I love kung fu movies- good kung fu movies and bad kung fu movies. Some of the great kung fu movies are Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, Jackie Chan in Legend of Drunken Master, The Original Ip Man with Donnie Yen, and Bloodsport with Jean Claude Van Damme. But what follows is a discussion of what is possibly the greatest kung fu movie ever made.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’s complicated title belies its simple brilliance: a villager watches his family and friends be killed, flees the scene of the murder, becomes a Shaolin monk and avengers their deaths. Typical kung fu stuff but not a typical movie at all.
The story is loosely based on the life of monk and Sholin disciple San Te. Gordon Liu brilliantly plays the man who watches his family die, and after rigorous training becomes the Shaolin monk who invents the 3-section staff (historically inaccurate). Liu gives us the perfect combination of angst, anger, and hubris transitioning to humility, hunger and excellence. He does this through a series of exercises that seem to have nothing to do with kung fu, but actually condition his mind and body for combat readiness.
I knew while I was watching this film that the people who wrote and produced Karate Kid had seen it, maybe more than once. I read somewhere later that this was the case. As you see San Te progress through each exercise, you become aware that you have seen this before, with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, even though 36th Chamber came out years before.
The final segment where San Te (fictionally) creates the 3-section staff (possibly the greatest kung fu weapon ever invented) is simply awe inspiring. Watching Gordon Liu wield the weapon, you believe there’s not a single other weapon that he can’t defeat. The fight scenes are excellent, and some of the training sequences come off more like choreographed dance than just plain training.
The film clocks in at just 2 hours, but its brisk pace makes it feel much shorter. Producer Run Run Shaw (of Shaw brothers fame) did not waste a single segment in the film. In fact, it’s nearly too thin leaving you wanting more, rather than feeling like the film reached a satisfying conclusion. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a complete and appropriately concluded story. It just wouldn’t have hurt my feelings if we would have had 10-20 more minutes of combat intermixed with the brilliant training sequences.
IMDB says 7.7/10. It’s an easy 8.2, but may be an 8.5/10. There’s just no fat on this film.