Titles include 18 Secrets of Kung Fu or Eighteen Fighting Skills or 18 Weapons of Kung Fu, 1980, Taiwan with Lee Hoi-Hing, Wong Wing- Sang, Miu Tak-San, Wong Chi-Sang, Got Siu-Bo, and Ricky Cheng Tien- Chi.
Please do not confuse this movie with "Legendary Weapons of China" 1982 by Liu Chia-Liang. "Legendary Weapons of China" mentions 18 weapons and in my opinion is the greatest martial arts movie ever made by the greatest man in the history of martial arts movies.
This movie begins with a helpful narrator , Miu Tak-San, telling the history of 18 Chinese weapons and how the art was lost. Pay no attention, nothing he says is true, except some of the weapons pictured do exist. The action starts with the popular scene "Who are these two guys and why are they fighting?" Cut to two idiots catch themselves in their own bear trap. The guy in white from the first fight is challenged by another guy over a letter. Cut again to an old guy fishing.
Then there is a meeting of a bunch of big shots.The big shots at the meeting decided that a man must die. Who they are and who he is and why and everything else required of an actual story were still missing so I gave up expectation. The next scene a guy and girl are crossing a river and she gets carried off in the rapids. He ends up with the fisherman. Let the training begin!
At about 20 minutes into the movie I am satisfied with the quality and quantity of the fights. Otherwise there are too many characters and no clear story.
Most of the other reviews here are heavy on the sarcasm but I am keeping it straight. It is unlikely anyone today would be watching this movie unless a fan of this genre. For fans such as me, this movie is average for the year and genre. I found no special moments and not much reason to ever watch it again. Yet, I watched it, never hit the fast forward, and can't complain.
My copy is a digital file from a typical VHS. It is English dubbed and the voice actors wee competent. The video quality is typical of VHS to digital.