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Crippled Avengers

Crippled Avengers (1978)

December. 21,1978
|
7.3
|
R
| Drama Action

A group of martial artists seek revenge after being crippled by Tu Tin-To, a martial arts master, and his son.

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Reviews

Brendon Jones
1978/12/21

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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Rio Hayward
1978/12/22

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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Kien Navarro
1978/12/23

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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Bob
1978/12/24

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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gavin6942
1978/12/25

Three men, crippled by an evil warlord, become friends and learn kung fu with the help of an old teacher and his idiot pupil.Ian Jane of DVD Talk rated it 4.5/5 stars and wrote, "With heroes you can cheer for and bad guys evil enough to hiss at, The Return Of The 5 Deadly Venoms is top tier old school martial arts mayhem at its best." Bill Palmer, Karen Palmer, and Richard Meyers wrote in The Martial Arts Encyclopedia, "The story is somewhat unusual, and there are plenty of excellently choreographed fight scenes." Yes, there is a cheesy scene of a man chopping down bamboo with his fists, and much of the story is set against an obviously fake backdrop. But this is part of the Shaw Brothers charm. We get more of what we love from Shaw, Chang Cheh and the Five Venoms. We also get something of a gimmick with "crippled" fighters. They are a bit more amazing to watch than "drunken masters", at least.

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BA_Harrison
1978/12/26

Unlike The Five Venoms (1978), which came out the same year (and which also featured several of the performers who collectively became known as The Venoms), Crippled Avengers doesn't waste any time getting to the good stuff: the action begins immediately, with a gang of Tian Nan Tigers storming the household of hero Tao Tien-tu (Kuan-Tai Chan), looking to teach him a lesson for his arrogance. Unable to find the master of the house, the gang kill Tao's wife instead, by lopping off her legs, and cripple his son Tao Sheng by hacking off his arms. No sooner has this been done, than Tao Tien-tu arrives home to see his family in pieces and takes revenge, kicking Tian Nan Tiger ass. What a way to start a film: wholesale slaughter and dismemberment!To further avenge his family, Tao Tien-tu spends the following years killing the remaining Tian Nan Tigers, and gets Tao Sheng—now equipped with telescopic metal arms that shoot deadly missiles from the fingers—to cripple the Tigers' sons. But their reign of violence doesn't end there: the pair proceed to strike fear into the locals, maiming anyone who offends them. Blacksmith Wei Da-ti (Meng Lo), who stands up to Tao Tien-tu, pays for his bravery by being poisoned, which makes him mute, and having his ear drums burst; travelling hawker Chen Shun (Phillip Kwok) is blinded; Hu Ah-kuei (Chien Sun) has his legs cut off for accidentally bumping into Tao Tien-tu; and when martial arts expert Wang Yi (Sheng Chiang) confronts the bad guys, he has his head crushed in a vice, which turns him into a simpleton (albeit one who can still do impressive kung fu!).United by fate, the four cripples become fast friends and travel to the Eagle Mansion, home of Wang Yi's master, where they train in the martial arts. Three years later, having overcome their disabilities though kung fu (and with the help of a pair of strap-on metal legs for Hu Ah-kuei), the foursome leave to take revenge on the tyrannical Tao Tien-tu and his equally vile son.Featuring such blatant silliness as disabled fighters with 'bionic' limbs, the plot for Crippled Avengers is unarguably extremely far-fetched stuff, but the 'crazy factor' only adds to the fun of this much-loved Shaw Brothers classic. A talented cast, loads of superbly choreographed martial arts action (including a wonderful training sequence involving metal hoops, and the use of numerous weapons), some surprisingly bloody violence, and expert direction from the legendary Cheh Chang, all add up to one hell of an enjoyable time. Highly recommended.

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poe426
1978/12/27

The righteous Du Tian Dao is away when a trio of "the Tigers of Tian Nan" show up at his mansion; they cut off his wife's legs and his son's hands. Upon arrival, he kills all three of them, but his wife dies from her injuries. Years later, a blacksmith makes a pair of iron hands for the son, Du Chang. These hands are spring-loaded and can extend a foot or so; they can also shoot darts from the fingertips. Chang makes short work of the sons of the three men who maimed him. When blacksmith Meng Lo belittles Chang, he's poisoned and thereby made mute and has his eardrums ruptured, deafening him. Philip Kwok is blinded. When Wu Gui bumps into Chang, he promptly has both legs amputated. Stalwart Wang Yi (Chiang Sheng) vows to avenge all three, but ends up being turned into "an idiot." (This is accomplished by tightening a metal band around his head...) Needless to say, there are some humorous exchanges between the quartet (Sheng literally "flips out" at one point, jumping and rolling and flipping all over the place.). They eventually meet Sheng's Master and are taught Kung Fu. Wu Gui gets a new pair of iron legs, courtesy of blacksmith Meng Lo. Kwok is taught to use his heightened sense of hearing. Meng Lo is taught "signing" of a sort, feeling words as they're traced into his palms by fingertips (none of that lip-reading nonsense, here), but naturally prefers to let his fists and feet do his talking for him. Kwok and Sheng at one point perform an acrobatic ballet together, using a metal ring about a foot and a half in diameter that has to be seen to be appreciated. And thus the stage is set for the Final Showdown(s). One of the very best to Chang Cheh's Shaw Brothers classics.

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I-Sense-A-Plot
1978/12/28

Crippled Avengers, aka Return of the Five Deadly Venoms (named so, because it stars five of the actors who came to be known as the Five Deadly Venoms after its movie namesake), star as five men who are horrifically crippled by a bitter crime lord/politician.The first, is rendered blind. The second becomes deaf mute because he swears and curses at the crime lord for all of his bullying and wrong doing, the fourth has his legs cut off by the same villain, and the last, the only one who knew kung fu, is rendered an "idiot" in an attempt to confront the villain and bring justice to the wronged four men who are bullied and harassed by the rest of the town for being crippled.They are led to the idiot's kung fu master and are later taught kung fu. The idiot of course, causes much trouble and his master declares him without "feelings anymore" because of his mental condition, so it was okay to hurt him during practice! The other avengers know that this man was injured trying to avenge them, so they treat him as fairly as they can, then decide to go back to the town to get revenge on the villain and his son.Good movie, lots of campy fun. Definitely a recommend from.

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