The 36 Crazy Fists (1977)

Sadly Over-hyped

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

36 CRAZY FISTS is one of those cheap and cheerful kung fu efforts that were all the rage in the '70s. This one is a lot poorer than most, with an absolutely bottom dollar budget that means we only get a handful of different sets and actors throughout the movie. Most of it takes place in a field someplace where guys fight for what seems like an age. As well as the bad production values, this one suffers from an absolutely appalling dubbing job (one of those jobs by the 'Cockney boys'), rubbish editing, even worse acting and a director whose idea of comedy is to speed the film up and have his characters speaking gobbledegook.In fact I reckon this film would be totally forgotten about today (and with good reason), if it wasn't for the participation of Jackie Chan. There are dubious claims that he helped out with the direction and fight choreography here, although he's uncredited for both; personally I can believe the latter but am not so sure about the former! To be fair, the fights aren't too bad, and in particular the extended final bout is a good one – lengthy, hard-hitting, against one of those white-haired supervillains so beloved of the genre.Although some of the cast are familiar – including the master guy and Fung Hark-On as a typical thug – for the most part they're undistinguished. Kuang Hsiung is just another Chan or Lee imitator. The plot is the worst part of the film, a simple, boring amalgamation of all the themes that were popular in '70s period kung fu flicks, from drunken beggars who turn out to be kung fu masters, to the evil clans, the Buddha-praising monks and the pretty girls (one of whom strips off for a cheesy/sleazy topless bedroom moment).Sadly it all feels false and by-the-by and you never really understand the main character's motivations. Worse still, there's little excitement to be had from the seen-it-all-before feel of the film, and there's nothing here which hasn't been done better elsewhere. 36 CRAZY FISTS is one to avoid, unless you're a real completionist.

36 CRAZY FISTS, while directed and choreographed by martial-arts legend Jackie Chan, doesn't feature him in any recognizable role. One is inclined to feel cheated because of this, and I would generally have to agree; 36 CRAZY FISTS may've been a great film if it had starred Chan, but as it stands, it is simply a mundane movie.It features the overly-typical revenge plot, along with the old master, the bumbling sidekicks (complete with trombone "waaahh" sounds!) and the clever-yet-flighty girl we've all come to know and love (?) from the kung-fu genre. The fight scenes are not all bad, especially the final few between the old white-haired guy (a sure sign of martial-arts mastery, apparently) and the young student. Also along for this final fight sequence are the student's two (count 'em, TWO!) teachers, a fellow disciple of the old man, and at least three other guys who just throw around insults. Wow, that's some fight!Maybe the most notable thing about 36 CRAZY FISTS (and this isn't a good thing) is its title; it suffers from PNS (Poorly-Named Syndrome), in that the 36 "crazy fists" are only one of dozens of technique the student learns. Moreover, they aren't even fists but sweep-chops! Oh well.In short, this movie doesn't have anything special going for it...move along, move along. My rating: 5.5/10

Good movie! Bad DVD source. :) Jackie Chan yet again. Seems like this guy couldn't have anything more to do with the Kung Fu Movie scene and then i find about 10 more DVDs. If you like Jackie Chan then this is a must see movie. Not one of his best but definitely an original work of Kung Fu Art!

Wow,this movie was TERRIBLE!The plot goes somewhat like this:A young man learns kung-fu from a shoalin master to avenge his father's death(he was killed by gangsters).I liked Drunken Master,which this movie reminded me a lot of,but this movie wasn't funny.It tried despretly to be funny,but never got close.Every single time someone fell down or made a stupid face,it wold make this loud WA WA WAAAAAAAAAAAAA sound,that was so annoying,i wanted to hit the screen.Another thing that made me mad is that Jackie Chan was on the box and the back of the box said he was IN the movie,but he wasn't in it AT ALL!Oh,and I hate that drunk old man with a stick.The young man(I never can remember his name)always walks down the road carrying water for his master,and this drunk old man with a stick jumps out of no where and starts to beat him up.Every time he does,The young man gets better at kung-fu.If I was a better fighter every time I got beat up,I could kick ANYONE's a$$!The young man does learn kung fu,and avenges his pop's death.I just feel so cheated out of the 2 bucks I payed for this terrible flick i wanna puke.