Tai ji ba jiao (1979) User Reviews

Folkloric Martial Arts/Crime Film

[mstomaso · 6/10 · 15 January 2008]

Shaolin Deadly Kicks offers a spaghetti western plot nicely adapted to the Martial Arts genre and a lot of well-choreographed and nicely filmed high-kicking action.

A group of hardened criminals have stolen a treasure map in a widely publicized attack on a temple. To prevent their capture, they divide the map into eight pieces and agree to regroup in three years to locate the treasure. However, before they can do this, Tao-liang Tan shows up with other plans. This young man begins methodically taking out each member of the gang, until he meets his own weakness - which ironically turns out to be the Achilles heal of the gang-leader as well.

Despite some of the opinions expressed here on IMDb, Shaolin Deadly Kicks' plot is actually quite strong for the genre. Unlike many martial arts films, SDK does not wander aimlessly and none of the scenes come across as simple excuses for violence. The voice-talent is typically mediocre, but the physical acting and evocation of the pan-southeast Asian cast compensates for it.

Loke many non-American martial arts films, Shaolin Deadly Kicks has a fantastic/folkloric feel. Though it may not appeal to the standard American audience, it will certainly satisfy the martial arts film enthusiast.

Exceptional martial arts action stifled by a story that often disappoints

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 17 May 2007]

NOTE: This review is for the English-dubbed version of this film. Like most 70s dubbed martial arts films, the film condition on DVD was questionable and a few of the voice actors were poor. The film in its original form might be a lot better and the terrible plot might actually make a lot more sense. So consider this as you read on...

I've seen quite a few older martial arts film lately and I was happy to see that the star of this picture, Tao-liang Tan, could actually do martial arts! So many times, the cheesier films of the genre feature sub-par fighting and it's obvious that the average REAL black belt in anything cold kick the hero's butt! All too often, kicks and punches don't come close to landing and the technique is poor. But, this is NOT the case here, as the hero has excellent kicking skills which he demonstrates again and again. So the action scenes are indeed excellent if you ignore the fact that his enemies line up and attack him one at a time (a typical fighting style in martial arts films--not seen in real life, though). BUT, the rest of the film is a real mixed bag--sometimes interesting and often pretty lame. In particular, the ending of the film just made no sense at all and was a major disappointment. I really feel like the film is missing something. It is worth while for lovers of the genre, but otherwise it's easy to skip.

A fairly undistinguished Hong Kong actioner

[Red-Barracuda · 4/10 · 10 September 2015]

A sacred treasure map is stolen by a group of thieves. They go underground and split the map into eight pieces between them all, agreeing to reconvene in three years and only then will they collectively seek out the treasure. Unfortunately for them, a kung fu fighting policemen pursues them and takes them out one by one.

Shaolin Deadly Kicks is a fairly typical Hong Kong action flick from back in the day. I quite liked the simple plot-line that set up a neat excuse for several martial arts encounters. Like most films of this type, the action scenes are pretty well delivered but it all gets a little monotonous after a while and by the end I was actively tired of it. There are some good things to be found here admittedly but it's ultimately one mainly for martial art nuts I reckon.

High-kicking hi-jinks with the great Mr. Tan!

[abentenjo · 14 April 2002]

Promising more boot than you could shake a kwan at, Flash Legs does almost everything it says on the tin: delivering the 'flash legs' of its title, Tan Tao Liang, in many high-kicking confrontations with the bootmaster showing off his whole repertoire of fancy leg work. The premise seems tedious enough - eight bandits are single-handedly bumped off by police chief Liang for stealing a sacred treasure map - and makes you wonder how it lasts the distance. It's probably got something to do with all those fight scenes, which fly in thick and fast in this relatively mediocre kung fu fest.

It could've been much, much better.

[themachomulatto · 3/10 · 20 January 2013]

A gang of masked thieves known as the Eight Dragons bust into a wealthy man's home and steal a map, leaving no witnesses alive. Once the deed is done, the leader decides that this ordeal has gotten way out of hand, and orders his men to each take one piece of the map and go into hiding for three years before they regroup and finally reap the rewards of their newly obtained treasure. Dorian Tan plays a cop who uses deceit, disguises, and finds himself in a compromising situations on more than one occasion as he tracks down each member and attempts to regain the stolen treasure. This premise sounds very promising but unfortunately the movie falls short.

The movie flows along and holds one's attention pretty well as Tan finds each of the thieves but each resulting confrontation is plainly unsatisfying. Huang Lung's fight choreography here is stale and just plain boring. While I can certainly appreciate Dorian Tan's impressive kicking ability there is simply too much emphasis put on it. All too often do we see Mr. Tan hopping around on and attacking his opponent with one leg, which is all fine and dandy, but results in his kicks looking like they have no power behind them. Punches suffer similarly due to the slow speed at which they tend to be delivered, which is actually a fault I found with the kicking as well. The fight scenes get a bit more interesting towards the end, but regardless, I can honestly say that I enjoyed Tan's performance vs Yang Sze and Jim Kelly in The Tattoo Connection more than any fight in SDK. Even the talents of Lo Lieh, Gam Gong, and that of some other recognizable HK cinema stars are wasted here. The final fight where Tan and Doris Lung take on Lo Lieh is also quite bland and the ending itself is abrupt and like the rest of the film, extremely unsatisfying.

