What is arguably the greatest old-school kung fu movie ever made paved the way for the best trilogy in the history of the genre. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is undoubtedly responsible for several hours of must-watch martial arts entertainment.
Over the years, the martial arts genre has produced a long list of franchises, to varying levels of success. Franchises like Kickboxer, Once Upon a Time in China, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, boast extremely long runs, with other series – such as John Wick and Ip Man – already at four and approaching five. Some, on the other hand, stopped at three.
When it comes to martial arts movie trilogies, names that come to mind include Jet Li’s Swordsman movies, the 1980s Karate Kid films, Rush Hour, and Armour of God. Standing above the pile is the 36th Chamber series, even though it’s not always been appreciated as a trilogy.
The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin Is One Of The Best Kung Fu Movies Ever Made
A true gem of the martial arts genre was created when Lau Kar-leung directed The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, an old-school kung fu movie from Shaw Brothers. Released in 1978, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin starred Gordon Liu as San Te, a man who joins the Shaolin Temple as a part of his crusade for revenge.
Much of the movie covers the training he receives in each “chamber” of the Shaolin Temple, while also tackling the moral dilemma that accompanies his mission; his chief goal goes against the values of the Shaolin monks, even though he’s seeking to become one of them.
In this way, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is able to deliver more than just a showcase of Gordon Liu’s martial arts talents. It has that in abundance, of course, but it also offers a worthwhile character arc for San Te, who has to balance his desire for vengeance against his growing affection for the Shaolin Temple and what it stands for.
Going in hand with the movie’s great narrative are many unique training sequences that demonstrate San Te’s growth as a fighter, thus making the tremendous skills he shows at the end feel both organic and earned.
What’s more, the payoff for all the training in the movie is exactly what should be expected from a top-notch martial arts revenge movie: two martial arts stars – Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh – facing off in an epic, excellently choreographed battle with great emotional stakes as the hero uses everything he’s learned to defeat a once-unconquerable foe.
The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin Has Two Highly Underrated Sequels
It may come as a surprise that despite telling a complete story, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin wasn’t the end of the road for San Te. The 1978 classic was followed up with two sequels, Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber.
The first wasn’t a direct sequel, and was rather a new version of the story with Gordon Liu playing a new character who is actually a San Te impostor trying to profit off the famous Shaolin monk’s image. But utlimately, he winds up at the Shaolin Temple and transformed into a powerful fighter by the real San Te.
True to the spirit of their predecessor, Return to the 36th Chamber put considerable emphasis on the hero’s training, which, in a traditional martial arts movie, is an integral part of the formula. The scene where Gordon Liu combines bamboo scaffolding and Shaolin martial arts is a perfect example of martial artists using everyday work as a way of training their bodies and minds in kung fu.
The final film in the trilogy – Disciples of the 36th Chamber – takes viewers back to the original story and explores the aftermath of the first film’s ending, which saw the creation of “36th Chamber” of the Shaolin Temple by San Te. The 1985 sequel follows a new Shaolin Temple trainee, who gets brought into the orbit of Liu’s San Te, who is now serving in his role as the caretaker of the 36th Chamber.
That’s not to say, though, that the film is a simple “passing of the torch” movie that sidelines the franchise’s original hero. San Te isn’t the protagonist anymore, but he factors heavily into the action and the story, contributing to a fun training sequence where he fits the hero with a bench, not to mention a wild finale where the two get to team up against the villains.
The 36th Chamber Is The Only Great Martial Arts Movie Trilogy
Both Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber are excellent old-school kung fu movies, complete with the high production values that go along with a big-budget Shaw Brothers release.
Like the original, the two movies starred Gordon Liu and were directed by Lau Kar-leung. With the involvement of Liu and one of the best martial arts movie directors of all time at the helm, Shaw Brothers was able to ensure that the series was consistent in its quality from start of the trilogy to the end. In this way, Lau Kar-leung’s 36th Chamber series was able to accomplish something many other films had failed.
Most martial arts movie franchises – including those that are trilogies – couldn’t maintain the same pace and were unfortunately held back by at least one weak installment. Oftentimes, this is due to a movie employing a novel concept, and that sense of novelity getting lost in the sequels. The sequels to The Karate Kid suffered from this problem.
Other trilogies, such as Rush Hour and Ong Bak, simply had a lackluster or even forgettable finish, with the latter example having a particularly poor third entry. In contrast, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin‘s trilogy delivered the goods all the way through, starting with a legendary martial arts movie, moving to an entertaining spiritual sequel, and finally to a remarkable final chapter that brings San Te’s story full circle.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
