Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Leofwine_draca Another top-notch offering from the Shaw Brothers stable, this time utilising the unique storyline of using one's disability to overcome the odds, as well as including all of the bloody action and martial arts skills one has come to expect from what was one of the most reliable studios (in terms of film quality) in the world. The hilarious plot includes all manner of strange and shocking incidents, as well as incredible cheesy dialogue ("I have no arms. You have no eyes. Now we're even!"), strong and imposing characters and even plenty of comic relief, coming from a brain-damaged hero who proves to be more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to fighting with our heroes.The story goes that a warlord returns home to find his son armless and his wife dead of blood loss after having her legs cut off by an enemy. He duly kills the men responsible, but as the years pass he becomes twisted and begins to torture innocent folk. His son is fitted with iron hands which can also shoot deadly darts from the fingers (I bet they don't sell those down at M & S!) and also goes around beating up and crippling everyday townsfolk to make himself feel better about his disability! Thus, the four heroes are formed. The first a wanderer who finds himself blinded in a savage encounter; the second a tough guy who is made mute and then deafened in addition; the third a guy who has his legs cut off for some reason or other, and the fourth a would-be hero who becomes an idiot after his head is crushed with an iron band! After some tough training techniques in the outback (including hilarious shots of wooden dummies being kicked to pieces, some excellent acrobatics with steel rings, and a guy punching a jug through the holes in a spinning wheel) the guys return to town to take on the bad guys and get their revenge.Whew! That's one hell of a plot and CRIPPLED AVENGERS is one hell of a movie, a totally solid viewing experience for martial arts fans which is basically one big long action sequence with only a few pauses in between. The fights are kept varied and are always fast and furious with good camera angles and techniques, and it's often impossible to take your eyes from the screen once they begin. The bad guys are extremely evil and sadistic and hissable, the good guys an odd but worthy bunch who make for interesting and original hero types. The storyline incorporates some fairly suspenseful moments along with a lot of imagination and effort, and the film is also extremely violent. The exciting climax finishes things off nicely and as a whole the film is great fun, with strong production values and a wealth of excitement, weirdness and danger right from the beginning. Just my cup of tea in fact. Highly recommended for fans of the kung fu genre.

BA_Harrison Unlike The Five Venoms (1978), which came out the same year (and which also featured several of the performers who collectively became known as The Venoms), Crippled Avengers doesn't waste any time getting to the good stuff: the action begins immediately, with a gang of Tian Nan Tigers storming the household of hero Tao Tien-tu (Kuan-Tai Chan), looking to teach him a lesson for his arrogance. Unable to find the master of the house, the gang kill Tao's wife instead, by lopping off her legs, and cripple his son Tao Sheng by hacking off his arms. No sooner has this been done, than Tao Tien-tu arrives home to see his family in pieces and takes revenge, kicking Tian Nan Tiger ass. What a way to start a film: wholesale slaughter and dismemberment!To further avenge his family, Tao Tien-tu spends the following years killing the remaining Tian Nan Tigers, and gets Tao Sheng—now equipped with telescopic metal arms that shoot deadly missiles from the fingers—to cripple the Tigers' sons. But their reign of violence doesn't end there: the pair proceed to strike fear into the locals, maiming anyone who offends them. Blacksmith Wei Da-ti (Meng Lo), who stands up to Tao Tien-tu, pays for his bravery by being poisoned, which makes him mute, and having his ear drums burst; travelling hawker Chen Shun (Phillip Kwok) is blinded; Hu Ah-kuei (Chien Sun) has his legs cut off for accidentally bumping into Tao Tien-tu; and when martial arts expert Wang Yi (Sheng Chiang) confronts the bad guys, he has his head crushed in a vice, which turns him into a simpleton (albeit one who can still do impressive kung fu!).United by fate, the four cripples become fast friends and travel to the Eagle Mansion, home of Wang Yi's master, where they train in the martial arts. Three years later, having overcome their disabilities though kung fu (and with the help of a pair of strap-on metal legs for Hu Ah-kuei), the foursome leave to take revenge on the tyrannical Tao Tien-tu and his equally vile son.Featuring such blatant silliness as disabled fighters with 'bionic' limbs, the plot for Crippled Avengers is unarguably extremely far-fetched stuff, but the 'crazy factor' only adds to the fun of this much-loved Shaw Brothers classic. A talented cast, loads of superbly choreographed martial arts action (including a wonderful training sequence involving metal hoops, and the use of numerous weapons), some surprisingly bloody violence, and expert direction from the legendary Cheh Chang, all add up to one hell of an enjoyable time. Highly recommended.

Filmfandave What makes this one of the best Venoms movies is the characters of the accidental heroes, who all happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, swearing vengeance against a rich and infamous kungfu grandmaster (played sinisterly by Shaw Bros veteran actor Chen Kuan Tai) and his merciless son (Lu Feng).Kungfu flicks of this era rarely portray handicapped as heroes. So the decision to make them heroes was a breakthrough for kungfu movie lovers.Four laymen: Kwo Chue, a toy hawker, as the blind; Lo Meng, an iron smith, as the deaf and mute; Sun Chien, as the legless; and Chiang Sen, a swordsman, as the retarded become comrades by chance after being brutally maimed by the evil kungfu grandmaster and his son.Seeking for revenge, the four go on some very arduous martial arts training specializing in unique kungfu skills with the help of Chiang Sen's kungfu master. The four then join forces to settle the score with the evil lord and his iron-handed son in a hand-to-hand mortal combat that only the wittiest, not the strongest, survive.This particular Venoms' vehicle is one that helped maintain their fame in the early 80s following their groundbreaking box office hit "THE FIVE VENOMS" (1978). For lovers of old school kungfu flicks, this is one they must not miss !

MrDefaulto Just to clear something up, since a lot of people are complaining that it's not a sequel to five deadly venoms... Actually after the movie Five Deadly Venoms, that group of actors became known as "The Five Deadly Venoms" just like "The Rat Pack". So the title "Return of the Five Deadly Venoms" refers to a return of those 5 actors, not the 5 characters from the first film.I saw this film when it was titled "Mortal Combat" which was actually quite a few years before the famous arcade game Mortal Kombat.I hate to admit it... but I really do enjoy the dubbed versions. I know they add quite a bit of "cheese" to the movie, just like how ridiculous Godzilla is in English. And normally I would hate that.. but I guess since I grew up with the cheese, I enjoy it.Either way this is a great film, I finally got ahold of the newly remastered version "Crippled Avengers" and it's worth getting. Much better than my "Return" DVD.I rated it 10 out of 10 because it was the one movie from way back that stood out in my mind. I'm so happy i finally found it! still it's at least 8 without the happy memories.