What more do I need to say about The Shaolin Plot beyond: Sammo Hung, a Flying Guillotine and the Shaolin Temple. Are you not already eager to see the head lopping action? There’s a bit more that can be said about the movie as you wait for it to show up in the mail. Director Feng Huang had achieved success in America with his three films with Angela Mao in the lead. Lady Whirlwind, Hapkido and When Taekwondo Strikes packed in crowds at your local Kung Fu movie palace (although their titles might have been changed). Also in those three films was Sammo Hung in a supporting role and fight choreography. Feng Huang understood the dynamics Sammo could add to a film. The Shaolin Plot has Sammo giving a powerful supporting role as a main bad guy while also filling the screen with martial arts action.
Manchu Prince Daglen (Double Impact‘s Sing Chen) has taken upon himself to collect all the fighting manuals of every order in China. He’s been rather successful with only two empty spaces in his bookcase. He needs the Wu Tang and Shaolin manuals. He hires a monk known as Golden Cymbals (Sammo Hung) to retrieve them. During a dinner party, Golden Cymbals demonstrates how his namesake devices aren’t for music. The cymbals are stripped down Flying Guillotines. They don’t have the leash or capture their victim’s lopped off heads in the “Jiffy Pop” sack. The monk just slices off a head without taking a souvenir. He tracks down the head of the Wu Tang who dies during the battle, but his son Little Tiger (The Big Boss‘s James Tien) runs off with the precious fight manuals. He seeks refuge with an ex-Shaolin Monk Pu Hui (Master of the Flying Guillotine‘s Chin Kang), but this doesn’t last too long since Golden Cymbal and his men finds them. We get an outrageous fight where the Master of the Flying Guillotine has to dodge guillotines. Golden Cymbal proves himself to be a dirty fighter when he blinds Pu Hui. Prince Daglen shows up at the Shaolin Temple, but they won’t let him near their manuals. He comes up with a nasty plot to get access to their library. Little Tiger shows up, but can he stop the Prince from collecting them all?
After making The Shaolin Plot, Golden Harvest elevated Sammo Hung into the role of director and star with The Iron Fisted Monk. Many of the co-stars from this film found themselves as part of the production including James Tien, Sing Chen and Casanova Wong. He brought along director of photography Yu-Tang Li and editor Peter Cheung. Even Feng Huang contributed to the script. Sammo knew when he had a good group of people.
The Shaolin Plot exposes the dark side of collecting books. Sammo comes off extremely scary as the monk who can be bought. He looks like the guy who will slice off your heads with a drum cymbal. Chin Kang proves a worthy mentor. You’ll be excited to see if the Shaolin Temple can keep their manuals under wraps from the prince.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 2K restoration from the original film elements brings out rich color of the South Korean location. The Audio is LPCM mono in Mandarin and English. Both tracks sound crisp and clear for dialogue and fighting. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth has them get into the film, cast and context. They talk about how the film was shot in Hong Kong and South Korea (for the Shaolin Temple location). Djeng gives great background on the various actors in minor roles. Michael Worth talks about hanging out with Casanova Wong.
Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema has them talk about how The Shaolin Plot came out the same time as Star Wars. They get into the reality of the Flying Guillotine. They point out how James Tien was supposed to be the star of The Big Boss until Golden Harvest saw how Bruce look on the screen and they switched up the hero of the movie. They explain how now when you use Shaolin in a movie, you have to get permission.
Alternate English Credits (2:10) has English only credits for the key cast and crew.
Theatrical Trailers include Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer (3:57) and English Export Trailer (2:56) promises viewers “killing after killing.” The English version drops a Bruce Lee comparison for Casanova.
Image Gallery contains nearly 36 press photos, lobby cards, the Hong Kong poster, photo book and distributor guide.
Arrow Video presents The Shaolin Plot. Directed by Huang Feng. Screenplay by Huang Feng. Starring Sing Chen, Ho Wang, James Tien, Shan Kwan, Hsieh Wang, Kang Chin & Sammo Hung. Running Time: 110 minutes. Release Date: February 13, 2024.
