Shao Lin zui ba quan (1981) User Reviews

Gordon Liu visits South Korea and has time to make a movie

[ckormos1 · 6/10 · 12 January 2017]

Gordon works out under a waterfall. A man with one hand kills a guy. Gordon kidnaps a girl for revenge on her father. The backstory is Gordon's family was killed, they thought they drowned him but now he is back and he knows kung fu.

I always start my review with a summary of the opening action. This is to make sure we are talking about the same movie. Many of these movies have alternate titles and many titles are similar or have nothing to do with anything going on in the movie.

I am having a problem with the title of this movie at IMDb. It is currently listed as "The 36th Chamber:The Final Encounter", but the picture on the DVD is labeled "Shaolin Drunken Monk" which is the correct title. Other alternate titles are incorrect. I am using HKMDB as an alternate source and they are usually more accurate in regards to these movies.

My copy is the Ocean Shores VHS release English dubbed and converted to a computer video file. It is not the A-team of voice actors but they did a good job.

The story line makes a good start but the second flashback destroys the pace. One flashback can be okay but two, especially when so extended, never works. My only other complaint is the drunken boxing that has nothing to do with the fighting until the final three minutes.

The fights are outstanding and make up for any other minuses. Overall I think the movie still barely amounts to a knick less than average for the year and genre.

There's a certain special nothing about this movie...

[masercot · 16 April 2004]

My children and I are big fans of Gordon Liu; in fact, one of the first Chinese kung-fu movies that we've ever seen together was Shaolin Drunken Monk. It's been sitting on the top shelf for years. Last night, we watched it again for the first time in years.

The plot was the standard revenge plot; however, the martial arts sequences were pretty good, especially the drunken boxing sequences. The most distracting part of the movie was the dubbing. Where is it written that every voice has to sound vastly different from every other voice...to the point where they were sounding cartoonish.

And worse, the characters developed British accents over time. They started with American accents and by the end of the flick, they were all sounding like David Niven...

Also, the ending was standard for a Gordon Liu movie: It looks like the movie was over when they suddenly ran out of film...

Not good

[bao · 1/10 · 27 November 1999]

This film is awful. Gordon Liu is a decent actor and fighter. He really got a bum role in this film because the film is really dull. I fell asleep and had to rewind it.

As soon as it starts to make sense it falls apart

[monsterhunt-94296 · 2/10 · 31 May 2021]

First of all, let me say that this movie is referred to by like 20 different titles by 20 different sites and there is, to my knowledge, not a single monk in this movie so I really don't know what's going on. I watched the film on Amazon Prime (US) titled "The Shaolin Drunken Monk". This is one of the most hilarious films I've ever seen. It is a complete and utter disaster on every level, from literally being VHS quality, to having the worst sound mixing with music just abruptly ending for another track to start up, awful dubbing, and a plot that doesn't start to make any sort of sense until over halfway through the film. It starts with a scene that doesn't make any sense until 40 minutes in, followed by a plot that makes sense, then all of the sudden it decides to go back in time 20 years with no sort of warning, then it goes forward quite a bit but not exactly to the present, and then we finally return to the present and the remainder of the film (30 minutes or so) is entirely kung fu action.

The plot is so jumbled, the effects are so bad, the drama is so weak it's just so much fun to watch. The action is pretty good and has some nice choreography although the constant dubbed laughter/grunts gets very repetitive. The film finally makes sense once we return to the present until literally the last 20 seconds or so of the film which seems to me like they ran out of money and just said "ah we'll leave it at that". Basically what happens is the girl in love with the main character kills herself after he wins a fight that she seemingly wanted him to win. Although the fight was against her own father, the movie established that she didn't like her father and she literally let the main character free so he could fight him but I guess she thought killing herself would be better so ????? Overall, hilariously bad movie I would definitely recommend. 2/10 Objectively but in my heart this is an 8/10 comedy.

This movie Rocks!

[bickeler · 10/10 · 15 February 2005]

Awesome Chia Hui Liu movie the fights are great.Now Albeit it is a low budget and the editing and dubs are pretty weak stuff.However the bad parts of this movie are just plain funny and the good parts wow.I would have to say the fight sequences in this movie are highly realistic no phony jumps or extraordinary feats.What you see is just good old plain Gung FU.And Gordon looks great in this so do all the actors as far as the Gung Fu.Even the story is decent I suspect it had a very low budget and slim timetable to make it.Don't expect polish there isn't much do expect bad dubs(Eng. Version),cheap camera tricks and a very brief ending!You will also see Gordon at his best and the one handed fighter is to good to be missed!

Hilarious

[meretricula · 8/10 · 15 July 2000]

If you're a fan of crazy kung-fu then this is a must-see. Just the idea alone of learning kung-fu from a drunken master is enough to make it a hit. Don't look for an ocsar winner here just plain funniness. There was tons of fight scenes and freaked out moves...and really isn't that all we want in a martial arts film?

Very entertaining!

[bluedeer · 10/10 · 2 February 2001]

This was a wonderfully entertaining movie. In most traditional respects, it was a complete disaster. The editing (including the sound editing) is the worst I have ever seen/heard in a movie. Whoever chose the cats who dubbed this in English was apparently drunk as well - most of them sounded clinically depressed (or like a bunch of morons). But the whimsical roles and performances of Gordon Liu and the drunken master more than compensated for the monumental failures. This remains one of my all-time favorite gongfu movies.

