Anyway, the simple plot involves a various sections of Tibetan Lamas, the Black Section, naturally, being the evil ones. They want to control the martial world, and their last resisters are the Shaolin Temple. In some business that should be much easier to explain, the monks abduct a government official, really trying to protect him and show him the Black Lamas evil, and for some reason one of the monks masquerades as a bandit that the Black Lamas fear because he is such a good fighter. Meanwhile the Prince of Tibet (Alexander Lo Rei) emerges from a monastery and the Black Lamas first try to assassinate him and then try to use him against the Shaolin Temple, convincing the naive prince that they are the bad guys. After some misunderstanding because the prince waltzes into Shaolin all disrespectful because he believes they are up to no good, the two unite to take out the Black Lamas.

Those familiar with Taiwanese action films know that they make the low budget, by the seat of your pants, off the wall film making of Hong Kong look downright luxurious and sane. In HK you might cast someone taught, steel eyed, and maniacal as your villain, but in Taiwan they will cast some guy with a pompadour, acne, and permed Elvis muttonchops. You may think having to fight someone that looks like an Asian Lee Van Cleef would be formidable, but, for me, it is far scarier to fight some tubby villain with a unibrow because who would you be more ashamed of kicking your ass? Quite frankly, I'd have no trouble saying, "Gordon Lui beat the Hell out of me and pummeled me into the dirt. ", but if I had to say, "Dom DeLuise beat the Hell out of me..." the shame of that fact would be worse than the actual physical beating. But at least an outtake reel of a Dom DeLuise ass kicking would be somewhat funny.

Anyway, that said, the villains that are the Black Lama's all dress like they are members of Parliament Funkadelic. Its all shiny outfits with pointy 'space cadet' shoulders accented even further by capes. It looks like they raided Ming The Merciless' wardrobe and got all of his reject robes. And, it is just absolutely impossible to take them seriously. Oh sure, they may stand around with the swagger of a martial clan that wants to rule the world, but when you are in a shiny purple outfit even Bootsy Collins wouldn't be caught dead in, any evil you may be trying is moot... But, its not like the good guys make out any better. One of the chief good Lamas wears a gray curly wig that is either a clown wig painted gray or perhaps it was made so someone could go as an elderly Harpo Marx at Halloween. Either way, his wig has an awfully hard time staying on during the fights, which is I believe is the reason he is killed.

The action is low rent and fairly plentiful, but nothing really struck me about it. The action in Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu was low rent and plentiful but at least a lot of it was memorable, with acrobatic kids and goofy villains. There are a few actions scenes that are blatantly sped up, but that kind of trickery is kept to a minimum. Really the movie is worth a watch if you are into the cheesy side of kung fu. I'm sure the costumes will provide a good giggle and the movie moves well enough that it entertains. But it just didn't strike me as having any particularly good stunts or fight sequences I want to see again.

The DVD:Ground Zero, part of their Blackbelt Theater line, which were, in their last bundle, double features.

Picture: Okay, so kung fu prints are hard to come by. No doubt, if any original theatrical print of Shaolin Temple Vs. Lama still exists it is rotting away in some former producers attic or Filipino movie house basement. So, I don't mind if all you bother to get is a tape transfer, but at least make sure it is a good tape and, for Buddha's sake, adjust the tracking. This transfer has the jitters and for much of the movie scenes have that bad vhs or projector off center jump. I can be really forgiving when it comes to my old school kung fu, but I found the jitters on this picture to be a real hindrance. On the plus side the color and sharpness are pretty good.

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, English dub. Like the picture, the audio has the habit of dropping off, like a vhs tape set on the wrong tracking.

Extras: 6 Chapters- "Lost" Trailers (15:35). Nice bunch of theatrical trailers for Raging Rivals, Enter the Invincible Hero, Dynamite Shaolin Heroes, Buddhist Fist and Tiger Claws and Dragon's Snake Fist

Conclusion: Well, really this is a fan only affair. Even in the world of spotty dirty, cropped kung fu transfers, I cant abide suggesting someone pay for one that has the epileptic shakes throughout much of the film. Once again, maybe if it were on a double feature like the previous Black Belt Theater releases, it would be a decent bargain. As it is, I say "skip it/rent it".