The meticulous and well-orchestrated soundtrack by Chow Fook Leung is one of the high-points of this film and the only thing I really liked about it besides the inclusion of Miss Doris Lung Chun-Erh, who played the daughter of the Eight Dragons' leader. The English dub, acting, and directing are all fine and passable. Unfortunately, the action isn't, and for a movie of this type that is not acceptable. I would recommend this only to Flash Legs completists.

An interesting exercise in style, hampered by a story that makes no sense

[lemon_magic · 7/10 · 13 October 2007]

This was the first movie I watched out a recent purchase, the "Martial Arts Classics" 50 movie DVD collection. It was almost exactly what I was hoping for: a pure recreation of the "Kung Fu Theater" experience...with all that implies about the pros and cons of the form.

First of all, the hero actually had some acting talent and charisma. He was capable of conveying fairly complex emotions (for an old school Kung fu flick) and he had that all important ability to let you see what the character is thinking. So many actors just try to radiate an attitude and think their work is done...but this guy was able to "be in the moment" in the non-action scenes.

Second, the fight choreography was pretty good. Everyone jumped and kicked and punched with admirable energy and conviction, and the so called "Deadly Kicks" were quite impressive. You could actually sort of believe that a person who could kick that fast and accurately might actually be able to fight that way (it worked for Bill Wallace, after all). The fight choreographers used the "Flash legs" gimmick a lot, but they didn't over use it to the point of laugh- ability or boredom, and the hero had to work hard to win his fights - he even lost a couple!

The dubbing was average for a movie of this sort, but it didn't actively suck so much as to detract from the movie. I've heard a lot worse.

The weakest part was the story arc. It just sort of seemed to lose focus as the hero's quest to retrieve eight parts of a stolen map from the eight outlaws who took it progressed...although there was an enjoyable complication about 2/3rd of the way through where the hero is nursed back to health by the (adopted?) daughter of one of the thieves.

A lot of the character's action and decisions made very little sense (at least to my modern American sensibility) and the final climactic scene just stops short, like a Roadrunner cartoon instead of a movie, as if the director just ran out of money or time, or both.

Still, there was a lot to like about "Deadly Kicks Of Shaolin" and I'm glad it was included in this pack so I got to watch it.

Room for Improvement

[doctorsmoothlove · 3/10 · 28 September 2020]

"Shaolin Deadly Kicks" is one of many commonly found martial arts films in DVD multipacks (at least in the United States). At least the name is good. I found this one on Mill Creek's Martial Arts Masters pack.

This one stars Tao-Liang Tan who was a martial arts instructor specializing in kicking. He defeats most of his foes by kicking them repeatedly. The result is that the fights end up being rather dull in which the same attacks are shown over and over. It becomes tiresome.

The plot is something out of a spaghetti western. Seven thieves steal a map which they divide into pieces with each of them keeping one. The decide to bury the treasure the map describes so they can retrieve it later.

Tan plays a police officer looking for the treasure as part of an investigation. He has a secondary motivation we don't recall. The mundane nature of his motivation strips the film of any real involvement by us as audience.

The result is a film that feels like a series of shorts edited together for a feature release. A better plot and more diverse fighting techniques would have really helped.

Bummer

[InjunNose · 4/10 · 5 October 2020]

From the hackneyed plot to the mediocre fight choreography, "Shaolin Deadly Kicks" (aka "The Flash Legs") is a typical low-budget Taiwanese martial arts flick. There's a treasure map that's been cut into eight pieces by a gang of murderous thieves, a tediously righteous cop who pursues them, and various other clichés glued together into some vague semblance of a storyline. In the end, it's high-kicking Tan Tao-liang (the cop) and attractive Doris Lung versus Lo Lieh, who has a nasty facial scar and another one of those gimmicky weapons meant to underscore his status as the fearsome lead villain. (This time it's a hand-shaped hunk of metal that he swings around on a chain.)

Lots of fights, but they're as dull as they are numerous; the climactic battle is especially underwhelming, and that's the one thing I can't forgive in a martial arts film. This cast (which also includes Lung Fei, Tsai Hung and Kam Kang) deserved better.

Terrific Tan...

[poe426 · 9/10 · 6 December 2008]

When passing judgement on a movie (and let's not kid ourselves here: that's exactly what these comments are- judgements), it's vital that we factor in all the pertinent information. Like GENRE. There are givens in "kung fu movies." Story, for instance, isn't much of a consideration. Nor should it be: we don't line up to see these movies to be blown away by plot twists or long-winded monologues about the ethereal. We go see these movies to see Chinese gung fu (or, in this particular case, tae kwon do). The more, the better. And logic rarely rears its ugly head. Nor should it. SHAOLIN DEADLY KICKS features some spectacular kicking by Tao-Liang Tan. His left leg- like that of former full contact middleweight champion Bill Wallace- snaps back and forth like a striking snake, seemingly effortlessly. This makes for some great fight scenes. Tan also happens to be a pretty good actor (something that never hurts). Tired of WALKER, Texas RANGER? Check out SHAOLIN DEADLY KICKS. It kicks a whole lotta a**.