Search - Grand Master of Shaolin on DVD

Fair transfer of a not so bad film...

Mark Savary | Seattle, WA | 02/13/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, unlike other discs put out by this video company, the transfer is pretty good. Usually, their discs look like copies of VCDs or poor video sources. There is one annoying tracking drop-out early in the film, but the rest was okay. While not true letterbox or widescreen format, the picture is matted, and not full screen.The story lends itself to lots of fights, first over possession of a jewel that will allow the bearer to access the Golden Buddha. This is the Old Master's test to see who has good kung fu.It turns out that young Chung is the perfect student, and so the Master teaches him his secret kung fu techniques. Strangely, the Master's teaching technique involves not being on hand at all throughout most of Chung's training, leaving him to learn the secret kung fu from a textbook. One manifestation of this kung fu is the abillity to move objects with chi alone (read; telekenesis). Chung practices using his mental kung fu power to draw a sword from its scabbard, in a scene that will instantly call to mind the phrase, "Use the Force, Chung! Use the Force!"Well, everybody else and his brother are after the secrets too, which means that Chung and his friends will have plenty of opportunity to practice their new kung fu. They even go so far as to trick (yes, trick!), Chung into having sex with his own girlfriend, so as to make him impure and weaken his kung fu. Apparently, chastity is part of the secret technique!You'll probably recognize background music from Star Wars, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and James Bond; anything the producers thought they could swipe. It even sounds like they used some muzak versions of the "Planet of the Apes" soundtrack and music from some spaghetti westerns!Still, this is not the most ludicrous kung fu movie ever made. There are a few good fights, and the film is a pretty good deal for the price."