Synopsis: The martial-arts action film 10 Brothers Of Shaolin tells the tale of ten specially trained fighters, five monks, five laymen, who have been taught their skills in order to protect Master Chu, who needs all the help he can while attempting to bring down the Mings. (90 Mins)

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Views: Opening with the classic Drunken Master (Wong Fei Hung) theme, we soon meet the fantastic Wang Tao who stars as a Shaolin disciple that is entrusted to escort a high ranking official to his desired location. Along the way, Wang must protect him from a number of attackers who want him dead, and finds support in his 9 other Shaolin 'brothers' who secretly help him on his journey. That's pretty much the backbone of 10 Brothers Of Shaolin, but it doesn't take long for things to get kind of messy in dealing with too many characters that, ultimately, feels like a waste of talent by the end of it all...

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Working on the regular late 70's plot-line of Ming versus Ching, the great Chang Yi gets to put in another performance as an evil ass-kicking general. His son is played by popular Hong Kong fight choreographer and director, Stephen Tung Wei – also known as that kid who gets a quick life lesson from Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon. Fan-favourite, Leung Kar Yan, gets to impress as an evil brigadier who works for the general and thankfully gets to show some great moves, and stuck around with the team for Eagle's Claw which came about soon after. Shao Lo Hui returns in yet another role as a shifty monk, and veteran actor Min Min (star of over 160 movies from the late 50s through to 1990) appears as another official. I have to say, I am a big fan of Don Wong Tao. Its rare that a film he is in proves unwatchable, even if they are flawed like 10 Brothers Of Shaolin. By the time he had made this, Wong had only been in the business a few years but had already made almost 20 films, including Slaughter In San Francisco, Duel With Death, Moonlight Sword & Jade Lion, and the classic Secret Rivals! His supporting cast of brothers makes for a serious call sheet of kung-fu stars that include the great Philip Ko Fei – one of my favourite Hong Kong film stars whose first 2 decades in the industry gave us some incredibly memorable fights and entertaining roles. Of course, Ko Fei would share the screen with Wang Tao a number of times over the years including Along Comes A Tiger, Eagle's Claw, The Secret Rivals 2, and The Hot, The Cool, & The Vicious, and doesn't let fans down when he appears on screen. Next up is Huang Kuan Hsiung, a popular character actor who appeared a host of classic titles such as 18 Shaolin Disciples, 18 Bronzemen, Killer Meteors, Born Invincible, and many more, as well as Wang Kuo Fei, who starred in films such as Marco Polo, To Kill With Intrigue, and Mars Villa. In fact, 1977 was one of the latter's busiest years that would see him star or appear in 22 titles overall, including Along Comes A Tiger that would see him star alongside a number of the names here. God Of Gamblers bad guy and kung-fu actor Jimmy Lee also co-stars as a young monk. It was a year of productions that would see him share the screen with most of the other stars in aforementioned titles such as Along Comes A Tiger and Eagle's Claw. Famed director and action-choreographer Stephen Tung Wei gets the chance to trade moves with the stars, as does the amazing Leung Kar Yan who had just come out of his Shaw Brothers contract after starring in a host of popular Chang Cheh titles. And last but not least, the fantastic Judy Lee (Chia Ling) pops up for a smaller role, getting to impress with her moves and stealing any scenes she appears in. Only 5 years after bursting onto the scene with the brilliant Queen Boxer, Judy starred in over 30 productions up to the point of 10 Brothers Of Shaolin including the classic Girl Named Iron Phoenix, Blazing Temple, 8 Masters, and many more!

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While 10 Brothers Of Shaolin offers plenty of kung-fu action, the fights weren't as overly memorable as I had hoped for. That said, they do entertain to some degree thanks to famed choreographer, Tommy Lee Gam Ming. Working with the same cast in Along Comes A Tiger and the more superior Eagle's Claw (shot the very same year), Lee delivers a wide selection of fights throughout the story. These include the obligatory teahouse fight, which was a lot of fun, and many battles against Stephen Tung Wei which were a highlight for me. But I must admit, I was expecting more in the final fight against the heartbroken Chang Yi, which resulted in a bit of an underwhelming finale overall. The film was directed by Taiwanese actor and director Ting Chung, the man behind titles such as Mars Villa, Kung Fu Of Seven Steps, and Of Cooks And Kung Fu – all of which came after 10 Brothers Of Shaolin, and all of which proved to be much better films overall. While he was never the strongest director of the kung-fu world, Ting obviously had a knack for getting in some decent names but It's just a shame he didn't learn how to utilise them a bit better, because 10 Brothers Of Shaolin results in being a case of having seen it all before and definitely should have been much better than it was. 

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Overall: Not amazing, but definitely not boring, 10 Brothers Of Shaolin has its moments!