Shaolin Mantis
1978 1h 36m movie Film Hong Kong

Shaolin Mantis

螳螂

“Now that he learned the secret... he was ready to kill!”

Synopsis

螳螂

“Now that he learned the secret… he was ready to kill!”

When scholar Wei Fung is forcibly hired by the Manchu Emperor to infiltrate a clan of rebellious Ming Loyalists, his mission goes adrift when he falls in love with the clan's leader's granddaughter. Wei Fung must choose between his new love and his family, who will be put to death if he doesn't return to the palace successfully.

Titles With Overlapping Themes

Films and series that share thematic tags with Shaolin Mantis. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.

Other Titles From Shaw Brothers

Action + Drama in Hong Kong

136 Hong Kong titles in our catalog blend the Action and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Shaolin Mantis itself).

The 1977–1979 Hong Kong Window

Shaolin Mantis holds position #27 of 56 Hong Kong films in the 1977–1979 window, below highlighted by audience rating.

  1. The Contract
    #1

    The Contract

    ★ 7.7 · 1978
  2. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
    #2

    The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

    ★ 7.5 · 1978
  3. Shaolin Rescuers
    #3

    Shaolin Rescuers

    ★ 7.5 · 1979
  4. Drunken Master
    #4

    Drunken Master

    ★ 7.3 · 1978
  5. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
    #5

    Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

    ★ 7.3 · 1978
  6. Heroes of the East
    #6

    Heroes of the East

    ★ 7.3 · 1978
  7. Dance of the Drunk Mantis
    #7

    Dance of the Drunk Mantis

    ★ 7.2 · 1979
  8. Warriors Two
    #8

    Warriors Two

    ★ 7.2 · 1978

The 1970s Hong Kong Landscape

1978 was the decade’s peak output year for Hong Kong — 22 titles released, including Shaolin Mantis. Bars below show how the 1970s stacked up year by year (122 total).

'703'7111'7210'737'749'758'7618'7712'7822'7922

Position in Catalog

Released alongside 21 other Hong Kong films in 1978.

The 98th Hong Kong title from Hong Kong we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).

Our Hong Kong catalog contains 836 titles in total (828 films).

Audience Engagement

22
Reviews
46th
Review-volume percentile
56th
Popularity percentile

22 audience reviews — more than 46% of Hong Kong films in our index.

Popularity sits at the 56th percentile among Hong Kong films.

Thematic Fingerprint

Tags on Shaolin Mantis, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.

Distinctive themes · rare across catalog
  • training-montage · 2
  • animal kung fu · 1
Recurring themes · common across catalog
  • shaolin kung fu · 11
Mainstream tags · widely used across catalog
  • martial arts · 369
  • kung fu · 121
  • marriage · 36

Reception Benchmarks

6.5
TMDB Rating
22
Audience Reviews
Well Received
Critical Tier

Ranked #342 of 836 Hong Kong films indexed here (59th percentile by TMDB audience score).

Rating is +0.2 points above the Hong Kong average of 6.3/10.

Among Hong Kong Action productions specifically: #223 of 516 (top 43%).

Production Details

Primary CountryHong Kong
Original LanguageChinese
Production CompaniesShaw Brothers
Runtime1h 36m
Release DateJune 28, 1978
IMDbtt0078360