SHAOLIN VS LAMA is a fabulous kung-fu film, complete with an excellent plot involving a stolen Shaolin manuscript detailing all the 72 techniques. The thief, a Tibetan Lama masquerading as a Shaolin student, becomes a master fighter and criminal, gaining power through murder and manipuilation of the fighting clans. A young street fighter, seeking higher knowledge of
kung-fu by challenging any teaching master he meets, in order to find a master he cannot defeat, is drawn to the Shaolin temple and put at odds with the murderous Tibetan monks.
In rapid, but logical succession, a series of fights occur, escalating to operatic heights. The villain is a vicious, unstoppable monster; the young hero is loyal and determined. There are no extraneous kung-fu fight scenes, everything plot-wise is tight and staccato, with each confrontation revealing volumes of character. As in the best of the genre, the fighters, who have conditioned their bodies to absorb and deliver incredible amounts of punishment, eventually turn out to be human in two distinct ways: upon finding redemption, and just before death. An excellent film.
