Film

Shaolin Mantis

Name: Shaolin Mantis
Genre: Action, Drama
Released: 1978
Cast: David Chiang Da-Wei, Lily Li, Lau Kar-Wing, Cecilia Wong, Norman Tsui Siu-Keung

Period drama

A 1978 kung fu film where a scholar caught between the Manchu Emperor and Ming Loyalists must choose between duty and love. Shaolin Mantis pivots on a genuine emotional conflict dressed in exquisite martial arts sequences, anchored by David Chiang's conflicted performance. It's for anyone who wants their action films seasoned with real stakes and longing.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love old-school Hong Kong kung fu where a divided loyalty tugs at a character and the fight choreography serves the feeling, not just spectacle.

Skip it if you want lean modern action; romance and palace scheming take real room before the fights settle in, and the 1970s staging can feel stagey.

What it asks of you: Roughly a hundred minutes of unhurried setup and melodrama, with the action arriving in bursts; it rewards sitting through sentiment and slow courtly scenes.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin1978

Gordon Liu's methodical journey through martial mastery is pure cinema—long, meditative training sequences that make the action payoff transcendent. A spiritual cousin to Shaolin Mantis in scope and commitment.

But Slower than Shaolin Mantis, with less romantic entanglement. Some find the repetition of forms tedious rather than hypnotic.

Come Drink with Me1966

King Hu's masterpiece about a Buddhist nun who fights with effortless grace. The action geometry is breathtaking, and like Shaolin Mantis, it weaves moral conflict through combat rather than treating it as decoration.

But The pacing is deliberate to a degree many find austere. Very much a film for patient viewers who want to sit with each moment.

Executioners from Shaolin1977

Chen Kuan-Tai's raw, physical performance grounds a revenge tale that burns as hot as Shaolin Mantis does. The mantis style itself gets its due here, with kinetic fight choreography that rewards close attention.

But The sound design is tinny even by 1977 standards. Dubbed dialogue can pull you out if you're sensitive to that.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Shaolin Mantis

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Farewell My Concubine1993

Both trace the impossibility of love in a world where loyalty to state/family supersedes the heart. Both make you feel the tragedy of that collision in your chest.

Chen Kaige's towering epic uses a Chinese martial art (Peking Opera) across decades of political upheaval. Where Shaolin Mantis compresses the collision of personal desire and political duty into one exquisite moment, this sprawls and deepens it—same moral architecture, Shakespearean scope.

But At over two hours with no martial arts spectacle, it demands a very different kind of patience. The emotional devastation is relentless, not cathartic.

Clan of the White Lotus1980

Lo Lieh commands the screen as a villain opposite a protagonist learning an obscure form. Shaolin Mantis fans will recognize the same DNA: martial tradition as spiritual weight, not mere spectacle.

But Graphically violent in ways that shock even by exploitation standards. The plotting is secondary to the violence—you have to want that to enjoy it.

The One-Armed Swordsman1967

Jimmy Wang Yu's breakthrough combines grievance, redemption, and breathtaking sword choreography. Another film where losing (a limb, your place, your way) paradoxically becomes the source of strength.

But The restoration work visible on some prints can be distracting. Some view it as a foundation film that has been surpassed.

Dirty Ho1979

John Woo's pre-gunplay direction and a wily performance from Wong Jing create a scrappy, energetic mirror to Shaolin Mantis's elegance. Proof that martial arts cinema could bend in many directions and still sing.

But Comedic tone feels tonally scattered after the emotional weight of Shaolin Mantis. The humor won't land for everyone.

The Duel1971

Solid Shaw Brothers work with clean fights and genuine stakes. If you loved Shaolin Mantis but want something slightly more straightforward, this delivers without the baroque plotting.

But It is straightforward—sometimes to the point of feeling predictable. It doesn't have the thematic depth that elevates Shaolin Mantis.

The Shaolin Plot1977

Taut espionage-inflected kung fu with a lean narrative and credible action work. A solid evening if you want the satisfactions of the genre without elaborate demands.

But Forgettable. You may struggle to recall it a week after watching. It functions rather than resonates.

The Killer1989

Both films believe that honor and duty are physical, embodied in the discipline of a craft. Both use action sequences as moral argument—what a character does in combat reveals what they truly value.

John Woo's most operatic film transforms a hitman's code into a meditation on sacrifice and grace. Like Shaolin Mantis, it's a genre film that reaches for something deeper—here using gunplay and slow-motion as a language for spiritual longing and redemption.

But Melodrama that some find overwrought. The violence is balletic rather than brutal, which can read as pretentious or maudlin depending on mood.