violent, the action is carefully choreographed and edited for maximum visceral and emotional entertainment." Cinematography is key in kung fu movies, because it is all about the action and choreography... which is captured perfectly here.Another reviewer notes that this was made "while a drunken Jackie Chan was farting in people's faces and sticking frogs down his underpants." Indeed! Maybe the Shaw Brothers and Chang Cheh are not as respected as John Woo, looking back now it seems that their films are the more authentic -- and more fun -- martial arts films of the time.

The crafty General Pu (Wang Lung Wei) invites 3 Northern Shaolin kung fu practitioners, Bao (Lu Feng), Fang (Sun Chien) and Yang (Chiang Sheng) to his palatial estate to demonstrate their skills. He's ostensibly looking for someone to train his troops and he convinces our heroes to engage in a show of skill against 3 Southern Shaolin fighters. The Northerners easily best the 3 Southerners. Adding injury to insult, Pu secretly kills the 3 Southerners and lets the blame for their deaths fall on the 3 Northerners. Three MORE Southerners are dispatched to do battle with the Northerners and two of the three are inadvertently killed; the survivor returns to his Master, Mai, and it's decided that Wing Yu (Kuo Chui), Feng, and Zhu (Lo Meng), will undergo special training to overcome the Northerners. The school, Mai informs his students, will be shut down; the sole survivor of the second confrontation, feeling guilty, kills himself. Yu will be taught by Mai himself; Feng by Liang, "the Gardener," and Zhu by "the Woodcutter." Meanwhile, the 3 Northerners are planning to get married. The elderly Master Mai dies and it's time for the Big Showdown. It's interesting to see these particular actors pitted against one another (especially Kuo Chui against Chiang Sheng, though there ain't nothing' wrong with Lu Feng's hand-to-hand fight with Lo Meng nor Sun Chien's always spectacular kicking). INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN begins and ends with some solid action and there's enough training in between to keep things interesting. Another Chang Cheh classic.

When I saw the Unbeatable Dragon also known as Invincible Shaolin I was very impressed with the movie. There was a good story line to it and great acton sequences. With all my favorite guys in it. Chiang Sheng is my number 1 favorite in all the movies because he was the cutest. There where others but I will leave something to talk about next time. Sincerely, The Biggest Venom Fan Ever