Kids From Shaolin

In the late Ming Dynasty, former Shaolin monk, Tianlong ("Heaven Dragon", played by Yu Hai), and his younger brother, Yilong ("Earth Dragon", Hu Jianqiang), raise eight orphan boys whom they saved from murdering bandits ravaging their home village. The children refer to Tianlong as their father and Yilong as their uncle and are taught Shaolin kungfu by the two. All have taken the last character name of Long (龙/龍). They settle at the mountainous area at Lijiang where they live in a hut. The Long boys are playful and often bicker and fight with the daughters of the Bao family who live just across the river and practice Wudangquan. The mischievous Sanlong ("Third Dragon", Jet Li), the oldest of the Long children, likes to tease the third sister of the Bao family, Sanfeng ("Third Phoenix", Huang Qiuyan) who is a tomboy in her late teens and who has a nasty temper.

The Bao patriarch Bao Sanfeng (Yu Chenghui) is trying for a boy heir, yet he has only nine daughters. Meanwhile, the Long family are saving up in order to pay the bride price - ten oxen - so that Tianlong can marry the eldest Bao girl, Taifeng. The marriage plans are met with some resistance: the Bao matriarch likes Tianlong, but Bao Sanfeng believes he is out to steal his Wudang martial arts. Nonetheless, he agrees to marry off his eldest daughter if his wife gives birth to a son.

Meanwhile, the vicious bandits who orphaned the eight Long boys have been training in secret for ten years to revenge the Shaolin counter-attack which injured them when they looted the village. A cross-eyed member of the bandits (Sun Jian-kui) poses as a Taoist soothsayer to infiltrate the Baos to learn their martial arts and abduct their daughters. The Bao matriarch manages to conceive and bear a male son. The bogus priest now dupes Bao Sanfeng into believing the Long family is his nemesis. The Long family, he claims, has been throwing off the yin and yang balance for the Bao, making it impossible for the wife to bear a male heir.

Bao Safeng changes his mind and refuses to accept the Long family's bride price. Yilong is in love with Yifeng (Ding Lan), the second daughter, and to fulfill the couple, Sanlong and Sanfeng help the two elope. For their disobedience against feudal rules, Sanfeng and Sanlong are sentenced to be drowned, but the two manage to escape underwater. Sanlong hides Sanfeng in a cave. Sanlong is struck by Sanfeng's beauty in female clothes and Sanfeng is grateful to Sanlong for rescuing her. The two develop romantic feelings for each other. The bogus priest informs Bao Sanfeng where his daughter is hiding and Bao Sanfeng pursues her, then fights Sanfeng in the cave, accusing the latter of abducting his daughter and stealing his swordplay style. Tianlong finds the two fighting, breaks them up and allows Bao Sanfeng to bring Sanfeng home.

Meanwhile, the Long boys are maligned by the bogus priest for abducting the Bao newborn. The Long family vow never to step into the Bao residence again.Once their evil plot has become successful, the bandits burn down the Long's hut and show their true colors to Bao Sanfeng. They attempt to kidnap his daughters. The Bao family tries desperately to fight them until the Long family arrives. By combining their martial arts expertise, the two families roundly defeat and kill all remaining bandits. Soon after, Tianlong marries Taifeng (the eldest daughter) while Yilong marries Yifeng. The families are reconciled.

The film grossed CN¥86 million (US$37 million) in China[1] and HK$22,287,595 (US$2,850,805) in Hong Kong,[2] for a combined US$39,850,805 in China and Hong Kong.

In South Korea, the film sold 294,065 tickets in the capital city of Seoul.[3]

• Kids From Shaolin at Hong Kong Cinemagic
• Kids From Shaolin at IMDb
• Kids From Shaolin at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kids From Shaolin at AllMovie