You won't be disappointed!

Let's be realistic.

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

A classic kung fu film from the Shaw Brothers studio in that it depicts the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese styles of fighting - as well as weaponry - in a thoughtful and intelligent way. As well as this, the film offers up plenty of humour amid the chop-socky fighting bits, and the fights themselves are superbly choreographed and a delight to watch. As well as being accomplished fighters in themselves, the actors are actually good in their various roles too; whether it be Chia Hui Liu (or "Gordon" as he is called in the West) as the provoked hero, or Yuko Mizuno as his beautiful Japanese wife (she's particularly good), or the various Japanese challengers up against him.The martial arts bouts are genuinely exciting, each different from the last as various areas - karate, judo, ninjitsu, even a "drunken god" tale - are explored. My only complaint is that the sets are a little boring, with only the finale - set in a field of straw men! - offering any interest in the backdrop. For a martial arts movie, the film is refreshingly free of blood and violence for a change (not that I'm against that, but often it's just unnecessary) making it a wholesome tale for the whole family to enjoy. Little more is left to be said about SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA, other than it's a fine example of the martial arts genre at its most professionally made and intelligent, and a lot different - and thus better - than most low-budget repetitive kickfests.

Heroes Of The East aka Shaolin Challenges Ninja is one of many collaborations between actor Gordon Liu and director Lau Kar Leung brought to us by the legendary Shaw Bros. Studios. Gordon Liu has an arranged marriage with a woman from Japan. His wife is an expert of various Japanese fighting styles and each party is of the viewpoint that their style is better than the other. Their various sparring matches cause serious tension in their marriage as well as destroy much of the house. Gordon Liu is, of course an awesome exponent of Chinese kung fu. His wife takes off to Japan and in an effort to get his wife back, slams the Japanese martial arts and challenges her to a competition. His wife's martial arts instructor/love interest grabs the letter from her and does not appreciate the letter's content. Next thing you know Yasuaki Karata and a bunch of Japanese dudes show up at Gordon Liu's pad and challenge him to a tournament. Gordon Liu accepts and fights each representative of various Japanese fighting styles. What separates Heroes Of The East from various other Chinese vs Japanese productions is that it respects both cultures and their fighting styles as well. There are lots of great fights to be had here and both Gordon Liu and Yasuaki Kurata are in top form. Heroes Of The East is indeed a solid martial arts film but it is nowhere near as essential as Lau Kar Leung/Gordon Liu's kung fu masterwork The 36 Chambers Of Shaolin aka Master Killer. Heroes Of The East still resonates and is an enjoyable, fast paced and cohesive martial arts film that is memorable and far above average.

Gordon Liu stars in this enjoyably wacky tale of cross cultural differences when he undergoes an arranged marriage to a beautiful and VERY wilful Japanese wife.Problems arise in the marriage almost immediately when the missus, amongst other acts, promptly sets about utilising her karate skills to demolish the family home.....not a good boding omen of things to come for sure! Inevitably arguments arise between the two over the clash of the wife's excessively noisy, house demolishing Japanese style martial arts vs Liu's gentler, quieter Chinese arts.Determined to prove the superiority of her styles, the wife challenges her husband to a number of fights, all of which he wins, in a gentlemanly manner and without hurting her. Nonetheless, humiliated by these defeats, the wife returns to Japan to seek guidance from her teacher, who happens to be a master of Ninjuitsu.However, and despite their differences, Liu resolves to win his bride back and with some help from his friend/servant, a plot is hatched to lure her to return via a challenging letter that wholeheartedly slates the Japanese martial arts.Matters take a turn for the worse when the letter falls into the hands of the Ninja master, who quite rightly takes offence and promptly gathers together a number of other martial arts experts and travels to China to challenge Liu's claims.From here on out, the viewer is treated to a number of excellently choreographed fight scenes as each Japanese master from a number of different martial art fields challenges Liu to various duels.As other commenter's have stated, the clash of Japanese styles vs Chinese really does make for some entertaining viewing although of course, this being a Shaw Brother's film i.e Chinese, the Japanese are always efficaciously humiliated in every fight.The highlight is definitely the final duel between our hero and the ninja master, during which the ninja adopts his 'crab style' of fighting which proves to be great fun to watch! As previously mentioned, and a factor which serves to detract from the overall entertainment value in these older Kung Fu films for me at least, is the distasteful, not to mention desperate portrayal of the Japanese martial arts as inferior and indeed the Japanese themselves, as in some way morally devoid.Still, having said this, although the various masters are soundly defeated by our hero, in the typical 'Chinese is superior to Japanese' theme, no one is actually seriously harmed in the movie which makes for a refreshing change in the genre.Also of note is the 'happy' ending when one particular cultural gap is bridged between the two parties and mutual respect is finally attained.Overall then, overlooking the tiresome 'Chinese beats Japanese' propaganda, for fans of good, old style martial arts choreography, this film really is a must see.

This is classic martial arts with everything that comes with it, including, to start with the downside first: A terrible English dub. The videotape I saw was also cropped. But if you can past that and get on to the movie you're in for a positive surprise. Drunk Shaolin.. is as good as it gets and offers a great sense of humor without getting silly. In brief the story is about a Chinese man who happens to be a kung fu expert marries a Japanese girl who is a an avid karate fighter. Trouble is certainly ahead as she chucks out her husband's Chinese kung fu weapons to make room for her own Japanese weapons, even worse: He insults her karate she takes it personally as so does her teacher in Japan and a group of his crack students, so they are off to China to challenge her husband to a duel. What follows is a fantastic display of Japanese contra Chinese weapons and techniques presented with considerable style as well as humor. I watched this film many times, it is joy forever. 8/10