Shaolin: The Blood Mission

Super kicker Hwang Jang Lee is the main reason to check out this otherwise mediocre mid-'80s kung fu flick (that feels more like a product of the '70s). Lee plays General Yuen, the evil leader of Tiger Camp, who swears to destroy the remaining rebels who oppose the tyrannous Ching dynasty. In order to do so, he needs to find the other half of a book that names all of the dissidents.

Ten years pass, and General Yuen still hasn't found the missing pages; his superiors aren't happy bunnies. Yuen redoubles his efforts, his search eventually leading him to a Shaolin temple where the kindly monks are sheltering a pair of fugitives, and whose leader just happens to have the other half of the much sought after book hidden under his skin!

Hwang Jang Lee's superb leg techniques are definitely the star of the show, the performer kicking his way through countless monks in his quest to find the book. The fight scenes that don't feature Lee are okay, but nothing special. Apart from Lee's flashy footwork, the only other noteworthy things about the film are a bizarre chess game using real women as the pieces, the removal of the book from under the skin of the Buddhist master's back, and the blatant use of Bernard Herrmann's Psycho music.

Version: Hong Kong Connection DVD. Dub only.

Pretty typical kung-fu movie title? Check. A dubbed only version, on a cheaply manufactured DVD? Check. Bought for $10 from a rack containing other titles such as "Strike of Thunderkick Tiger" or "Invincible Obsessed Fighter"? Check.

All signs pointed a b-grade chopsocky movie. I was wrong.

The movie follows the story of a Shaolin temple protecting some revolutionaries from the evil Manchu dynasty. Not much, but better than most of the movies I found this with (see above). The fights are pretty awesome, and surprisingly enough, as another poster mentioned, there was some great scenery.

Overall, this is a pretty good kung-fu movie: 8/10

This movie is one of my favorites in foreign martial arts films. Everything was good from beginning to end. The dreaded General Yuen Fong, killing all the rebels who had the hardest of all times trying the other half of a book. It wasn't blood curdling when branded one the rebels who wouldn't give out the rebel leaders location. Chan, Wi Yin, the tall monk, and Lam Min were the strong fighters in the movie. Mei Lin, the chess piece in Fong's Demented game was also the factor to the monks in the battle against The Tiger Camp. She really packed a punch against Chan's favorite brother monks. Master Han, the leader picked up a good fight against Yuen. And Chan gave it his all against Yuen, and won. This movie dealt with a lot of sacrifice, and though a price was paid, best way to handle it is to keep fighting. A 10!

Like one of the other posters, I found this movie (and several others) as a cheap Hong Kong Connection DVD, and didn't really expect the movie to be more than a third-rate rip-off of some Bruce Lee movie.

However, I was very pleasantly surprised. In terms of style, acting and production values, this Korean movie is in league with the serious martial arts movies of the Hong Kong tradition (compared to which Bruce Lee's westernized movies are mostly incredibly dull and poorly produced, except for some of Bruce Lee's actual fight scenes), and it features lots and lots of quality kung fu performances, both in terms of training and actual fighting. It's beautiful to behold, and just the kind of thing kung fu fans look for in such a movie.

The story is relatively weak, but the actors are pretty good. Never a dull moment here. The English dubbing is pretty terrible (even by the usual standards of English dubbing), but you get used to it.

The ending is *very* abrupt and kind of "uh...", but, ultimately that's all part of the charm!

A very good Shaolin effort from the Korean production team! If you're into kung fu movies, this is a movie you'll want to watch over and over for the beautiful moves.

Thus, for the top-notch quality fighting, this movie earns from me a rating of 8 out of 10.

The General of the local government is sent out to find the second half of a sacred book that lists the names of revolutionaries in the territory. His search leads him eventually to a Shaolin Temple where the Monks eventually fight the government to protect 2 revolutionaries seeking the temple as a hideout.

It's a story thats been told before. But it is still worth watching. Lots of action. Some cool elements that I wont ruin for you. (Like WHERE the secret book is hidden.) As well as side stories as to the main Monk's relation to some of his pupils. Friendship between certain Monks, as well as between the 2 hiding revolutionaries.

I saw this back in 7th grade and loved it. But to the casual viewer it may be nothing special.