Excellent Martial Arts

[dafrosts · 8/10 · 29 October 2017]

The editing made it hard to see any scenes involving yellow. Everyone looked like Pikachu. Lao kidnaps the daughter of the man who killed his father to become Master of their School. Lao has not seen her since they were small children, but we're supposed to accept when she realizes who he is, she's madly in love with him? The movie has a lot of flashbacks. Mainly about how rotten Lao's childhood was. He isn't taught Kung-Fu until an adult. Seems odd in these type of movies. Don't get me wrong, the Martial Arts are amazing. The drunken Fighting style is amusing and works very well. Lao is not the only one seeking revenge. There is a one armed man wronged by the man who took over Lao's family School. When Lao is attacking the new Master's henchmen, the one-armed man is. Lao is informed by the school Master's daughter that she has renounced her father and loves only Lao. However, at the end, while begging Lao not to go fight her father, she is conflicted about who she wants to win the final match. She promises to wait for Lao's return. Yet, as the final seconds click away, and Lao beats her father, she kills herself. Really a lousy ending to an otherwise good movie.

Childhood days

[myfollower · 10/10 · 31 August 2007]

I remember watching this film when it was released in India in the early eighties. I was barely a teen then. I remember this film being the best martial arts film i ever saw. It was entertaining, had great fights, amazing training techniques, etc. But please remember, all my memories about this film (and the rating I have given it) are based on watching it as a 11 or 12 years old. I have no idea how I would react if I were to watch it now. Maybe find it funny at times. Or even silly, maybe. I don't know. I remember watching a movie called Five Deadly Venoms even earlier than 1982, and when I rented it recently, I found it to be garbage :)

Figth Scenes are so worth it

[dafrosts · 8/10 · 17 February 2018]

This has absolutely nothing to do with The 36 Chambers of Shaolin. So, if you were hoping to see Monk San Ta here, you will be greatly disappointed. However, if you're a Gordon Liu fan, this is one to watch.

A weak budget, lighting effect and lousy dubbing are worth tolerating to see Gordon Liu in some well choreographed fight scenes. He is Lau Chung here. A man whose parents were killed by Wong Kin Chung (Eagle Han Ying). Lau is of course seeking revenge for their deaths. Also in the mix is a man (Kwon Il-Soo) who lost his hand after crossing Wong.

There are flashbacks galore in this film. Chung is shown as a child fleeing from the death of his parents. He is allegedly drowned by one of Wong's henchman but is saved by Hyeon Kil-Su's Character, a rather inebriated Wushu Master. Kil-Su has a student who quits because he feels Kil-Su is putting more effort into staying drunk than teaching. The student steals Kil-Su's wine, but Chung steals it back and becomes Kil-Su's new student.

Chung has kidnapped Ying-Ying (Chang Mi-Hee), Wong's daughter, in the hope of getting Wong to show himself. Things get confusing plot-wise, because the focus shifts from Chung and his revenge to Ying-Ying being torn between coming to grips with the vile things her father has done and the love she feels for Chung. Il-Soo adds to the confusion by popping up here and there, eliminating people who have done him wrong. Il-Soo saves Chung during a battle with Wong's men. Il-Soo cautions Chung that they may not be on the same side next time. This proves false in a way, as Il-Soo keeps popping up to finish off people left alive after encountering Chung.

Ying-Ying informs Chung that she has renounced her evil father in favor of him. She is in love with Chung and promises to be with his always. This gets nipped in the bud when Wong's men arrive to bring Ying-Ying home and capture Chung in the process. Chung is imprisoned at the Wong estate. Ying-Ying and her handmaiden free him while Wong is on the beach battling Il-Soo.

The Il-Soo Wong fight is interesting. A one armed man holding his own against a self professed Wushu Master. Chung arrives as Wong is smashing Il-Soo's face into the sand. While Chung and Wong battle, we get to see Ying-Ying pondering what she needs to do. She must choose between a father who has done vile things or Chung whom she loves. Whomever wins the fight between the men, Ying-Ying will lose someone she loves.

I don't think her final choice was necessary. But, I didn't write the script. Chung is victorious against Wong, but ultimately loses once Ying-Ying makes her decision. The movie just ends there.

The fight scenes deserve an 8. The confusing plot deserves a 5

The greatest kung fu movie ever! (aka Plan 9 from outer china)

[ImmortalKnight · 10/10 · 28 February 2007]

Excellent mix of comedy, fighting, and bad dubbing! Seriously though, any fan of old school kung fu will enjoy this. Enjoy it for the many fights throughout the movie (including a person being killed mere moments into the films beginning!) And for the excellent quality of said fights! No fake fighting to be had here thats for sure. And best of all, there is a bonus commentary track by Ric Meyers of kung fu insider magazine. (who gave the movie the title Plan nine from outer china) In my opinion thats the best part, as I learned stuff about the genre that I never knew before. You also can most likely find this movie cheap. So go out and find a copy for yourself! Look for the Taiseng release as it is the one I own (and has the audio commentary) on DVD.