Executioner from Shaolin DVD

EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN (1977)
Ground Zero/NS Video
99 Minutes
Directed by Liu Chia-Liang
Produced by Runme Shaw and Hsien Chi
Written by I Kuang
Cinematography by Tsao Hui Chi
Fight Choreography by Liu Chia-Liang
Music by Chen Yung Yu
Cast: Chen Kuan Tai, Lo Lieh, Lily Li, Wang Yu, Gordon Liu, Cheng Kang-Yeh, Joe Cheung, To Kong, Shen Lao, Hoi San Lee, Ching Tien
Video: Full Frame (1.33.1)
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono 2.0
Subtitles: None
Packaging: Keepcase
Chapter Stops: 6

EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN (1977) is a direct sequel to Chang Cheh’s MEN FROM THE MONASTARY, which ended with the burning of the Shaolin Temple. This movie picks up where that film left off, with the Shaolin monks and followers escaping the Manchurian takeover. Chen Kuan Tai (IRON MONKEY ’77, SHAOLIN KING BOXER, RETURN OF THE FIVE

DEADLY VENOMS) reprises his role as the legendary hero of Chinese folklore, Hung Sze Kuan. Joining Chen Kuan Tai is a stellar supporting cast including Lo Lieh (FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, FISTS OF THE WHITE LOTUS, BORN INVINCIBLE), Wang Yue (DIRTY HO, SHAOLIN MASTER KILLER, DIRTY KUNG FU), Lily Li (SHAOLIN MANTIS, SLICE OF DEATH, EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER), and a short but important appearance by Gordon Liu himself. EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN is directed by the Shaw Brothers second best director, Liu Chia Liang. Back when this movie came out, Liu Chia Liang was still developing his directorial style, and EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN has his fingerprints all over it. The movie is full of comic innuendo, character development, and superb martial arts choreography. In 2001, NS Video has quickly become a godsend to Shaw Brothers fans, as the company has released several Venoms and Gordon Liu films on DVD, including this one, which the metallic packaging touts as a Platinum Collector’s Edition.

"The Manchurian Court, having learned that the rebels were using the Shaolin Temple as a cover for their activities, ordered Priest Bak Mei to lead a raid upon the temple. Bak Mei’s men surrounded the temple and set fire to it. In a bid to save his disciples, Priest Chi San of the Shaolin Temple engaged Priest Bak Mei in a duel to the death." This is the opening narration which opens the film. Bak Mei the Shaolin traitor is shown battling Chi San during the opening credit sequence, until Chi San is killed.

Following the burning of the Shaolin Temple, Hung Sze Kuan (Chen Kuan Tai) and his brothers run for their lives across the hills of old China. Bak Mei’s forces hides in the lush greenery, waiting to pounce on the Shaolin and snuff them out completely. The soldiers surprise the fleeing rebels, and slaughter every man they see. Only Hung and his ally Brother Tong (Gordon Liu) stand up to Bak Mei’s army. Brother Tong finally gets speared in the lower half of his torso, and yells at Hung to escape and get revenge for the death of their master, Chi San. Brother Tong’s suicidal last attack against the soldiers provides enough distraction for Hung to escape. The white bearded Bak Mei (Lo Lieh) orders his soldiers to hunt down and kill Hung, the last remaining Shaolin warrior. The remaining rebels takes refuge among a traveling troop of entertainers and performance artists. They travel from port to port in giant ships called Red Boats. During one such stop, Hung meets hot headed Yung Chun (Lily Li) who has mastered Crane-style Kung Fu. She challenges the performance artists to a friendly duel, which she quickly dominates. Hung seeks to put her in her place and takes up her challenge. He pits his Tiger style against her Crane forms, and he comes up victorious. Impressed, she takes notice of him. He invites her and her uncle (Shen Lao) to join them on their mission of freedom on the Red Boats. Time passes, and Hung and Yung Chun fall in love and are soon engaged. The other rebels, including Hung’s close friend Hsiao Hu (Cheng Kang-Yeh), constantly tease him until they are married.

