Cereal At Midnight

When their temple is destroyed by bad guys, five martial arts students find themselves homeless and hunted. Individually, they are no match for their foes; but if they each can train themselves in specialized techniques, they can come together to defeat their enemies as Five Shaolin Masters! Functioning as sort of a "super group" movie, this 1974 Shaw Brothers entry into the Shaolin cycle is a lot of fun. It brings together five individual stars under one project: David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-chun, and Meng Fei. Each of these actors was a capable lead performer on their own, but together they function as a martial arts version of The Avengers. Future Shaw Brothers movies would further improve on this concept.  The Shaolin cycle of films are very loosely based on true historical events, but in this entry, the truth is only the barest of inspirations for a story that is almost nonexistent. Five Shaolin Masters has been described as a series of fight scen...

Chang Cheh was one of the most famed and prolific directors of martial arts cinema, composing ballets of violence and blood-spattered brawls in a way that was both artful and pleasing to the masses. 1975's Disciples of Shaolin  represents something of an anomaly in his ouvre in that it's more of a drama than outright battle film, though when the action arrives, the gore isn't far behind.  At the center of the film is Alexander Fu Sheng, a young star (emphasis on star ) who embodies all of the cocky confidence and swagger of Bruce Lee infused with the comedic timing and charm of Jackie Chan. In this film, he plays a poor traveller that has come into town seeking his brother, who works at the local textiles plant. He soon learns that the company his brother works for is at war with another rival textile factory who seeks to overtake the business and force a monopoly. The authorities are no help, and therefore it's up to the workers to fight back and stop this hostile take...