Za ji wang ming dui (1979)

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang (writer)
Kuang Ni (writer)

Release Date:

29 June 1979 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

The heroes pose as gun dealers and acrobats in order to get close to the bad guys so they can avenge the death of one of their brothers...

Plot Keywords:

Acrobat | Kung Fu | Pistol | Machine Gun | Revenge

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Philip Kwok	...	Liang Kuo-jen (as Kuo Chui)
Feng Lu	...	Fu Chuan-yi
Sheng Chiang	...	Chen Feng
Chien Sun	...	Mr. Shen Sheng
Li Wang	...	General Han Pei-tsang
Meng Lo	...	Yang Ta-ying
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shen Chan	...	Chief of Staff
Tat-wah Cho	...	Leung's Father
Han Chen Wang
Hsiung Yang

Also Known As:

Chap gei miu meng dui (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Daredevils of Kung Fu (Hong Kong: English title)
Five Kung Fu Darevil Heroes (UK) (DVD title)
Magnificent Acrobats (Hong Kong: English title) (new title)
Shaolin Daredevils (USA) (dubbed version)
The Daredevils (Hong Kong: English title) (video title)
The Kings of Kung Fu (Europe: English title)
Venom Warriors (Hong Kong: English title) (video title)

Runtime:

West Germany:80 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-12 | West Germany:16 (nf)

Company:

Shaw Brothers

The Five Venoms team up in this clever HK entry

DAREDEVILS OF KUNG FU (1980) is one of a series of Shaw Bros. kung fu films featuring the actors known collectively as the Five Venoms. It's also one of the few that has all five of the Venoms operating together as a team. There aren't as many fight scenes as in most Venoms films. Most of the action consists of acrobatics, which the Venoms perform (expertly) to earn eating money. The big brawl in a warehouse at the end has three of the five, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng and Chiang Sheng, taking on the chief bad guys, including General Han, played by Wang Li, a frequent co-star of the Venoms.

Set in the early 20th century, the plot involves corrupt military men and civil war and is all shot on Shaw Bros. studio sets. One of the Venom characters gets killed half-way through the film, so the other four plan an elaborate sting operation to get revenge. They use the dead man's money and bankbook to put one over on General Han by making Lu Feng out to be some top official's son. They claim they've got weapons to sell to the general, but all they have to show are a machine gun and two pistols, which were actually lifted by the boys from an armory in an abortive robbery attempt. At some point the general's men receive the robbery report and put two & two together.

This is an unusual entry in the Venoms series, but it's not one of the best. The actors are all good and fun to watch together, but the plot, despite some clever scenes, is just not very compelling. Still, it remains a must-see film for Venoms fans.