Following the sad passing of Lau Kar Leung, who was probably the most famous Shaw Brothers Director/choreographer, Mark Pidgeon examines one of the most influential studios of eastern cinema. 

Ask any genre fan of a certain age about the Shaw Brothers and watch in bewilderment as they fondly reminisce about watching over-the-top Kung Fu action in fleapit cinemas across the UK and America in the 70’s, often paired with Bruce Lee movies or screened late at night on television. These fans were never disappointed when the familiar SB logo graced the screen; A blatant rip off of the more famous Warner Brothers studio alongside the “ShawScope” frame and trumpet fanfare.

The Shaw Brothers were instrumental in bringing some of the top names in Hong Kong cinema to our screens and anyone familiar with Quentin Tarantino’s epic Kung Fu homage Kill Bill will already know some of these names, Gordon Liu being the most well known; playing Shaolin master Pai Mei (he also played bodyguard Johnny Mo). Liu was given his early roles in Shaw movies paired with action director and choreographer Lau Kar-Leung, who sadly passed away today aged 76, in what would become some of the most popular Kung Fu features of all time.

Run Run Shaw left Singapore for Hong Kong in 1957 to create Shaw Studios and by 1961 had opened his own studio back lot, Clearwater Bay. It was during this time that Shaw began to gain momentum in the movie making world. Releasing over 40 feature films a year and starting a new production approximately every seven days, he would utilise groups of actors and directors to work alongside each other, filming several movies using the same cast in order for his staff to build a rapport with each other, creating bonds both on and off screen.

Having released predominately Wushu and Wuxia style action pieces to some acclaim, it was in the late 60’s and 70’s when the studio would gain momentum with the release of Come Drink With Me (1966), a vengeance movie in which a group of bandits kidnap Golden Swallow’s brother, forcing her to set off on an epic journey with a Kung Fu master to seek retribution and rescue her lost sibling.

Pei-Pei Cheng (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) plays the aforementioned Golden Swallow and her performance is graceful while her swordsmanship and expertise with throwing darts is a thing of beauty. Cheng would go on to star in over 50 movies, earning herself the nickname “Queen of Swords”

Come Drink with Me is an early example of how Shaw Brothers features would pan out, focusing on poetic and graceful action scenes, showcasing talented choreography and martial arts skill with beautiful and deadly heroines thereby ensuring that their popularity and dominance of HK cinema would leave a legacy that lasts to this day.

The boom of Kung Fu, due in part to the popularity of Bruce Lee in the early 70’s, would help SB greatly. American distributors would buy countless movies from China to screen to the hoards of people flocking to the cinemas and there was no shortage of Shaw Brothers films.

Run Run actually approached Bruce Lee to sign with the Shaw Brothers Studio on a ten picture contract worth $10k, which Lee declined.

Other notable figures in Kung Fu history, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao all appeared in Shaw Brothers movies and have since moved onto become household names.

The change of pace in the cinema of the 1970’s allowed the studio to release some grittier titles and the now familiar trend of revenge cinema flourished, adding to the popularity of martial arts features and setting the Shaw Brothers legacy in stone.

The company would continue to expand in the 70’s and 80’s and work alongside international companies on such films as Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires and Blade Runner.

Sadly, due to increasing piracy issues surrounding material, Shaw Studios ceased operations on film-making to focus on producing television shows and in late 2000 sold their back catalogue of over 1000 films to Celestial Pictures who have thankfully begun the task of restoring several titles to DVD and high definition media.

The sheer depth and breadth of titles in the Shaw Brothers library makes it impossible to cover everything but the following movies are some of the most well known and all are worth tracking down.

The Five Fingers of Death AKA Kickboxer/The Invincible Boxer/ King Boxer (1972)

The most famous title for this movie is The Five Fingers of Death though multiple titles were given by distributors who would often edit and screen the movies in Grindhouse cinemas across America, offering increased distribution value to the same films and confusing Kung Fu fans and historians alike.

The Five Fingers of Death mixes Eastern action set pieces with a Western storytelling style and is responsible for the influx of Kung Fu movies in the West. The premise is simple. Chi-Hao is a student at a martial arts academy, sent by his master to learn the deadly “Iron Palm” technique when a rival school threatens to take over his own school.

This “rival school” storyline would become a staple in Kung Fu cinema and its popularity can be largely attributed to this movie.

Various dangers and trials are thrown at Chi- Hao, played masterfully by Lo Leih who would himself go onto become a huge name in Kung Fu cinema history, as the story develops. An excellent score and impressive set design coupled with some fantastic fight choreography make this an accessible and enjoyable entry level film for people unfamiliar with the genre. The underlying story gives an added depth to the film which fans, at that point, were not used to, undoubtedly adding to the popularity of the film outside of China.

An interesting aside is that some of the musical cues from the fight scenes will be highly familiar to fans of Kill Bill and it is a pleasure to witness the samples here in their original form.

The 36th Shaolin Chamber aka Master Killer/ Shaolin Master Killer (1978)

The legendary martial arts disciple San Te (Gordon Liu) is the focus of this action epic. Under the tutelage of General Chi Shan (Lo Leih), San Te is drawn into a rebellion against the Manchu government who have attacked and killed his family, forcing him to seek refuge in a Shaolin temple.

After rigorous training within the 35 chambers of Shaolin; each chamber focusing on a select discipline which must be mastered before moving on, San Te is then exiled in order to take revenge, aiding an uprising, in a surprisingly political arc which will resonate with the members of the “Occupy” movement.

The film is widely heralded as the greatest Kung Fu film ever made and rightfully so. The cinematography, choreography and addition of the great Gordon Liu make this essential viewing in order to fully begin to comprehend the scale and grandeur of Hong Kong action cinema.

