Reviewed by: Gaijin84 Date: 07/20/2010 Summary: 1/2 terrible, 1/2 excellent... Five Fighters from Shaolin is one of those strange kung fu films that is almost schizophrenic in nature. It starts off as a typical bad martial arts comedy... terrible jokes, annoying characters and ridiculous situations. The first 45 minutes are pretty much horrendous with nothing to recommend. Suddenly though, the mood starts to take a shift and the action really starts. The training that was once boring becomes quite intense and we see a great variety of weapons and styles. Chiang Sheng is excellent, Chen Shan’s kung fu is fast and powerful and there is a former gymnast (Yau Ming-Yin) that does an admirable job with some tough stunts. Mark Long is good, but unfortunately plays a character that you don’t want to see that much on screen due to his bad comedy factor. When Alan Chui and Jack Long show up, the film has shifted 180 degrees and becomes chock full of bloody fights, people being impaled, exploding heads and severed limbs. The finale is really excellent, although a bit under-cranked. There is a fair amount of wire-work, but it doesn’t detract that much from the action. Now if they had only made the entire film that way, it would have been an absolute classic. 6/10 Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: mpongpun Date: 01/04/2003 An old Buddhist scroll is stolen from Shaolin by a bunch of ninja-like thieves and in the process, one of Shaolin’s finest perishes. An old crazy, drunken monk (Sun Jung Chi) is called on by the Shaolin elders to find the scroll and the killers. To assist him in his mission, the crazy Monk enlists 5 fighters from “off the streets” and teaches them gung fu along with building their own Shaolin Temple (they were not accepted into one temple!). After the crazy Monk puts each of his disciples on their own gung fu training itinerary, they are put to the test when the folks that stole the scroll the Crazy Monk is looking for shows up at their place looking for a fight. A lot of battles take place, people run from here to there, people get impaled, spit out blood, and lose their limbs. The Crazy Monk’s chief rival, Abbot White (Jack Long), shows up using his brand of gung fu that causes things he touches to explode. Abbot White is almost on the verge of victory, but Crazy Monk and the last two of his remaining disciples manages to rally for a victory by finding the Abbot’s weak point. Stupid flick, but the last twenty minutes are pretty good.