Filled with the stars of the second and third generations of director Chang Cheh's stable of actors such as Alexander Fu Sheng, David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chi Kuan-Chun, as well as several of the actors that would later become collectively known as the Venoms Mob, Shaolin Temple - also known as Death Chambers - is so much more than just the prequel* to Five Shaolin Masters.
The leaders of the Shaolin Monks have started to come to the conclusion that time is running out and they must train more fighters to fight the Qings, yet they're still forcing fighters to sleep outside the temple for weeks at a time to test their resolve.
Two of those fighters - Fang Shih Yu and Ma Chao-hsing - are accepted and must survive the even harsher world that is inside the temple. Fang Shih Yu struggles to learn tiger boxing and keeps failing until a mysterious person begins teaching him the tiger-crane style, which makes him a much stronger fighter.
Yet will all the training - and new monks - be enough when the Qing army attacks and attempts to burn the temple down?
This movie has an amazing training sequence that lasts ten minutes within the maze inside the temple. You have to respect people that only are concerned with fighting and meditation when they're not building thrill rides that beat people into submission. And the last half an hour is one gigantic fight as the monks use all the skills that they've learned in the film.
*Actually, it's the fifth part of the Shaolin Cycle, following Heroes Two, Men from the Monastery, Shaolin Martial Arts, Five Shaolin Masters and The Shaolin Avengers.
The leaders of the Shaolin Monks have started to come to the conclusion that time is running out and they must train more fighters to fight the Qings, yet they're still forcing fighters to sleep outside the temple for weeks at a time to test their resolve.
Two of those fighters - Fang Shih Yu and Ma Chao-hsing - are accepted and must survive the even harsher world that is inside the temple. Fang Shih Yu struggles to learn tiger boxing and keeps failing until a mysterious person begins teaching him the tiger-crane style, which makes him a much stronger fighter.
Yet will all the training - and new monks - be enough when the Qing army attacks and attempts to burn the temple down?
This movie has an amazing training sequence that lasts ten minutes within the maze inside the temple. You have to respect people that only are concerned with fighting and meditation when they're not building thrill rides that beat people into submission. And the last half an hour is one gigantic fight as the monks use all the skills that they've learned in the film.
*Actually, it's the fifth part of the Shaolin Cycle, following Heroes Two, Men from the Monastery, Shaolin Martial Arts, Five Shaolin Masters and The Shaolin Avengers.