Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Smitten with the pretty sister of martial arts expert Chen (Lau Kar-leung/Liu Chia-Liang), evil gang-boss Tuan (Lo Lieh) does whatever it takes to make the woman his concubine: with some help from his equally scheming wife, Tuan frames Chen for rape, a crime punishable by drowning, but spares him this fate when Miss Chen (Kara Hui) declares that she is willing do whatever is necessary to save her brother's life. True to his word, Tuan allows Chen to go free, but not before making sure that the poor sap's hands are brutally crippled to ensure that he cannot seek retribution.This being a traditional Shaw Brother's revenge tale, however, such dastardly deeds do not go unpunished: working as a street performer, Chen meets petty thief Little Monkey (Hou Hsiao) to whom he teaches the secrets of his powerful Monkey Fist kung fu (allowing for some really entertaining training scenes); after a few run-ins with local villains who have been causing trouble in town, Little Monkey confronts their boss, who—surprise, surprise—turns out to be none other than that scheming scoundrel Tuan! Major ass-kickery ensues...It's been over twenty years since I first heard about this film from a friend, but I've only just gotten around to seeing it; if I had known at the time it was a Shaw Brothers production and that it starred HK cinema legends Lau Kar-leung and Lo Lieh I probably would have checked it out pronto, but alas, access to IMDb was still years away and I had no way of finding out any details about the film. Still, better late than never, and I'm glad to say that the wait was worth it: Mad Monkey Kung Fu is an excellent slice of old school fight action, a brilliant mix of expertly timed physical comedy and very impressive martial arts mayhem that, even at a massive 116 minutes long, never delivers a boring moment.Monkey style always makes me laugh, what with all that comical twitching, scratching and screeching mid-fight, and this film sees Hou Hsiao giving it his all, acting the complete fool with ease whilst performing incredible acrobatics and dishing out some serious drubbings; Lau Kar-leung is just as impressive as his sifu, performing lightning fast moves and breath-taking somersaults; and Kara Hui also displays some impressive moves during her brief fight scene. Meanwhile, Lo Lieh proves why he is one of the finest baddies in the history of Hong Kong cinema, being utterly loathsome and simply begging for a bashing (which, of course, he duly receives before the final credits roll).Take my advice, don't leave it two decades before YOU check out Mad Monkey Kung Fu!

I love the movie. It is actually, my favorite Kung Fu movie and Hsiao Hou is my favorite Kung Fu star. Now, I prefer to watch these movies with sub-titles. The British actor voicing little monkey's character, and the one voicing for Ah Choi's sounded ridiculous and were difficult to understand sometimes because the audio would become very low. This doesn't help because they sound so horribly whiny. I think these bad voice over actors do an injustice to the actors on screen. Should have used American voice over. My copy did not have subtitles.Despite this, I was still able to enjoy the performances by all...Lau Kar Leung, Hsiao Hou as well as the supporting cast. Some will not like the comedic facial expressions by Hsiao Hou, but all of it is to make him look and behave like a monkey. The story begins with Chan (Lau Kar Leung) whose hands are crippled by thugs after he is falsely accused of rape... a trick staged by a local gang boss who hopes to claim Chan's sister (Kara Hui) as his concubine. He ultimately succeeds when she sacrifices herself in order to spare her brother's life.Many years later, Chan is a street merchant with a monkey show. His hands are crippled as a result of the beating given to him after the "rape" charge. He is also bullied by local thugs who works for the big boss. He meets an orphan who calls himself little Monkey. Little Monkey takes pity on Chan and befriends him. They become roommates, and ultimately work together after Chan's real monkey is killed by thugs when he refuses to give them the money they want.Little Monkey looks (check out the haircut) and acts like a real monkey so he fits the show perfectly. But Little Monkey is tired of being shaken down by the thugs and wants to do something about it. He tries to fight them, but is badly beaten. Chan agrees to teach him the Monkey style, and so the epic training sequences begin and for me, that makes the movie. Little Monkey is eager to get back at the thugs, and leaves his training early. He's learned everything about the Monkey style except its most crucial skill, which is HITTING your opponent. He leaves training early, against the wishes of Chan, his sifu. Little Monkey challenges and and humiliates the gang in a hilarious fight. They finally take him to meet their boss, Ah Choi, who is also beaten and humiliated by Monkey. Then finally, the big boss appears and Little Monkey is badly defeated and saved by Chan's sister, who is injured in the fight. He also learns about the trick and the false rape charge.Little Monkey tells Chan about the trick. Chan agrees that Little Monkey must complete his training first. The results are awesome. They go back to rescue the sister and things happen. I won't spoil the ending but it's pretty cool.Some of the best, if not THE best, acrobatics in a Kung Fu movie are displayed by Hsiao Hou and that was also very enjoyable for me. Even the smaller gestures, jumps, and flips seem so natural, it's like watching a fish in water.Mad Monkey Kung Fu is your standard Kung Fu movie. An underdog learns Fung Fu to avenge his master. But in the end... so few movie are done as well.

I generally dislike comedy in my kung fu, and prefer straight up revenge tales. Mad Monkey Kung Fu, strangely enough, combines both, but ultimately is more comedic than I would like.That's not to say Chia-Liang Liu's direction isn't as good as ever, his choreographies mind-blowing and the kung fu on display impressive. My only gripe with the film, and the reason I largely didn't enjoy it, is that everything is utterly silly. I guess the monkey style kung fu is inherently silly, in and off itself, but Little Monkey's fights with Lo Lieh's thugs are more circus fare, complete with grimaces and silly quirks, than straight up kung fu.What I DID like where the training scenes, where Master Chan trains Little Monkey (played over the top, and given his role, right on the money, by Hou Hsiao) in the ways of the monkey fu, . It's still very much played for laughs but pleasantly so.Anyways, overall good performances by Hsiao, Lo Lieh and the foxy Kara Hiu (unfortunately in a short role), great choreographies as usual by Chia-Liang Liu, but too light-hearted for my tastes.

As a Bagua/Hsing-i instructor for over 20 years, I have witnessed many different levels of kung-fu expertise. 'Mad Monkey' is the best demonstration of footwork and kung-fu mastery that has ever been put on celluloid. Lui Liang's choreography and acting are first rate. As a viewer make sure to pay close attention to the demonstration of monkey style vs. all other 'hard' styles. In this demo., Liang shows how any martial artist should strive to become more and more loose/relaxed during a fight vs. what we are normally shown, which is the hero flexing his muscles and locking out into stiff poses for the camera. The story is gripping and the kung-fu is top notch, this is truly a martial masterpiece!