BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Wordiezett So much average

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Comeuppance Reviews The Yang family are masters at fighting with spears. During the Battle of Jinsha, against the evil Tartars, all the brothers are cruelly massacred except General Yang Wu-lang (Liu), known to his family as "5th Son" and Yang Liu-lang (Fu Sheng), known as "6th son". When 6th Son returns home, he goes insane after witnessing all the horror and treachery foisted upon him and his family by the evil Pan Mei (Ke Ming Lin). His mother and sisters have to now care for him and deal with his mental illness. Meanwhile, General Yang goes on a soul-searching quest. Because Pan Mei was once close with the Yang family, even bestowing upon them the honorific title of "Family of Loyalty", after he defected to the side of evil, he officially became a traitor. Yang, saying, "I can't go home, and I can't avenge my country", is caught in a limbo of sorts and ends up at a remote monastery for Buddhist Monks.He wishes very much to become a monk, but he keeps being rebuffed by the Abbot, saying he's too warlike, too angry, too confused, and most importantly, too concerned with worldly affairs. Nevertheless, noting his ability with spear-fighting, they remove the blade and teach him all over again to fight with just the pole. The ultimate test is to "De-fang the wolf", using wooden wolves for practice. Now sufficiently trained, he must face off against Pan Mei and his Tartar goons - and reunite with/save his sister - in the ultimate final showdown.Even though we really don't review them (hopefully that will change in the near future), we love 70's and 80's Martial Arts cinema, especially the output of Shaw Brothers. Eight Diagram Pole Fighter stands out as an excellent, highly enjoyable example of the genre: the sets and costumes are artistically and beautifully designed, the choreography and fighting is superb, and there are plenty of cool battles. Additionally, fan favorite - nay - HERO - Gordon Liu puts in an emotional, intense performance as General Yang, a troubled man and lost soul - until he finds his purpose in life. This thoughtful performance shows there's much more to these kinds of movies than just "chop socky". Plus the plot is accessible to a general Western viewer, without too many cultural idiosyncracies that sometimes make foreign films of this kind hard to understand. Everyone should see this fine film! Make sure you get the Dragon Dynasty DVD, as there have been inferior quality versions floating around for many years now. This is the definitive way to see this great movie. Because it is so well-shot and even operatic at times, it would be a shame to see one of those horribly pan-and-scanned, dubbed atrocities. It's because of those bootlegs (and even many legitimate releases) that Martial Arts movies of this kind get a bad rap. 8 Diagram Pole Fighter can stand with any kind of foreign film. But the snobby crowd will never think to even recognize that. But it's easy to see why rappers like Wu-Tang appreciate this kind of movie. They were certainly ahead of the curve, as RZA expresses his appreciation for this movie in his book.Also thanks to the dynamism of the movie, and Liu's compelling performance, many people stole from it. Just see American Shaolin (1991) Everything from the plot about the guy who desperately wants to become a monk but faces opposition, to the training sequences, was recycled by this and later films. But it's done so well here, and is so enjoyable to watch, especially with the unique wooden wolves, it's best to come to the original source.For fans of Martial Arts cinema, this is a must-see. For non-fans...well...this is a must-see. Recommended.

Mister E First of all, to the people that think that martial arts movies need a spectacular plot that doesn't quite add up, and spectacular visuals like omg the entire scene is RED or no wait now it's GREEN, that's a huge misconception. In a martial arts movie its essential to have amazing fights between characters. Anyway, this movie is originally called 7 brothers in china, and if you remember Pai Mei, or "really good fighter of the crazy 88" from "Kill Bill" that, is Gordan Liu. The plot is actually pretty good for a action movie, he's ambushed and how to defeat his family is given away before they begin to fight, so his martial arts are now worthless. So with Gordan Liu minus his brothers he goes to find an improved method of fighting, but the shaolin monks he seeks don't take him in since he'll inevitably kill again once he learns the martial art. He actually has to change his mentality to be accepted and learn the art of pole fighting.Fights are great in this movie, Gordan liu is amazing when he's not fighting anyone, i.e. moving his pole around at the pond, try moving with that kind of power and precision on your own and see how good Mr. Liu is. Also, I really enjoyed the final fight scene, very fluid and well choreographed, most martial arts movies now have maybe one good fight sequence at the beginning and then... well... CGI plays a larger and larger role throughout the movie and the "martial" part of "martial arts" disappears and you're left with an art show.

fertilecelluloid Chia-Liang Liu, this film's director, was responsible for Jackie Chan's best film of recent vintage, "Drunken Master 2". This is an earlier effort of his that is like a filmed martial arts stage play with rich design and impeccable choreography. Like most such films, it is about martial arts disciples defending honor and resisting vengeance (but not resisting it for long). I find the story lines of these Shaw films extremely uninvolving because the characters remind me of narrow-minded religious zealots whose thought processes are collective. That gripe aside, this is a feast of fight choreography and holds a special place in the Shaw canon. Its plot turns are incomprehensible at times and its dialog is stilted, but it's still impressive. The Celestial DVD boasts an exceptional, clean print. The colors are strong and the transfer is sharp. I'm just not a big fan of period martial arts films, but I do appreciate their artistry. Chai-Liang Liu's staging and direction is beyond solid.

Macholic How should you a approach a movie like The Invincible Pole Fighters? If you wanna look for hairs in the soup, look for all-too-obvious stage setting for the Yang brothers ambush. Then you could look for some very stagy looking death scenes. Or how about the library music it shares with Dawn of the Dead? On the other hand you could look for its virtues: Strong cast, strong story, excellent choreography and fortunately the virtues of this movie far outweighs its flaws. The story is epic, the choreography is nothing short of breath taking. The equals may exist. I just haven't seen them, this is riveting stuff, utterly infectious. Show it to non-martial art movie fans if you wanna see converts, this is martial arts to the performed to the highest standard of perfection. You will want to see this movie again and again. Own it. The best available copy is Celestial's Hong Kong DVD release in original aspect ratio without dubbing. Beware of bad dubbing and choreography-ruining cropping on western VHS releases.