The Kid with the Golden Arm

source: The Kid with the Golden Arm

Hu Wei Security, headed by Yang (Chien Sun), is tasked with taking 200,000 taels of gold to a famine-stricken area. Needless to say, every wanna-be thief worth his weight in taels wants to get his hands on the loot. Chief among them is The Deadly Valley gang, led by Lo Mang, the titular Golden Armed Kid. (His arms, it seems, are nigh invulnerable, allowing him to take on armed opponents with his bare hands.) Unfortunately for fans of Lo Mang, he doesn't have a whole lot of screen time- but when he's on stage, he's "on," as they say, and his final battle with Kuo Chui alone is worth the price of admission. It's Kuo Chui, in fact, as the "sheriff," Hai Tao, who once again steals the show (a common occurrence in Chang Cheh films, simply because Chui was THAT good- at everything): he's a heavy drinker- lending real meaning to the term "drunken master"- who seems to inadvertently intervene whenever members of the security force are attacked by bandits. "We always get what we want," Copper Head boasts at one point: "That's our motto." The road to the famine-stricken area is paved with poison and booby traps and the sinking suspicion that someone among the security force isn't who he pretends to be- but who could it be...? THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is a great deal of fun, with some outstanding performers performing outstandingly- and all under the artistic aegis of one of the true masters of the genre. A very solid ten.

The Good Guys try to send gold the the starving people in a famine stricken region but it's stolen by a gang of ruthless War Lords along the way. It's basically the Kung Fu version of Live Aid.

The most famous Venoms film outside of their debut, THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS. KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is a near plotless series of fight spectacles with a garish, comic strip feel to them. The larger than life characters are separated into heroes and villains, and the story is about a gold shipment waylaid by bandits. Each character has his own specialism with a big emphasis on weapon play throughout. Needless to say, the stars are at the top of their game here, at the peak of their athleticism. I particularly liked Lo Meng's titular badass and Phillip Kwok's drunken sheriff. Chiang Sheng has less to do, but then he was choreographing the fights, and Lu Feng is back to the spear play again. Violent, heavily stylised, thoroughly entertaining, this one.

Director Chang Cheh reunites the Five Venoms in his second biggest cult hit in the West. It is Lo Meng's most memorable performances whose showdown (as Golden Arm) with fellow Venomand drunken master Kuo Chui is artistically violent while being graphically artsy. Paste Magazine included "Kid with the Golden Arm" at 20 in their list of the 100 best martial arts films. In their review, they wrote, "Honestly, Kid With the Golden Arm isn't particularly complex or even all that original, but it's pure, unadulterated old-school kung fu fun." Stan Hall of called it a "surreal, action-packed period piece" with impressive fights, highlighting Silver Spear's final battle. Despite the same shallow sets of all Chang Cheh movies, it really does come down to the fight scenes, doesn't it? Of course. The sets can be awful and the plot can be weak, and as long as we get some good flips and slaps, we're happy. This is definitely a solid addition to that. It is not by any means as good as "Five Deadly Venoms", but still a solid second-tier movie.

Any time you see the words Chang Chen and Venom Mob together, well, you can ignore all the words I will write after this and just run and watch the movie. I've never been let down and this one is really something else. Yang Hu Yun (Sun Chien) has been assigned to safely take a cargo of gold to a poor area of the country dealing with famine, which is all the Chi Sha gang - Iron Robe (Wang Lung Wei), Brass Head (Yang Hsiung), Silver Spear (Lu Feng) and Golden Arm (Lo Meng) - need to hear. They're taking that gold and there's nothing that Yang and his crew - Li Chin Ming (Wei Pai), Ming's girlfriend Leng Feng (Helen Poon), Long Axe Yang Jiu (Shu Pei Sun), Short Axe Fang Shih (Chiang Sheng) and Hai Tao (Kuo Chui) can do about it. This movie is filled with twists, turns, poison darts, axe martial artists fighting over who can kill more enemies, Golden Arm unarmed combat so powerful he can bend weapons and shatter swords with his body, a rivlrey beween Hai Tao and Li Chin Ming, a mystery fighter called Iron Feet, flirting between Hai Tao and Leng Feng, roasting someone alive to get the poison out of their system, the gang carving their name into someone's back, blood spraying all over the place, a spear impalement, a bad guy reconsidering his ways and a shock ending. Seriously, this is a movie filled with death, heel turns and yes, so much fighting. It's just as awesome as it sounds. I've seen some say the story is pretty thin but when there's this much going on, I doubt you'll notice.

What makes this Venoms' film unique? The storyline is downright simple, with a little twist at the end and the locations are uniformly dull, where all take place in the Shaw Brothers studios. So, the best thing about THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is the characters, the good and the bad, who have their own unique skills. Combined with Chang Cheh's deft direction and a talented group of kungfu actors, you get good entertainment, especially for the Venoms' fans. The story involves a desperate delivery of caskets containing gold for the needy in famine-stricken villages through a place named the Death Valley. The place is so feared that the delivery, which has no other option but to pass it, has to be escorted by a group of skilled fighters. The Deadly Valley, so it is named, is a no-man's land ruled by an infamous robber, highly skilled - the Golden Arm (Lo Meng) with his gang: the Silver Spear (Lu Feng), the Iron Robe (Wang Lung Wei), and the Brass Head (Yang Tsiung), who are all aiming at looting the gold delivery. But, things do not come as easy as they think. The king's official has assigned Chief Security Yang (Sun Chien), together with a group of fighters, to prepare an unexpected welcome for the adversaries. The fighters on Chief Yang's side are as unique as the baddies: Constable Hai To, the drunkard (Kwo Chui); Swordsman Li, the arrogant (Wei Pai); Heroine Leng (dunno her name); Long Axe (played by a cameo; should have been played by Wang Li, though), and Short Axe (Chiang Sen). There are one-to-one mortal combats that are, as usual, exciting to watch - the one between Silver Spear and Short Axe, another with the Iron Robe and Constable Hai To, then the climax between the Golden Arm and Constable Hai To. A little twist at the end is the appearance of a mysterious character the Iron Feet, known to have been one of the deadly duos of the Deadly Valley before the Golden Arm established his reign of terror. He, too, demands his share of the gold. Who, then, will be the last man standing ?

