Shao Lin da peng da shi
Tags: revenge

Plot synopsis:
The story opens at a fabric dyeing mill. The quality of the dyes has noticeably worsened, and the factory owner, Wang, and his subordinate chief, Boss Wa, decide to hire some Manchu overseers to improve the work. Wang decides to cut the workers' salary to pay the mercenaries, and when the workers protest they are viciously thrashed.
When sitting in a tea house discussing their problems, the workers are joined by Chu Jen-chieh, a good-hearted small-time con man and the foreman's younger brother who is posing as a monk. He offers to help, but since he cannot actually do kung fu, he and the foreman's assistant, Ah Chao, devise a plan to trick the Manchu into reinstating the full salary pay, with Jen-chieh posing as the Shaolin's head abbot, San Te.
At first the scheme works, but Wang quickly works out that this man is an impostor, and has him driven away and his Manchu hirelings retaliate against the workers. Feeling guilty about what has happened, Jen-chieh leaves and heads for the Shaolin temple to learn the real fighting arts. His first attempts to enter by stealth are thwarted by the vigilant monks and his own bumbling, but eventually he manages to sneak his way in, just to run into the abbot San Te. He, too, realizes that Jen-chieh is not what he claims to be, but he announces that he wants to give him a chance: Jen-chieh is to build a set of scaffolds all around the temple and renovate the entire complex.
Somewhat reluctantly, Jen-chieh goes to work, but he is constantly distracted by the monks practicing martial arts in the 36th Chamber, which he can overlook from his high vantage point. Eventually, he begins to train himself in kung fu by using the conditions of his assignment to improvise training facilities. However, this causes him to lag behind in his work, and it takes him more than a year to finish the gantry. As soon as Jen-chieh announces that he is finished, San Te wants him to dismantle the structure and leave the monastery. Rebelling against this decision, Jen-chieh lands himself inside the chamber, and while trying to evade the abbot chasing him, he inadvertently manages to pass all hazards set in the chamber with ease. San Te finally corners him and forces him to leave, with a strange smile on his lips.
Jen-chieh returns to town to find that the conditions of the workers have worsened: Their salary has been cut by nearly half, and any who have protested had been laid off to eke out a meager existence. Elated by his return, some of the ex-workers begin to pester Jen-chieh with their high expectations, which leads to Jen-chieh instinctively and to his own surprise fighting them off with his newly acquired kung fu skills. The next morning, Jen-chieh appears at the dye mill and thrashes the overseers, using bamboo fibers (like the ones he used when building the scaffolds) to tie them up and incapacitate them, introducing his style as "scaffolding kung fu".
Once the overseers are dealt with, Wang and his bodyguards appear at the scene. Jen-chieh lures them out of the city to a mansion under construction, where he uses the building equipment and the tight quarters to his advantage. Finally overpowering Wang, he forces him to pay his workers their full wages again. Wang admits defeat, and Jen-chieh continues his training on the half-finished grounds.

Review: This movie is one of the many "Kung Fu" action films made in Asia in the late '70s - early '80s, full of cheap sound effects, dubbed dialog and lightning fast martial arts action.
But unlike most films of this genre it also has a decent plot and lots of great comedy.
When workers of a dye factory are forced out of their jobs by Manchu bullies, they hire a con-artist (Gordon Liu) to try to scare them off.
When his attempt fails miserably, he cons his way into a Shaolin temple to learn to fight for real.
But instead of making him a Kung-Fu student, the Master instead orders him to build a scaffolding to cover the roofs of all 36 chambers.
Well, it turns out that while he's performing these menial tasks (stacking and tying bamboo poles) that he's learning the skills to be a Kung-Fu expert!
There's lots of great comedy from beginning to end, and plenty of action at the end when Gordon Liu once again faces his Manchu tormentors.
"This time it's not just tricks- it's the real thing!" Liu declares, proudly thumping his chest.
If you like classic Kung Fu films you don't want to miss this one!.
Like the bit where he showing the bad guys what he's learned at the Shaolin temple, and he's working his way up from showing them a mere 50% of his new powers, to "the full 90%"....
What happened to 100%?And the bit where, in order to show his pals what he's learned, he beats them all up!
