So, my choice for the evening was Shaolin & Wu Tang. Like others, my knowledge of both of these came from early 90’s rap music. Yeah, I loved the Wu Tang Clan. Not only were they “nuthin to fuck with,” but they breathed a breath of fresh air into the genre, which was dominated by gangsta rap (which I love too), but also accompanied by pro-black rap, party/corny rap, and conscious rap. Granted, I’d seen some Bruce Lee flicks prior to this, and even The Last Dragon (a classic), but Wu Tang opened up a whole new world of cinema for me, that being true martial arts movies filmed in their native land.
Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore martial arts fan, since after a while they start getting muddled and redundant, but I am a fan of several of the early Gordon Liu flicks (he’s featured in this one), some old Sonny Chiba, Bruce Lee for sure, and even some of the newer fantasy-style ones (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Curse of the Golden Flower, Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters), but only a few really stand out in my memory (Born Invincible, Enter the Dragon), so that’s what I compare them to.
It’s pretty clear from the jump that Xenon Films didn’t spend any money remastering this. First of all, the film is grainy, the audio is shoddy, and it’s presented in fullscreen, which limits the picture (and action) and also cuts off most of the subtitles. But, to it’s credit, the film is dubbed. Not that I like dubbing, but if I can’t read the subtitles, then a dub track better be present. So, I watched this with both dubbing and subtitles, which was quite humorous, since neither really matched up.
So, basically, this movie is about the Shaolin (shadow boxing) vs. the Wu Tang (sword style), with Gordon Liu representing Shaolin. And, even though the two camps are cordial to one another, there’s still an unspoken rivalry between them, or merely an ideology of which style is more dominant, which the Lord (not Jesus Christ) wants to learn in order to be unstoppable. But, neither master are willing to give up the secret to their art, so the Lord poisons the Wu Tang master, blames it on the Shaolin, and Fung Wu (the master' s protégé), accidentally finishes him off with a sword (a plan devised by the master to take him out of his misery). And, since Fung’s unwilling to give up the secret too, he’s jailed for his master's death.
While there, he meets a woman who helps him out, and with the help of his friend, Gordon Liu, who infiltrates the prison guards, she nurses him back to health, learns both fighting styles, and is able to free him. But, after an outnumbered fight, Fung gets recaptured and re-incarcerated, Gordon’s sister gets killed, which is blamed on the Wu Tang, and so, Gordon seeks further training from the Shaolin monks in order to get revenge. Can’t you see where this is going?
In order for the Lord to reign supreme, he stages a fight between both camps, represented by Liu and Wu, in hopes that they will kill each other. But, his plan goes awry, as they use their skills (and each other’s) against him, while his sister (the chick from the jail who helped them) mediates the battle. In the end, Shaolin and Wu Tang are merley one in the same, and it’s a happy ending. Hoo-rah!
The greatest thing about this movie is that it is the original source for many of the quotes on Wu Tang Clan’s songs. Such as, “If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu Tang could be dangerous…” But, despite the crummy audio and picture, this was still enjoyable, and during the ending credits, it was confirmed that this was sourced from a VHS (scrolling fuzzy lines like VHS does when it gets worn out). Come to think of it, I have a whole bag of old martial arts tapes like this packed away that I bought for $1 a piece. Maybe I should blow the dust off the old VCR and have a kung-fu movie madness, minus one David Carradine though (R.I.P. Grasshopper). I’ll ponder it, but I know my girlfriend won’t go for it.
Watch it, love it, hate it, I don’t really care, but don’t front on the Wu Tang Clan for making you curious about it.
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OVERALL RATING--3-- |
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