Shaolin Invincible Sticks (1978)

Shaolin Invincible Sticks (1978)

Directed by: Tso Nam Lee

Starring: Gai Lung Chang, Yi Chang, Ching Cheng

Ahh, it’s been a while since I watched a good old fashioned kung fu movie. And it was a pretty damn good one, at that. The plot was retarded, of course, but it was cohesive enough that it didn’t distract you from the fighting. Which was awesome.

The heir to a school of fighting with sticks is exiled from his school by a bad guy, so he learns how to hit people with a stick better to get revenge.

FIGHTING WITH STICKS!! It sounds stupid, but it’s actually fucking fascinating to watch. Of the standard set of kung fu movie weapons, the stick (or bo staff, as the experts call it, and which I remember from watching a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid. Hm… I wonder if that has anything to do with my love of kung fu movies…) is by and far the coolest one to watch. They’re these cool flexible bamboo things that’re just fucking insane to watch being used like that. The only cooler weapon I’ve seen in a kung fu movie was that giant piece of bamboo that Jackie Chan split into a bunch of pieces in The Legend of the Drunken Master. I can’t describe it right now, but you should just go watch that movie so you know what I’m talking about.