Directors: Cheh Chang, Meng-Hua Ho, Yuen Chor, Kang Cheng, Shao-Yung Tung, Chung Sun, Chih-Hung Kuei, Taylor Wong, Chun-Ku Lu
Starring: Jimmy Wang Yu, Chiao Chiao, Feng Tien, David Chiang, Ching Lee, Ti Leung, Feng Ku, Pei-Pei Cheng, Leih Lo, Szu Shih, Lily Ho, Elliot Ngok Wah, Betty Pei Ti, Mei Sheng Fan, Bolo Yeung, Derek Yee, Sheng Fu, Kuan Tai Chen, Norman Chu et al
Year: 1967 – 1983
Country: Hong Kong
BBFC Certification: 15
It’s always a treat when we get a lavish big box set from Arrow Video to take a look at and this time it’s a return to one of Hong Kong’s most prolific production companies, Shaw Brothers. This is a chunky and comprehensive collection of 14 films, complete with bonus features, that run the gamut from the late 1960’s to some absolute treats of early 80’s weirdness. There’s a tasty selection of films featuring some of Shaw Brother’s most recognisable faces, all firmly rooted in sword and kung fu wuxia.
We previously checked out Volume 1 and Volume 2 on this site, awarding them both 5 glorious stars, so it’s time to channel our qi, practise our stances and take on the daunting but remarkably fun task of running down the films in Volume 3, starting with…
One Armed Swordsman (1967, dir. Cheh Chang)
Director Cheh Chang will likely be familiar to Shaw Brothers fans, having directed some absolute corkers with the famous Venom Mob (Crippled Avengers, The Five Venoms), but he kicks this set of with a famous trilogy of wuxia classics, the One Armed Swordsman trilogy.
The first of these films is largely considered to be the first traditional Hong Kong martial arts movie and features Jimmy Wang Yu as Fang Kang, a sword prodigy in a small martial arts school who goes into self exile after losing his arm in a fight with a rival student. When his school is threatened, he learns left handed sword techniques to return and avenge his former friends and master.
It’s always fascinating to go back in time to when films like One Armed Swordsman were fresh. Releasing in 1967 and not having the refinements that the genre received over the following years, One Armed Swordsman feels strangely stilted in comparison to the films that feature on the rest of this set and indeed the two preceding sets. The action is nicely choreographed but misses some of the more showy elements we’re used to, the story is a little melodramatic and drags at points and some of the effects, such as Fang Kang hiding his “severed” arm by tucking it into his top are a little glaringly obvious.
But it would be silly to judge a film like this by those standards and, as the calling card for the genre at large, One Armed Swordsman is a fantastic template for things to come, with honourable heroes, cackling villains and some surprisingly bloody action – it’s still a fun watch and a heck of a start to this box set.
Return of the One Armed Swordsman (1969, dir. Cheh Chang)
Cheh Chang is back for part two of his One Armed Swordsman trilogy and brings many of the cast of the original film along for the ride, although Jimmy Wang Yu and Chiao Chaio are the only actors reprising their roles of Fang Kang and his wife Hsiao Man respectively. Once again, the martial arts world is threatened by a gang of naer-do-well’s and Fang Kang is brought out of retirement to put his left handed sword skills to the test once again.
Return of the One Armed Swordsman is an absolute blast of a film, bringing much more rounded and large scale kung fu action with some large scale sword fight set pieces and even a little showy wire work. It’s certainly more cartoonish with some wonderfully named baddies complete with a superb arsenal of outlandish weapons and, at a tight 105 minutes run time, ratchets along at a decent pace, barely stopping for breath.
While the first film in this series is arguably the more influential, Return of the One Armed Swordsman feels like the genre and director finding their feet and delivering the kind of kick-ass action that would define the films to come.
The New One Armed Swordsman (1971, dir. Cheh Chang)
A sequel in name only, Cheh Chang’s third and final One Armed Swordsman film, The New One Armed Swordsman is once again a big old daft slice of action. Feeling very western influenced, particularly in its soundtrack (which also shamelessly lifts music cues from John Barry’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service score!) it’s another tale of an expert swordsman, Lei Li, who loses his arm to nefarious baddies and has to go into exile, emerging only when the martial arts world needs him to right wrongs.
The story here is a little more convoluted than previous, with bandit gangs masquerading as legitimate nobles and does take quite a while to get going, but once it does there’s some absolutely fabulous action scenes, including a genuinely epic finale, all shot with some wonderful cinematography dropping in stunning locations and even some stylised slow mo.
David Chiang’s Lei Li is a much more charismatic lead than Fang Kang, and the film has a much darker, gothic and sadistic tone than the previous entries into the series, delivering some remarkably bloody scenes including one which is guaranteed to shock viewers with its savagery. Ultimately though, The New One Armed Swordsman isn’t quite as focussed or entertaining as its predecessor, but is still a cracking end to this trilogy.
