Cinematic Vengeance! 8 Kung Fu Classics – Review

Cinematic Vengeance! 8 Kung Fu Classics from Director Joseph Kuo
Certificate: 15

By @Roger Crow

I’d never heard of Joseph Kuo, the one-man film industry who turned out a string of hit-and-miss martial arts comedies, dramas and adventures.

I was probably in a minority as he crafted assorted crowd pleasers and obviously for hardcore fans of the genre (like Quentin Tarantino), he’s no doubt revered.

Going in cold I yearned for the genius moves of a Bruce Lee movie, or Tarantino’s Eastern Western Kill Bill.

However, there are some cinematic gems in this collection of eight movies. Okay, the sight of a snake being skinned will leave many viewers feeling sick, but those fight scenes are a lot more engaging. And like many of these films, the yack tracks are invaluable for those either going in fresh like me, or wanting to know more about the production, the cast and some awesome moves.

“Stunning opening moves”

So, eight films and a wealth of extras, all looking fabulous in their HD Blu-ray finery.

The 7 Grandmasters, The 36 Deadly Styles, The World of Drunken Master, and The Old Master are available on discs one and two.

Action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema do a fine job with their commentary for The 36 Deadly Styles, even if there are A LOT of mentions for Kung Fu Zombie, which sounds amazing. And if you’re a fan of Wu Tang Clan, there’s trivia about them and their love of the genre.

The World of Drunken Master features commentary from Michael Worth and master of the genre Frank Djeng, as well as some stunning opening moves.

There are some top tips for indie film makers, like shoot a lot of your footage outdoors because obviously you don’t need to spend money on sets.

Viewers will also discover some top trivia about the dubbing, if that’s your thing.

“Colours really zing”

The yack track on Shaolin Kung Fu features a lot of discussions about rickshaws. Memories of rickshaws. Whether the contributors have been in one or not. But obviously a commentary track eats trivia, and the aforementioned Leeder and Venema know a lot about the subject matter, so rickshaws aside, there’s a wealth of interesting info here for fans.

Leeder and Venema also add their thoughts to Shaolin Kids, this time discussing beards. “It’s very beard heavy,” remarks Venema.

Apparently to use ‘Shaolin’ in a movie these days is a big copyright issue. Who knew? Certainly not me.

Just to reiterate an earlier point: the picture quality is pretty excellent. Those primary colours really zing even if the movie itself wasn’t my cuppa.

18 Bronzemen also left me a tad bored. You can only watch so many training scenes before fatigue sets in, and even the commentary is a bit pedestrian, which is rare for Frank Djeng. He co-hosts with John Charles, who sounds like he was on the end of a Skype or Zoom line from Ontario.

“Barely pauses for breath”

There’s more of the same with The Return of the 18 Bronzemen. Both commentators think this is the better of the two movies. Apparently this is a sequel in name only, a bit like Wild Geese II or Halloween III.

Amazing to think this was made in 1976, given the excellent visuals. If 18th-century adventure is your thing, then there’s a feast of detail here.

As ever, Djeng barely pauses for breath as he dispenses the exhaustive commentary.

With eight films to devour, fans will obviously be in their element. I found them a bit humdrum in places, which is down to some so-so comedy or repetitive fight scenes. The final film in the series is very theatrical, and the script is pretty generic, even for the era. However, fabulous sets and costumes regardless.

Westerners might be a bit confused by the story because of a lack of insight into Chinese history, so Frank’s background info is all the more welcome. He’s a great bridge between the uninitiated viewer and the film itself.