AKA Shaolin Temple 3, this movie is a decent display of Jet Li's kung fu prowess. If the version being offered is by Telefilms International / Beverly Wilshire Filmworks - buyer beware! The film is NOT widescreen (as it says it is), and the subtitles are cut off by the formatting. If you are a Jet Li fan like me, you will enjoy the action sequences, though they are sparse. Creative stances and good moves from Jet save them. I recommend this film to die-hard Jet fans ONLY - kung fu purists will be very disappointed. Jet Li picks up his role as the orphan raised by Shaolin, his sifu from the previous two films returns as well. If you like Jet, and like the series, go for it. Not Jet's best, not his worst, either. Picture and sound quality is poor. Directed by Lau Ka-leung. Martial Arts of Shaolin
It's surprising that more people like Shaolin Temple than Martial Arts of Shaolin, aka The North and South Shaolin. But from my point of view, this movie reflects the young Jet Li's best characteristics. Everyone acts so naturally and beautifully in the movie. There is no other Jet Li's movie which is of such a high spirit--intrinsically funny yet simple!!
This is for true Jet Li fans. Excellent Shaolin Action. And forms, speed just the exquisite style Jet Li is known for. Good story line, Only thing is the picture quality could have been better. I don't think there is a remastered version out there. If so let me know. Until then this is a must see Jet Li Film.
Truly Good Shaolin Action.
I was greatly disappointed, because the movie that I got recorded on the DVD was completely different then "The Martial Arts of Shaolin" although title printed on the box and disk itself was correct. I returned first DVD and got another one. But again it was wrong movie. This way I haven't finally got the movie that I wanted to buy at all :(
This is the best one out of all them, in the series. I'd give this 5 stars but the reason is that you can barely see the subtitles. But its a must see movie, i sorta understood anyway even though i could barely see the subtitles.
MARTIAL ARTS OF SHAOLIN (SHAOLIN TEMPLE 3) isn't the best of the lot, but it's got celebrated director Liu Chia Liang (a.k.a. Lau Kar-Leung) helming the thing, and a young Jet Li in front of the camera, so you can't exactly snub it. This film is a collaboration between the legendary Shaw Brothers studio - which in 1986 had run its course - and Mainland China's dynamic filmmaking sensibilities. Liu Chia Liang gets another crack at promoting the Shaolin monks, and he ably integrates his expertise of southern Shaolin kung fu with the prowess of Mainland China's foremost martial artists. I think it's worth eyeballing.
Why does young Zhi Ming (Jet Li), a pupil of a northern Shaolin temple, train so hard? Is it dedication to his craft? Yes, partly. But Zhi Ming also fosters a hidden agenda which comes to light when he learns of an impending event celebrating the vile governor Lord He Suo's birthday. It's always a trip watching these hotheaded protagonists in these Shaolin temple flicks studiously soak in the Buddha's peaceful philosophies only to see these lessons rapidly abandoned once a chance for a vengeful fighty fight surfaces. Years ago Lord He Suo murdered Zhi Ming's family. Now Zhi Ming sneaks out of the Shaolin monastery, his mind afire with grim thoughts of a reckoning. If nothing else, Lord He Suo deserves a painful and wretched death for his lame villain laugh alone.
During the festivities, our guy runs into Zhao Wei and Si Ma Yan, two martial artists but from a southern Shaolin temple and they happen to be likeminded would-be assassins of the depraved lord. But things go sour, the assassination attempt fails dismally, and Zhi Ming, Zhao Wei, and Si Ma Yan become fugitives. The rest of the film is essentially one long chase and fight sequence. To offset the action, there is a sub-plot concerning matching foot bells, the two bearers of whom are destined to be locked in an arranged marriage. When you consider that Zhi Ming wears one of these foot bells and that his Shaolin standing forbids marriage, well, it adds a measure of dramatic conflict.
MARTIAL ARTS OF SHAOLIN, released in 1986, features a Jet Li that was yet young enough and vibrant enough to pull off those mischievous roles. Even though his character intends to exact unfettered vengeance, there's still a playful side to him which allows for tomfoolery like covertly cooking snake meat and sneaking it into his monastery homies or inadvertently forfeiting a kung fu match against rival students. There's even a sequence in which Jet masquerades as a shepherdess to slip past soldiers at a check point, even as his fellow conspirators dress up as sheep in his flock. And, in case you're struck skeptical at a girl in this picture unconvincingly posing as a man, with everyone onscreen buying the deception, just roll with it. It happens to be a common trope in these films.
The film devotes the opening twenty minutes to establishing Jet Li's scamp persona, after which it proceeds to roll out the frequent fighty fights. As ever, Liu Chia Liang shows off his knack for choreographing crowded fight scenes, and the intricately-staged melee on the river has to be regarded as a career highlight. Jet Li unveils an attack comprised of a full body range of motion, and nowadays when do you see him treat an audience with Beijing acrobatics? And there's an awesome moment near the end in which Yue Hoi, who plays Jet's Shaolin master, uncoils his Mantis technique. It's probably my favorite moment in the movie.
All in all, a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars for this one; it's a solid recommendation. MARTIAL ARTS OF SHAOLIN is pretty dang good. However. I can't quite put a finger on it, but there's something missing in this film, an absent element which keeps it from being an absolute classic. I do know my eyes were rolling at the tired rivalry between Zhi Ming and Zhao Wei. I wasn't down with the leisurely film score; I think it sabotaged the dramatic push of the story. And while I realize that lion and dragon dancing is a staple of the genre, the sequence here went on and on, much to the rapture of the evil Lord He Suo. It's another reason he deserves a painful and wretched death. - Abundant Female Nudity - Action Adventure - Liv Tyler - Kevin Bacon'
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