The 5 Deadly Venoms..do those esoteric animal styles really exist?

[Erasmus Lightstone]

What a movie!! One of the first kung fu movies..I've ever seen and it STILL get's better every time I see it!! I've heard of animal styles such as the Elephant,Sparrow,Ape and Falcon(Hawk) but I was always curious if the animals from the movie(Centipede,Snake(ok-we KNOW there is a snake),Scorpion,Lizard and Toad) really exist? Anyone care to comment?

[Erasmus Lightstone]

OK-DUH!! I KNOW they exist in real life..what I mean is..are there really kung fu styles patterned after these animals?

[iamaloser]

The only style (in name only) that is an actual style is the Snake Style. It is originally part of the Shaolin Five Animal Style (Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Leopard, Crane). Like all martial arts films, the styles and techniques tend to be "movie versions". However, I agree the movie is extremely entertaining. It is available on DVD as well as "Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms". There was actually a Sprite commercial that was influenced by that movie about two years ago but using different animals.

[premier]

I've heard of scorpion style.. it could be BS, but never know. Scorpions are lethal animals and I've understood there's some species in China too. so why not?

[Jimbo]

There might be real styles that use movements of the lizard, centipede, scorpion, and toad in China, but as mentioned above, the styles used in the movie were not based on real styles (except the snake).
There was a movie came out in 1991 called Operation Scorpio, and the villain used "Scorpion Style," but in reality he was a Korean Taekwondo/acrobatic expert. In "Five Deadly Venoms," the scorpion stylist is played by Sun Chien, also a TKD stylist from Taiwan.

The "toad" stylist was Lo Meng, supposedly a southern mantis stylist from Hong Kong.

The lizard (Kuo Chui), centipede (Lu Feng), and the young disciple looking for them (Chiang Sheng), were all classmates of the Fu Hsing(?)Opera School in Taiwan. Kuo Chui (english name, Phillip Kwok), made a brief appearance in the second-to-last James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh ("Tommorrow Never Dies"???). Unfortunately, Chiang Sheng died nearly ten years ago in Taiwan of a heart attack.

Now there are a lot of movies out on video starring these actors, but they are often collectively called "The Venoms." The movies include: "Invincible Shaolin," "Daredevils," "Magnificent Ruffians," "Kid with the Golden Arm," "Flag of Iron," "Killer Army," etc., though the quality of the movies are good, the tape quality varies.
Jim

[Erasmus Lightstone]

You mention the Venom movies.. Are any of them with the same actors yet the story line is a continuation of the same previous script?

[iamaloser]

Yes many of the films star the same actors but they all are completely different films with different plots. Here are some of them:

- Killer Army
- Kid With The Golden Arm
- Super Ninja
- Five Deadly Venoms (DVD available)
- Return of the Five Deadly Venoms (a.k.a. Mortal Combat and Crippled Avengers) (DVD available)
- Avenging Warriors of Shaolin
- Five Masters of Death
- Ten Tigers From Kwangtung
- Roar of the Lion
- Unbeatable Dragon
- Daredevils of Kung Fu
- Masked Avengers
- Disciples of Death

[This message was edited by iamaloser on 12-31-00 at 07:01 PM.]

[iamaloser]

Another movie:

- Spearman of Death