Search - Kung Fu Theater on DVD

All below average, Fast Fists is a pretty good Jimmy Wang Yu

morgoth | omaha, NE | 11/17/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Wang Yu was never one of the best kung fu stars. He could handle it but wasn't up to par with any of the real martial arts stars from back in the day.

FAST FISTS-Wang Yu is very likeable as always and though this movie doesn't have great kung fu and isn't real exciting, it is a well done story. Wang Yu is the leader of the Red Lantern gang. They rob from the rich and give to the poor. They come across a lady who is travelling to perform in a show and instead of robbing them the lady's wit gets her by. Jimmy escorts the lady to the show and insists on watching her dnace. From here it becomes pretty standard Wang Yu. He is wanted and people are after him. When the girl runs away with him they send out men looking for him.

I have to say that all of the fights were pretty good for 1972 or 1973. The final fight is a bit of a stinker but still fun throughout.

The movie is presented in a 16:9 format and has a very watchable picture quality. 3/5

18 SHAOLIN RIDERS-Wow oh wow what a boring movie. I figured this would be the exciting one but I was way wrong. The back of the DVD says that the movie has Wong Tao, Nick Cheung, Judy Lee, Lo Lieh, Fong Yeh, and Bruce Liang is in it and does the choreography. Well Judy Lee doesn't fight, and I didn't see Bruce Liang and Fong Yeh in this movie. To top it off, it's not the Nick Cheung from 'Karado'(aka Super Kung Fu Kid), but the Nick Cheung who played Fong Sai-Yuk in Donnie Yen's 'Kung Fu Master' TV show. So the movie is as boring as can be but I guarantee any fan of the genre will enjoy the last 25 minutes. The very end is like a cross between Chen Sing's 'Shaolin Monk' and Zimou's 'House of Flying Daggers'. It is pretty freaking cool.

There are some sound issues but overall the movie is more than watchable. Presented in a 16:9 format which is about 100 times better than full screen. 2.5/5.

THE BIG RASCAL-Again, the back of the DVD is incorrect and says that Chi Kuan-Chun's brother is Jimmy Lee from 'Rebellious Reign'. I don't know who his brother is but it is not Jimmy Lee. So the movie is about his brother getting picked on, he teaches him kung fu. They rise up from being workers at a crappy job and become gangsters. They start out helping out the owner of a brothel and then they end up protecting it, then they take out the competition. It is a very badly done story. There is this one guy who we see at the start of the movie and it ends up being pretty funny how he just keeps sending more of his brothers to take out Kuan-Chun. The first guy I swear is Yuen Biao. The fights don't get any better than this one though. Kuan-Chun looks very good but no one else stands out AT ALL. The fights are sadly below average but are still watchable and got me through the movie.

Full screened with a watchable picture though pretty scratched up. 2/5.

THE HERO OF THE TIME-Now this is a weird flick. It starts out looking real cool with Lung Fei beign the master of the Golden Skin technique. Then it ends up being a lot like 18 Shaolin Riders. Not quite as boring, but the kung fu isn't as good. Unfortunately it doesn't have a spectacular ending but the fu is watchable overall.

16:9 format. Decent picture. 1.5/5.

I figured this set ould be a better deal than those 2 packs Brentwood has like 'Attack of The Venoms'/'Men on the Hour' but I was wrong."

Good Set For Old School Matrial Arts

Carolyn Metoyer-goddard | flint, MI USA | 01/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"These were good movies. The picture quality wasn't the best but I enjoyed each of these movies. They have some well known old school martial arts stars in them including Jimmy Wang Yu. None of these movies are already in my collection and I have heard that Movies from Kung Fu Theater can be rare finds."