1978, China
Director: Chia Liang Liu (Lau Kar Leung)
Starring: Gordon Liu, Lau Kar Wing, and Lo Lieh

Plot: During the Qing dynasty, a youngster named Liu Yu-De (Gordon Liu) feels hopeless towards the oppressive forces of Manchu. He joins the rebel alliance to help his people. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Manchu to discover that something was going on in the town. Liu’s father and his teacher were killed during the Manchu’s attempt to capture all the rebels. Liu manages to escape, but now he must avenge the death of his father. His decision was to go learn kung fu in a Shaolin Temple!

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is considered by many fans to be one of the most respectable kung fu films ever made. The film is directed by a real kung fu master, Lau Kar Leung (Drunken Master 2). He incorporated his martial arts skill behind the camera and created something that is truly fascinating. But this is still a film about revenge. The story explores the journey of a young man who seeks revenge and the tall tale behind the wall of the Shaolin Temple. It is truly in the simplest form of story telling. But every single element in the film is amazingly fascinating and memorable that you soon believe you are watching something totally out of this world.
One obvious element is action sequences. After all this is a kung fu film. What is great about the fighting in this film is that it is beautifully choreographed and you can see how gracefully it is done because mostly it is wide shots. The fighting scenes weren’t created by the fast and the furious cuts. You watch the actual fight.

The film goes into greater detail in the training sequences. This isn’t your typical 80’s training montage. No Eye of the Tiger echoes in the background. Liu Yu-De must pass all the 35 chambers to complete his training. And each chamber is designed and challenges the endurance of a man. If this is how the monks trained in the temples, I can see why they are highly regarded in every single kung fu film. Even if it is fantasy mixed with myth and legend, the film is conceptually fascinating and cinematically excellent.

Gordon Liu who supposedly shaved his head for this (later it became his trademark) did a phenomenal job. He is convincing as a humble student in the beginning to being a wicked master of kung fu later. He is so charismatic it’s no wonder Tarantino used him in Kill Bill.

If you are not a fan of kung fu films but interested in them but don’t know where to start, this makes a great introduction to the genre. If you call yourself a fan of the genre, I am sure you have this in your collection. This new release of 36th Chamber from IV is simply great. Audio (original Mandarin) and video (anamorphic transfer here!). My only complaint is that the English subtitles are very small. But it is better to have small subtitles than having the hideous English dubs.

Review by Shogo.