Overrated

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I have no idea about this film's background or where it originated from. I see that Godfrey Ho's name is linked with the production, which is never a good sign, but it's surprisingly professional throughout and tells a linear storyline so I imagine that this isn't one of his cut and paste movies. A number of actors such as Elton Chong, Jackie Chen, and Dragon Lee are credited on IMDb, but I didn't spot any of them. Amazon Prime are showing this under the title GRAND MASTER OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU which seems to be a different film altogether.This one features Carter Wong as a fighter training to battle a corrupt official, played by stock film bad guy Chen Sing. Wong teams up with female fighter Doris Chen for some lengthy training sequences in which he must learn to use pressure points to beat his enemies. Sing goes around chewing the scenery meanwhile and shows off his muscles in one shirtless scene.The opening fight in a snowy landscape is very well shot and rather promising, although the rest of the production is a lot cheaper and more ordinary-looking. The film features a lot of different kung fu styles and some foreign influence with Wong battling turbanned warriors at one point. The violent climax sees Wong and Chen teaming up to fight Sing, who proves near impossible to beat until he suffers the indignity of having his eyes gouged out prior to Chen's killer genital strike. Casanova Wong co-stars.

General Tung (Chen Sing, as one of those villains you love to hate) is crossing a snow-buried landscape when he notices some suspicious, man-sized mounds of snow up ahead. Sure enough, he lays into some of them and finds that they have soft, gooey human centers. He handily dispatches them all before continuing on to his destination. Commissioner Yao (Carter Wong) wants to stop the Ching Restoration that General Tung hopes to instigate. There were some very jarring edits at this point in the print of THE MAGNIFICENT that I saw (but a plus for those who tend to fast forward to the fight scenes), but there's a lot of good action throughout. An odd little closing title suggests that this was to be the first of a series of films: WILL SEE YOU AGAIN. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing a better-edited, cleaner print of this one, myself.

Usually anything associated with Godfrey Ho (who helped produce this film and had a role in it) means cheap and rather tacky if sometimes fun. But this neglected film (it deserves a good new release in my opinion) and the director Shao-Peng Chen put together a good cast with higher production values than usual. It looks like it was made in Korea and the settings are really beautiful at times and the costumes (particularly Doris Chen's hat!) are well done (though Cassonova Wong's early version of a 'Mao' suit is a bit dull, though no doubt designed to represent his official role). Carter Wong is always worth watching and all the fights are well done with 'Doris' giving a good account of her skills. Not in anyone's list of top 10 films, but well worth watching and I hope a new restored version will be released in the future to a wider audience.

THE MAGNIFICENT (1978) is an unheralded kung fu movie that offers four top performers in an action-packed tale that takes place in 1911 China and focuses on a General who hopes to restore the Ching Dynasty after China has become a republic. Carter Wong stars as Commissioner Yao Tien Shan who learns of a plot by General Na Lan Tien Hsiung (Chen Sing) to restore the Chings to power with the help of Lord Lo, whose daughter Wan Ying (Doris Chen/Lung Chun Erh) is sympathetic to the new government. Fu Fung (Casanova Wong) assists Yao whose efforts enlist the support of Wan Ying. Meanwhile, the general takes his ally Lord Lo prisoner and amasses an army of skilled fighters to help his cause.At some point Carter and Doris realize they need to renew their training in order to defeat the general. So a key section focuses on their training in hitting the body's vital points and how to combat Chen Sing's Golden Bell technique, which makes him nearly unbeatable. Casanova Wong's kicking skills come in handy in warding off the general's numerous guards.A lot happens and a lot of fighting occurs, all in picturesque locations, including a sprawling temple and palace grounds. Truth to tell, little in this film would indicate that this is set anywhere near the 20th century. Other than Carter's office and uniform (worn only in his office) there are no modern trappings, nothing to distinguish it from most historical kung fu.Unfortunately, there's also little information on the political background to tell the viewers why the Ching Dynasty should or shouldn't be restored, so the story becomes just a series of battles between good guys and bad guys. The general is bad only because he uses devious tactics and hired killers and because Chen Sing is such a marvelous villain with his thick black mustache and broad, sinister smile. He's also a good fighter and shows his skills to great advantage here. He makes such a formidable villain that it takes three stars to oppose him.The real surprise here is Doris Chen (aka Lung Chun Erh), who appeared in numerous kung fu films (SHAOLIN INVINCIBLES, EIGHT MASTERS), although not always in fighting roles. She puts on quite a good show here and could clearly hold her own with other fighting femmes of the era. The film is finally being seen in the U.S. in a widescreen print in Mandarin with English subtitles and a gorgeous transfer.