dafrosts I enjoy this movie because while the fight scenes are incredible to watch, it also emphasizes the value Kung Fu brings to the individual. Kung Fu is not just a skill used in movies to exact revenge upon those who have done you, your family, community, country, etc wrong. It is an internal skill promoting self awareness, peace and co-existence with the world around you. Having all 3 Laus in one movie is quite a treat. Leung, Wing and Gordon feed well off each other. The battle between Wing and Leung is the best fight of the whole movie imho. It ends as as expected in these movies - Leung's character getting the upper hand despite the Wing's skillfulness.Wong Fei Hung (Gordon Liu) wants to learn Kung Fu but is denied by his father, who feels Wong doesn't "have the knack" for it. Officer Yuan Ching (wing) sees the potential in Wong Fei and wants him to pursue Kung Fu studies. Lu Ah Tsai (Chen Kuan Tai) agrees to take Wong Fei on as a student, despite Wong Fei's father's apprehension.Wong Fei an Lu Ah Tsai are gone for almost the usual 3 years to study Wushu. Wong Fei wants to avenge Officer Ching's death, but stops short of killing Ho Fu (Leung) because Tsai's lessons of true Kung Fu avail in time. Ho Fu is instead taken to the local magistrate to stand trial for his many crimes, including killing Ching.Wong Fei's return home coincides with the local annual Lion Dance competition/Festival. Something in which his father's school hasn't participated in for years due to a fighting incident with another local school (the evil one, of course).Master Pang (Shut Chung-Tin) is less than thrilled with Wong fei's return and devises a devious way to ensure Wang Fei and his classmates don't win anything at the festival. The plan seems to be working, until Wang Fei remembers Tsai's teachings and does as his sifu instructed, helps his fellow man by giving one of Pang's students, Yeung Chung (Fung Hak-On), a firecracker so Pang's school also wins the competition. I was waiting for Yeung Chung to continue on the "evil student" line once he received the firecracker. However, his human side appears and he celebrates the gift by demanding his school stop fighting with Wong Fei's school. Both schools celebrate as a whole.I know revenge is usually the way to go with 98% of Wushu. However, I enjoy a movie that teaches a stronger lesson like this one does. I highly recommend this film not only for the moral, but to see the Laus working together.

bob the moo Although his father is a master, Wong Fei-Hong does not know any martial arts as he has been forbidden from learning even though he wants to. In his town an opposing school from his father's school is involved in shady activities and will happily cheat to win the annual pao contest. By coincidence one of the other school is a robber (Ho Fu) and is being pursued by Officer Yuan Ching. With the evils of the other school becoming more deadly, Wong Fei-Hung goes away to make the most of the potential seen by Yuan and spend years training under the tutelage of his father's teacher, Master Luk Ah Choy.I delayed watching this film because many comments and details on IMDb suggested it would be slow. The text here says it is slow pace and commenter's talk about how the makers wanted to get away from constant action and make a film more about the spirit of martial arts rather than constant killing. In a way this is correct but this is not to suggest that the film is dull or that it focuses on training more than other films with a similar plot structure. Although the narrative doesn't quite hang together, we do get two schools against each other with lots of characters in support. There is a lot of action in the first half of the film, although mostly it is plot driven or takes place in the chaos of the pao contest. There is a good fight between Ho Fu and Yuan and after this the training begins – which is also engaging. The final fight sequences are good and the ending is a nicely positive one.Gordon Liu leads the cast well; he is a good presence and leading man. He works very well with Chen Kuan-Tai as his teacher. Lau Kar-leung plays the villain well because he doesn't push into cartoony which would be against the grain for the film, but instead is just a criminal. The rest of the cast generally get this as well and this allows the conclusion to work well. Challenges of the Masters is not a brilliant film but it is not slow-moving or dull either, it is just not OTT and flamboyant as some films in the genre can be. The approach to the training is nothing new but it works well and engages thanks in part to the good cast and solid consistent delivery, making for an enjoyable film that pretty much does what you want.

winner55 This is the "other" Wong Fei Hung coming-of-age film that 'fu film fans rave about whenever the subject of Jackie Chan's far more famous "Drunken Master" comes up. And there's good reason for the raving. Director Liu set out to make a film about the discipline of kung fu, not a "fight film." There's action aplenty here, don't worry about that; but it is significant that there is only one death in the whole film, and this brought about by a gimmick rather than skill. Liu successfully makes the case that kung fu is a matter of self-discipline, requiring prolonged and constant study, and not a weapon for beating people up (although of course it can do that too).The acting is excellent, the production values high, the script solid. Finally, it must be remarked that this film is considerably more true to the memory of the real Wong Fei Hung than Jackie Chan's. Definitely a classic of its genre.

di kit This movie was pretty darn good. One reason was that it showed lots of different techniques of kung fu. This chinese guy marries a japanese girl. They have an argument and through a misunderstanding these japanese fighters come to challenge him and he has to fight them all. It has sword, staff, hand-to-hand, and more types of fighting. Plus Lau Kar Fai actually has all his hair. So watch it okay?