The Kung Fu Cult Master (1993)

Excellent martial arts/fantasy film, with crazy action, lots of likable characters, endearing humor, and a complicated but involving plot. Jet Li, Sammo Hung, Man Cheung, Chingmy Yau and Richard Ng head an all-star cast.I suppose that the anger expressed by some reviewers is understandable, if one's main interest in watching these films is actual martial arts technique -- without the aid of wires. But my love of these films is based on their fantasy elements. I also enjoy the sense of camaraderie, where kung-fu masters will risk their lives, for virtual strangers. Add in many bizarre characters, unexplained mystical powers, and gorgeous women -- and you have a very entertaining film. And Sammo is always tremendous fun.As mentioned by several reviewers, this film was planned as the first of a two-film series. And it is true that due to a disappointing box-office performance, part two was never filmed. But does this mean that you cannot see how it all ends? Not necessarily! Kung Fu Cult Master was a pretty faithful remake of the 1978 Shaw Brothers classic, Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre – which was also broken down into a two-part series. (Actually, there was also a part three, but it is only loosely related to the first two films.) If you want to learn what happens to the characters in Kung Fu Cult Master – and there are some real twists and surprises -- just locate a copy of Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre 2 (also, 1978).

Jet Li's performance in this martial arts classic is superb. None of his other films come close to this. I was especially blown away by the incredible subtitles in this feature. I'm just so tired of bad dubbing...it's not that funny, leave it to mxc. The team-up of Jackie Chan with Chris Tucker was awesome. They have great chemistry together. Jackie's high-flying stunts combined with Tucker's urban lingo is perfect. I did not approve of Bruce Lee's cameo however. It's a slap in the face to feature him in a film in which he is not the main actor. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel which is set for filming in July '04. I wish they made movies like this where I come from. It gets so darn lonely in my basement. Movies like this keep me from committing suicide.

The Evil Cult is without a doubt the worst Jet Li film I've seen to date. In the subtitled version I saw a very difficult to understand synopsis flashes across the screen. It says something about who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, but that doesn't really matter as allegiances change back and forth several times during the course of the movie making it hard to tell who is good and who is bad.This movie is supposed to be a comedy and it fails at even that. Bad jokes about morning erections in poorly subtitled English don't go over well. Neither does the running joke, or obsession should I say of two characters whose sole purpose in life seems to be plotting the rape of every female they see.The only aspect of this movie that made me laugh, aside from how bad it was, was the Green bat character. Never once is he referred to as a `vampire', however he wears a cape, can fly, turns into a bat, and drinks blood. Perhaps they don't call him a vampire because Chinese vampires HOP! (See Mr. Vampire for an example of this.)Those who have said Jet Li can't play a romantic role are dead on about this film. Not that the writers of the film gave him much choice, leaving the romance up in the air at the end of the film. If you watch this movie watch it for one reason: the beautiful maid Jet Li's character has yet never does anything with.Lastly, the kung fu in this movie is horrible. Beyond horrible. The use of wires and special effects greatly mask what Jet Li is capable of martial arts wise. The Kung Fu is totally based is fantasy and comes off as looking outright ridiculous and silly. This movie should only be watched by die hard Jet Li fans who either want to see every jet Li movie made, or to see Jet Li at his worst. 2/9 stars, and I'm being generous with the rating of 2, due only to the sparse and scant salvageable martial arts scenes in this movie.

OK people, ever ride on a fast roller coaster and the g-forces pin you back to the seat?? Then, you know how watching this film: it's a non-stop, fast paced adventure!!Interestingly enough, Jet Li's character doesn't know kung fu, which is a big disadvantage for him. It's really cool (and strange) how he learns martial arts. Soon, Jet's shooting fireballs like Ryu and battling all the different clans. There are a lot of people and fight scenes sometimes have fifty or more people at once on screen! This movie also gets high marks for the beautiful ladies who do try to seduce Jet Li (love that awkward look!!). Man Cheung is visually appealing as the "cunning" Chao Min. Chingmy Yau plays Jet's love interest (lucky guy!!) and she can kick some butt!Whether it's Wu Tang, Shaolin, Green Bat, or the Jinxes, this was one kung fu fantasy that has to be seen to be believed. On a side note, I was saddened that no sequel was made since things get very interesting towards the end.