He whacks his best mate in the stomach, and his mate (who has teeth that are literally about two inches long sticking out of his mouth), bends over and exclaims; "eeeeuuuuurgh, GREAT KUNG FUUUUUU".
It's a classic movie moment!
I wasn't expecting it to be better then the first one, but the comedic element definitely hindered it.Gordon Liu once again stars, but his time he plays an actor impersonating his character from the first one.
The manchus are oppressing a dye factory and hire someone who looks like San Te to fool the manchus.
Gordon gets his butt kicked so he goes to Shaolin to actually become a shaolin master.
Once he learns kung fu he goes back and frees the dye workers.Its not a bad film, but all the comedic parts got really annoying.
I am a big Gordon Liu fan, but a consider this one of his weakest roles..
I agree with another user here and have to say that this is one of the best Kung Fu movies ever!
The scaffolding scenes are brilliant and you can really empathise with this guy because he is treated as an outcast.
Nice humour and fantastic kung fu this movie rocks!
If you like Kung Fu you would love this!!!.
Return to the 36th Chamber is one of those classic Kung-Fu movies which Shaw produces back in the 70s and 80s, whose genre is equivalent to the spaghetti westerns of Hollywood, and the protagonist Gordon Liu, the counterpart to the western's Clint Eastwood.
Digitally remastered and a new print made for the Fantastic Film Fest, this is "Presented in Shaw Scope", just like the good old days.This film is a simple story of good versus evil, told in 3 acts, which more or less sums up the narrative of martial arts films in that era.Act One sets up the premise.
Workers in a dye-mill of a small village are unhappy with their lot, having their wages cut by 20% by incoming manchu gangsters.
At first they had a minor success in getting Liu to impersonate a highly skilled Shaolin monk (one of the best comedy sequences), but their rouse got exposed when they pushed the limit of credibility by impersonating one too many times.Act Two shows the protagonist wanting to get back at the mob.
However, without real martial arts, he embarks on a journey to Shaolin Temple, to try and infiltrate and learn martial arts on the sly.
After some slapstick moments, he finally gets accepted by the abbot (whom he impersonated!) but is disappointed at the teaching methods - kinda like Mr Miyagi's style in Karate Kid, but instead of painting fences, he gets to erect scaffoldings all around the temple.
Nothing can keep a good man down, and he unwittingly builds strength, endurance and learns kung-fu the unorthodox way.Act Three is where the fight fest begins.
But it is rather refreshing watching the fight scenes here, with its wide angled shots to highlight clarity and detail between the sparring partners, and the use of slow-motion only to showcase stunts in different angles.
You may find the speed of fights a tad too slow, with some pause in between moves, but with Yuen Wo Ping and his style being used ad-nausem in Hollywood flicks, they sure don't make fight scenes like they used to!
This movie has a lot of comedy, not dark and Gordon Liu shines in this one.
scaffolding kung fu action!!.
I thought this would be a sequel to the original "36th Chamber of Shaolin" but actually it's more of a light-hearted "sister" to the original.
Gordon Liu still stars as a would-be hero on a quest to learn kung fu to defeat those pesky Manchus...
The film centres around the local dye mill, where wages are cut due to the hiring of 10 new Manchurian bosses.
Liu plays "Chao", who is able to fool the mill bosses into thinking he is a shaolin monk possessing almost magical kung fu skill.
But his luck runs out, he is exposed as a fraud, and he promises the mill workers that he will go to the Shaolin monastery to learn kung fu, and return to protect them.The comedy really begins at the monastery where Chao makes several bungling attempts to get accepted.
This sets up lots of really funny moments, and lots of great fight choreography.
Continuing in the "36th Chamber" tradition we see all kinds of neat and interesting (and supremely hokey) training methods at the monastery as well as creative uses of wooden benches as weapons.Also unique and of note is the blending of kung fu and the craft of bamboo scaffold building.
Chao is not accepted as a student at Shaolin but is made to build bamboo scaffolding for the "10 year restoration" of the monastery.
On the DVD I bought there is a special on bamboo scaffold building and the inspiration that director Lau Kar-Leung drew from it.
This is a craft many hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years old, and in Hong Kong scaffolding is still built of bamboo even on large high-rises, though the West exclusively uses steel tubes and clamps.
