Customer Reviews

18 Fatal Strikes

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is about what you would expect from a 1981 low budget film. The story is lacking a bit and the comedy is lousy. The fighting is good, which makes it worth buying. I was disappointed with the audio/video quality. One channel of the audio is out of phase with the other which makes it hard to hear. By flipping the + & - wires on the back of one of the speakers fixes it. The video looks like RZA hooked up his K-mart blue light special VCR to a DVD burner and hit record. This movie is obviously aimed at Wu-tang clan fans, but it's worth checking out if you're a Kung-fu buff.

Errors...

This DVD has the worst sound quality that you can imagine. I had to turn up the volume to 64 just to hear it. Then the picture freezes until the DVD skips chapters and shuts off. Its too bad as this is a classic that even though has a very bad storyline with bad comedy should still be in the collectors stock.

I had to return 2 copies and get a credit. Avoid this Ground Zero blunder.

ive gotten reports that this was made in 1981 at 1st and then i got reports that it was made in 1978. this movie stars stephen tung wei, shih tien (a funny cat indeed), underrated villain the shaking eagle (who gives a mesmerizing performance). the fight scenes was very good, the story is typical regular martial arts storyline. the comedy is pretty hilarious but it was lacking more fight scenes indeed. the dvd features are great i give that a 3 with a off the meatrack intro from the rza. the picture quality is decent, sound is terrible because i have to turn it all the way up and the vhs version is probably better believe it or not. but do pick this one up for sure. it is a classic for a low budget film

This movie has a great story line and Some of the Best fight scenes period. I know I've seen a lot of martial arts films but this one is great for real!!!! You should order the whole WuTang collection 1-5 and watch them all.

Now my rating may have been a 3 but the film was horribly presented. The movie I would give a 2.5/5 at best but only for the Shaking Eagle.

It starts out with the government looking to kill this monk. Of course their top fighter is the Shaking Eagle. With all types of swooshing sounds and hoooooooooo-waaaaaaaaaahhhhh's to distract you, this guy still has some awsesome kung fu. So the monk that the eagle is looking for gets away and Dean Shek(comedic teacher in Drunken Master and Snake In Eagle's Shadow) and Steve Tung Wei find and cure him. So FINALLY the 2 start to learn the monks styles and of course they look for revenge. The story was oh so dreary and the acting of Tung Wei was pretty bad, nowhere near a Bruce Liang of course, but let me talk about the finer points of this movie because there certainly were some.

We get to see Dean Shek in a different kind of role. Sure we know him for comedy and he displays that but we also get to see him as an actor, and a very good one he is. Also on dispay are his kung fu skills and while he could NEVER carry the movie as a hero, he is still a good fighter. And then of course we have the Shaking Eagle. The kung fu was standard at best all the way through, but the final fight is fun and bloody at the same time and way over the top. Can Tung Wei kill the invincible Shaking Eagle?

The special features include an intro where the RZA points out that Sammo and Tung Wei choreographed this movie and the fact that Tung Wei is the name of the kung fu system in Taiwan. Trailers of other wutang releases and a bonus fight of Tung Wei from the movie that Rarescope just released with Don Wong Tao: Along Comes a Tiger.

Picture quality is horrible but still watchable and we actually miss part of a good Dean Shek fight because I think RZA accidentally paused it and didn't notice for a few seconds. The sound is not very good but I am all too used to that. Certainly not the worst sound quality.