chatch16 - The Ninja Sam Seed
Another Gordon Liu classic, Clan of the White Lotus was directed by White Lotus Chief himself, Lo Lieh, and is old school Kung Fu fun at its finest! This one features such crazy concepts as the White Lotus Chief having the ability to suck his testicles into his stomach (as a means of defense) and some insane use of "acupuncture-fu" toward the end of the film. Liu trains in some uniquely interesting 'woman's style' Kung Fu as he battles Lieh 3 times, each fight growing in intensity. And his fights with Wang Lung-wei are absolutely fierce! These two square off in several flicks, with every encounter being great (check out "Instructors of Death" aka "Martial Club" for one of their absolute best). COTWL is hands down a MUCH better version/remake of "Executioners From Shaolin."
Alison
Shaolin kung-fu practitioners and brothers Wu and Hung (Gordon Liu) attack and kill the merciless Pai Mei; they and other Shaolin disciples are jailed, but their release is ordered because "the people" want them to be free. However, Pai Mei's even more merciless brother White Lotus (Lo Lieh) has other ideas; he kills off many members of the Shaolin Temple, including Wu and Hung's girlfriend, leaving Wu's pregnant wife Mei-Hsiao (Kara Hui) and Hung as practically the only members of Shaolin left to avenge the deaths. But Hung can't defeat White Lotus with a combination of the tiger and crane kung-fu moves that he and his brother used to defeat Pai Mei; instead, it is up to Mei-Hsiao to teach him feminine kung-fu techniques, the styles of embroidery and acupuncture. Will those be enough to defeat the evil White Lotus, or must Hung pay the price that his brother and their people did? Kung-fu movies, particularly those of producers the Shaw Brothers, don't really require much in the way of close attention to the plot, as the plot primarily exists to move the characters from one fight sequence to another. And the sound effects accompanying those fights are just sublime! Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh were international stars of the form, prior to the advent of Bruce Lee even; and ironically, in Tarantino's "Kill Bill Vol. 2," Liu plays Pai Mei, the character his character in this film kills off at the beginning of the movie, setting the story in motion. FantAsia 2012 was lucky enough to locate the last surviving celluloid copy of this classic film, complete with garbled English subtitles and faded-to-red colour scheme (the result of the passage of years, not an intentional part of the film), and as long as you check your logical brain in at the door, it's a hoot to watch, 30-odd years on!
ebiros2
The story of this movie is almost identical to that of Executioner from Shaolin, and it might be even appropriate to title this movie Executioners from Shaolin II. The similarities are as follows:1. An evil master who has white hair and beard (both played by Lo Lieh in the same make up) attacks Shaolin Temple, and one of the monks swears to avenge the dead comrades. 2. The master has weak spot that moves around his body. 3. He can give a vice grip on an opponent with his groin area. 4. A woman teaches kung-fu style which eventually helps to defeat the enemy. 5. Hero challenges the enemy twice. 6. Eventually the evil master is defeated by accidentally getting struck in his weak spot.So there you have it, the main plot of these two movies are identical. Both are fantastic old school kung-fu movies with actual story and not just one mindless fight scenes after another. I kind of like the original because I'm a Chen Kuan Tai fan, but either movie in my opinion is a great martial arts piece from that era.
gjhong
I must have seen this Shaw Brothers movie on TV in the 1980s because it seemed very familiar as I watched the DVD. Apparently this is a sequel to Executioners from Shaolin. The movie opens with a flashback to a fight between white-haired monk Pai Mei and a two-man team featuring Gordon Liu and another fellow. The monk is extremely tough so it is necessary to double-team him with Tiger Style and Crane Style. This is the setup for the current story where Pai Mei's brother Pak Mei another white-haired monk is out for revenge. In this adventure there is no partner to use Crane style so Gordon needs special training to make up for it. It was a lot of fun watching Gordon learning woman's style kung fu to get an advantage over Pak Mei the White Lotus. Check this one out at the video store if you get the chance because Gordon Liu will be a white-haired kung fu master named Pai Mei in Kill Bill Volume 2.
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