Zhong yuan biao ju

THE MING PATRIOTS is a typical period kung fu flick about Ming rebels battling against some Qing bad guys. It's one long chase film about a Ming princess and her valuable cargo of precious jewels and her attempts to escape a dastardly Qing warlord. The only thing standing between her and destruction is a loyal group of patriots, presided over by the hard-kicking Bruce Li.

Once again this is a kung fu film that was lensed out in the Taiwanese countryside, which gives it a certain visual flair. I always found Li to be one of the better Bruce Lee imitators, and at least he tries to act amid all the fighting. Judy Lee has a nice supporting role as a fellow kung fu fighting patriot, while Chang Yi essays the role of the super-villain who is seemingly unstoppable in his pursuit of the princess.

Inevitably a film like THE MING PATRIOTS wins or loses on the quality of the fights alone. They're plentiful here and I enjoyed them throughout, although inevitably something is lost in the poor quality, pan and scan print that I watched. Watch out for some real life animal cruelty that would be more at home in an Italian cannibal flick, and stock music liberally borrowed from both spaghetti westerns and old Hammer Dracula movies.