Solimsa wangseo bang (1983) User Reviews

What?

[AwesomeWolf · 4/10 · 8 January 2005]

Version: 'Kung Fu Theatre' English dub

I've seen a lot of old kung-fu movies that didn't make much sense, but 'Mantis vs Falcon Claw' may take the cake. Half an hour in, and I still didn't understand what was happening, but everything nearly became clear at the end. Nearly. Awesome.

A silk-dealer and a Lord's daughter are traveling through China when they are stopped by bandits under the command of an evil-doer who uses the Falcon Claw style. The daughter is captured, and ransomed while the puny silk-dealer runs away and quickly learns Mantis kung-fu. Enter a girl looking for her brother and a guy who protects her. Apparently he could beat the Falcon Claw user easily, but for the sake of keeping an air of confusion, he seemingly forgets about his awesome kung-fu skills and gets captured. Now it is up to the puny silk-merchant to save the day.

'Mantis vs Falcon Claw' is a pretty amusing movie. A good way to spend less than 90 minutes if you like a plot which is a hole in itself, and some strange but funny fight scenes. As always, the dubbing provides many a laugh. The DVD case says to watch out for a vertical tree walk. I think I missed it. In any case, the real highlight is seeing the hero infiltrate the bandits camp disguised as a keg, and then dressed as a woman. Pure Genius.

4/10 - I really don't get it. You might, but I doubt it.

Contender for worst kung fu movie of all time!

[jag_hatar_grodor · 1/10 · 1 March 2011]

I feel ripped off for spending my money on this piece of crap. I've seen hundreds of kung fu movies over a span of ten years and this is easily one of the movies I feel most disgusted about. There isn't a single redeeming factor about this abomination, except for the nice cover of the Vengeance Video release. However, I'm not sure if the guy on the cover is actually in the movie, but I guess that's no surprise.

This is a kung fu comedy of the worst kind. The jokes would make a three year-old child feel embarrassed and I had to fast forward past this travesty of a "story" to avoid throwing up. To my surprise, I found myself forwarding past most of the fights as well, since they are either based on the "comedic" style of fighting (one guy being pathetic and falling on his behind) or when there's actually some sign of talent involved (one or two fights), it's ruined by the ridiculous undercranking and horrible frame-clipping that makes the fights totally devoid of any rhythm or professionalism. Besides, some of the fights of this particular release was actually cut or skipped, I'm betting on the latter, maybe the producers at least had the sense of decency left after watching the entire movie to spare us the excruciating experience of having to sit through more of this movie than necessary.

The end fight is a joke. I kid you not, this is the worst end fight of any kung fu movie. I have no words left to describe how disappointed I am, just a final warning if you ever though of buying Mantis Under Falcon Claws: stay as far away from this garbage as possible!

Saturn Productions delivers again!!!

[Elbow · 7 December 1999]

You mean you've never heard of Saturn productions? Well, the now defunct company used to churn out Kung-Fu flicks such as the great Mantis Vs. Falcon Claw during the 70's and 80's. Mantis is easily the best of them all. Humorous, even by cheap-fu standards, Mantis features a fight with a fan (not a fanatic, but an actual folding hand fan) and many other interesting little unrelated encounters. The dubbing is atrocious (which means its great fun). The fighting is furiously great, but the main reason to get your hands on the tape would be to watch the previews for other Saturn productions which appear at the film's end.

Low budget but decent...

[poe-48833 · 7/10 · 15 January 2016]

MANTIS UNDER FALCON CLAWS isn't badly crafted; it's badly dubbed and it's badly transferred (from a less-than-pristine print), but it's still watchable- especially if you're used to the (lack of) production values of most of these movies. (One thing I'd very much like to see is a history of Martial Arts movies- those produced by The Shaw Brothers studios during the 1970s and '80s, for instance- that might give us some idea of what it must've been like to be cranking out movies around the clock, on a daily basis, under less than ideal conditions. There ARE several interviews with former stars on some of the "better" dvds that give us a little insight into the process, as well as Dr. Craig Reid's excellent book, MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES OF THE 1970s, and Jackie Chan's fantastic autobiography, I AM JACKIE CHAN, but, beyond that, I haven't seen anything to fill in the gaps...) MANTIS UNDER FALCON CLAWS features a Princess, travelling with a cowardly silk dealer named Wang, who is kidnapped by the infamous Falcon Ma gang. Wang winds up working for his keep at a Shaolin Temple, where he begins to pick up the rudiments of Mantis Kung Fu, but this isn't enough to stop a Ma gang member from literally ripping the mustache off his face. There are other bits of business, such as Wang's sister and her travelling companion, a mysterious martial artist looking to cash in on capturing the members of the Ma gang, who also get captured, but I won't belabor you with any more details; check it out. It's not great, but for a movie that probably didn't take more than a couple of weeks to conceive and execute, you could do a lot worse.

Watch the damn thing.

[pierreahlstrom · 10/10 · 12 July 2009]

This movie is awesome. It talks about learning and conflict. It is classic hip-hop type ish. Think about Wu-Tang while watching it. I first saw it at my granpas in Staten Island when I was eight. Changed my life. There was a kung fu movie bin at the woolworth in my home town in J-town. It was one of the few movies in it. My brother and I flipped out. I mean two giants who can't beat two squirmy little monkeys, the falcon master who uses the lady for his desires. The reason it makes sense now is that I am the silk dealer. I had brought precious fabrics for her. There are two weird thugs I have to beat on the second pass, I was traveling. I'm pretty certain I just lost my princess and her Dad lost her to an evil master. After sending two stud monkeys who couldn't defeat anyone. But I wasn't tough enough at the right time, just like the silk dealer, and now I have to go fight the falcon master. Right now it's training time with the old wise man. Holy Lord. my life, is kung fu. Plus, there are trailers for three other movies, the necklace of blood, and other ish at the beginning the exemplifies the fan style of old kung fu movies. Get into it, it's a style, it's a way, it's the soil that Jackie Chan sprang from.