Perfectly adorable

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Zhi Ming (Jet Li) weasels out of the north Shaolin temple to assassinate a despotic ruler at the ruler's extravagant public birthday celebration.This film is notable as the only collaboration between film director Lau Kar-leung and actor Jet Li. It is the third part of the successful Shaolin film series which began with "Shaolin Temple" (1982) and was followed by "Kids From Shaolin" (1984). Although it stars many Mainland actors from either or both predecessor films (Jet Li, Yu Chenghui, Yu Hai, Hu Jianqiang and Huang Qiuyan), "Martial Arts Of Shaolin" uses a Hong Kong production crew from Shaw Brothers Studio, in contrast to the other two films (which are Hong Kong-funded but are shot by a Mainland director with a Mainland crew).The production values, especially the set, are a dramatic improvement over the old Chang Cheh films. So, for that, the film is to be commended. But is there much new to offer? For me, not so much. Also, the movie really drives home the theme music. I like the idea of using the music over and over in different ways, but they seem to have used the same melody for almost 75% of the film, which is a bit obnoxious.

As for the other reviews, I think that they all got a point. But as for me, I'm a big fan of any traditional martial arts movies. And the martial arts movies of today got too much computer effects or do I need to say Wire Fu effects? Realistic fights are only viewable in old movies of movies with a low budget. I don't have a clue about the budget of this movie. But I can say that it's certainly entertaining. I can't agree more that a good movie must consist of some great soundtrack, good acting, a decent story etc. But heck, why would you watch this show for the story? Isn't a bit unreasonable to rate this movie for that aspect? None of the movies are perfect, so in this case the movie succeeds with the thing, that he's supposed to do. Yes, show us some realistic Shaolin Kung Fu.Check it, if you like martial arts fights with a simple story. If not, then please avoid this one and look something similar like "Hero".

This movie is a lot of fun. The story is simple but the martial arts presented is really worth seeing. A crew of masters was teamed up for this hit. And there is also this wonderful woman dancing at He Sao's birthday party - fantastic! Different than in his recent roles, where he is just keeping quite and looking cool all the time (which he does), Jet Li is allowed to show his talent as a actor in this film. His performance is very good. He brings this movie to life. The Kung Fu performances are (mostly) realistic and people who practice Kung Fu will tend to try some of the movements. They show different takes from the mantis.

Impressive Martial Arts does not necessarily make a good movie. Nan Bei Shao Lin proved to me to be a lousy film without any means to tell a intressting story, the lack of storyline and acting skills makes this film dive down to the bottom of my list over favorite jet lee films. Most of it felt more like a musical than a film, I guess it's only for the die hard Jet Lee fans only.