Raiders of Buddhist Kung Fu (1981) Review

“Raiders of Buddhist Kung Fu” Theatrical Poster

Director: Godfrey Ho 
Cast: Gordon Liu, Wang Ryong, Kim Ki-Joo, Seol Ji-Yeon, Kwak Eun-Gyung, Baek Hwang-Gi, John Kelly, Choe Moo-Woong, Lung Ho-Yu, Park Hui-Jin, Lee Hwa-Jin
Running Time: 90 min. 

By Ian Whittle

So I picked up the DVD assuming from the cover still of Gordon Liu in his usual monk attire that this was going to be another “Gordon from Shaolin” by way of a Korea flick, but once again I have been fooled… here Gordon is the villain! A warlord in what may be Republic era China, but it’s not very clear. And I don’t think Shaolin came into it at all!

So my thoughts on this mess….

• IFD used the Star Wars music for their damn logo!
• Gordon Liu is very miscast as a very milquetoast villain, who seems way too fond of his hot sister. I find it very hard to believe the boyish Liu is supposed to be a powerful warlord here. He’s not helped by the weird old man voice given to non-sequiturs they give him – “Arrest everyone….traitors!”
• An unexplained Roy Horan/Bob Baker/Wallish/ gwailo
• A rather repulsive hunchback traitor, disfigured with a large bright red port-wine stain AND a large cold-sore…
• Speaking of cold, even for a Korean film this looks freezing! Several of the interior scenes show the smokey breath flying out of people’s mouths like a fog machine!
• The old master is very trendy; what’s with his covid mask!?
• The masked monkey fighter on the other hand…
• Ooh, the V-Ger music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Gordon looks very funny riding into battle with what looks like a dead squirrel on his head
• The hero fights Gordon on the ice, bare-chested! Brrrrr….
• Gordon is winning easily with his staff (or “bar” as the dubber calls it), so of course he then throws it away to fight bare-handed….
• Eagles ex machina
• I take back some of the mean things I said about Fury in Shaolin Temple…

Ian Whittle’s Rating: 2/10