Eureka Video Blu-ray Synopsis: Before students can leave the Shaolin temple, they must face a series of challenges and defeat the Shaolin Bronzemen, deadly fighters – some wielding weapons, others heavily armoured – who destroy anyone who crosses their path. Carter Wong (Big Trouble In Little China) will challenge them in both 18 Bronzemen and Return Of The 18 Bronzemen. (95 Mins)

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MIA UK DVD Synopsis: At the end of the Ching dynasty and during the time of the Manchurian invasion, a Ming general sends his son to Shaolin Temple to avoid being slaughtered. Eighteen years roll by and the boy, now a fully-grown man and master of the Shaolin martial arts, requests to leave the temple and help fight the Manchu invaders. To leave the sacred order he must first face a test of immense skill, courage and daring. Along with his classmate, Wan Tai Chun (Carter Wong) he must enter a labyrinth of martial arts mayhem. Before them lie corridors of traps and huge bronze men, some wielding clubs, staffs and swords, others dressed in huge armour plated suits, which will destroy anything that crosses their path. Once through the dreaded chambers, the Shaolin disciples will have the Shaolin crest of the dragon and tiger burnt into their forearms by lifting a huge bronze pot. Outside, our heroes meet up with more patriots and fight against tyranny. Joseph Kuo hits the mark with this spellbinding big budget offering, a great movie which spawned a sequel and several imitations. (95 Mins)

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Views: The ever reliable Joseph Kuo gives us one of the most iconic and trend setting kung-fu films in the shape of The 18 Bronzemen, the film that thrust star Carter Wong into leading man status and sits comfortably alongside the likes of the 36th Chamber Trilogy as a Shaolin themed classic! This is one film I would love to see cleaned up and 4K restored in widescreen. I'm a huge fan of director Joseph Kuo, with his film career spanning almost 60 films as a director and most of which where very well received, as well as highly entertaining pieces. The 18 Bronzemen is definitely one of his best (not to mention one of his most famous) and its not just because of the shiny men in gold. This is actually a very well made production in every aspect from the acting to the cinematography, and the detailed sets to the nicely choreographed fight scenes. This little gem is a kung-fu classic in every sense. In the same year Lo Wei had released 4 Jackie Chan movies and even went as far as to compete against the Bronzemen with his very own version – Shaolin Wooden Men (aka Shaolin Chamber Of Death). But Lo Wei wasn't the only concern for Kuo's box office spot as the mighty Shaw Brothers Studios were also dishing out hit after hit of course, producing almost 40 titles alone in 1976 including classics such as Killer Clans, The Dragon Missile, Challenge Of The Masters, The Magic Blade, Web Of Death, and so much more. So in reality, any film from a smaller independent studio who were releasing films around this period certainly had their work cut out for them – although I personally believe that 18 Bronzemen had enough great kung-fu, drama, and high production value to stand-tall alongside many of the Shaw Brothers films of a similar theme!

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While the awesome 36th Chamber Trilogy carried a lot of comedy throughout, The Bronzemen Trilogy proves to be a much more serious matter. Running the usual storyline of Manchurian villains and revenge involving Qing versus Ming, there is a fair amount of drama that drives the film forward. While it's hardly fresh in that respect, it is supported by some great training sequences and fight scenes which definitely keep things exciting for viewers. In the temple we find young fighters, Carter Wong and Roc Tien, working side-by-side to master their Shaolin training. By the one-hour mark you feel you have already sat through a full film (in a positive way) having had so much happen, but it is at this point our heroes get to leave Shaolin to continue their story. At the same time, we get introduced to the fantastic Polly Shang Kwan who enters as a man, but soon reveals her true self and helps bring a little more energy to the last 30 minutes of the film – getting to kick-ass a number of times in the energetic final chapter...

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Although the story mostly focuses on Roc Tien and his story, Carter Wong shines as the kung-fu boy turned monk and steals the show for the most part. I've always been a huge fan of his and its odd to think that prior to 18 Bronzemen he had already starred in a good 30 films beforehand for studios like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, as well as many other Joseph Kuo productions. Films like Hapkido, When Taekwondo Strikes, The Skyhawk, Dragon Gate, The Dragon Tamers, Shaolin Kids, Marco Polo, The Blazing Temple, and The Traitorous, had already earned him a large following but something about The 18 Bronzemen just confirmed his status as a kung-fu star. When that star started to fade in the early 80s, Wong headed to the bright lights of Hollywood where he got the chance to star in the incredibly fun John Carpenter movie Big Trouble In Little China as Thunder, and worked behind the scenes on the action for Rambo 3. The poorly received Hardcase & Fist soon followed before he returned to Hong Kong for appearances in films like The Transmigration Romance, Way Of The Lady Kickboxers, and High Voltage with Donnie Yen – but it was nothing compared to that of his heyday and soon, Wong returned to the States. Roc Tien didn't do too bad himself starting his film career in King Hu's classic Dragon Inn and returning to work with him once again in A Touch Of Zen. Over the years, Tien starred in more than 60 films through to the early 80s, many of which were enjoyable Taiwanese wuxia flicks. Some of these also put him alongside his 18 Bronzemen co-stars over the years, with the trio sharing the screen repeatedly at the height of the kung-fu craze. From 1974 to 84, he directed 7 features of his own from The Notorious Bandit to The Legend Of All Men Are Brothers, as well as The Silver Spear which saw him star alongside Doris Lung. Of course, we can't forget about the wonderful Polly Shang Kwan, who debuted alongside Roc in Dragon Inn. Once again, Kwan proves to be a joy to watch as she gets to show-off some great moves and acting, and looks great doing it.

