Director: Liu Chia-Liang

The film boasts a truly stellar cast and good production values, but sadly the saga had run out of steam.

Despite the fact that ‘Challenge Of The Masters’ hasn’t aged as well as some of Liu Chia-Liang’s other notable works, there’s undoubtedly much on offer for genre fans and the casual cinema-goer.

This splendid period kung-fu film once again gives evidence of the immense quality that rolled out of the Shaw Brothers studios during the 70’s.

‘Disciples Of The 36th Chamber’ is a quality film; from the choreography to Liu Chia-Liang’s artistically composed frames, this is a more sophisticated kung fu film.

This is truly a masterpiece of the genre with Chan, who was approaching his 40th birthday at the time, on astounding form.

The weak plot and general ridiculousness are just too much to bear, and most of the star power winds up being utterly wasted.

The choreography is refreshing and innovative though the storyline is badly developed and cannot fall back on well-written characters.

This masterful kung-fu drama shows how quickly Liang found his own way of conveying his thoughts to the audience.

‘Heroes Of The East’ starts relatively slowly, but when the storyline develops beyond the basic exposition, this is another kung fu treat from ‘The Pops’.

‘Legendary Weapons of China’ loses impetus when it concentrates on the distracting sub-plot involving Fu Sheng’s kung-fu charlatan, but it is still a refined entry in the genre.

‘Mad Monkey Kung Fu’ features an excellent cast, first-rate action, an absorbing plot and a powerful soundtrack – more than enough reasons to recommend this to any true film fan.

Jet Li excels in this third lead role with another flawless display of kung-fu alongside his dramatic abilities.