The Shaolin Temple
- -The Tang emperor is betrayed by one of his generals, who installs himself as emperor in the East Capital. The son of one of his slave workers escapes to the Shaolin Temple, learns kung fu, and sets out to kill the traitor who killed his father. Based on a true story from Shaolin folklore, but highly fictionalized.
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The Shaolin Temple (少林寺) is a 1982 Hong Kong–Chinese martial arts film directed by Chang Hsin Yen and starring Jet Li in his debut role (though his name is misspelled in the credits as Jet Lee) along with Ding Lan and Yu Hai in supporting roles.
The film is based on the Shaolin Monastery in China and depicts Shaolin Kung Fu. The film was among the first major co-productions between Hong Kong and mainland China, and the first to be filmed in mainland China with a mostly mainland cast.
It was the first martial arts film to be made in mainland China; up until then, kung fu films were made in Hong Kong. It was also the first film to be shot at the Shaolin Monastery. It became one of China’s biggest blockbusters of all time, estimated to have sold over 300 million tickets at the Chinese box office. The film’s success established Jet Li as the first Mainland Chinese star of Hong Kong, and later Hollywood. It was also largely responsible for turning the Shaolin Monastery into a major tourist destination, both within China and internationally. A remake of the film was released in 2011 titled Shaolin and starred Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan. [wikipedia]