Kid with the Golden Arms is a superb and classic kung fu movie. If you want to know what old 70's Kung Fu flicks are all about, this is your reference point. This is the movie that highlights the Toad (Lo Mang) from the 5 Deadly Venoms. It's cast of of characters is unparalleled and are excellent examples of the Kung Fu genre. Members of the "Chi Saw Gang" are 1. Golden Arms( Lo Mang): who doesn't need weapons because he is so good, he's virtually unbeatable. Golden Arms depicts the ultimate Kung Fu Warrior whose strength is unbelievable; 2. Silverspear played by the centipede displays flawless swordplay, and totes a menacing silver tipped pole used to perfection 3. Brass Head played by another Shaw Brothers strongman; smashes opposition with a steel crown that he wears on his head; 4.Iron Robe wears a Iron Robe that protects his body and yields and intimidating steel Fan as a weapon. Then there is special agent Hi Toe who fights best when he is drunk. Hi Toe is hired by the Gov't to help protect a sizeable shipment of gold that needs transported. Hi Toe is played by the Lizard in the Venom movie (Phillip Kwok). Also in the Movie is Lee played by the snake in 5 deadly Venoms. Lee teams up with an admiring female and is dealt a deathblow from the Poison "Sand Palm" technique, yet somehow excretes the poisons from his skin. Lee wants very badly to be remembered as a hero and feels he can beat Golden Arms only to fall short. Long Axe Short Axe played by the student in the venom movie also graces the screen. The ending fight scenes are classic with agent Hi Toe spitting wine in Golden Arms eyes to blind him. Golden Arms asks Hi Toe that he be spared due to his blindness so he can live the remainder of his life quietly. Lee's girl shows back up at a most unfortunate time to deal Golden Arms his demise. Almost a perfect flick, as good as it gets for Kung Fu Movies. A Shaw Brothers Masterpiece. Also the introduction of the movie when the Gov't Agent (Scorpion) introduces the vicious Chi Saw Gang ; this is a superior lead on into the movie and individually demonstrates the text of their skills. Excellent Chang Cheh production.

The Kid With The Golden Arm is definitely NOT one of the better kung fu movies I've seen. Although the lead hero is very charismatic, no one else is very interesting, and while I often appreciate kung fu campiness, these supervillain guys (Iron Robe, etc.), and their fighting, just seem silly to me. In fact, I find most of the fight scenes in this movie quite bad. The moves tend to lack technique and precision, and stuff that is clearly impossible - like rolling a sword around your arm - further ruins the experience. Not that I am against supernatural kung fu; I'm not, but it has to be consistent with the overall style and mood of the movie. In this movie, I am just not effectively entertained. If you want to see great fight scenes, get 7 Grandmasters or Shaolin: The Blood Mission. The Kid With The Golden Arm gets from me a 5 out of 10 rating.

The Kid With The Golden Arm was produced in the late 70's by Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. At the time, their "A-list" group of kung fu actors were a top notch crew who their fans have since labeled "The Venoms" (after the first movie they starred in together, "The Five Deadly Venoms"). The Venoms were all EXTREMELY talented (although some more than others), and their skills elevated virtually every movie they appeared in to the classic status. Golden Arm is one of the best. Vastly superior to Five Venoms (IMHO), it has an excellent story (which Five Venoms did, as well), but it also has many fight scenes (which Five Venoms does NOT have), and every fight scene is EXCELLENT. The true highlight of the movie is Silver Spear's (Centipede) battle with Short Axe (Hybrid Venom) **For those not in the know, the Five Venoms each had a "poison", or venom, style of kung fu that they had mastered in that movie. Their style in the movie gives rise to the name the fans affectionately give to the actor who portrayed that character I.E.- Wei Pei portrayed the Snake in the Five Venoms movie, so Wei Pei is called "Snake".** An awesome display of weapons prowess, Silver Spear vs. Short Axe will leave you reeling! Anyone who thinks that a Jet Li movie contains 'awesome' kung fu fights has never seen a Venoms movie, PERIOD! How these guys are humanly capable of some of the things they do in their movies is beyond me, they are true athletes in every sense of the word. Of course, do not expect a movie with Hollywood production values to come out of Hong Kong for this time period. Part of the charm of real kung fu movies is their slight air of corniness. Still, I would stack Golden Arm against ANY Steven Segal movie, any day! Lizard and Toad (the titular Golden Arm)also put on an awesome display in the movie's final fight scene. As a side note, if you think Jackie Chan is the best Drunken Boxer out there, he is NOTHING compared to the Lizard!!!! Watch this movie and find out what I am talking about. There is no "wire fu" in this movie (something that has inexplicably become all the rage these days, wire fu is the use of wires on the actors to suspend them in mid-air while they fight or allow them to "fly", wire fu is ridiculous and it SUCKS, watch any Jet Li movie for copious examples of wire fu), just old fashioned kung fu A*S KICKING. The costumes are also excellent in this movie. If all of this does not convince you, how is this: The venoms are FAR more talented at making movies, and produced FAR better fight scenes than Bruce Lee EVER did *GASP!* Its 100% true, Bruce Lee can't hold a candle to these guys, although he was definitely an awesome martial artist (and a VERY tough guy).