A strange film in that John Liu shows an emotional range and acting skill missing from many of his films but only shows his kicking abilities towards the end. The plot of rural people press ganged into a gold mine is pretty ludicrous and the repeated escapes and punishments get very repetitive. But finally John Liu is trained by the foreman Chui Chung Hei (who is pretty active and has a good fight) and the final fight with the 'Master' (played by Chai Hau Keung I believe) is well done. Paul Wei Ping Ao has a meaty part and Chin Lung plays well Chin Lung really with support from Ma Yue Fung. Not a great film but just watch John Liu doing the splits and controlling his (right) foot has its attractions. Fine if you want to see John Liu in a slightly unusual film. The Pagoda release has a few good extras and is an okay print. The dubbing is pretty horrible.
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phillip-5815 December 2007
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Bezenby4 July 2010More Kung Fu stuff, but this time rather nicely done, with a storyline that actually had me hooked for a change. Still pretty daft though, but that doesn't mean anything when it comes to films.
This one has three guys who are captured and put into slavery, mining gold for the 'marshall'- whoever that is. One of our trio has a wife in labour, so he regularly tries to escape, prompting much kung fu and beatings.
Basically, the film is a series of escape attempts, fights with guards, people begging for mercy for other prisoners, and cave-ins at the mine. Now, don't take this the wrong way, this is still a good film. It just follows the path of rebellion against guards - kung fu fight - prisoners get captured again - someone begs for mercy - start again. I swear by the end you'll be wondering who's going to make it to the end.
The kung fu is pretty good too, with the battle between the main baddie and our hero being pretty wild. If you can overlook the sloppy editing (disappearing beards!) then this one is a decent cheap buy. -
ckormos112 October 2016John Liu and many other men are forced into slavery. He fights back but does not have his "Shadowless Kick" technique yet. The beatings continue.
Beatings have no entertainment value.
The story is about escape. Many great movies have been made with this simple story line. It is a formulaic story line and any deviation from the story line results in complete failure. This movie was made with no knowledge of the formula for the escape story. For example, there has to be two failed escape attempts first and these attempts make it worse for all the prisoners. Also, this is a "black and white" plot in that the bad guys are totally bad. In this movie the character of the doctor makes no sense at all. I could go on but why bother?
I know there is a big cultural thing about kneeling and submission that does not translate well from East to West but even allowing for that this movie still fails as a story.
John does not raise a leg in a kick until about the 50 minute mark. The only part of this movie that has any entertainment value begins a few minutes after that when he starts the leg training.
This movie is only for hard core fans of the genre and really starts at about the 50 minute mark. As such a fan I can add after watching it once I doubt I will ever watch it again. -
Leofwine_draca22 July 2017STRUGGLE THROUGH DEATH is a Taiwanese kung fu cheapie with a starring role for the long-forgotten John Liu. He plays one of a number of prisoners enslaved in a gold mine by vicious captors. Inevitably, much of the plot centres around escape attempts as the heroes suffer endless degradations and attempt to extricate themselves from their imprisonment. Sadly, the kung fu is in short supply for the first hour, leaving the viewer to sit through mindlessly dubbed in singing routines, humiliation, and generally low-quality filmmaking. Things pick up towards the climax, but the action choreography is strictly routine and the final fight hardly one to get excited about.
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charlez266 July 2006Is what this adds up to, to me. I once owned this movie and I liked it as well. John Liu is an awesome Martial Artist. Just as he was in Kung Fu Commandos. What a great film. A little drawn out but it's worth it as you see with each fight how John Liu progresses to where the punishments become more and more harsh as it truly is a struggle through death. I would like to own this movie once again someday. I liked it because of the storyline behind it and because of the action in it. I can't remember the grand villain's name but he is good too. I've seen him in quite a few Kung Fu flicks as well. If you have an opportunity to and this movie becomes available. I suggest to watch it and then you can decide if you'd like to own it or not.