CompleteMartialArts.com - Shaolin Challenges Ninja
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $14.89
Your Save: $ 0.06 ( 0% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Red Sun
Starring: Gordon Liu, Chan Lung, Yasuaki Kurata, Cheng Kang-yeh, Yuka Mizuno
Directed By: Lau Kar-Leung, Liu Chia-Liang
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0876543225480
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: Red Sun
Manufacturer: Red Sun
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Red Sun
Release Date: 2007-02-07
Running Time: 101
Studio: Red Sun
Theatrical Release Date: 1979
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: China meets Japan
Comment: Nice family film, which is rare for a flick from this genre. I would definitely recommend it. The storyline can be applied to in modern kungfu films of today.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing Martial Arts Film! Chinese v. Japanese!
Comment: I'm not a man of many words, so I don't think I'll say too much. But not enough can be said about this awesome martial arts flick! First of all, it stars Gordon Liu, whose martial arts career rivals that of Jackie Chan. Second it is a fantanstic display of the differences between Chinese and Japanese martial arts. It's got jian (straight sword) versus katana, butterfly swords versus sai, karate versus zui quan (drunken fist), and an awesome confrontation between Chinese kung fu and ninja!
Some might call the plot weak, but I've seen weaker. Besides, it's usually not about the plot, but the kung fu fights, in which case this film is excellent.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gordon, what's that on your scalp?
Comment: What's refreshing about this movie is that its sense of humor transcends culture and geography. I can deal with the fact that kung fu films are just an extension of the Chinese Opera, but often the humor doesn't translate. Then again, I find most modern American comedies anything but funny. And let's look at American martial arts flicks. No, I'm not gonna do that. Blecchh!
Gordon Liu is arranged to be married to a Japanese woman, which he ain't thrilled about until he sees how pretty she is. So he goes through with it and all is well until they start debating on the superiority of Chinese or Japanese styles. Eventually they spar and Gordo wins. She goes back to Japan and he issues her a challenge to try and get her to return. Unfortunately the letter is intercepted by some of her superiors thinking he is challenging them and insulting their martial arts.
A group of Japanese fighters soon show up on Gordon's door looking for a rumble. He has to fight one a day until he is defeated or takes them all out. Not an easy task, even for an expert.
There are some great and inventive fights in this movie. And each one is different from the last as he has to use a different style and/or weapon for each of his opponents.
A beautiful, restored DVD only adds to the excitement of owning this movie. Colorful in picture, humor, and style. This is quite a bit different than most Shaw Brothers movies I've seen and is recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good kung fu movie with charm
Comment: All the reviews listed here say it very well. This movie portrays the mythos between Japanese and Chinese fighting very well. It compares and contrasts them through the discovery between a newly wed husband and wife. It is playful and humorous in spots, without being the least corny. It is one of my favorite Shaw releases. If you are trying to get your girlfriend to watch old school kung fu, start with this one. If you have a girl that likes kung fu, she's a keeper. If you are a single girl that likes kung fu..... how YOU doin'? Anywho, the Japanese wife who is skilled in martial arts and playful with it early in the movie will appeal to the female gender.
The Red Sun release is a little sketchy. As stated in another review, this dvd has original language with subtitles, even though my dvd cover says english language with no subtitles. Color reproduction and sharpness are fairly good. Also, my dvd wouldn't work in one player, but did in another. For the money, and to have original language, I am most pleased though.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The China vs Japan mythos has never been done better
Comment: Apples vs. oranges, Chevy vs. Ford, Yankees vs. Red Sox, vanilla vs. chocolate... all great debates to be sure, but they pale in comparison to the best debate of them all, Chinese Martial Arts vs. Japanese Martial Arts! This Lau Kar-Leung (who also appears as a drunken master!) film, also known by the much better title, "Heroes of the East," delivers this battle in fantastic fashion with tons of style and charm to spare. The plot has Gordon Liu in an arranged marriage to Japanese actress Yuko Mizuno and instantly their cultures and beliefs clash, most importantly when it comes to just who has the best fighting techniques the world over. In typical Kar-Leung film fashion the movie has a light playful tone, however; unlike some of his other attempts it's never corny and obnoxious and Gordon and Yuko in particular have fun with the situations while still keeping a serious tone about everything. The Japanese masters that are brought in to challenge Gordon are all great and bring personality and flavor with the small amount of screen time each is given (by actual Japanese actors). When these duels occur we get everything you could ever hope for including Kung Fu vs. Karate, Long Sword vs. Kitana, Butterfly Knives vs. Sais, 3 Section Staff vs. Nunchuku (in the closest we'll ever get to seeing Liu take on Bruce Lee... and this guy is an obvious clone), and more! One knock I do have with the movie is that Chinese master Liu tends to pawn the Japanese masters in exciting but fairly one-sided duels. Still, this is a Chinese film (if it was Japanese I'm sure things would be quite the opposite) and the Japanese masters are all treated respectfully even in defeat. This is a top 10 martial arts movie for myself and many other fans of Kung Fu cinema so if you haven't seen this yet then do yourself a favor and check it out ASAP! As far as the DVD by bargain-bin bootleg company Red Sun goes, it looks unbelievably good in a crisp, clean widescreen presentation and comes with 2 language tracks (original and English dub... the dub has a pretty solid hissing behind it) and can be bought for next to nothing. That being said I advise buying this only if you have never seen it and until Image or another respectable company rereleases it... then crush this bootleg copy with a rock (means of destruction completely up to you. The rock is just a sugestion LOL!).
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