You gotta love ‘70s Kung-Fu cinema. Within the first 15 minutes of Huang Feng’s The Shaolin Plot, a man is killed with a chicken leg, an assassination attempt is flawlessly averted, and a disobedient guest’s head is cut off by a freaking golden cymbal. That’s just a portion of the wild, action-packed treat that is this film, newly restored by Arrow Video.
Based on a story by novelist Ni Kuang, The Shaolin Plot follows the villainous Prince Daglen (Chan Sing) who is determined to complete his collection of Chinese martial arts manuals so he can master all arts against his opponents. With just two manuals left to master, the Wu-Tang and the Shaolin, Daglen sends his most dangerous henchman, Golden Cymbals (Sammo Hung), to collect the Wu-Tang while Daglen decides to infiltrate the Shaolin temple himself to retrieve the latter manual. What unfolds from there is a classic, layered fight of good and evil, including a surviving Wu-Tang student named Little Tiger (James Tien Chuen) and a pair of lethal Shaolin warrior monks (Cassanova Wang Ho and Kwan Yung Moon) determined to stop the wicked prince.
What The Shaolin Plot does right from the outset is having a full self-aware understanding of what makes great martial arts cinema. The plot, as straightforwardly entertaining as it is, doesn’t matter. What matters are the characters and the action choreography — this film delivers both in spades. Let’s start with the characters. Veteran actor Chan Sing (New Fist of Fury) soars as the wicked Prince Daglen, a bad mamma-jamma who can kill with a look (if he had a manual for such a thing — hehe). He kills and swoops down on his enemies with no mercy, a key moment being a rather brutal scene where he bests a would-be assassin, the film cutting right at the moment where the bloody result is left to the audience’s dark imagination. He also stops at nothing (not even donning a disguise as a monk) to get what he truly desires — the manuals. This is a surprisingly layered evil performance that effectively presents Sing’s range as an actor. Kung-Fu royalty Sammo Hung (Dragons Forever), this being the last film he made under his mentor Huang Feng, steals the show as rebellious monk Golden Cymbals, Daglen’s henchman. He’s an evil schmuck who you love to hate, his flying cymbal (hilariously flying in shots where a string can be seen carrying the cymbal offscreen. Again, gotta love Kung-Fu movies.) cutting the heads of anyone who is an enemy of the empire and anyone that has more dignity (or more strength) than him. Then there’s Chuen as Little Tiger, the protagonist of the film. A surviving member of the Wu-Tang clan who promises to avenge his father and take down Daglen and his clan. He should be the most interesting person here, but, alas, this is the rare occasion where the villains are more compelling and entertaining than the heroes.
THE SHAOLIN PLOT restoration from Arrow Video. Photo courtesy of Arrow Video.
In all its charming campiness, The Shaolin Plot looks great in its 1080p presentation and 2K restoration. The plentiful fake blood (and there’s a lot here) pops beautifully, the costume design is in great contrast with the film sets, and the hand-to-hand choreography is just as exciting as if it were made today. On the supplemental side, there’s the original theatrical trailers and two commentaries, one by martial arts film experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, and one by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. Both complement each other well with the Djeng/Worth commentary being very informative about the making of the film and the Leeder/Venema commentary being energetic and passionate about the film and its players. There’s also the alternate opening English credit sequence and, for audio, the film has lossless Mandarin and English mono options with optional English subtitles. If you’re a purist like myself, Mandarin is the way to go; if you want that old school dubbed Kung-Fu feel, by all means, go for the English mono option.
The Shaolin Plot Special Features:
- 2K restoration from the original film elements by Fortune Star
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
- Original lossless Mandarin and English mono options
- Optional English subtitles
- Commentary by martial arts film experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth
- Commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Alternate English credits
- Original theatrical trailers
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Peter Glagowski
Available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video February 13th, 2024
To purchase, head to the official Arrow Video The Shaolin Plot webpage.
For more information, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group The Shaolin Plot webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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