.....

THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER (1984)
Kam & Ronson
Directed by Siao Lung
Produced by Yu Yang Gian, Wei Jia Dao, and Wu Yue
Written by Zhong Jun, Hai Hong, Siao Lung
Cinematography by Ha Lie and Tony Fan
Music by Kuan Sheng Yau and Zhou Jin Ziang
Cast: Chiu Jian Guo, Lee Yan Long, Zhong Xiao Zhen, Suen Gen Fa, Xu Li, Li Xiang Ro, Ku Guo Xing, Xu Xue Yi, Pan Wei Xing
Video: Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Packaging: Keepcase
Chapter Stops: 8
96 Minutes

THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER is a sprawling mainland Chinese production directed by Siao Lung. Martial arts fans will remember Siao Lung as the screenwriter of the classic DRUNKEN MASTER (1978), which he co-wrote with Seasonal Films founder Ng See Yuen. Siao Lung also directed several other martial arts films, among them LACKEY AND THE LADY TIGER (1980) and EXECUTION (1981). For THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER (also known as RED DRAGONS OF SHAOLIN), Siao Lung contributes to the screenplay in addition to the direction chores. The filmmakers attempted to stretch their low budget as far as possible by hiring complete unknowns in the lead roles including Chiu Jian Guo, Lee Yan Long, Suen Gen Fa, and Zhong Xiao Zhen. Of all the lead actors, only Chiu Jian Guo ever continued to work in the genre--REVENGEANCE SUPERLADY (1980), WIZARD’S CURSE (1992), and FORCED NIGHTMARE (1992)--and was the only member of the cast to return in the sequel, THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER 2 (1985). THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER was picked up for English distribution by Ocean Shores in the 1980s and materialized on various VHS labels in a truncated, scratchy, pan ‘n scan format. However, a new Hong Kong import label called Kam & Ronson has done the unthinkable. They have distributed a handful of martial arts classics from the 1980’s uncut, in original languages (in 5.1 surround sound no less), including ARHATS IN FURY (1980), YAO’S YOUNG WARRIORS (1985), and the epic QUEEN OF TIBET (1987).

The Chen Clan hires a traveling acrobat troupe to put on a show for them. When the troupe’s Red Dragon boat pulls into the village, soldiers of the Manchurian Prince Zhao Shi Xiang (Xu Li) requests the immediate presence of the troupe to entertain his Manchurian army. Mr. Liang (Zhong Xiao Zhen), the elder spokesman of the troupe refuses Zhao’s request because he has pledged to perform for the Chen Clan. Zhao’s soldiers immediately lash out at Mr. Liang, prompting his son, Liang Shao Jia (Li Yan Long) to come to his father’s aid. The soldiers over power the young upstart until a mysterious fighter appears to even the odds—and the two of them send the soldiers scurrying away. Liang Shao Jia and his comrades thank the stranger, whose name is Lin Hai Nan (Chiu Jian Guo). The stranger hurries off to keep an appointment and travels to the nearby Shaolin Temple. Lin Hai Nan is an agent for the rebels who have collected their money. His mission is to present it to the head Abbot at the temple. Once inside, Lin Hai Nan meets the Abbot. However, the Abbot pulls out a knife and stabs Lin Hai Nan. It’s all a trap to secure the rebels’ funds and Lin Hai Nan falls right into it. He finds himself surrounded by soldiers, and he escapes into the dark tunnels below the temple. Lin Hai Nan succeeds in giving them the slip, though he is seriously wounded and passes out. Luckily, one of the acrobat troupe members finds him and brings him back to their boat. Liang Shao Jia and compatriots take the fallen rebel aboard their ship and set sail. As the days pass, Lin Hai Nan regains his health and the joins the ranks of the troupe, as he is a wanted man.

The Red Dragon boat enters another village to put on a show, and the crew finds Zhao’s private army waiting for them. A large battle erupts in the village between the Machurians and the troupe members (who are also skilled martial artists). Soon after, Zhao is able to burn the Red Dragon boat and eliminate some troupe members for aiding Lin Hai Nan. The troupe members mourn the loss of their associates, property, and identity (without their boat and things they are out of the entertainment business). Lin Hai Nan decides to search for the hidden Shaolin Temple where the real Abbot resides. Liang Shao Jia and the other vengeance minded folks in the troupe (including several women) decide to join Lin Hai Nan on his journey. They build a raft and travel down river until they eventually stumble upon a Shaolin monastery. The real Abbot welcomes them all, and offers up the Temple’s services to improve their martial arts skills. Everyone begins training viciously hard, especially Lin Hai Nan who focuses on using his knees to break stones. Meanwhile, the Manchurians are staging an important boat race, and the troupe decides they want to enter the race to get back at them. There are numerous entries in the race, and no one works as hard or as fast as the Lin Hai Nan and the troupe. The Manchurians cheat to keep them from winning, but even that can’t stop the heroes from winning. With unsportsman like attitude, several Manchurian soldiers kill some of the winners, prompting an epic brawl to erupt. Lin Hai Nan and his allies must fight through the Manchurian army to seek his revenge on Zhao, who also happens to be an undefeated fighter…

