A Review of the Shaolin-themed Kungfu Movies

"Hand of Death"

Released in 1976, director John Woo's "Hand of Death" features Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. The stuntman turned actor Jackie was not famous in the 1970s and the film copied the style of John's teacher Cheh Chang's films. But later both of them found their own style of movie making.

Set in the Qing Dynasty, the movie is about Shaolin monks defeating the betrayer of Shaolin Temple, who is bloodthirsty.

"The Shaolin Temple"

In 1982, Shaolin fever swept the Chinese mainland due to Jet Li's debut movie "The Shaolin Temple". The film was directed by Hong Kong director Zhang Xinyan.

Different from before, the movie was made in the mainland.

The net pal Dim Light wrote, "It's hard to believe 'The Shaolin Temple' was made in 1982. Although the technique and language of the films changed rapidly in the following years, there is hardly a Chinese movie better than this one."

The movie is a revenge story - Jet Li plays a young boy adopted and trained by Shaolin monks who tries to take revenge of his father's death.

After "The Shaolin Temple", Li also performed in "kids of Shaolin" and "North and South Shaolin".