Bak Mei eventually discovers the Red Boats are sheltering rebels. He orders his men to destroy them. The soldiers make their way down to the shore and set the boats on fire. Hung orders everyone to abandon the boats and hide. Hung goes into hiding and turns his attentions to improving his already-formidable martial arts skills, in preparation for the day he will eventually face Bak Mei. Hung and his wife have also produced their first child, a son named Wen Ding. Yung Chun offers to teach her husband the Crane style, which she insists can take out Bak Mei. He seems interested until she states it will take 10 years to learn, which he cannot wait. So she decides to train their son instead. By the kid’s 10 birthday, he’s the toughest boy in the village. Hung decides that the time is right, kisses his family good-bye, and sets out for Bak Mei’s palace. Hung plows through the guards like a martial arts whirlwind, but is quickly trounced by his enemy Bak Mei, who professes near invulnerability. All of Hung’s years of training don’t cut it against his opponent, who claims to have only one weak spot. Hung recalls his wife voice telling him to escape if he gets the chance. As Hung rolls down the long flight of stone steps outside the castle, the white -haired villain sends a huge object hurtling after him. This heavy object overtakes Hung and threatens to crush him. Suddenly, Hung’s friend Hsiao Hu appears and uses his body to stop the falling object. Hsiao Hu’s body is crushed upon impact. Hung thanks his ally and promises to avenge him—then he escapes. Young Wen Ding is crushed when he learns Hsiao Hu (a man who has been like family to him) is dead.

Years later, Wen Ding is 18 years old (and now played by Wang Yu) and a full fledged master of Crane style, having practiced it for most of his life. Hung Tze Kuan once again believes he can determine Bak Mei’s weak spot. He trains harder than ever in preparation of their final battle. Wen Ding is concerned his middle-aged father is not able to get the job done. He pressures his father so that he too, can come along. Hung forbids it, which sparks off negative vibes between the two. Wen Ding gets carried away and actually ends up fighting his own father. Eventually, Hung talks sense to his son about justice and keeping one’s word. Hung once again leaves to fight Bak Mei with the approval of his wife and son. Like their last meeting years earlier, Bak Mei welcomes Hung to try again. Hung clearly outperforms his opponent and things look good for him, until he tries to locate his enemy’s Achilles heel. During their battle, Hung gambles that the weak spot is his genitals, and kicks him there hard. Amazingly, Bak Mei laughs and actually reacts by applying a painful hold on Hung’s leg using his groin muscles! Bak Mei divulges that his weak spot is mobile, meaning that its never in the same place at the same time. Hung is so startled by this revelation that he is distracted, and Bak Mei delivers the killing blow. When Hung fails to return home, Wen Ding demands his mother to prepare him to face Bak Mei. They study up on ways to beat those with invulnerability. Eventually, Wen Ding is confident he can succeed where his father failed, and heads for Bak Mei's palace for the final showdown...

Despite the exploitative title, EXECUTIONER OF SHAOLIN is more of a dramatic character study and less of a martial arts slaughter-fest. A more appropriate title would probably be THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE HUNG SZE KUAN FAMILY. A good portion of the film chronicles the relationship between Hung Tze Kuan and his wife and son. The entire revenge sub-plot takes a back seat to this character development. The son bonds with his mother through her teaching of the martial arts, but something appears to be missing between Wen Ding and his father. Perhaps it was that Hung Sze Kuan was so preoccupied with advancing his martial arts skills (for the purpose of revenge) for all those years, that he neglected his son. In the last act, Wen Ding challenges his father and eventually earns some respect from him. Then when Hung decides to return to challenge Bak Mei for the last time (realizing he may not make it back), Hung finally reaches out to his son, and shares his wisdom. As you would probably expect, all this character development allows for some wonderful acting potential, and I’m happy to report that the cast succeeds on this level. Liu Chia-Liang wanted soap opera exposition between the fight scenes and he got ‘em.

This is a breakthrough performance for Chen Kuan Tai. We’ve seen his movies before where he loses his family at the hands of some evil-doers (THE FLYING GUILLOTINE or IRON MONKEY for instance) and vengeance quickly changes him into an unemotional Kung Fu killer who takes revenge in a very stoic manner. Cool yes, but also very one-dimensional. In EXECUTIONER OF SHAOLIN, we see the kick-ass side of Chen Kuan Tai, but we also get to see him do things we’ve never seen from him before, like bond with his son. We also see him plagued with self-doubt, show vulnerability, and deal with sorrow. Chen Kuan Tai rises to the acting challenges given to him, and it’s a crime they don’t give out awards for martial arts films, because he should have secured some kind of statue as this is the best acted performance in a martial arts film from 1977. It’s interesting to note that Chen Kuan Tai tapped into the father-son relationship again (this time with Lu Feng) in RETURN OF THE DEADLY VENOMS, but in a more dark and twisted way. Lily Li’s acclaimed fighting skills don’t come into play too often in EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN, except in the training scenes. She does have a huge presence in the film, however, and comes through with emotions rather than violence. This is one of the better performances from the beautiful and graceful Ms. (Mrs.?) Li, surpassing even her key role in SHAOLIN MANTIS (though in that movie she fought a lot more).

