Spiritual Kung Fu (Lo Wei, 1978)

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Killer Meteor
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Spiritual Kung Fu (Lo Wei, 1978)

Post by Killer Meteor »

(Contains spoilers)

Ok, first of all let me state up front that Spritual Kung Fu is one of those kung fu movies I love, even though by all rights I shouldn't.

Lo Wei, having failed to sell Jackie Chan in Bruce-ploitation, Shaolin-ploitation, Gu Long-ploitation and retro 50's gimmicks-ploitation (OK, 3-D), and Jackie, having failed to sell Lo Wei on this new fangled comedy gimmick, were by this point not exactly seeing eye-to-eye. So Lo letting Jackie play a comical character in a comical film should have been a good idea...

Jackie plays the usual lay (not to mention lazy) student at Shaolin Temple, mentored by a blind monk straight out of the US TV series Kung Fu. When a mysterious masked man steals the temple's prized 7 Style Fists Manual, and James Tien starts using the 7-Fists Style to beat his way to the Regional Championships for Clan Leader, all looks grim (well, as grim as this film gets). Then a meteor (or rather a sparkler) hits the temple, and 5 ghosts escape to cause much havoc. Shaolin's resident ghostbuster (Lee Quin) can't stop them, but Jackie uses his cunning (and urine!) to make a deal with the spooks, and learn from them the 5-Style Fists, which is more powerful than the 7-Style Fists oddly enough...

Jackie's character isn't very sympathetic, but then he isn't that much different from his Wong Fei-Hung in Drunken Master. In fact, some of his antics are fairly similar, only more sadistic. Jackie goes hunting for his dinner, even stuffing eels in his pants and, in a shot I'm sure we'd all rather forget, violently strangling a hen! (He also moons us, which shows some things never change). Later, he tries to steal a kiss from the Wu Tang Leader's daughter, gets into a fight with her, and then spanks her!

Jackie comes into his own in the later fights, which are very effective. Jackie uses a tonfa against an army of Lo-Han monks, as part of his Shaolin tests, and it's a great showcase of en-masse choreography. His two battles with James Tien show great mastery of the various animal style,and both Jackie and Tien are able to make their styles look like they can actually do some damage, rather than light-weight posing.

James Tien's villain is interesting in that he doesn't seem that much different from Jackie. Both are petulant brats prone to violence, and since Tien is participating in a legit kung fu contest, he doesn't seem that evil, were it not for him being such a heel (he even has a second, Wong Ching, to illegally tag in when things get tough). So when Jackie beats Tien to death, even when begged to show mercy by the Abbott, it doesn't seem a very pleasing finish from an emotional point of view.

Oh wait, there were ghosts in this thing too! I do wonder if they were meant to be part of the film to begin with, as they largely appear in a long sequence that seems seperate from the rest of the story (and Lee Quin's monk character does not appear in the rest of the film). Although the ghosts (five guys, one possibly Yuen Biao, in kabuki makeup, white leotards and red wigs) are often derided, they are suitable for the wacky nature of this film, and the low-rent effects scenes of them charmingly resemble the work of Georges Melies - although I think Melies had a better budget than Lo Wei. The weird electronic music that accompanies them, reminiscent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, adds to the surreal nature of them - and Frankie Chan shows awesome music taste elsewhere by scoring the titles with the temple music from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

For all its weaknesses, this is a very enjoyable film and worth watching. It only really falls down in the slow, badly paced final fight between Jackie and the traitor (Tien's father). The fight is slow, the ghosts get in the way, there's no proper finish and to make matters worse, on my old VHS tape (with the worse cropping ever), the sound cut out!

6/10
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
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Markgway
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Re: Spiritual Kung Fu (Lo Wei, 1978)

Post by Markgway »

Every film needs its champion. ;)
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Killer Meteor
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Re: Spiritual Kung Fu (Lo Wei, 1978)

Post by Killer Meteor »

You should hear me sing the praises of Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave!
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
Killer Meteor
Hail the Judge!
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Joined: 16 Mar 2005, 23:05

Re: Spiritual Kung Fu (Lo Wei, 1978)

Post by Killer Meteor »

Last edited by Killer Meteor on 16 Dec 2023, 14:53, edited 1 time in total.
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
Killer Meteor
Hail the Judge!
Posts: 2350
Joined: 16 Mar 2005, 23:05

Re: Spiritual Kung Fu (Lo Wei, 1978)

Post by Killer Meteor »

Turns out the "weird electronic music" is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XfSCmAE3TU
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
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