The camerawork is astounding. The infamous and meticulous sets and glorious hues that were prevalent in Shaw Brothers moviemaking under the unique direction of Liu Chia-Liang is reminiscent of the way spaghetti westerns were filmed, which works perfectly with the large cast and beautiful set designs.

Human Lanterns (1982)

While cinema in the 1980’s was rife with gore movies, the Shaw Brothers brought their flair for beautifully crafted set design to this deliriously trippy supernatural action flick, an underrated Kung Fu gem in the vein of Hammer horror.

Lung Shu-Ai hires a mysterious lantern maker in order for him to humiliate his long-standing social rival, Tan Fu. However, some strange terms are attached by the lantern maker; he must not be interrupted and no questions must be asked regarding the procurement of materials.

As the rivalry develops, a strange figure in a skeletal mask with deadly claws and a penchant for monkey style Kung Fu sets about the task of destroying everything that is precious to the rivals.  The madman, played by the Shaw Brother’s icon Lieh Lo, kidnaps and murders both Tan’s sister and Lung’s wife; each blaming the other for the dastardly attacks. Naturally, the rivalry escalates until the truth is finally revealed.

Directed by Chung Sun, this excellent horror entry into the world of martial arts cinema, perfectly crossing the genres without seeming forced. The gore is rich; a vivid bloodbath, complete with human skin being torn from the flesh to create the titular “lanterns”.

The gore and torture scenes are particularly effective, with fog drenched torture scenes, latex skin peeling effects and helpless idols in peril making for an enjoyable entry into the later Shaw Brothers catalogue.

Excellent wirework and Wuxia style action is prevalent throughout and in a rare departure from the Shaw Brothers’ norm; no characters are noble, the entire cast seeming selfish and self centred.

The occult scenes are handled masterfully, feeling less like a Shaw Brothers film and more like the Giallo masterpieces of Dario Argento. Inventive camerawork and colourisation add depth and surrealism to the villain of the tale.

The Flying Guillotine (1975)

A paranoid emperor invents a deadly weapon which can decapitate enemies from a distance, in typically gory fashion. The emperor gets trigger happy and trains a secret group of deadly assassins to become experts with his new device and sets them forth to decapitate anyone close to him, whom he fears he cannot trust. However, one of his trusted guardsmen becomes disgusted with this irrational behaviour and sets off to live a more peaceful life on a farm.

As with all Kung Fu masterpieces, things never go quite as planned for our hero and as his past catches up with him he must once again face the deadly Flying Guillotine.

The Flying Guillotine is one of the most inventive and exciting weapons in a genre not exactly short of deadly weaponry. Thrown like a Frisbee, the guillotine attaches to a victim’s head before razor sharp blades cleanly slice it off in gruesome shades of claret. The movie is worth tracking down for this alone.

The power plays and corruption of the emperor are a delight to watch and director Meng Hua Ho perfectly creates a sense of dread, adding tension to the increasingly terrifying desperation and madness which the emperor loses himself.

Again, the morals of man play a huge role here, harking back to Chinese history with themes of loyalty, honour and greed, which is all well and good but it is the cheesy Kung Fu and impressive displays of violence which are what the viewers are really after and, in that, The Flying Guillotine does not disappoint.

Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

Five Deadly Venoms tells the story of a secret society; each an expert in one of five different different martial arts techniques: Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Lizard and Toad. With the master of all techniques upon his deathbed, he sends his final student, practising all five deadly styles, to hunt the other students and form alliances with the good and defeat the corrupt.

As with all quest revenge movies the apprentice determine for himself who among the Five he can trust. To make this quest even more difficult none of the students or the master know what any of the Five look like as they all were masked during training, adding a refreshing puzzle element to the movie that will keep viewers guessing along with the student.

The excellent costume design and animal-based martial arts styles bring something for everyone; Lizard’s excellent agility and movements are beautiful when measured against the strength and prowess of Toad.

The pacing of the film is perfect, featuring captivating training sequences and by the end of the film’s run-time you genuinely feel for the characters and are both shocked and upset by the events that unfold. The camerawork is excellent as usual and the kinetic editing of the fight scenes perfect opposes the slower, more emotionally driven scenes.

Five deadly Venoms is one of the greatest martial arts movies ever made and its influence can be seen across subsequent films both from this genre and wider. Kill Bill’s “Deadly Viper Assassination Squad” is the obvious example but the same can be said of the long running anime series, Naruto, albeit over a grander scale.

The movies selected here are but a minuscule selection from the Shaw Brothers catalogue. Notable exclusions include 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984), Crippled Avengers (1978), Lady hermit (1971) and many more.

The legacy of the Shaw Brothers lives on in popular culture and as mentioned previously, many scenes in Quentin Tarantino’s excellent Kung Fu opus Kill Bill include tropes found in Shaw Brothers movies as well as notable cast members and musical cues used in homage to the films from the studio.

Hip-hop super group The Wu Tang Clan are also widely known for their love of martial arts cinema. Not only is the troupe’s debut album titled Enter the Wu Tang: 36 Chambers, they also heavily reference Shaw Brothers movies in their lyrics and musical samples.

Wu Tang’s own RZA released his own homage to the Shaw Brothers with his Kung Fu masterpiece The Man With The Iron Fists (2012), a story of vengeance and retribution set to a blistering hip-hop soundtrack and highly stylised camerawork.

The excellent Samuel L. Jackson voiced anime series Afro Samurai also uses Shaw Brothers themes and score cues to craft a unique spin on the lone samurai tale.

The Shaw Brothers legacy will live on in print thanks to Celestial Pictures’ extensive restoration project which will bring hundreds of these titles to DVD and high definition media, complete with beautiful artwork. Their passion for the original material will ensure that a whole new generation of fans will be able to enjoy these classic movies.