Hu Te et al. escape the burning Shaolin temple after the Qing soldiers destroyed it in Shaolin Temple. The group of 5 decide to develop secret codes to identify fellow patriots, enlist those patriots and eventually meet up again to escape to the south away from the Qings, and also identify the traitor who sold out Shaolin temple. Ma Fu Yi, joins the Qing top fighters to eliminate the rebels but is exposed by Ma Chao-Tsing who gets captured by Ma Fu Yi. Hu meets up with a group of Shaolin men secretly posing as bandits to rescue Ma as their leader is killed in the process, thus the bandits join the rest of the Shaolin patriots.
Stunts
Chang Cheh's signature 'slow death' choreography at peak absurdity.
Practical Effects
Real Shaolin forms performed by actual martial artists, zero wires.
Direction
Chang Cheh turns training scenes into homoerotic blood brother rituals.
Director
Chang Cheh
David Chiang Da-Wei
Hu Te-Ti
Ti Lung
Tsai Te-Chung
Alexander Fu Sheng
Ma Chao-Hsing
Chi Kuan-Chun
Li Shih-Kai
Mang Fei
Fang Ta-Hung
Bryan Leung Kar-Yan
Chien San
Fung Hak-On
Chang Chin-Chiu
Tsai Hung
Pao Yu-Lung, Flying Axe
Johnny Wang Lung-Wei
Ma Fu-Yi
Chiang Tao
General Chen Wen-Yao
Gordon Liu Chia-Hui
Chang Yun (cameo)
Lu Ti
Ma Chin-Yung
Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan
Patriot Killed by Chang Chin Chiu
Stephan Yip Tin-Hang
Patriot Messenger
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is technically a sequel to 1976's 'Shaolin Temple,' which was filmed AFTER but released first due to production delays—Shaw Brothers chaos at its finest.
The 'five heroes' structure directly mirrors the 1911 revolutionary folklore that made Shaolin mythology central to Chinese nationalist identity.
HK
