KUNG FU EMPEROR is a cheap Taiwanese kung fu effort that nonetheless gets by thanks to the predominance of plotting and lavish attention to period detail. The costumes might be gaudy but at least they look colourful and impressive on screen. Like many Taiwanese kung fu films, this one amasses a cast of Shaw Brothers veterans to give it some credibility, and it's a ploy that pays off. Ti Lung stars as a ne'er-do-well heir to the throne who gets into all sorts of scrapes when he goes up against a corrupt court official, as played by Chen Sing. The film is dominated by story rather than by action, with the requisite comedy scenes and goofy supporting characters to see it through, although the action when it does occur is fine. It's fun to see Lung playing an oddball fun-loving character in opposition to his usual serious one, while Dorian Tan turns up to contribute some high-kicking mayhem.
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Leofwine_draca8 September 2017
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Kung Fu Emperor is a Tawainese production with a good cast of some Shaw Brothers regulars, most notably Chen Kwan Tai and of course Ti Lung as Prince#4. There are some rogue elements about that start to kill off the royal family, as many Princes are getting wacked while The Emperor is ill and in the process of waiting for a successor. For a Tawainese production, the sets and costumes look great. While the film has a few flaws with some plot holes here and there, Kung Fu Emperor is still a pretty good watch with a good amount of Kung Fu action sequences and fairly solid performances. Ti Lung is very good in this and is very engaging as the lead. The Kung Fu Emperor is definitely above average for a cheapie Tawainese production and if you are a fan of Ti Lung and his work on Shaw Brothers films, this should be a good option for an evening's entertainment.
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poe4265 March 2012Ti Lung (as "Fourth son") and his kung fu master raid the Palace in search of the Emperor's will, but are foiled by the Palace guards. Lung is wounded during their escape, but is determined to take the throne in the interest of the people. Chen Sing, head of security, is told that the interloper must've been "Ninth son." (Like the foppish Don Diego- who was in reality El Zorro-, Fourth son shows no real aptitude nor interest in being Emperor.) "Kill or BE killed," his kung fu master tells Lung: it's the only way "to help the people." Lung pretends to be clumsy and uncoordinated in front of his father and the Imperial Court (he overdoes it, but the deception works- and is actually genuinely funny, too). Chen Sing has Ninth son murdered. When Fourth son goes among the people as a commoner himself, he encounters Dorian Tan and his sidekick, who are hustling to make a living (doing public exhibitions, gambling, etc.). Tan convinces Lung to loan him an expensive garment to bet with. A gold bar falls out of the garment and suddenly Tan's being questioned by Imperial officials on the scene. In the ensuing chaos, Tan escapes- but Fourth son is captured. (He's roughed up a bit, too: caught up in a heavy net, he's dragged through broken crockery and beaten every step of the way to jail). In another very funny sequence, Lung's new cell-mate designates HIM the keeper (and cleaner) of the toilet. (We first glimpse this fellow seated on his "throne" in the cell; when Lung is tossed in, he hastily wipes himself with a handful of hay and takes charge.) Fourth son quietly goes with the flow (so to speak)... When Lung and Company are released and a plot to kill him is revealed, the Toilet Master voluntarily returns to his cell, where it's safe. Lung is stabbed with poisoned talons (the kind used by ninjas for climbing) and when he begins to recover, he and his benefactors fantasize about how to gain reentry into the Palace. It's a fun sequence of imaginary scenarios in which we first see the group pretend, one and all, to be sick and near death (so that the guards on duty won't want to even touch them); then, as supernatural beings who glide magically through the gates, screaming and terrifying the guards; and, finally, as a troupe of traveling opera players just too smart for their own good. Reality intervenes when the Imperial soldiers hunting for them find them. Needless to say, more kung fu mayhem ensues. Things wrap up rather neatly in the end when everybody Fourth son needs dead ends up taking a dirt nap. All around, a fun film.