As a result of his scaffolding work, Chao develops a special style of kung fu...
when asked what kind it is, he hilariously replies "scaffolding kung fu!!" which he first tests during a dust-up with the monastery's Abbot.
In the final confrontation with the Manchus, there is a dazzling array of creative uses for bamboo poles and ties.From a comedy perspective, I think it's one of the best of the kung fu genre.
As a kung fu film in general, it also stands out...
Cheesy Classic Kung Fu Flick.
However, even during this era of simplicity, films such as The Return To The 36th Chamber does a lot of things right that modern action flicks don't.
The paramount example would be, relying on mostly good ol' fashion elbow grease instead of special effects.The fight scenes though dated, still looks good and this is due to the players knowing theatrical wushu.
A fight has to look like 2 guys are fighting to be convincing, even though we know that Scaffolding Kung Fu is ridiculous.
Bring on the Kung-Fu. The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production.
Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu expert from the temple of Shaolin.Director Lau Kar-leung excels in this action-comedy.
When I think Shaw Brothers kung fu, I think of Chang Cheh, which may be very narrow of me (I am still learning).
But Lau is every bit as great, and in some ways maybe even greater, because although much of this looks like a Shaw action film, the comedy is excellent, clearly drawing on old-school American slapstick..
In my opinion the best Kung-Fu movie ever..
This is one of the few Kung-Fu movies with a decent plot.
The whole movie is great!.
When the Republicans- sorry: the Manchus- take over a factory and promptly strip the workers of EVERYTHING but their undies, Jen Chieh (Gordon Liu) attempts to do good by standing up to the oppressors.
He's a con man and he pretends to be a kung fu master come to set things right.
Determined to make good on his promise to DO good, he sneaks into a Shaolin temple in the hopes of learning a useful trade (i.e.; kung fu).
There, too, he is quickly discovered (so much for being a good con man) and is promptly charged with building a scaffold.
Unlike in THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, where he literally walked on water after some strenuous training, Liu here learns the less demanding "scaffolding kung fu." Among the techniques he masters is the use of bamboo cords (which comes in handy during the final showdown).
More comedic than its predecessor, RETURN TO THE 36th CHAMBER is nonetheless worth a look..
I love kung-fu and bought this movie under the name 36th chamber, I thought it was THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN.
I paid $1 for it and the quality was horrible, so I decided to go and buy the DRAGON DYNASTY release of THE 36TH CHAMBERS OF SHAOLIN.
I was going to toss the older version when I happened to notice it was Johnny Wang on the cover, so I put it in the player and sure enough it was RETURN TO THE THE 36TH CHAMBERS.
Now I've gotta get a better version of this film, because the DVD I have is a VHS transfer dollar DVD and it's horrible.Anyway so Gordon Liu is back, but this time around he is playing a new character.
I really loved him as San Te on the first one, it was a serious and dark Kung Fu gem.
This one he plays Jen Cheh and its one of those comedy/kung-fu mixtures.
I wish it had been under another name completely and still used the 36th chambers, its not like anyone could replace Gordon for the part, it just needed a different title.
I hate when sequels get off from the first movie and do something like this....
NOT TO SAY THIS IS A BAD MOVIE AT ALL...Far from bad, this is a great film, unfortunately I have a horrible full screen version so I couldn't appreciate all Master Liu's direction had to offer, I know it was good for what I could tell and even in full screen it captured a lot of the beauty of the fights, especially in early scenes where Jen was pretending to be a monk.Gordon put on a lot of weight in the few years in between these movies and looked less like a kung-fu champ and more like a regular guy, which was good for his characters humble beginnings but not so good for where his character would've ended up with all that work and pseudo training.The movie has a small town's biggest economical leader (a dye shop) taken over by ruthless bosses in order to get a better assembly.
They cut the pay and refuse to let workers leave, so when a beggar posing as a monk comes to town they use him to fool the bosses and scare them with his fake fighting style.
He then goes to Shaolin Temple, and unlike San Te in the first film, Cha Jen Cheh doesn't get in to train with the others, he is instead told to work and build scaffolding and repair all the roofs of all the chambers.He sets off working, and even sleeping on the roof and spends all of his time watching the other pupils train.
Once he finishes the job over a year later he asks to join now that hes done the work and the monk still refuses.
