‘Shaolin Wooden Men‘ from 1976 stars Jackie Chan and was recently released on Blu-ray by Shout Factory as part of The Jackie Chan Collection Volume 1.
Jackie Chan plays a mute martial arts student at the Shaolin Temple, trained by a master who is kept captive underground. The story is slow and feels pretty basic. Jackie not talking until the end was a missed opportunity. The sets and costumes in ‘Shaolin Wooden Men’ look basic like they were made on a low budget.
The villains don’t really show up until almost an hour in, except for a few short flashbacks. A lot of time is spent with the master in the cave, learning his story and how he escaped.
The ending fight is the best part, full of nice kung fu moves. The Shaolin Wooden Men idea is neat but doesn’t take up much of the movie. It’s worth a watch for fans, but it’s not one of Jackie’s best.