Clevercell Very disappointing...

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Memorergi good film but with many flaws

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

themachomulatto A gang of masked thieves known as the Eight Dragons bust into a wealthy man's home and steal a map, leaving no witnesses alive. Once the deed is done, the leader decides that this ordeal has gotten way out of hand, and orders his men to each take one piece of the map and go into hiding for three years before they regroup and finally reap the rewards of their newly obtained treasure. Dorian Tan plays a cop who uses deceit, disguises, and finds himself in a compromising situations on more than one occasion as he tracks down each member and attempts to regain the stolen treasure. This premise sounds very promising but unfortunately the movie falls short.The movie flows along and holds one's attention pretty well as Tan finds each of the thieves but each resulting confrontation is plainly unsatisfying. Huang Lung's fight choreography here is stale and just plain boring. While I can certainly appreciate Dorian Tan's impressive kicking ability there is simply too much emphasis put on it. All too often do we see Mr. Tan hopping around on and attacking his opponent with one leg, which is all fine and dandy, but results in his kicks looking like they have no power behind them. Punches suffer similarly due to the slow speed at which they tend to be delivered, which is actually a fault I found with the kicking as well. The fight scenes get a bit more interesting towards the end, but regardless, I can honestly say that I enjoyed Tan's performance vs Yang Sze and Jim Kelly in The Tattoo Connection more than any fight in SDK. Even the talents of Lo Lieh, Gam Gong, and that of some other recognizable HK cinema stars are wasted here. The final fight where Tan and Doris Lung take on Lo Lieh is also quite bland and the ending itself is abrupt and like the rest of the film, extremely unsatisfying.The meticulous and well-orchestrated soundtrack by Chow Fook Leung is one of the high-points of this film and the only thing I really liked about it besides the inclusion of Miss Doris Lung Chun-Erh, who played the daughter of the Eight Dragons' leader. The English dub, acting, and directing are all fine and passable. Unfortunately, the action isn't, and for a movie of this type that is not acceptable. I would recommend this only to Flash Legs completists.

poe426 When passing judgement on a movie (and let's not kid ourselves here: that's exactly what these comments are- judgements), it's vital that we factor in all the pertinent information. Like GENRE. There are givens in "kung fu movies." Story, for instance, isn't much of a consideration. Nor should it be: we don't line up to see these movies to be blown away by plot twists or long-winded monologues about the ethereal. We go see these movies to see Chinese gung fu (or, in this particular case, tae kwon do). The more, the better. And logic rarely rears its ugly head. Nor should it. SHAOLIN DEADLY KICKS features some spectacular kicking by Tao-Liang Tan. His left leg- like that of former full contact middleweight champion Bill Wallace- snaps back and forth like a striking snake, seemingly effortlessly. This makes for some great fight scenes. Tan also happens to be a pretty good actor (something that never hurts). Tired of WALKER, Texas RANGER? Check out SHAOLIN DEADLY KICKS. It kicks a whole lotta a**.

lemon_magic This was the first movie I watched out a recent purchase, the "Martial Arts Classics" 50 movie DVD collection. It was almost exactly what I was hoping for: a pure recreation of the "Kung Fu Theater" experience...with all that implies about the pros and cons of the form. First of all, the hero actually had some acting talent and charisma. He was capable of conveying fairly complex emotions (for an old school Kung fu flick) and he had that all important ability to let you see what the character is thinking. So many actors just try to radiate an attitude and think their work is done...but this guy was able to "be in the moment" in the non-action scenes. Second, the fight choreography was pretty good. Everyone jumped and kicked and punched with admirable energy and conviction, and the so called "Deadly Kicks" were quite impressive. You could actually sort of believe that a person who could kick that fast and accurately might actually be able to fight that way (it worked for Bill Wallace, after all). The fight choreographers used the "Flash legs" gimmick a lot, but they didn't over use it to the point of laugh- ability or boredom, and the hero had to work hard to win his fights - he even lost a couple! The dubbing was average for a movie of this sort, but it didn't actively suck so much as to detract from the movie. I've heard a lot worse. The weakest part was the story arc. It just sort of seemed to lose focus as the hero's quest to retrieve eight parts of a stolen map from the eight outlaws who took it progressed...although there was an enjoyable complication about 2/3rd of the way through where the hero is nursed back to health by the (adopted?) daughter of one of the thieves.A lot of the character's action and decisions made very little sense (at least to my modern American sensibility) and the final climactic scene just stops short, like a Roadrunner cartoon instead of a movie, as if the director just ran out of money or time, or both. Still, there was a lot to like about "Deadly Kicks Of Shaolin" and I'm glad it was included in this pack so I got to watch it.

abentenjo Promising more boot than you could shake a kwan at, Flash Legs does almost everything it says on the tin: delivering the 'flash legs' of its title, Tan Tao Liang, in many high-kicking confrontations with the bootmaster showing off his whole repertoire of fancy leg work. The premise seems tedious enough - eight bandits are single-handedly bumped off by police chief Liang for stealing a sacred treasure map - and makes you wonder how it lasts the distance. It's probably got something to do with all those fight scenes, which fly in thick and fast in this relatively mediocre kung fu fest.