Writer: Ni Kuang

Chang Cheh’s ‘The Heroic Ones’ is an ambitious and sumptuous martial arts epic that set a benchmark for Shaw Brothers at its time of release.

Not as plot driven or character based as ‘Five Venoms’, ‘The Kid With The Golden Arm’ concentrates on the stylish action that dominates its running time.

‘The Kung Fu Instructor’ may lack the incisive bite of the great Sun Chung works, but the director is still clearly comfortable crafting a confident work from basic ingredients.

Though containing enough reasons to warrant a viewing, ‘The Master’ is still not as polished as the better films being made by the studio at the time.

In just over 90 minutes so much action, story and style is effortless woven together that it shows the brilliance of one of the genre’s finest minds.

A splendid, fight packed romp that is a must for any fan of Fu Sheng. In fact, it’s probably a must for any fan of kung fu films.

Alongside ‘Invincible Shaolin’, ‘The Rebel Intruders’ ranks as one of the best of the Venoms’ films and one of their most realised.

It’s just disappointing that the obvious craft at work by the experienced crew on ‘The Revenger’ never quite translates into a solid, coherent whole.

‘The Shadow Boxer’ is a fairly standard affair as offered by the Shaw Brother’s studio and is unable to elevate itself to compete with the likes of the classic ‘Boxer from Shantung’ and the exceptional ‘The Water Margin’.

While it fails to ignite the screen, ‘The Shadow Whip’ does offer some moments of interest – especially during its opening twenty minute period.

‘The Water Margin’ is the kind of grandiose masterwork that is enthralling and, despite the presence of three accomplished directors, has a remarkable consistency to it.

‘The Web Of Death’ would be a four-star film but (and it is a big ‘but’!) for the preposterous sight of seeing the heroes fleeing from a green spider.