User Reviews

If you want to see a non-stop action Kung Fu flic, this movie will be a good choice. More fighting than talking, and good fighting at that. The actors were taken from the chinese national wushu team, and these guys coordinated the fighting scenes themselves without a stunt coordinator. Many styles and weapons are used, such as drunken staff, mantis boxing, and such. The shaolin monks in the film don't seem to take their rules very seriously... they eat meat(dog meat!), drink wine and kill people...The movie was shot on location at the shaolin temple. Shaolin Temple was such a huge hit in Asia, that it made hundreds of chinese children go to the temple in hope of learning shaolin Kung Fu. Also Jet Li's first movie.

My rating of early kung fu movies is probably 20% story and 80% fighting and choreography. I never rate them on acting because the acting is tertiary.

The fight choreography was decent. I thought some of the fights lasted too long. Usually every fight except those with bosses are over rather quickly. It seemed that even fights with the lower level henchmen dragged on longer than they should have.

Still, this was early Jet Li so it's always worth taking a gander.

This movie is really not that bad. I men the story is a bit thin but the actors play quit well. And to think that this is a Jets first film its wary god. One cool thing about this movie is that you will find most of the characters of this film in a later film called The Shoaling Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shoaling. This movie deserves good grads

"The Shaolin Temple" is the first Chinese martial arts film to use gongfu artists instead of actors. Initially, the Japanese investors hired actors, but didn't like the results, so they hired regional and national wushu champions. Although Jet Li is the main character and his wushu is exceptional, don't underestimate the other gongfu artists; they are just as good. The film was two years in the making due to injuries the cast received doing their own stunts. The credits state that the fight choreography was done by Pan Qing Fu, but this is not so. The cast choreographed their own fight scenes and deserve the credit they've been denied.

Shoa lin Temple

This is important for Jet Li fans to see his humble start. I think Jet can act pretty good now, but here is acting was clearly rough. That is ok because you never see jet move like this anymore. This is the way to see jet show why he was a champion martial artist. Just an amazing athlete in general.

The film starts off with this super hilarious song about the shoa lin temple. I mean this song is worth the rental. The story is pretty pointless you killed the my father- let me join the temple so I can learn martial arts – You don't have what it takes – Yes I do – Blah, blah. Who cares? The same basic story was told so much better in the 36th chamber of shoal in. You are not watching this movie for the story it is for Jet kicking some serious butt.

Since my user name is what it is it should be no surprise the only thing I hated about this movie was all the disgusting meat-eating. I am used to people eating dead animal flesh in movies but it was super offensive to have Buddhist Shoalin monks eating flesh off the bone. I am sorry but no monk would say as long as you have Buddha in your heart you can eat meat.

I went into this film with a negative mind frame and came out quite pleased.

There were a few times the movie slowed down, but overall kept great action. Jet Li's Wushu proves to be at best in his early years. He has to share the spotlight with a handful of other Martial Artist in this great film. They decided to cast actual Martial Aritist instead of actors. Which proves to be best fit for this movie which focuses the moves more then the acting! On a side note, the man Jet Li refers to as "Master" shows a down to earth approach with the monks philosophy. He shows both loyalty and leeway to his beliefs and the students below him.

Jet Li's first movie, and it set the stage for his future success. Really good kung fu, really good action, and not too many slow points. Pretty typical storyline; evil warlord kills boys father, boy escapes to Shaolin temple, improves his skill and fights a lot of people. But for a movie this old, the fighting is really done well. I'm sure that this is a pretty hard movie to come across, but if you ever get the opportunity to see it, by all means take advantage of it.

I really didn't care for this movie too much. The animal abuse is pretty hard to watch. Jet Li's character is not very sympathetic and comes off more like a boy having a tantrum. The fight scenes were pretty good and I can't fault the choreography but it seems like, compared to some other films, that there were fewer actual fights than average.

I love this movie. In fact, when I saw it, I started to love kung fu movies. Why? If you have seen this movie you will know why. Don't ask, just see it. Because this is the greatest kung fu movie ever made. No "Hero", no "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", this movie is the best. Great story, even greater fights - what else do you need? This is the first Jet Li's movie and it made him star.

I will not tell you the story. See the movie and you will know it. If I could, I woul give "Shaolin Temple" not 10 but 20/10. Well, I can't...

