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When Monk Tang (Ho Fan), on his quest to fibnd the scripture of
Buddha, frees Monkey (Yueh Hua) from his prison inside a rock, where he has been
put 500 years ago for causing chaos in heavens, the creature thanks him
by not only saving him from a gang of maneaters but also a giant dragon
(who he can fight only due to his size-changing abilities). But Monkey
still has a pretty bad temper, so Buddha presents Tang with a jade,
inscribed with a magic spell that disables Monkey whenever read. In the
next village Monkey & Tang pass, Monkey encounters a young woman (Diana
Chang Chung-wen) to be married off to a rich businessman (Peng Peng) instead of to the poor student she's
in love with. Monkey sets things right by transforming the man into the
Pig he is (& yes, he literally is one), beating him a fight
& making him wish to repent his sins. So in the end the girl is
married to the student, & Pig joins Tang & Monkey on their quest
of the scripture. Their next stop leads them to a lady with some
beautiful daughters she is desperate to marry off. The monk, wanting for
him & his companions (by now also monks) to stay pure, of course
declines but accepts her hospitality. Only Monkey smells evil, while Pigsy
soon believes the 3 daughters of the house are in love with him, &
he - not getting along with Monkey anyway - is easily persuaded to steal
the jade that can disable Monkey that night. The next day, the house,
the lady & her daughters are gone, & when the lady along with
the ruler of an undersea kingdom & his soldiers, returns, it is easy
for them to kidnap Tang, since they have the jade to disable Monkey, his
powerful bodyguard. It is now up to Pigsy to follow his master underwater,
where he enters the palace where the monk is held in disguise in order
to take repossession of the jade. From then on it is easy for Monkey to
free Tang, & they, along with Pigsy & the ruler of the kingdom (!)
escape. Same ruler realizes the error of his ways & offers his
companionship to Tang, who accepts & from now on calls him Sandy ... Very colourful fantasy movie, with
some martial arts & musical numbers thrown in just for good measure,
first in a series of adaptations of the Chinese novel Journey to the
West (others are Princess Iron Fan, Cave of the
Silken Web & Land of Many Perfumes, also by Ho Meng-hua). It's great fun in a childish sort
of way.
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