ShangLuda
Admirable film.
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
dworldeater
Heroes Of The East aka Shaolin Challenges Ninja is one of many collaborations between actor Gordon Liu and director Lau Kar Leung brought to us by the legendary Shaw Bros. Studios. Gordon Liu has an arranged marriage with a woman from Japan. His wife is an expert of various Japanese fighting styles and each party is of the viewpoint that their style is better than the other. Their various sparring matches cause serious tension in their marriage as well as destroy much of the house. Gordon Liu is, of course an awesome exponent of Chinese kung fu. His wife takes off to Japan and in an effort to get his wife back, slams the Japanese martial arts and challenges her to a competition. His wife's martial arts instructor/love interest grabs the letter from her and does not appreciate the letter's content. Next thing you know Yasuaki Karata and a bunch of Japanese dudes show up at Gordon Liu's pad and challenge him to a tournament. Gordon Liu accepts and fights each representative of various Japanese fighting styles. What separates Heroes Of The East from various other Chinese vs Japanese productions is that it respects both cultures and their fighting styles as well. There are lots of great fights to be had here and both Gordon Liu and Yasuaki Kurata are in top form. Heroes Of The East is indeed a solid martial arts film but it is nowhere near as essential as Lau Kar Leung/Gordon Liu's kung fu masterwork The 36 Chambers Of Shaolin aka Master Killer. Heroes Of The East still resonates and is an enjoyable, fast paced and cohesive martial arts film that is memorable and far above average.
sfstendebach
This movie is about a Chinese man who is arranged to marry a Japanese woman. And as we all know, all Asians are kung fu masters. So the two get in a disagreement over the two different kung fu styles. The Japanese woman brings a group of Japanese masters to fight against Gordon.The real highlight of this film is the weapons. Every fight has a new weapon. A traditional Chinese Weapon vs a traditional Japanese one. It is really cool. Gordon Liu is in his prime for this film. Chia Liang Liu also has one of the best director cameos i have ever seen. This is just a fun and light hearted kung fu film.
gjhong
I read somewhere that the producers tried hard to come up with a story that viewers outside Hong Kong would enjoy because Gordon Liu had fans in China and Japan thanks to his Shaolin monk movies. "Heroes of the East" was the result. Gordon Liu was in Montreal for the Fantasia Film Festival so local organizers and sponsors got him to come to Toronto to say hello after the show.I noticed something watching the Chinese version that slipped by me when I watched the English dub years ago - only the Ninja Master and Ah To's wife could speak Chinese! I guess that was necessary for the sake of the story so our hero couldn't tell the other Japanese masters that everything was a big misunderstanding and there was no reason for them to fight.I have good feelings about this movie because the story held together so well. Nobody was portrayed as a villain and everything was resolved happily with our hero accepting the friendship of the Kendo Master.
Boodikka
I'm more of an early 70's kung fu film fan. I found the later '70s films to be bores, focusing on tedious training sequences and risible attempts at "humor:. I recommend this film, though: it showcases various Japanese and Chinese forms; and most amazingly no one is killed in the film! This makes it more attuned to the real spirit of martial arts: its true message is about honor. See this film, though it may be difficult to do. I've seen it once in 17 years, and that was on a local syndicated station.