He soon realizes that he is a master of kung fu simply by watching and the imitation practices he had been doing and he takes on the evil boss played by Johnny Wang in one of the best fights ever filmed.You can never go wrong with the Shaw Bros.
here brothers Gordon and Chi-Liang once again made a damn good movie...It a great film and if you love martial arts you will wanna check it out, its not a true sequel, but stands alone perfectly.
My flaws was that it was super slow building up to the action, it had way too much of a comedy aspect and I gave it 6 out of 10 stars..
Highly rated Shaolin sequel offers something a bit different.
RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER sees Gordon Liu returning to the film series that he's most famous for, playing a different role in a very different story which nonetheless features the Shaolin Temple.
This one's a very good Shaw film, directed with his exemplary professionalism by the esteemed Lau Kar-Leung who injects finesse and quality into the film's many fight and training sequences.Some viewers may be put off by the way that RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER is more of an out-and-out comedy than the original film but I enjoyed the change of pace and style.
Liu plays a small-time actor who gets beaten up at the hands of Manchu thugs (including my top guys Johnny Wang Lung Wei and Chiang Tao), so he decides to break into the Shaolin Temple and spy on the monks training.
It's pretty funny stuff, with Liu on top physical form and convincing both as the novice weakling and as the kung fu expert.The Shaolin Temple scenes are fun and entertaining with all of the bizarre training we enjoy watching.
I loved the way that Liu learns amid scaffolding here which gives him an addiction to bamboo which plays a big part in the fights at the film's climax, which are lighter than usual but no less gruesome.
As with almost all Shaw Brothers movies, this is well shot, well paced, and looks absolutely brilliant in high definition; a great mix of comedy, drama, and action..
The original 36th Chamber is known as one of the best Kung Fu movies of all time and I personally echo that sentiment, putting it right up there with The Master of the Flying Guillotine, Seven Grandmasters and The Invincible Armour.
I was therefore worried that this movie has been tagged as sequel, knowing that it was unlikely to live up to its predecessor.
It turned out to be one of the best movies I have seen in the Kung Fu/Wuxia genre.
The story began in a not unfamiliar fashion, where a group of laborers are exploited by their employer who hires some Manchus to essentially frighten them into working harder for less money.
They try to fight back and to go on strike but are badly beaten by the Manchus.
The workers then get there friend Chao Jen-Cheh (Gordon Lu), an actor, to pretend to be a dangerous Shaolin priest so he can intimidate the Manchus and the boss into treating them fairly but he is eventually found out as a fraud and he too is beaten terribly.
After this, Chao vows to go to Shaolin and learn Kung Fu for real and to return to set things straight.
For the next while the movie takes a comedic turn as Chao tries many tricks to emerge himself in Shaolin's 36th Chamber (a Kung Fu training zone) and the Abbot takes pity on him, allowing him to stay at Shaolin to put together Scaffolding and fix the temple roofs.
Chao does this happily as it allows him to observe the 36th Chamber and he presumes he will be taken on as a student when the roof has been mended.
However, 3 years later when the work is complete, he is distraught to find that he is asked to leave the temple without have received any Kung Fu training.
He goes back to the village and explains to his worker friends that he has learned nothing.
They are angry at him for having learned nothing the entire time he was away and attack him, only to find that Chao has in fact picked up quite a bit simply from having observed the Shaolin students and having incorporated what he has seen into his scaffolding work.
Having discovered him strength, Chao challenges the Manchu and the boss who he is now able to defeat with considerable style.The oblivious "training" sequences in this film are great and again they justify the use of the label "36th Chamber" as the original movie is well known for it fantastic training act.
All great Kung Fu movies have an amazing training act and this one is no exception.Another thing which I loved about this movie was the unique "scaffolding Kung Fu" style which Chao learns.
His time as a scaffolder means that his fighting style is one which largely consists of tying his opponents up.
When the Manchus are introduces, they bare their bamboo batons and declare facetiously "these are our colour sticks".
These in the final fight scenes are reminiscent of the bamboo poles that Chao uses in scaffolding the temple and as he takes the Manchus on, he ties each of them and the batons together like scaffolding.
Firstly I found it hard to believe when Chao returns to the village completely unaware that his skills have improved...then again this is a Kung Fu movie and anything can happen.