But now I am wasting your time. Don't waste time with reading comments, just go and see this great movie!

I've been watching classic martial arts films for about 10 years now, ranging from serious drama to absurd comedy. You can find all sort of things in this genre, although they tend to have great fighting scenes regardless. This film is not an exception. The kung-fu is brilliant, and you can enjoy the use of several weapons as well as excellent unarmed combat. The styles are fluid and well executed. However, I find the movie boring and very disrespectful towards Buddhism and Shaolin. Perhaps the fact that I had to watch it dubbed also took its toll and I ended up disinterested and bored. If you are fond of Shaolin, I'd recommend any film by Shaw Brothers instead.

Make sure to check this movie out if you can find it! If you can, tell me where so I can order a copy. As Eric Yu says, the plot is rather typical, but the fight scenes are really well thought out. The martial arts choreography was done by Pan Qingfu, who stars in the movie as one of the bad guys and who was also the coach of the Chinese national wushu team at one point.

If you'd like to check out another movie with Pan Qingfu, this time playing himself, watch Iron and Silk. It's rather silly, but Master Pan is pretty cool and Mark Salzman is awfully good at wushu for a white guy.

The Tang emperor is betrayed by one of his generals, who installs himself as emperor in the East Capital. The son of one of his slave workers escapes to the Shaolin Temple, learns kung fu, and sets out to kill the traitor, who killed his father.

Apparently, the movie's popularity swiftly encouraged filmmakers in China and Hong Kong to produce more Shaolin-based movies. Further, the film spawned a revival of popularity in mainstream martial arts in China. What it was about this movie as opposed to earlier martial arts movies, I have no idea. That is sort of the strange thing about these films for me -- maybe because I am not initiated, they tend to blend together (much like westerns also blend together for me). I don't quite see the nuance.

Which is not the say the film is bad. In fact, it is quite good and draws a firm line between romance and Buddha. And the scenery. Wow. I don't know if these are real locations or sets, but it is world's better than the one-dimensional scenery we find in the Shaw Brothers movies.

No camera tricks. No high production value (even compared to the Hong Kong Kung Fu movies at that time). No stunt men/women. No wire. It is just pure Kung Fu. The location is real and so are the fighting. It belongs to the classic that we miss in today's Kung Fu movies. If you practice Kung Fu, you have to watch it repeatedly to learn a lot from the real masters. It is quite good for the first Kung Fu movie made in China (about 20 years ago).

This is a very cool movie, I loved every second of it. Jet Li, in his first film, displays some of his most brilliant fighting moves and skill. It's no wonder this flick made him a superstar and martial arts icon.

The acting is quite alright, though the plot, which really no one cares about, is actually quite interesting.

All of the fights were totally massive and stylish, the pace was excellent. The weapons fight between Jet and the main bad guy general dude is awesome. Jet moves unbelievably fast in this bout and they repeat this excellent performance in the final battle. Jet shows true skill, just like the rest of the cast here.

Thinking back, I was very lucky to find this film when I was about 20 years old, in HMV in Birmingham of all places.

Although bought at random it soon began to get regular viewings between myself and friends, and along with Gordon Liu's 36 chambers of Shaolin became one of my favourite films.

Although the dubbing was dire in my opinion, it could be forgiven when weighed up against all the various styles shown and fight scenes, and light comedy moments.

I will never forget the scene when Li is spying on the other monks, esp the guy with a dart on rope spinning it underneath himself with only the back of his head and one foot touching the ground at an insanely quick pace.

This is Jet Li's first film as a lead actor, and it doesn't disappoint. The martial arts action is great and the scenery around the Shaolin Temple in Luoyang, China is breathtaking. There are a variety of weapons and styles that are showcased in the film, adding to the action. In particular, seeing the 3 sectional staff used in combat was really cool, and there's one guy who does flips off of his head!

It is a rare one to find but if you can find it, I recommend seeing "ShaoLin Temple".

Great cast, amazing wushu Kung fu and a classic movie with so many weapons demonstrations and fighting styles.

Some ott fights but overall great movie.

