'The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin'

I watched The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and went to work the next day when I asked a co-worker, who is very knowledgable of film, why they made such good films in the 1970s.

Films got better over time. I've watching first hand through this dumb timewaste of a project just how films were awful in the early days, got a lot better in the 1940s and 1950s, the French took over and then the 1970s happened when the medium peaked.

Then the bottom fell out. The 1980s were OK. The 1990s sucked. I just watched Jurassic Park for crying out loud. The 1990s were just awful for film and despite the fact that things have kind of turned around in the last 10 years or so, it makes you wonder what happened.

My friend thinks it's because they didn't care in the 1970s. Blood, guts, sex and drugs. Didn't matter. Make everything as realistic as possible. But this maxim doesn't affect The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. It's not bloody or sexy. It's just good.

The story is excellent: Small-town kid gets his feathers ruffled by the invading government after they kill his family. He goes and joins a monastery, where he learns kung fu. He does and goes back to avenge his family.

However, why does this film look fantastic in 1978 and yet I watch Jurassic Park and they have the worst stunt/effect of film's history when that obnoxious, scarf-wearing kid gets thrown off the live wire and is electrocuted. The 36th Chamber ... would've never done that.