While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

BROTHERS FIVE is another eventful and action-packed movie from the Shaw Brothers stable. This one has an ensemble cast, an absolute ton of action sequences, and a solid director in the form of Lo Wei, the man best known for his collaborations with Bruce Lee and later Jackie Chan. The story is about Cheng Pei-Pei's swordswoman who gathers together and reunites five disparate brothers in order to bring them to the Flying Dragon villa, where a bunch of ruthless bandits are about to pay for their misdeeds.Each of the characters is introduced in turn through various action spectacles. The fights are bloody and engaging, with Sammo Hung (who has a small role) contributing to the fight choreography. They're not top-tier, as in a Chang Cheh film, but they're getting there. Actors playing the brothers include the familiar likes of Lo Lieh and Yueh Hua, both big stars for the studio, along with some others I didn't recognise. The larger-than-life villains are played by the likes of James Tien, Ku Feng, and Tien Peng. The action gets more gripping as it progresses, with Lieh showing up late on and excelling in a joker role, and the climax is as frenetic and gruesome as you could hope for. Altogether, it's a thumbs up from me.

To me this movie serves as a demonstration of how the lowly often uncredited stuntman made films like this possible. Now Chang Yi, Yueh Hua and Cheng Pei Pei certainly do some impressive 12-16 without a cut series of moves throughout the film. That's Chang Yi and not a stuntman going through the wall and leaping unassisted atop the table. Focus on the fight when the three first attack Flying Dragon headquarters. Initially Tien Feng comes out to fight each one. These are all one or two moves then cut. That's because it's actor against actor. Next all you see is Tien Feng's back because it's a stuntman. Now the cuts with Pei Pei and the rest are 12-16 moves again. I really believe a good stuntman and fight choreographer could make my grandma look as good as any of the Five Venoms. Back to the movie - I encourage all fans of this genre if you have not already seen it to go buy a legitimate copy because you will enjoy it and enjoy it again. Read the other reviews here too - all excellent reviews unlike my humble attempt.

The plot idea for "Brothers Five" is not at all unusual for a martial arts film. The old leader of the Flying Dragons is murdered and his five sons all return years later to exact revenge. Now here's the weird part--the five were all raised separately, know nothing of each other AND all arrive at almost the exact same time to fight the baddie and his hundreds of minions! Not surprisingly, the film consists of battle after battle--so much swordplay that after a while it all is a bit tiresome--even if the fights are well choreographed and have tons of realistic blood. And, while the baddies are all obliging enough to attack one at a time, the film does still feature some of the best fighting you'll find in a Shaw Brothers film.So do I recommend it? Well, it all depends. If you haven't seen tons of martial arts films, you'll no doubt enjoy "Brothers Five". However, if you've already seen a lot, the film is just too familiar to make it a must-see. I liked it, but it was definitely a case of been there/done that.

If you have seen Shadow Whip, then get ready for more of the same. Long fight scenes, and lots of them. Directed by Lo Wei, once again the story is about as simple as it gets. The beautiful Cheng Pei Pei is on a quest for revenge. She wants to gather the 5 Gao brothers so that they can take revenge on the all powerful villain played by Tien Feng. The Gao brothers are played by Lo Lieh, Yueh Hua, Chang Yi, Chin Han and Kao Yuen. So the story is simple, and boring at times. But, the action is pretty awesome, especially for 1970. There are sooooo many fight scenes. And on top of that, some of the fights go on for so long that you actually begin to wonder if they are ever going to end. If there is one thing I didn't like about the fights it's that some of them go on too long. And I thought the final fight was a bit disappointing, but that's only because I like some of the other fights so much. So why are some of the fights so good? The first thing that struck me is how long they go without cutting. And the cinematography is as good as it gets and makes the fights way better than they would be in most low budget movies. The Shaw Brothers really went all out on this to please fight fans. And Chang Yi is magnificent in this movie, and you can tell that he is way more skilled than the other 4 Gao brothers. He has some amazing fights. And I have to mention Cheng Pei Pei. I love the scene where Lo Lieh rescues Kao Yuen and Cheng Pei Pei steps in front of like 50 guys so that they can get away and she slices them up like butter.One more note on the action. The undercranking is distracting at times, but for the most part I thought it was well done and helped the fight scenes. And in case you are wondering, the action was done by Simon Chui and Sammo Hung. Sammo has a cameo as an escort (he's a bit hard to spot). The minute or so of fighting that he does is pretty decent, and he gets a great death scene. And Ku Feng, Wong Hap and Lee Ka Ting star as villains. And look for a cameo by Unicorn Chan at the start of the movie. He uses this huge gold flying fork thing as a weapon.Picture quality on the Well Go USA DVD is great. The audio is a problem though. They decided to use the Celestial 5.1 remixed audio instead of the original mono. The sound effects are horrible. I almost turned the movie off because of the sound effects, but the worst of it seems to occur in the first few fights, and it isn't as bad the rest of the movie.