The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Movie Review

Starring: Gordon Liu
Directed by: Lau Kar Leung

---Spoilers included-------

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a martial arts classic. Like many earlier Kung fu movies, this movie story, theme, also centered on the Revenge (justice or self defense or do the right thing) San Te , played by Gordon Liu, witnesses the death of his master & friends & his family members and vows to learn kung fu so that he can fight the oppressors in his town. Fleeing the bad guys, he heads for Shaolin temple. Most of the movie shows Liu training endlessly at the temple. Liu was shown in at least 10+ of the chambers and half of the movie is spent in the training only. I love all the chambers and the training. No matter how difficult the obstacle, Liu tries and tries again during the training. Years pass as he works his way through the “chambers,” improving his concentration, strength, and reflexes. After what seems like a movie unto itself, he is finally pronounced a master, and invited to teach at any of the 35 chambers. Instead of choosing one, he proposes to create the 36th chamber, which will take the knowledge of Shaolin out of the temple and teach it to the people, so that they can learn to fight for themselves, too. His proposal was rejected & he was out of Shaolin temple for his disagreement. He comes back to his native place, in final scenes and in the fights we will see Liu confronting the oppressors. There are many fight scenes, and each one demonstrates a skill that he learned while in school. The best thing about this film was Liu, this guy was amazing, great charisma and great screen presence. Whether it fights or learning skill, his eyes are so intense. The fight scenes are competently choreographed & Liu and his co-stars are good, and the camera holds on them long enough that you can tell they aren’t cheating with camera tricks. With great production value, beautiful cinematography, fantastic acting makes this movie one of the best in its genre. Even if you’re not a huge fan of kung fu movies, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is an excellent & fine of the genre. Just give a try & it will not disappoint. DVD comes with rich set of extras which include interviews with Gordon Liu, few film scholars etc.