Buddha's Palm

Buddha’s Palm (Ru Lai Shen Zhang) (1982)

Runtime: 97 mesmerizing minutes

Directed by: Taylor Wong

Starring: Derek Tung-Sing Yee, On-On Yu, Kara Ying Hung Wai, Alex Man, Lo Lieh

From: Shaw Brothers

Featuring: CUCKOLD KUNG FU, dragons named Dopey, animated effects shooting from hands, multiple narrators that are never identified, swastika fireballs, lightsabers, an important character that always announces his (fashionably late) arrival, boils that shoot out acid, moments ripped off later in Big Trouble in Little China, and more.

For those that enjoy the WTF nature of the legendary The Boxer’s Omen, Buddha’s Palm (also from Shaw Brothers) is on the same street. Note that Omen is more coherent than Palm, relatively speaking. I couldn’t really tell you what was going on in Buddha’s Palm but perhaps that was by design. Notwithstanding, I was perversely entertained by the spectacle that played in front of my eyes via Arrow’s streaming service.

This has characters w/ names like Blazing Cloud Mad God and items w/ such names as Ever-Faceted Pearl Orchid. If a plot description must be given… a mediocre dude in a menial job suddenly is trained by a long dormant God in a world full of Gods who have supernatural powers and train human disciples to use those powers. Our hero encounters both people he’ll befriend along with various enemies.

I dare not give away the rest of the bugnuts insanity on display in Buddha’s Palm; people may not believe me anyhow. As you’d expect from Shaw, the sets were immaculate, the action crisp & well-choreographed. What was unexpected: a score that usually sounded like one “inspired” by Isao Tomita; that is meant as a compliment as it was a rather pleasant electronic score which managed to work for this setting.

Buddha’s Palm is a must for those that love the bonkers, outrageous martial arts movies.