[.ca] Shaolin Wheel of Life (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
Have you ever done a handstand... on the tips of your index fingers? How about snapping iron bars over your head as if they were breadsticks? You'll witness these amazing feats and much more in this astonishing London performance of China's legendary Shaolin monks (familiar to Westerners from the '70s TV series Kung Fu). In perfecting their martial arts prowess, these devoted Buddhists have honed their physical and mental disciplines to such an uncommon degree that their movements seem almost supernaturally powerful. From the athletic contortions of a young acolyte to an older monk being hoisted aloft on the points of sharpened spears, these men and boys have conquered and crossed boundaries of control that would strike most outsiders as impossible if it weren't for their living proof. In demonstrating these and other kung fu skills, the Shaolin also enact their history as an enduring order, providing a theatrical narrative that's literally breathtaking. --Jeff Shannon

Couldn't stop watching:
I was only going to watch 5 minutes of this DVD, and dedicate more time for it later, but as it turned out, I could NOT stop watching. I wound up watching the whole thing. The "actors" are actual students from Shaolin. Wheel of Life is the Chinese equivalent of the Irish "Riverdance." The story is about a group of monks from Shaolin who help the Chinese king defeat barbarians, only later to be betrayed by him for their unwillingness to stay as imperial guards. All the performance is done on the stage, and it was filmed rather well. Sometimes you view from the audiences' perspective, sometimes you get an extreme close-up. The performance was stunning. The acrobatic and gymastic skills of the actors just made my jaw drop. I found it very similar to watching a Cirque du Soleil show, more than anything. If you're a serious kung-fu afficionado like the reviewer below, you'll be disappointed, but for the general public, I believe you'll find this DVD highly entertaining, and probably view again and again.

Amazing:
Simply put. You will love this DVD even if your not a fan of Martial Arts. The weapon forms are amazing and so are the their displays of strength and dexterity. This is a DVD everyone should have in their collection.

Amazing:
If you ever wanted to know what Jet Li's origin is, this is as close as you can get. You'll be captivated by the virtually non-stop, lightning-fast moves by several shaolin monks both young and old. In the style of a Broadway musical, you'll be glued to your screen and thankful your DVD has a quick reverse and slow motion to catch what you'll definately miss on the first viewing. No wires here. No second takes. It's filmed in front of a live audience. This is what martial arts is about.

Simply Amazing!:
My gosh! Man these guys are good! This show is so good! This show captures these Shaolin monks at their best in a theatrical performance! For those of you who don't really know what this movie is about, it is a high quality video of a performance of Shaolin: Wheel of Life, a show put on in the West End of London in 2000 I believe. The producers of the show actually went to a Shaolin Temple in China and recruited 25 Shaolin monks to perform in this show, with the permission of the abby. They then proceded to put on this spectacular show full of martial arts at its best, great theatrical drama, and stunts that people would deem impossible. Absolutely amazing this is. I can't recommend it enough.

Beyond Kung-Fu Kitche, or: 'Shaolin for Dummies':
It is no exaggeration to say that the secrets of the East - most specifically, the astounding physical feats of the mystical _kung-fu_ - have taken hold of recent mass-media output and, by extension, the mass-audience it serves/placates. Extremely successful cinema such as *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,* and the *Matrix* franchise have melded the ambiguous philosophies of Buddhism/Taoism with plenty of stylistic \ostunts\c: and in hindsight, it's not surprising that this graceful, violence-as-dance instinct-invigoration was, for a period, so eagerly embraced by explosion-jaded spectators. Unfortunately, the cycle of exploitation has almost come full circle, with Asian-style action so thoroughly replicated in subsequent substandard product that a "wire-fu" backlash has begun among moviegoers. Do we really need to see abject bastardization a la Bulletproof Monk, Underworld, the latest Jackie Chan 'vehicle'? (. . . oh how the mighty have fallen. . .!) And yet, despite the 'simulacra stain,' an enormous amount of history, culture and spiritual power resides in the wushu, and the very difficulty of it - the austere commitment, the required devotion to meditative philosophy, and sheer physical hardship - practically guarantee that the 'pure' form shall remain and thrive, in the dedicated few, while trendshapers move on and exploit elsewhere, until the cycle is ripe once again for re-examination and the profits to be reaped therein. . . (. . .pause for mental breath. . .). Thankfully, the _true_ aspects of this refined Asian aesthetic have been faithfully recorded and expounded upon by stanch enthusiasts, a sterling example being this DVD here. Although kung fu was developed long before the Shaolin Temple came into existence (circa 495 AD), its teachings were, up to that point, primarily used for martial advancement: superior training most often equaled unsurpassed victory. With the advent of Shaolin, however, a greater depth and spirituality was infused in basic form, for founding monk Bodhidharma advocated a meditative focus as the primary goal. In Chinese philosophy, extreme tranquility generates dynamic energy; the physical release/expression of such energy can be seen vividly in this, *Shaolin: Wheel of Life,* the first and only media representation of the form/theory to be fully supported by the Temple itself. And what a representation it is! Crafted by artisans wholly dedicated to providing a core-authentic entertaining experience, *Shaolin: Wheel of Life* combines historical tragedy, melodrama, hardcore wushu training (empty hands and weapons), and superhuman endurance feats, all presented in a sort of neo-Chinese Opera format (traditional instruments in modern music-scoring; traditional wushu form in modern choreography). Like a session of martial-art practice, the tension and release of the performance builds over the course of the hour+ DVD, until peaking with a set of exercises that are truly astounding to behold, even if it is via a second-seat medium (this DVD was recorded during the tour). The potential of human concentration and advancement - of both the physical and the mental, for the one supports the other - is explicitly revealed in these last ten to fifteen minutes; as a practitioner of Shantung Black Tiger form, I myself felt competing sensations of compassionate pride, artistic jealousy and sublime satisfaction in viewing these monks, the culmination and pinnacle of _unfettered_ human achievement. As a reviewer stated below, this is not an 'advanced' representation of martial-art mastery - *that* sort of ability is kept away from barbarian eyes, I'm afraid - but it is an excellent start for anyone curious to continue beyond the recent cinematic excursions as popularized by Ang Lee and the Wachowski Bros. I rate *Shaolin: Wheel of Life* four stars due to the fact that a couple of the drama sections, notably the climax, cross the delicate taste-boundary of good/bad melodrama, and become rather tiresome in repeat viewings; also, it does feel that, at times, the Monks are held back in their ability, confined by the choreographed necessity of a theater production. Still, this is an excellent DVD for fan and novice alike. Highly recommended.