THE 18 BRONZE MEN, RETURN OF THE 18 BRONZE MEN (both 1976)

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological, sociological*


According to one online resource, Shaolin priests never actually used "wooden men," much less "bronze men," to train kung-fu practitioners, nor did they have booby-trapped hallways full of springing spears and falling stones. Oral legend seems to have been the source of such stories, which Hong Kong cinema was not slow to exploit.

Both 18 BRONZE MEN and its conceptual-but-not-literal sequel RETURN came out in 1976, suggesting that producer Joseph Kuo might've already planned the sequel before the box-office results came in. The same three principals-- Carter Wong, Tien Peng, and Polly Shang Kuan-- appear in both films, though in completely different roles for the sequel. Both are uncanny films that depend heavily on the bizarre training rituals of the Shaolin monastery, though, to be sure, the opponents in both movies also show off a few "outre devices."

In terms of plot, 18 BRONZEMEN is a routine recycling of the venerable "you killed my father, prepare to die" trope. Tien Ping is Shaolung, the central hero, who at a tender age loses his father, a soldier in the defeated Ming Dynasty, to the villainous General Kwan, representing the upstart Ching Dynasty. Shaolung's grandmother drops the kid off at the monastery for training, and the monks agree to train the youth, because Shaolin sympathies remain tied to the Mings. While at the temple Shaolung meets Brother Chung (Carter Wong), who's also lost his parents to the Ching tyrants, and they bond over sworn revenge. The two of them endure countless travails to attain kung-fu mastery, including a series of eighteen teachers painted bronze (actually gold, probably because the color shows up better) and various booby-traps. After both men pass all the Shaolin tests, they go looking for their enemy. On the way they make another ally, Lu (Shang Kuan), a female martial artist posing as a man (and fooling everyone who sees her). After a big fight with a turncoat monk who wields a weapon capable of firing multiple darts, the trio tracks down evil General Kwan. Kwan bemuses the heroes a little bit with a disguise-stunt, for he's got several minions dressed up to look exactly like him. However, in the end Shaolung, Lu and Chung triumph.

RETURN OF THE 18 BRONZEMEN is in some ways more interesting because one has to figure out what the producers were aiming at. The focal character, instead of being a sympathetic champion of good, is a rotter named Ai Sung-Chueh (Carter Wong). He's a prince in the hierarchy of the Ching empire, and when the old Emperor is about to succumb to illness, Ai somehow forges the ruler's will and makes himself emperor following the old guy's death. Even speaking as someone who knows nothing about Chinese royal customs, I find this gambit hard to countenance. However, the film doesn't spend too much time with palace intrigue.

Instead, Ai takes a vacation from rulership  and goes out among his people incognito. He rescues a young woman from some thugs and escorts her to her husband, apparently with no selfish motives in mind. But when he sees the husband (Tien Peng) practicing Shaolin kung fu, Ai decides to challenge the guy. When Ai loses the "friendly" match, he becomes obsessed with obtaining the same superlative skills. Again keeping his identity secret, Ai becomes a Shaolin monk. When he's become proficient, he's subjected to the ultimate test: vanquishing the eighteen Bronze Men-- some of whom even wear armor-- and escaping various automatic traps.

However, in an odd twist, just before Ai passes the last test, the monks are informed of his princely identity, and they dismiss him, claiming that they're not able to take risks with royalty. (It may be that they're also refusing him because of their earlier established hostility to the Ching.) The aggrieved emperor returns to his court, which seems to have got along quite well without him. However, some separate scenes introduce a female martial artist (Shang Kuan) who has some trouble with some rowdies on her way to meet the emperor. She invades Ai's court and tries to kill him with some odd weapons-- notably, a sword that can shoot other sword-blades. Ai defends himself ably with his Shaolin skills, refusing to let his courtiers intervene. After a blistering fight-scene between the principals-- probably one of the more realistic male/female battles in kung-fu cinema-- the lady assassin runs away, and though Ai sends soldiers after her, her fate is left up in the air. As a finale, one of Ai's flunkies brings him the news that the Shaolin monastery has mounted an offensive against the Chings, and informs Ai that the generals plan to decimate the monks with a great new weapon. The film ends with a close-up on Ai's obsessed face, meditating on the coming destruction of the monks who denied him his wishes.

RETURN is, to be sure, much more slapdash than the earlier film. Yet it deserves minor kudos for trying something different. Ai is an unmitigated villain, admirable only for his gutsiness in fighting his own battles. Still, there's not much psychological heft behind his actions, so it may be that the change-up resulted from someone, be it Carter Wong or some harried screenwriter, simply getting tired of the same old heroics.