The Golden Buddha
Advertised as “suspense in the Bond tradition,” I have to wonder what Bond movies the makers of The Golden Buddha were watching. Instead of a suave tuxedoed spy, protagonist Chung (Paul Chang Chung) is a corporate exec in a grey suit with a knowledge of judo. Instead of investigating, Chung stumbles headlong into a brainless race for treasure, competing against the Skeleton Gang, a needlessly covert gang of thugs who have no plans for world domination, blackmail or anything evil beyond petty thievery and underground lairs.
Led by a cross between Ming the Merciless and that creepy guy who hangs out outside the local leather bar, the Skeleton Gang isn’t exactly what I’d call threatening. However, they do seem to have an endless supply of men with very poor Judo skills. And, of course, busty women in gold bras.
Perhaps that’s what “suspense in the Bond tradition” really means – sexy women and a foreign locale. If so, then Golden Buddha has Bond suspense in spades. Partially filmed in Thailand, the film features many shots guaranteed to help sell the film to locals and to other markets anxious for a glimpse of exotic Thailand.
And, if shots of Bangkok’s neon aren’t enough to pull you in, perhaps actress Fanny Fan’s…um, fanny, will interest you. The Golden Buddha is an early example of a technique Shaw would use increasingly in their kung fu and exploitation pictures, pointless shots of female nudity or gore that could be inserted into prints distributed in countries with lax censorship laws and removed from prints in more conservative countries.
This trick allowed Shaw to maximize their box office by tailoring their films to all of their markets while also further muddies the idea of the ‘definitive’ version of a film, an ideal that has become increasingly remote in the age of special-edition DVDs and unnecessary Director’s Cuts.
Perhaps that is Golden Buddha’s contribution to the world of film; it’s an example that films are, first and foremost, products for consumption and are built to meet the needs of the paying audience. Artistic merits (of which The Golden Buddha has very few) follow a distant second.
Ian Whitney
Published: 2004-05-04