Ways of Kung Fu (1980)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Li Chao
Starring Leung Kar Yan, Mang Fei, Chung Wa, and Chi Kuan Chun

Released by Crash Cinema
Region: 1
Rating: NR, suitable for 13+
Anamorphic: No.

My advice: Pass.

After a series of abuses at the hands of a devious monk, a young student (Chun) is thrown out of the Shaolin Temple, and must make his way in the world with whatever skills he managed to acquire prior to his exile. As is typical in such situations, he spends some time depending on the kindness of strangers. But an exiled Shaolin trainee doesn’t exactly have a ton of respect from the general populace.

Fortunately for the young outcast, there are apparently any number of itinerant kung fu masters wandering the wilds of China, all of whom will pick up a student at the drop of a hat, with no prior introduction to said young hopeful. Strange as this situation may seem, our hero takes these various masters up on their offers of instruction, and in short order is in top form to return to the temple and vindicate himself by revealing the evil monk.

Ways of Kung Fu, despite some fairly elaborate fight choreography, suffers from a too-formulaic storyline that devolves into a set of training vignettes leading up to a decent final showdown--but there’s not enough meat in the story to drag a viewer along in order to reach the end of the film. There’s not anything particular to point to and say “this is where the movie goes all wrong,” but neither is there any place to point and say “this is where the movie makes it worthwhile.” It’s just mediocre enough to be unenjoyable, and has very little to distinguish it from a hundred other martial arts flicks. With the ready availability of quality kung fu goodness, there’s no reason to indulge in the bad stuff.

The video quality for this DVD is par for the Crash Cinema line--that is to say, the transfer is as good as one can expect, given the age and origin of the source material. This one has its fair share of pops and crackles, and the audio in a few places is fuzzy enough to give the impression of the English voice actors speaking through a wad of cotton. While this sort of thing is to be expected from two decade-old martial arts cinema, it can be pretty distracting.

There aren’t any features, but as with others of the Crash Cinema line, anybody interested in owning these films don’t really care if there’s a lack of such. There’s a precious dearth of these things on DVD, and very few get any real bonus material or serious attention.

Even die-hards are going to be hard-pressed to justify adding this one to their collection with the other choices out there vying for the kung fu dollar. If you just can’t get enough flying feet and fists, rent this one and move along. Without such an addiction, this one won’t be worth the time.