Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Suman Roberson
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Jackson Booth-Millard
I found this Cantonese / Mandarin film in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, it was a film I had heard the two titles and seen images of many times, so I hoped it would be a worthy inclusion for the book. Basically young student Liu Yude, later named San Te (Chia-Hui Liu), is drawn into the local rebellion against the Manchu government by his activist teacher, government officials oppose this uprising and liquidate the school, and friends and family members are killed. San Te decides to seek vengeance against these deaths, he flees to the Shaolin temple following wounds from an attack by Manchu henchmen, seeking Kung Fu training, San Te is initially rejected by the Buddhist monks, as an outsider, but the chief abbot allows him to stay, taking mercy. A year passes, martial arts training begins for San Te in the 35 chambers of the temple, he advances more rapidly than any student previously, he is depicted along the way as inventing the three section staff. However as San Te is nearing the end and completion of his training education, he is exiled in a secret way from the temple to go against the oppressors and aid the people. San Te returns to the outside world, specifically his hometown, and assists the people by teaching them his skills in martial arts, but he is forced into conflict with the Manchu governor, before he can complete the political revolution he was inspired to. In the end San Te triumphs in his battle and returns to the Shaolin temple, he establishes the 36th chamber of Shaolin, a special martial arts class for the ordinary people to learn the ways and skills of Kung Fu. Also starring Lieh Lo as General Tien Ta, Yue Wong as Miller Six, Chia Yung Liu as General Yin and John Cheung as Lord Cheng. The leading actor, who later in his career was cast in Kill Bill as The Bride's master Pai Mei, does very well as the dedicated fugitive turned masterful student, the simple revenge story does not stand out highly, this film is all about the inventive training sequences and fight scenes, I can see why it was considered a landmark of the genre, probably more so in its day, an interesting Kung Fu martial arts adventure. Worth watching!
django822
Just to begin I've seen some of the Jackie Chan, Bruce lee and tony jaa films, but after watching this film it totally changed my mind on martial arts movies. the 36th chamber of shaolin has to go down has one of the most inspirational movies, im totally serious, its surprising that people go on constantly about enter the dragon but don't even know this movie. this movie needs to be known. the main actor may not be as skilled as Bruce lee or Jackie chan but he defiantly would have to be in the top 15 martial artists. the fight scenes are well coordinated and well planned. words just cannot explain this ladies and gentleman, Watch it!!!!!!!!!! this movie is a classic.
euanconn96
San Te is a student that finds himself rallying behind his teacher in resistance to the Manchu government. When many of his friends and family die as a result of the government's ruthless tactics San Te tries to become a Shaolin monk in an attempt to learn Kung Fu in order to gain revenge on the Manchu officials.36th Chamber is a brilliant martial arts film. It is artfully directed and edited and endlessly entertaining containing some of the most interesting "training scenes" that I have seen in a martial arts film, or any film for that matter. The fight choreography is almost completely flawless throughout and each fight seems to tell a story or have a purpose in the overall narrative. There isn't fighting for fightings sake. While that may sounds like a drawback it certainly isn't. Also, while seemingly a revenge flick 36th Chamber is more about the power of learning and teaching. The vast majority of the film contains some element of teaching or implementing teachings in one form or another.The brilliance of the directing and editing is that one San Te starts learning to become a Shaolin monk he has to pass 35 Chambers to do so. Now obviously showing all 35 Chambers on film in their entirety would probably make for an exorbitantly long film here the first 6 or so chambers are focused on showing San Ta's tackling of the "easiest" of the chambers to increase his strength and dexterity. The later chambers are handled more quickly and the process of each is shown through other characters enduring the tests while San Te is shown to be mastering them. Seen in its entirety this entire section of film is quite brilliantly directed and edited. In addition, later when San Te exhibits the different things he has learned in his fights it is done without a "remember that?" type flash back like other films have done. The film assumes we are smart enough to remember or merely uses similar camera cuts and angles from the training sequences to aid in recall.
poe426
Lo Lieh, the man you love to hate in kung fu movies, takes out a rebel general in hand-to-hand combat (because he CAN), and displays the body in a public square. When San Te (Gordon Liu) sees the dead body and laments the death of the "patriot," he immediately goes to the top of Lord Tang's **** list. His family members are killed and he's a hunted man. Wounded, he nonetheless makes it to a Shaolin Temple (by hiding in a basket of vegetables). As soon as he comes out of his coma, he becomes a student- a devout student, who eventually (but not at first) excels at kung fu. Practice makes perfect; or, as Ray Bradbury put it: "From quantity comes quality." Before long, he's walking on water. THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN is understandably hailed as a classic- due in no small measure to the performance by Gordon Liu: as he would demonstrate in the sequel (and elsewhere), he was a very gifted actor.
