Martial Club [DVD]

I had so much fun watching this. From the first frame I knew it was special. I enjoyed the explanation of the dragon dance. It was like National Geographic getting a free trip to China, a dragon dance, the opera, and these exclusive schools. The scene at the opera is hands down one of the best scenes in a movie period I've EVER seen. Knowing that Shaw Bros films draw their inspiration from operas it was very trippy to see the characters at an opera engaging in the same theatrics as the opera. One character even remarks he's never been to the opera. The bonus are the mind bending martial arts scenes. A lot of the sets are cheap, and the martial artist are so quick and fierce they almost take the sets apart just moving around in them. A lot of the scenes involve a lot of extras, there are a lot of moving parts and things to see. The story was great to, there are a lot of characters to have fun following them and their different motivations : family loyalty, fraternity, paternity (lots of that), recreation, and of course over the top machismo! Very macho movie, lot's of lingering closeups on men in a fighting stance as others try in vein to move them. There is however, on girl in the mix and she represents the female section very well. I give this one eleven stars. ENJOY.

Movie is in Mandarin with English subtitles. I love kung-fu movies with lion dances. This particular one was impressive and had moves that I haven't seen before. The lion dance in this movie is of the south-east kind in China, and what's nice is that they explain the rules of the dance of what is not acceptable behavior among lions. Lion dances represent each kung-fu school's abilities and personalities. It's meant to be a peaceful way for kung-fu schools to develop friendships, but it can also be used to challenge an adversary. Inappropriate behaviors include smelling another lion's butt, and provoking it means to provoke a fight. A second no-no is blinking at another lion while in close proximity, which is a sign of disrespect. A third rule is that you cannot raise your foot while approaching another lion as it means you are prepared for a fight. To win a lion dance, the lion must reach and eat the green prize, often a large cabbage wrapped in red ribbons.The story here is two schools go at it and each one wants to show off their kung-fu skills. One school (good) is more peaceful and wants to find a resolution to prevent conflict. The other school (bad) is much more aggressive and cares not for respect, and they even brought in a third party for support. However, the third party from Beijing (north) is actually not an aggressive individual and believes in fairness among the martial arts world. His goal is to learn from the best school in the south east and wants the challenge to experience the best. A third school that tries to work out a peaceful resolution among everyone gets involved because the master's son is the best friend of the son of the other good school. Due to constant misunderstandings, everyone fights everyone, but the good must work hard to prevail.

LKL's movies often don't quite live up to their potential, and this is a perfect example. The spectacular lion-dance opening, with narration from The Man Himself, lets you know you're in for something ambitious, but to have been a success, MARTIAL CLUB needed a rewrite or two. The episodic nature of the story gives the feel of watching a big-budget TV show (and what an awesome show it would have been!) edited into a feature-length film. "Young Wong Fei-Hung," perhaps.Gordon is himself, enjoyable as a youthful, mischievous Fei-Hung, and Kara Hui does what she usually does - ALMOST shines and steals the show before the movie reins her in. Hm...at least that's how I always feel when I see one of her films: She seems to be somehow held back from going into full-blown leading lady mode.To me, the high point of the movie is Wang Lung-Wei's portrayal of a Northern kung-fu master, visiting a Southern instructor who intends to manipulate him into eliminating some rivals. Lung-Wei is a heavy, of course - when is he not?- but in a pleasant twist, he's not a bad guy in this movie! A tough guy, sure, and an antagonist for much of the movie, but by the end, we see he's honorable, reasonable, and even likeable. It's hard not to like him as soon as he says "Cantonese are weird."The movies flaws are largely overshadowed by an awesome (in the traditional sense) final fight between Lung-Wei and Gordon Liu. Not to give too much away, but it's more of a match than a fight, and, refreshingly, no-one's life is on the line.LKL's love of martial arts is at the heart of his movie, as well as his favorite theme of mutual respect between different schools/styles. I think with a tighter script, this could have been THE classic LKL film, even more than 36TH CHAMBER, 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER or MY YOUNG AUNTIE. As it is, it's still very entertaining - an engaging, friendly movie from LKL.

Good

This is one of the best martial arts movies I've ever seen from that era! The fight scenes are AMAZING, especially the one at the end down the winding path which is spectacular, truly one of the best in any movie. But the biggest surprise of all is the incredibly tight plot, characters and story line and the morals that are taught. This level of complexity of the plot twists is rare in many of the martial arts film from the 70s & 80s. I especially like the way they show how people can manipulate or mistake the truth based on perspective. This occurred numerous times without a clean resolution which is more like life than having everything buttoned up. Also very cute is how they show the follies of youth, the wisdom of elders and how they can both go wrong if you don't have a moral compass. And it's so great to see Johnny Wang playing a good guy! I'd be remiss to not point out the great Kara Wai, what a strong female character always protecting her brother, and the ridiculously awesome Lion dances! I think I'll watch the movie again in a few days, and then maybe again and again after that :)

Review of the 88 Films Blu-ray release 2022.During the filming of Marco Polo, Chang Cheh and his then choreographer Lau Kar-leung had a bit of a tiff which resulted in Lau following in his masters footsteps and becoming a director. For the next decade he was (in my opinion, because that's the very nature of reviews) untouchable.Released in 81, Martial Club is another excellent film featuring Gordon Liu and in some ways continues Kar-leung's obsession with the examination of martial arts. The film tells the tale of a young Wong Fei-Hung (Gordon Liu reprising his role from Challange of the masters) his relationship with his own father, his friend from a rival school and their joint friction with yet another martial arts school. At the start it seems like it's going to be a comedy, which at the time was all the rage, but it isn't really. The plot is easy to follow, unlike some of the Cheh films, the cast are all excellent, especially Kara Wai, its well paced and scripted and the action is as always, superb. The mass brawl in the opera house and alley fight are real stand out moments.There have been a few reviews saying it's not up to 88 films usual standard and although at times they dip a bit, I wonder what quality the source material was in before the transfer. Actually those curious should check out Instructors of death (US title) which is included on this release. As for the dub track, its a nice addition but I would much rather read the subtitles, purist and all that.There are plenty of extras to watch, interviews, commentary tracks and if you were quick enough or lucky enough in my case, a nice little booklet and poster.I've seen this around 3 times now, it may not be as action packed as some films but the more I watch, I appreciate a well made, scripted and acted film more than I do one full of mindless fighting, must mean I have grown up. Buy it, it's superb!!

Excellent release of this beloved classic. Easily one of the best Shawbrothers movies of all time. You can’t go wrong with 88 films, they have done a superb 2K restoration from the original 35mm print. Usual special feature and great audio commentaries but what I thought was a pleasant surprise is they included the Grindhouse presentation of this full movie ‘Instructors of Death’ which was brilliant. Although this version is not in 2k it does give you a feel of how this movie was released in US and UK theatres back in the early 80s (something I would of loved to experience first time round but sadly Im not old enough) Overall, 88 films have done a great job with this movie, well worth the investment if your a fan. 10/10

The only real Kung Fu master in HK cinema, takes a look back at his own Kung Fu lineage and it's most famous practitioner Wong Fei Hung1981 is a seminal year in HK cinema, the finest choreography ever achieved happened in this year...and this movie is on a level all it's own

This movies isn't too bad, only real issues are the English audio is really poor quality and the picture at certain points is really blurred. 88 films haven't done a good job on this one.

Along with the edited release on Blu-ray an all region at that. I can’t ask for better.