Fist of the White Lotus

IF you have read my other reviews you know I only involve myself with Kung Fu movies with real fighting and leave all the other genres to others. As a second generation certified Bruce Lee instructor and one of the "Five Fingers of Death" crowd that got hooked in 1972, I have seen alot. And very few of the 1200 or so of these made impress me.However, this movie is the exception to my other rules. I do not bother with Badfu, Wirefu, Fantasyfu, Funfu and Wufu. But, here, all of these subgenres are present and they work.Plus, it has the 2 major elements I look for in finding the best of the best Kung Fu movies. Real fighting that is frequent and a story where you do not feel the need to hold the remote and ff to each fight.Fist of the (Clan of the) White Lotus satisfies the exception to my rule. It might take several viewings to see how this movie gets better and better and allows you to look past the fantasy portions and enjoy them for what they are.. entertainment.From the opening scene and the killing of White Eyebrow to the training scenes and attempts to beat White Lotus, Gordon Liu is at the top of his game. If he is not fighting... he is training.It is fantasy comedy, not corny comedy. The wire assist on White Lotus is minimal to allow White Lotus to float back and away from attacks. And while his fighting is fantasy based, Gordon gives us his usual great Hung Gar fighting even when he is fighting White Lotus.And, he has Johnny Wang in this film. Johnny is to Gordon what Chuck Norris was to Bruce Lee. Their fighting is always poetry.I put this movie in my top 5 of all-time. Which also happens to be my top 5 Gordon Liu movies. In this order... Heroes of the east, 36the chamber, 8 Diagram pole fighter, Shaolin vs. Wutang and finally Clan of the White Lotus.However, for story alone and frequent watchability I put it at Number 2 behind Heroes of the East. Push play, sit back and enjoy this one from beginning to end. Oh, and do not forget.... watch this in Mandarin with English Subtitles. But, if you are a die hard nut for Kung Fu movies, you already knew that. Paul Amato!UPDATE: SOME REVIEWERS ARE CONFUSED ABOUT PAI MEI APPEARING TWICE. IN THE BEGINNING IT IS HIS BROTHER, WHITE BROW, THAT GORDON LIU KILLS. THEN THE WHITE LOTUS COMES IN TO TAKE REVENGE.ALSO: AFTER SEVERAL VIEWINGS SINCE MY ORIGINAL REVIEW I HAVE TO SAY, IT REALLY IS ONE OF THE MOST ENDEARING FILMS IN THIS GENRE. PAE MEI IS ACUALLY LOVABLE WITH HIS WISDOM AND COOL PREACHINGS. IT WAS A SHAME TO KILL OFF THIS BAD GUY.THE ONLY THING THAT STIFLES THIS MOVIE IS THE BROTHER-IN-LAW'S ANNOYING COMICAL INTERACTIONS. IF NOT FOR THAT, EVEN HIS EMBROIDERY TRAINING WOULD HAVE BEEN NEAT FOR FANTASY. OVERALL, THIS A VERY LOVABLE FILM, AND THE CHARACTER OF PAI MEI.....SPECTACULAR. HE GROWS ON YOU WITH EVERY VIEWING. (FAMILIARITY BY WATCHING THESE OVER AND OVER REALLY CHANGES YOUR OPINION OF EACH FILM. SOMETIMES THE CONVULUTED LOGIC OF THE ASIAN MIND-SET CAN BE FRUSTRATING FOR US TO UNDERSTAND). BE PATIENT WITH THESE FILMS. THEY TAKE TIME TO ACCLAMATE YOURSELF TO REALLY APPRECIATE THEM. AFTER ALL, IT IS STILL IN THE "FOREIGN FILM" GENRE. IT IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE. BUT, WELL WORTH THE MENTAL INVESTMENT.

I think this movie, while quite good and very different, is a little overrated. A sequel/remake of "Executioners from Shaolin", Gordon Liu (always good) must train to take revenge after the destruction of the Shaolin temple. Trouble is that his foe, the white-eyebrow priest, Pai Mei (Lo Lieh, directing and reprising his famous role, and also always good) is practically invincible; having achieved a level of kung fu expertise beyond the mere physical. Gordon trains and trains but his style is ineffectual and must learn the "soft style" from the beautiful Kara Hui, whose husband was killed by Pai Mei. She makes him sew and take care of her newborn baby, an interesting contrast to the "crane style" of "Executioners".This version from Red Sun is wonderfully restored by Celestial. The fight scenes are hit and miss, no pun intended. There are moments of excellence for sure, just...I can't quite put my finger on what bothered me about it, if anything. Maybe I just heard too many good things about it and it didn't live up to the hype. I'm not sure if I would recommend this to the "casual" fan or not. I have friends who loved "5 Deadly Venoms" and "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" but didn't care for movies like "7 Grand Masters". If you like most Shaw Bros. films, you'll probably like this one too.1980. aka: Clan of the White Lotus

My husband has talked about this movie ever since I can remember, and he was never able to find it. A friend of mine suggested looking here and sure enough here it was. I was so excited to purchase it for him, and it was my gateway purchase. Since then, I have purchased many many gifts and items, so thank you for an amazing selection of items. Everything about the movie was awesome.