The overall plotting is thin (another Shaolin Temple revenge tale) with little thought given to characterization. And the focus is on one central character (Lin Hai Nan) despite having an amazingly large cast of mostly no-names. But the sheer amount of secondary characters and extras provides THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER with an epic look and feel. The story includes a flamboyant boat race which becomes a centerpiece of the film. While it slows down the pacing a little, I applaud the filmmakers for daring to try something different. In fact the entire idea of having an entire acrobat troupe as heroes (it’s been done before as in EXCUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN) is a good one, and Siao Lung pulls it off and stretches the premise for all its worth. There is a very minor level of humor to the film, thankfully held in check by the director and it does not distract from the drama and emotion. As you can imagine, THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER features acrobat performers and there are plenty of real life acrobatic martial artists that serve to bring the fight sequences to life. The fight choreography is highly creative and the fighters and extras are extremely fluid. We approve of the way the filmmakers captured the action on film; by showing the sequences in clear view of the camera—no editing or jump cuts. This looks very pleasing during the group battle scenes with multiple participants fighting in the background. However, much of the fight scenes are ruined by the overcranking. This wouldn’t be so bad if it was used sparingly, but the filmmakers use it continually throughout each and every fight scene. This really takes away from the believability factor, and deflates the efforts of the stuntmen and choreographers. When the filmmakers go from overcranked to slow-motion and then back to overcranked again, it all becomes like a bad Warner Bros. cartoon.

SIGHT

The DVD contains the uncut version of THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER, framed at the original widescreen ratio of 2.35.1. At the very least, director Siao Lung wanted his film to possess a truly marvelous visual style. He succeeded as the panoramic photography and superb camera angles are the true stars of THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER. You would never know this, of course, from viewing the VHS version. We are pleased to report the folks at Kam & Ranson come through and delivered a truly spectacular widescreen print! Even the best widescreen stuff to come from Crash Cinema and Ground Zero show their age, but this print is so clean and radiates such detail that it seems almost surreal. THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER features some of the best natural (no studio work) cinematography we’ve ever witnessed in an old school Kung Fu movie, and the transfer serves it up with eye-popping flair. The fights all take place in ultra-scenic locations that are so picturesque, they often distract from the fight sequences! And the colors are awesome to the extreme—the reds, yellows, greens, and golds in the cinematography burst forth with utter brilliance. The blacks are truly deep, and grain is minimal as its worst. To view an old school film in this manner is a revolutionary experience indeed. If the Celestial Shaw Brothers releases come close to this in quality and presentation, we are all in for a treat indeed.

SOUND

The sound is Dolby Digital 5.1. Language tracks are available in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. All three soundtracks feature identical sound effects and music; only the voice tracks differ with each one. English speaking martial arts fans are in for a real treat, sound-wise. As these films were only released with mono sound, we’ve never heard true Dolby Digital 5.1 sound with old school (except for perhaps HK imports like LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY and DUEL TO THE DEATH); those Ground Zero Wu Tang discs attempting a DD 5.1 remix failed miserably in our opinion. THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER contains all those great old-school foley sound effects like clanging weapons, chopping blows, thrashing kicks, and rushing flips enveloping you in the sound field. The movie also has a decent period score that resonates in the soundtrack. The dialog for all three languages is crisply well-done and comes from the center speaker, without any harshness or background noise. A truly phenomenal acoustic effort from Kam & Ronson.

FEATURES

CONCLUSION

THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER is a blast of fresh air for martial arts enthusiasts. Though the movie itself is nothing special in terms of story, star power, or over-cranked fighting action, the filmmakers present the movie on an epic scale with many spectacular visuals. The DVD presentation is so good that it magnifies the film’s strengths, thereby displacing the weaknesses. You’ll be so entertained by the camerawork and location shooting that you’ll overlook the story flaws and cartoonish choreography. After years of viewing these films in the flawed VHS format, this presentation is nothing short of perfection. The transfer quality is so clean and colorful that the movie could have been shot last week. The Dolby Digital 5.1 ups the value of this disc significantly. Purists get the thrill of viewing the film in the Asian languages with readable English subtitles, and nostalgia buffs get the English dubbed soundtrack like they’ve never heard it before. What more could you ask for? We especially appreciate this company’s direct pandering to English speaking audiences—they obviously know who they’re biggest customer base is.

THE SOUTH SHAOLIN MASTER is available from HKFlix.com

-- Tony Mustafa

BACK TO

REVIEW INDEX

DVDCULT HOME