The only character who is truly one-dimensional is Bak Mei, but the marvelous Lo Lieh manages to put forth one of the best villain roles of his career. Nobody has done more bad guys than Lo Lieh, so saying that Bak Mei is his best goes to show you how potent he is in EXECUTIONERS OF DEATH. They say that a Kung Fu movie is only as good as its villain, and assuming that’s true then even if the movie sucked, Lo Lieh’s performance would be reason enough for you to see it. Young Wang Yue comes in late in the film, and is probably the weakest link in the cast if there is one. Let’s not forget the direction of Liu Chia-Liang. He balances well the storytelling, characterization, and levity in EXECUTIONER OF SHAOLIN, and hints at his genius to come (THE MASTER KILLER, INVINCIBLE POLE FIGHTER, SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA). The only weaknesses in his direction are lapses in the pacing and continuity to accommodate the drama. Kung Fu fans with short attention spans will no doubt cry foul with these pacing problems, but enlightened viewers looking for something above and beyond the norm will surely appreciate EXECUTIONERS OF DEATH. One other criticism about the movie is the abrupt ending. Lo Lieh and Wang Yue never conclude their final fight. Wang Yue goes to deliver the killing blow, and the screen pauses with a narrator announcing "A combination of Tiger and Crane is what finally killed Bak Mei". Maybe there is some hidden meaning there known only to Chinese folks—let me know if I’m correct. Oh, by the way, did I mention the great martial arts choreography effort put forth by Liu Chia-Liang and the cast?

The original theatrical ratio for EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN is 2.35.1. The packaging states that this DVD is in ShawScope, but this is really a full frame presentation. However, this is one of the best full frame transfers to come from NS Video. Remember how the full frame transfer for their CHINESE SUPER NINJAS disc is soft and faded? Well, EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN is very sharp and colorful. The source print is scratchy and grainy at times, but overall in very good shape. The movie was filmed mostly outdoors with natural lighting, so the transfer has more Earth tones when compared to later Shaw Bros. epics (such as the Venoms films). The black level is truly deep, contrasting the subdued color schemes. Liu Chia Liang focused EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN on the characters and martial arts choreography, and not on extravagant production values. Compared to the excessive DIRTY HO, this picture is much more controlled budget-wise. For once, the martial arts choreography is perfectly centered in the frame. NS Video’s transfer delivers the goods, at least until Celestial Pictures releases a widescreen version.

NS Video cleans up the sound on this DVD, and as a result EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN is minus the analog hiss, crackling, and drop-outs that plague VHS versions of this movie. The sound is Dolby Digital Mono 2.0, with pleasing fidelity that possesses a variable range of frequencies. This soundtrack is English language only, naturally, with the dubbed dialog emanating cleanly from the center channel. The dubbing is by the usual folks, and NS Video’s soundtrack delivers the vocals without any distortion. The movie is full of the typical overdone foley effects that make these films so much fun. You’ll hear cracking bones, clanging weapons, rushing flips, and chiseling chops. The audio highlight is when Hung Sze Kuan falls down the stairs about to be crushed by the rolling object behind him. The score is by the always reliable Chen Yung Yu, but this dramatic orchestration is somewhat of a departure for him. Gone are the galloping, epic themes of movies past, replaced with a more personal tone that matches the humanistic nature of the narrative. A very unusual score for an unusual Kung Fu movie.

None. But the disc features pleasing animated menu with music from the film.

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Say what you want about EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN, it is a very unique martial arts film in many respects. Liu Chia-Liang creatively strived to do things differently in Kung Fu movies than what was popular (but oh-so-cliché) at the time. He intentionally made his films totally different in tone and execution from those of the master Chang Cheh. Whether you enjoy EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN or are bored by it, you’ve got to credit Liu Chia-Liang for his vision, his creativity, and the quality of his martial arts sequences. While all directors of this period were copying the style of Chang Cheh, Liu Chia Liang was distancing himself from the grim tone and violent excesses of the great one. Instead, Liang incorporated lots of humor, characterization, and meaty roles for women to differentiate from Chang Cheh. EXECUTIONER FROM SHAOLIN showcases career performances for many of the stars, such as Chen Kuan Tai, Lily Li, and young Wang Yu. This is a great disc from NS Video with some truly eye-catching chromium packaging. This is advertised as a Platinum Collector’s Edition, but outside of the attractive graphics and menus, there are no extras or anything else to live up to the hype.

Movie:	4.0
Video:	3.5
Audio:	3.0
Extras:	0.0
Overall:	4.0