''Shaolin and Wu Tang'' is a 1983

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

directed by and starring

Gordon Liu Gordon Liu (Lau Kar-fai ); born Sin Kam-hei () August 22, 1951) is a Chinese martial arts film actor and martial artist. He played the lead role of San Te in '' The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (1978) and its sequels, and later played two roles in ...

. The film is about the rivalry between the Shaolin ( East Asian Mahayana) and

Wu-Tang Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affil ...

( Taoist Religion) martial arts schools. It is also called ''Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang'' in the Master Killer Collection.

Plot summary

Master Liu and Master Law are rival masters of Shaolin style

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

and Wu-Tang style sword fighting, running schools in the same city. Their top students, Chao Fung-wu ( Adam Cheng) and Hung Jun-kit (

), are actually close friends, with Jun-kit's sister, Yan-ling ( Idy Chan), having a crush on Fung-wu. After observing the two students fighting at a brothel, two of the local Qing Lord's (

Johnny Wang Wang Lung Wei () (born 1949), also known as Johnny Wang, is Hong Kong martial artist, actor, director, producer, and action choreographer, who has starred in over 80 kung fu films, mainly for Shaw Brothers Studios. Wang's first Shaw Brothers fil ...

) soldiers report the power of the styles to him. The Lord determines that the two styles are dangerous and that he must learn both. After being poisoned by the Lord, Master Law lets Fung-wu stab him. For this, Fung-wu is sent to prison. Attempting to rescue Fung-wu, Jun-kit teaches a prisoner ( Li Ching) the Shaolin Chin kang fist, not knowing the prisoner is the Lord's spy. After their escape from prison, the four of them (the spy, Yan-ling, Fung-wu and Jun-kit) are ambushed. To overcome the Lord's men, Fung-wu teaches the spy some Wu-Tang sword techniques. As they are still being overpowered, Fung-wu and Yan-ling have to flee the scene, only to be captured by the Wu-Tang who came to prosecute Fung-wu for killing Master Law. As they leave for Wu-Tang temple, Yan-ling gets shot and dies in Fung-wu arms. The Wu-Tang leave the dead body behind. Jun-kit finds it, believing the Wu-Tang killed his sister. Hoping to avenge Yan-ling's death, Jun-kit returns to the Shaolin temple for training as a monk. Meanwhile, Fung-wu is being held at the Wu-tang temple. The Qing Lord has since learned both the styles from the spy, but because he did not learn either from a master, his grasp on both styles is imperfect. To overcome this deficiency, he decides to have the Wu-Tang and the Shaolin destroy each other so that he may be the only master of both styles. To do this, he stages a martial arts contest between the two temples, hoping to appeal to the traditional rivalry between the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang. Jun-kit (now called Tat-chi), and Fung-wu (now called Ming-kai), are selected by their respective temples as the representatives. During the contest, the Qing Lord, in his impatience to see both Wu-Tang and Shaolin destroyed, admits his true motives and his role in Yan-ling and Master Law's deaths. Tat-chi and Ming-kai must then combine Shaolin Chin kang fist and Wu-Tang Sword style to defeat him.

Cast

as Hung Jun-kit, later Tat-chi, Master Liu's top student * Adam Cheng as Chao Fung-wu, later Ming-kai, Master Law's top student who is secret friends with Jun-kit * Idy Chan as Yang-Lin, Jung-kit's sister who has a crush on Fung-wu *

as the local Qing Lord who conspires against Master Liu and Master Law * Li Ching as Yue Lam, the Qing Lord's spy learns the Shaolin and Wu-Tang styles from the Masters's disciples *

Chan Sen Chan Sen, also written as Chansen ( th, จันเสน, ) is a ''tambon'' (subdistrict) in Takhli District, Nakhon Sawan Province, upper central Thailand. History Chan Sen's history dates back more than 2,000–3,000 years and is considere ...

as a Shaolin abbot *

Han Chiang Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

as Master Liu *

Kwan Hoi-san Herman Kwan Hoi-San () (born Kwan Ming-kok; October 23, 1925 – September 11, 2006) was a Hong Kong actor. His English name was Herman Kwan. Kwan started off as a Cantonese opera actor in street theatre before joining New Voice Opera Troupe (� ...

as Master Law, Master Liu's rival

Legacy

East Coast hip-hop East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the Bronx, New York City. In contrast to other styles, East Coast hip ...

group

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...

has cited the film as an early inspiration. The film is one of

founder RZA's favorite films of all time. Founders RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard first saw the film in 1992 in a

grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fil ...

cinema on

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's 42nd Street and would found the group shortly after with

GZA ''Gary Eldridge Grice'' (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both ...

. The group would release its debut album ''

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993, by Loud Records. Recording sessions took place during late 1992 to early 1993 at Firehouse Studio in New York Ci ...

'', featuring samples from the film's English dub; the album's namesake is an amalgamation of ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

'' (1973), Shaolin and Wu Tang, and ''

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'', also known as ''The Master Killer'', ''Shaolin Master Killer'' and ''Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang'', is a 1978 Hong Kong kung fu film directed by Lau Kar-leung and produced by Shaw Brothers, starring Gordon Liu. Th ...

'' (1978). Rapper

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

samples the film in his song Wu Tang Forever from his ''

YSIV ''YSIV'' (abbreviation of ''Young Sinatra IV'') is the fourth studio album by American rapper Logic, released on September 28, 2018, by Visionary Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. The album art, featuring a mugshot of Logic, is stylized similar ...

'' album, which features all living Wu-Tang members at the time of its release.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaolin And Wu Tang 1983 films 1983 action films 1983 martial arts films 1980s Cantonese-language films Films set in the Qing dynasty Hong Kong action films Hong Kong martial arts films Kung fu films Shaw Brothers Studio films 1980s Hong Kong films