If you like Kungfu but don't know which movie to start with, this one is it. It was released in 1982, immediately hitting 0.16 billion RMB for 0.1 RMB per ticket in China, 4 billion Yen in Japan, and next year 5 billion Won in south Korea. Numerous young people started to practice Kungfu due to this movie. People all around the world knew better about Kungfu and Shaolin Temple and Jet Li.

Jet Li was only 17 when he was picked and screened to "be" Jueyuan, the "junior" kung-fu monk. He just won the championships in china's kung-fu tournament for five straight years before it. Director Chang Hsin Yen finally decided to collaborate with Jet to show what a real kung-fu and the resilient spirit from each Kungfu practicer is to the whole world. The Eighteen Guardians of the Faith in Shao Lin Si were all Kungfu masters each with their own unique expertise (e.g., Eagle Claw). They designed almost all their own moves in the fighting scenes based on their years' kung-fu practice. You won't see this in other movies. The theme of the movie is not only about how kung-fu moves are smooth and enjoying, but also how people become resilient and perserverent after years' hard practice and how they use it to protect what they believe in, which is their families and their homeland.

Remember it's an old movie released in 1982 then you won't over expect the picture quality.

This join venture of Hong Kong and mainland China started the 1980's boom of martial arts flicks in China.

Jet Li is the protagonist in this movie and unlike his later works, there is no stunt, no cable, no crane, no other equipment, no special effect, no fake moves, and no artistic creations. Every move is real, and the Hong Kong producers & director ingeniously employed the Chinese martial arts athletes of provincial teams and one from the national team, Jet Li, instead of ordinary actors to perform, thus giving a very realistic view.

The Tang Emperor is betrayed by one of his own generals, who installed himself as the new Emperor of the eastern region. The population of this area are the ones to suffer, with many forced into slavery to work at his demand. Chieh Yuan and his father are two such men but, one day Chieh and his father fight back and, although the two bravely hold off the guards, his father is killed as he instructs Chieh to flee to fight another day. Near-death, Chieh finds himself at a Shaolin monastery where he is taken in and nursed back to health. He takes up the teachings of the monks – in particular the martial arts – and prepares for the day he will meet his father's killer. In the meantime though, he has to worry about the many rules that his new life imposes on him.

On some levels this film is a terrible mess of a thing. The plot is quite basic and the writers really need to hit three stages of narrative which are 1) events before the monastery, 2) events at the monastery and 3) events around the conflict that closes out stage (1). These are all in place but it is up to them how they fill out these three stages and, in this case, it must be said the answer is "not that well". We get lots of things happening but not of them are that good. Chieh manages to kill a dog (which belongs to the daughter of his master), eat meat (and get the others eating meat) and do all manner of things that kinda go against the whole Buddhist monk vibe that he had been working on. The film has these come up and be laughed off by the others and after a while it just feels a bit weird. I'm not defending Buddha here and if these bits had been funny or engaging then I would not have cared one bit but, as it is, they don't work and even as time filler they are not that worth while.

In reality though, this doesn't matter because nobody has come to this film for the plot so much as they have to see Jet Li making his film debut and jumping right into film success. And jump he does (I'm not want to avoid rubbish linking puns) as almost all of the action in this film is impressive and engaging. Some of it is quite soft in regards the danger faced by our characters whereas some is pretty tough but whether it is a training demonstration or the final montage of fights, it is really impressive on physical and technical levels. It also helps that it is well short. Having just watched Transporter 3 recently, Shaolin Si comes over as a breath of fresh air in how it is willing to put the camera down and shoot action sequences where each take is longer than (gasp) 1 second and (brace yourselves) we get several moves in each take (no!). This lets us see that the cast can do their stuff and you can see why Li became a massive name because he is unbelievably skilled and has great physical control – heck I've started to make a little grunting noise every time I stand up whereas he seems to do the impossible in his stride. Looking back (and even then) Li does get all the attention but everyone else is just as good, with lots of impressive moves. Not everyone has as good a screen presence (the daughter being a bit weak for example) but when it comes to the action everyone performs.

Shaolin Si doesn't have the greatest script and, by extension, the performances and also how much the viewer will care about the characters are also weakened. However in regards simple physical ability of those involved in the making it is very engaging indeed. There are consistent and enjoyable scenes of martial arts action – a couple stand out above the rest but all of them are impressive and fun to watch. Ignore the narrative but definitely stay for the action.