Livestonth
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Roy Hart
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Leofwine_draca
SHAOLIN PRINCE is a very fine Shaw Brothers martial arts film from 1982, featuring Ti Lung and Derek Yee in the leading roles and involved a plot with bizarre and fantastic touches. It does, however, generally remain grounded in reality without going completely over the top like some of the other Shaw fantasies from the era. The film has an electrifying opening in which the master bad guy (stock '80s Shaw actor Jason Pai Piao) attacks the loyalist king, kills him, and goes after his babies. There are two real ones and a ton of pretend ones and most of them get massacred in surprisingly bloody moments that you'd never see in a film made in the west. Thankfully the two real princes survive the massacre and the film cuts to a couple of decades later in which they team up to tackle the guy who had their dynasty all but wiped out.After the fantastic opening segment - which has to be one of the strongest openings I've seen in a Shaw film - the story just carries on entertaining. The main thrust of the narrative is quite straightforward, but there's always an outlandish sub-plot or two to keep you occupied; watch out for the random 'exorcism' scene which is hilariously portrayed. I found that Lung and Yee made a good double act as the heroes as their two styles complement each other nicely and they're great in the action stakes. The supporting cast is very well picked, including the likes of Ai Fei and Ku Feng as officials, and Yuen Wah in an excellent role which finally has him starting to get the recognition he well deserved. Best of all is the cross-eyed joker Tau Wan Yue, who along with his two brothers steals all of his scenes as the trio of 'Holy Fools'.As you might expect, there's plenty of comedy in this film which works really nicely and the surrealistic touches were much appreciated by this viewer. The pogo stick scene is hilarious. Lung is something of a straight man in this but I loved him all the same. Things build to an unusual and impressive fight climax that involves a kind of 'chair fu' that you'll never have seen done before; it's visually impressive and thoroughly intricate. Watch out for the guy with the flaming sword and the 'water man', two more great characters in a fantastic film (in both senses of the word).
DuctTapeAvenger
This little film has stuck with me for decades. It's basically everything Shaw Brothers, rolled into one hilarious, action-packed, visually stunning masterpiece.For those unfamiliar with the Shaw Brothers, this movie contains over the top kung fu (or gung fu/ gong fu if you want to get technical), great slapstick comedy, and a hint of the paranormal. Tang Chia's directing style is so unique, and actually has great control over his actors.It took me years to find the name of this movie back in the infancy of the internet, as I had a bootleg copy... I have a copy bought from Amazon now so there's that fix.Definite must watch, even if you're not big into fists and kicks, because at least you'll laugh your socks off.
Scott
Watch this movie for the action sequences. The storyline and characters are simplistic but adequate for purpose in this type of shows. The background story is a palace intrigue in which the legitimate emperor was deposed by an evil prince. This sort of things doesn't need elaboration. It is enough that we know who the bad guy is and wait to watch his ass kicked. The costume and setting is probably based on the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD)... the kingdom of Western Hsia was referred to. What I normally do with this kind of movies is to simply scan through the plot in my first viewing and then re-visit the fight sequences. There were many great fights... like a Cirque du Soleil performance, some of the choreographed fights were fantastic - very imaginative. Fun.
pb76134767
This is one of Ti Lung's best movies in the 80's...I didn't know that he could play comedy-action, as he is always a serious actor. Lots of kungfu action with swords, stick, etc. Yes, the title is misleading by all means, but it's highly recommended for martial arts lovers out there...because it's AWESOME!!!
