Movies - Heroes of the East

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	Movies - Heroes of the East

Heroes of the East, also known as Challenge of the Ninja and Shaolin vs. Ninja and Shaolin Challenges Ninja is a martial arts film produced in 1978. It starred Gordon Liu and was directed by Lau Kar-Leung. Yuen Siu-Tien has a cameo role as a master of Drunken kung fu.

Plot

Ah To (played by Gordon Liu) is a kung fu student. His rich father has set up an arranged marriage for him with the daughter of a Japanese business associate. Ah To initially objects but later agrees to the marriage. He is initially happy when he sees his bride, Kuda, is attractive. After the wedding, he finds out that she is also a martial artist. However, Ah To finds her style of karate to be un-lady-like and tries to persuade her to learn female styles of Chinese kung-fu. She is offended and eventually separates from him by returning to Japan. Kuda returns to her sensei (and possibly ex-boyfriend) Sanzo.

As a ruse to bring her back to China, Ah To sends her a letter challenging Japanese martial arts with the superiority of Chinese kung fu. Ah To hopes that the letter will infuriate Kuda enough to return to prove that her Japanese styles are as good as the Chinese ones. Once back in China, Ah To hopes to reconciliate with her. But the plan backfires when Sanzo reads the letter instead of Kuda. Sanzo reads the challenge as an affront to Japanese martial arts and responds by contacting several Japanese martial-arts masters. This group travels to China to take up Ah To's challenge. In the first duel, Ah To misinterprets a gesture from the Japanese fighter and thus further antagonizes the Japanese contingent. Due to this misunderstanding, the Japanese no longer treat the subsequent duels as exhibitions of their styles but rather as an all-out fights. Kuda, seeing the gravity of the situation, helps out Ah To by warning him of Sanzo's mastery of ninjitsu.

The film is noted for the exhibitions of various martial-arts styles and weapons:

Japanese katana vs Chinese Jian (double-edged long sword)
Japanese Karate vs Chinese Drunken kung fu
Japanese Nunchaku and tonfa vs Chinese Three sectional staff (melee weapons)
Japanese Yari vs Chinese Qiang (spears)
Japanese Sai vs Chinese Butterfly sword (short swords)
Japanese Judo vs peanut oil (a comedic duel)
Japanese ninja skills Hensojutsu, Shinobi-iri vs peanut shells (another comedic duel)
Japanese Shuriken, darts vs Chinese needles, sleeve arrows (throwing weapons)
Japanese Kusarigama as compared to Chinese Rope Dart (chained/roped weapons)
Japanese Ninjatō vs Chinese Dao (single-edged broadsword/saber)
Japanese crab-style vs Chinese Crane kung fu

Unusual for a Hong Kong film of that time, instead of stereotyping the Japanese characters as villains, the film portrays both the Japanese characters and their fighting skills with respect.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Heroes of the East ]

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