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The kung fu action is handled with care by no less than 3 choreographers. These include the great Cliff Lok, Chan Siu Pang, and Wong Fei Long. Of course, Lok had been a kung fu star in his own right after starting a career with the Shaw Brothers in films like Magnificent Trio, One-Armed Swordsman, Golden Swallow, and more. As he career progresses, Cliff became the lead in a number of classics such as Kung Fu Genius, Duel Of The 7 Tigers, and Choi Lee Fat Kung Fu, going on to appear in modern flicks such as Angels Project with Moon Lee and the low budget, Fatal Dream. Having trained under the infamous master Yu Jim Yuen from the Peking Opera School that put Jackie, Sammo, and Yuen Biao through their paces, Lok was behind a number of films as the martial arts director. These included 18 Bronzemen and its first sequel as well as The Shaolin Kids and Shaolin Death Squads (both with Wong and Kwan), and Interpol which he also starred in. Wong Fei Long was equally as talented and starred in over 70 films including titles such as One-Armed Boxer 1 & 2, Wang Yu King Of Boxers, 18 Shaolin Disciples, 10 Brothers Of Shaolin, War Of The Shaolin Temple, as well as many of the aforementioned titles with Carter Wong and Cliff Lok where he would also work as a choreographer on most. Long also worked as a choreographer on The Angry Hero, Invincible Super Guy, Flash Legs, The Smart Cavalier, and Eunuch Of The Western Palace as well as directing his own films like Crazy Guy With Super Kung Fu, Deadly Strike, and a few more. But it would have to be Chan Siu Pang who outshines them both with his career in the industry as the star of over 100 films from 1960 to 2006, that would see Johnnie To's Election 2 and Shaolin Vs Evil Dead 2: Ultimate Power, being his final projects. He also directed 7 films himself – many of which included working with both Carter Wong and Cliff Lok on a regular basis, and held a strong position as a martial arts director having choreographed over 60 films throughout his career including The Comet Strikes, Super Dragon, Joseph Kuo's The Old Master (with Master Yu Jim Yuen), and the super fun Seasonal Films flick, Lackey And The Lady Tiger starring Mars and Hwang Jang Lee.

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With a great team behind him, Joseph Kuo made a genuine classic kung fu movie. It's a film that I never seem to tire of watching along with its sequels The Return Of The 18 Bronzemen and The 8 Masters, each of which are worth checking out. And although fans of Hong Kong cinema and kung fu movies only often connect the man with a handful of classics including this particular trilogy, Shaolin Kids, 7 Grandmasters, Mystery Of Chess Boxing, Dragon Claws, Born Invincible, and World Of The Drunken Master, Joseph Kuo Nan Hong had actually helmed well over 70 movies from the late 1950s until his final project as director in 1993 with Man And Woman In Love, as well as having written and produced the majority of his own work. Released in the UK on Blu-ray by Eureka Video as part of the Joseph Kuo collection called Cinematic Vengeance, 18 Bronzemen has never looked better and is presented in its original language. Interestingly enough, it is also accompanied by the Hong Kong Theatrical Version – a film reconstructed from a number of different sources that sees the footage jump between widescreen and 4:3 ratio. This is because the restored version was originally re-cut for Japanese audiences, with additional footage from Kuo's Blazing Temple and other scenes removed. With the original Hong Kong version now lost, Eureka did what they could to reconstruct this new version, which runs for a good 4 or 5 minutes longer than the other and offers a different viewing experience worth watching to compare...

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Overall: Well produced, full of emotion, kung-fu and great cinematography, The 18 Bronzemen is one of Kuo's finest moments!

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Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng & John Charles, alternate reconstructed Hong Kong Theatrical Version

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MIA DVD Extras: Trailers

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Watch my unboxing video of this Eureka Video release HERE

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Buy your copy HERE