Shaolin Traitorous

Customer Reviews:

too bad to watch.......2007-07-07

i have a xenon release of this, that is not in english(like the product details state), instead, it is hardsubbed, meaning that the subtitles are in the actual video. it has both chinese and horribly translated english at the same time. the worst part is that the subtitles are completely white, no outlining at all, so if the screen is white or even sort of light, you can't read them. 2 thumbs down!!!

Average kung fu movie with good directing.......2007-06-28

Chang Yi and Sammo Hung star as 2 high ranking government officials who are killing everyone who tries to resist the new government. Because of this Chang Yi is given a higher ranking. Carter Wong's family is killed at the start of the movie by Chang Yi and he goes to learn at Shaolin Temple. When he is grown up he leaves to take revenge. He finds out that Chang Yi has a daughter who is also looking for revenge because she was adopted by him after he killed her family. Polly Shang Kuan plays the daughter and at age 15 her parents were killed. She decided to learn kung fu from the enemy so that she could kill him one day.

My favorite part of the movie is when Polly Kuan explains why she is so mad at Carter for wanting to kill her adopted father. She feels she is the only one that should be able to kill him. This movie is very well directed, but unfortunately the kung fu is only average. It is not too bad for 1976, but the choreography just wasn't good enough for me. The graphic violence is the best part about the fights. Polly Kuan looks the best out of everyone and luckily the final fight doesn't disappoint. Chang Yi is one of the best villains in kung fu cinema history and is really good in his 5 minutes of action. The guy is pure evil.

3/5

The DVD from Xenon is surprisingly not bad. Picture quality is decent and the badly translated subtitles are easy to read. Best of all it is pefectly widescreened.

Old "Skool" Kung Fu!!.......2006-07-11

I though this flick really high-lighted the brilliant performance by the great Carter Wong,,,I though this flick was truly entertaining and a pleasure to watch. A fantastic addition for the collection.....the choreography and cinematography well placed, and nicely put together!!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention,,I noticed Sammo Hung's name as part of the cast (Staring0,,I did not see him anywhere in this movie, perhaps an over-sight on my part,,but I'm confident if he existed in the flick,I would have noticed him,,as he's one of my favourite old school performer. Needless to say, Sammo Hung not bein g the most transparent, did not take anything away from this old school kicker,,you will be entertained!!

An Unkown Classic.......2003-01-11

Shaolin Traitorous is a well made film with a very good cast. The main characters in the film are played by Carter Wong, Polly Shang Kwan, Chang Yi, and Sammo Hung. Their fight scenes are very well done, and their acting in this film is also very good. This is one of the better films that Polly Shang Kwan has starred in, and she stands out as one of the better actors and martial artists in the film. The film's cinematography is excellent, especially in the outdoor scenes, and this high quality widescreen version lets the viewer enjoy it.

The plot consists of a young boy (Carter Wong) who sees his family killed by government officials (Chang Yi & Sammo Hung). The boy enters the Shaolin Temple to learn kungfu in order to get revenge, and when he is grown up, he sets out to do so. Polly Shang Kwan plays the adopted daughter of Chang Yi's character.

The fight scenes were well choreographed, especially Carter Wong's and Polly Shang Kwan's, and well executed also. These two actors were very good in this film. Sammo Hung is very young in this film, and one of the highlights of the film is a weapons fight in the mountains in the middle of the film, between him and Carter Wong. The fight scenes, like the rest of the film, were filmed very well, using a mix of hand held camera and tripod shots, and also a mix of close ups and long shots, and nothing ever went out of the frame. The sets as well as the outdoor settings were very good, giving the film an excellent backdrop. The only things I didn not like about the film were the corny fighting formations of the villain's hechmen, and the overly dramatic deaths. I would say this is a generally well made film, and this is a high quality VHS version.

Good quality edition of an unsung kung fu masterwork.......2001-10-10

SHAOLIN TRAITOROUS (aka TRAITOROUS, 1976) is a well-produced kung fu film with excellent cinematography, location filming in Taiwan, clever fight choreography and a top-notch cast. Carter Wong (BORN INVINCIBLE) and Polly Shang Kwan (LADY WUTANG) play the hero and heroine while the villains are portrayed by Chang Yi (EAGLE'S CLAW) and a future star-director of the genre, Sammo Hung (MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER).

The plot is a standard revenge tale told in a concise manner that involves a boy witnessing his parents' murder at the hands of corrupt officials and growing up to achieve vengeance. The boy goes to Shaolin Temple to learn kung fu in a superb training sequence that ranks with some of the better-known Shaolin Temple scenes in kung fu cinema. By the time the boy has completed his training, he has grown up to be Carter Wong and soon sets out on his mission. He meets Polly Shang Kwan along the way and, after some initial antagonism, the two become allies and confront the villains.

The bad guys employ a particularly clever maneuver involving dozens of imperial guardsmen performing a variety of formations on cue (including standing on each other's shoulders, three men high) as Sammo Hung bangs out different drumbeats. Sammo and Carter engage in a particularly exciting bout against the backdrop of a mountainous landscape midway through the film.
The surprisingly high-quality VHS edition offers a pristine letter-boxed transfer in its original language (Mandarin) with English subtitles.

DVD:

DVD

DVD