Leofwine_draca THE BUDDHIST FIST is a fast and furious action comedy from the great Hong Kong director Yuen Woo-ping. It stars Yuen Shun-Yee who plays a novice barber's apprentice who is soon drawn into a murder plot when his childhood friend is framed for murder and he decides to investigate, subsequently becoming a target himself. THE BUDDHIST FIST is far more than your typical Jackie Chan rip-off, with a fresh look and feel that sets it apart from the rest.The opening scene of the movie features DRUNKEN MASTER's Simon Yuen in an amusing cameo and I've read that he died shortly afterwards which means that his performance is limited to this one moment. However, the rest of the Yuen clan do appear, including Yuen Cheung-Yan playing a gang leader. Lee Hoi San turns up in one of those stock bad guy roles which he was always so adept at playing. THE BUDDHIST FIST follows the usual template for these productions, with non-stop comedy hijinks in the first part giving way to some serious action in the second.The setting of the barber shop allows for some great comic set-pieces and the one involving the cross-eyed character actor so familiar from the genre is my favourite. The plot's twists are enough to keep the viewer involved up until the climax, which is where the strong fight choreography comes in and keeps you gripping. While THE BUDDHIST FIST isn't one of Woo-ping's all-time classics, it certainly ticks all of the right boxes as an effective kung fu film.

joe cole This film is both terrible and a work of genius. The overdub is atrocious and why I watched more than thirty seconds I will never know, the acting in non-existent, and the directing is both sloppy and lazy (with the exception of the fighting scenes, which are simply sublime); however, this isn't a film with just some good fighting. The story-line, individual scenes, and script writing are out of this world. I've never seen such a great screenplay poorly executed by a directed since Stuart Rosenberg's Cool Hand Luke. It really is that good a film: "left hand Buddha palm, right hand Buddha fist!" This film should be remade by a good director, cut the excesses of humour, and have Woo-ping Yuen only do the choreography for the fight scenes. He simply spoilt a work of art: check it out and see for yourself.

sarastro7 The Buddhist Fist (1980) is most certainly not among the better exponents of its genre. It has some decent and fairly entertaining kung fu here and there, but the story is generally boring. The motivation of the bad guy is non-existent. The terrible attempts at humor mostly fall totally flat and are generally misplaced. I'll admit, though, that the Fat Master is quite entertaining, and will make anyone smile with his unbeatable kung fu (and chess fu!).Story and production-wise, the movie warrants a "5" rating, but I will raise that to a solid "6" because the entertainment value is fair and the movie has an amazing finish.The final fight is superb. It's like an inventory of all the "Buddha" styles; "Sleeping Buddha", "Drunken Buddha", etc., and it's of a good length. This sort of scenes is what Asian movies can do that Western movies can't, because no Westerners have this kind of devotion to and tradition for martial arts in the movies.Special mention should also go to the guy who plays Boss Chang (the one with a big and a small foot). He's one cool dude, though his role here is nothing much. Catch him as a very cool monk in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin instead.

hardeyeblind This is the best kung fu film ever, no doubt. Absurdly complex fight sequences, kung fu monks, stunning fisting scenes. Don't ask me what the plot was, I just know this film has to be seen to be believed. The guy who did the fight scenes also engineered the fight sequences in The Matrix, but this film is light years beyond Keanu Reeves. It HAS to be seen.