If you like martial arts movies you will enjoy this.

Just like I said, a very good kung fu film(directed by Lo Lieh and starring Gordon Liu) despite the recognizable 'must get revenge through some unique training' story line. About the choreography, the fights are mostly fast, clean, crisp, and impressive(kung fu fans will know what I'm talking about). As for the DVD, no extras on my Lion Video DVD, but the picture quality is mostly very good and it's in widescreen(its got black bars at the top and bottom anyway). The dubbing is about what you might expect(decent, but not great). Overall, a must add to your collection.

I grew up watching the Saturday morning martial arts classics and I must say, this was one of my favorites. The martial arts choreography was top notch and I really did love the story. Watching the Shaolin monk battle against Priest Pei Mai was wonderous to see. Of course, there was a little martial arts humor thrown in to keep the story interesting but the special effects along with the fighting was a must see.

If you're a Lieh Lo fan, this is his greatest role. He absolutely steals the show every time he's on screen as the leader of the White Lotus Clan. Gordon Liu also stars. Although this movie is a sequel, you don't need to watch the first movie to follow the plot. If you are interested however, the first film in the series is released by Dragon Dynasty called: Executioners from Shaolin.

wow

When two fighters from Shaolin face off against the renegade psycho monk Pai Mei, who just happens to be out killing Shaolin supporters for fun, their duel to the death is a close one, but by combining both Crane and Tiger styles the two friends manage to defeat him, leading to one of them being incarcerated.Eventually, like many other surviving Shaolin followers he is released, and teams up with his best friend once again, but their reunion is soon cut short by the appearance of one very angry, and very upset 'Priest of the White Lotus'; the twin brother of the renegade monk they defeated. Who just happens to be the deadliest man alive, when he's caught with or without his pants down...Directed by and starring Lo Lieh, this is one of those lesser budgeted and maybe lesser seen Shaw Brothers releases that are just so much fun to watch, whilst ticking nearly every chop box going, that it is an almost guaranteed sure fire winner in the eyes of most 'old school' kung fu fans when concerning their collection.Gordon Liu stars as the hero, up against director/baddy Lieh in countless fight scenes that will simply have your eyes fixed in a lose~lose staring competition with your television set (no matter how late it is when you watch it), as Liu attempts to master every Kung Fu strategy he can get his fists on (even, God forbid, 'women's work' kung fu!) in order to try and beat his rascally nemesis ~ the silver haired Pak Mei... The man with the hundred step poisoned palm technique! The film, as well as having some top drawer fights (action directed by Lau Kar Leung), also has its fair share of lunacy, offered up to the fans in the guise of Pak Mei and his secret techniques, which are once again bound to impress a late night audience, with his groin suction skills, Saturday night fever and all round sneering, beard stroking, villainy.The humour, as one would expect from this genre of movies made during the 70's era, is fairly unsubtle, by that I mean that it's crude, slapsticky and cruel, with the focal point of most gags being an idiot who is used as a punch~bag for Liu to practice on.. Simple but funny, needless to say I'm not that grand, and found myself laughing out loud quite a few times..Of course, one could argue that Wang Lung Wei is almost criminally under used as the baddy nephew (I certainly think so!), or that this is merely a cheap remake of Executioners From Shaolin (on that I wouldn't agree despite obvious similarities), but one things for sure, if there's any of you martial arts fans out there who haven't seen this (I'm sure there's a few) and you fancy a fun little flick with plenty of really good fights, then it's a very good title to checkout!The disc review is for The Master Killer Collection/Lion Video ~ orangey dvd cover with Gordon Liu shouting on the cover! This version of the film looks reasonably clear, although hardly up to the standard of say the Dragon Dynasty discs. The language/subtitles option is English dubbed only, there is not a single extra and it's not exactly. . . errr. . . full widescreen either but it is certainly watchable!4.5/5 Fine entertainment, featuring one of the greatest villains in movie history. Highly recommended.

Hall of fame classic ,from the start the best opening to a kung fu film ever.Gordon Liu VS Lo Lieh who also directed the film plays white brow renegade monk Pai mei who is killing off the shaolin monks and the shaolin clan. gordon liu and another shaolin monk take on pai mei combining tiger and crane but get beaten badly the offer shaolin monk losing his life,then comes the training sequences as liu trys different styles to beat the rebel monk.One of my favourites OLD SCHOOL

Did you see the Qinten Tarantino character in Kill Bill. Well this was the original. Interestingly Gordon Liu, the actor who played Pai Mei in Kill Bill played the hero who was trying to defeat Pai Mei in the original. The original Pei Mei was Lo lieh (King Boxer) This is a classic. You even get to see Lo Lieh's butt when Gordon Liu attacks him in the bath