The Lady Hermit (1971, dir. Meng-Hua Ho)
The ladies take centre stage here, in the tale of a young swordswoman, Chin Tsui-peng (Szu Shih) on a search for a mysterious martial artist known only as The Lady Hermit, who she hopes will teach her and advance her techniques to help her defeat local warlord, The Black Demon. The secretive hermit, Shang Yu-ling (Pei-Pei Cheng) also has a history with The Black Demon and the two team up to take down his organisation once and for all.
The Lady Hermit is a cracking film, managing to balance out drama and action to create an engaging and fun narrative with some kick-ass female leads. Shaw regular Lo Leih also shows up in a supporting role, introducing a love-triangle element to the story, and everything is presented with some gorgeous location shooting.
The action is fast and furious, but there’s a playful edge to the story as well. The action sequences themselves range from tight brawls to large scale battles and one particular scene involving a rope suspension bridge easily feels like it was a big influence on a young Steven Spielberg for a similar moment in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
An excellently entertaining film and one that kicks off a little triple bill focussing on female martial artists, followed up by…
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972, dir. Yuen Chor)
Shaw Brothers go sexy! The Four Seasons brothel is an ugly place – all its girls have been kidnapped and sold into slavery under the iron fist of madam Chun Yi. When young Ainu finds herself in Chun Yi’s clutches, she hatches a plot to murder her way out of the Four Seasons and expose its darkness to the world – but will Detective Chi Te discover her secret?
There’s quite an exploitation feel to the earlier scenes of what is considered to be Hong Kong’s first erotic film, but what could easily have just been a standard sleazefest takes a bit of a different turn than expected after it’s first act, developing into a mix of revenge thriller and detective mystery while still managing to deliver a healthy slice of kick ass kung fu action.
The cast is great, with Elliot Ngok Wah portraying the beleaguered detective determined to bring the brothel’s murderer to justice, and Betty Pei Ti delivering an icy and calculated performance as the cruel Chun Yi. But it’s Lily Ho that’s the standout here as Ainu, the vengeful prostitute – we’re with her every step of the way and her eventual rampage of murder is a treat worth cheering when it comes.
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan is also beautifully shot with a gorgeous colour palette mixing soft whites and pinks in among the pastels, complemented with some stunning cinematography and solid action set pieces. Indeed, the final battle with its blood soaked snow feels like the perfect partner to Toshiya Fujita’s excellent revenge thriller, Lady Snowblood and caps off what is easily the best film in the set.
The 14 Amazons (1972, dir. Kang Cheng & Shao-Yung Tung)
Keeping with the themes of vengeful women, The 14 Amazons follows the historical tale of the surviving women of the Yang Dynasty who march to war with a marauding warlord when their husbands are cut down in battle, proving that they are more than capable of holding their own and avenging their men!
Larger in scope than any of the films featured so far and with a bigger cast, The 14 Amazons is perhaps a little overlong at just over 2 hours and somewhat melodramatic at times, but it’s also a consistently exciting film with some large scale, surprisingly bloody battles and some properly nasty baddies.
There’s also a great cast on display here, with appearances from not only Shaw regulars like Leih Lo (who’s on top baddie form) and Mei Sheng Fan, but also the great Bolo Yeung (Enter the Dragon) who pops up as an absolute scuzz-bucket.
It does meander a touch, but as an example of what the studio could produce at scale, even dipping into some clever model work to complement the stunts and action, it’s a great and defined break between what has been some very traditional martial arts films and the later half of the box set which dips into some more outlandish tales…
The Magic Blade (1976, dir. Yuen Chor)
The first of four Yuen Chor directed adaptations of Gu Long novels,The Magic Blade pairs Ti Leung and Lo Leih up as sworn enemies, forced to team up, find a legendary weapon and take out a gang of mystical baddies – just your typical wuxia stuff, really.
The Magic Blade is a rollicking action adventure, coming in at a lovely 86 minutes run time and filling each of those minutes with action and intrigue. The fight scenes are brilliantly choreographed bringing a healthy dose of fantastical madness to the story (but never going TOO mad – bear with us, we’ll get there…) while the gorgeous cinematography brings some lovely colours and clever framing to really elevate those action scenes.
While the action is super strong, the narrative also follows suit, and Yuen Chor finds time for some smaller, more character focussed moments even bringing in a delicious little twist towards the end. The Magic Blade is a cracking little film that’s one of the standouts of the set and will be easy for fans to revisit.
Clans of Intrigue (1977, dir. Yuen Chor)
Ti Leung’s back in another Yuen Chor directed Gu Long adaptation, here playing Chu Liuxiang, a Gu Long regular character who’s basically a kung fu powered Hercule Poirot. Clans of Intrigue sees Luixiang, framed for murder and the theft of sacred water, set out to clear his name and find out who’s set him up.
While Clans of Intrigue is certainly more of a detective story, it still manages to find time to throw in a few action scenes as Luixiang travels round, kicking ass and taking names. Ti Leung is great in the lead role, bringing a suaveness and charisma to the character, and the central mystery is pretty fun with a bonkers story that gradually goes further and further off the rails.
Unfortunately, despite some fun, Clans of Intrigue is also probably the weakest film of the set – the narrative and tone both meander significantly as the story progresses and the ultimate reveal is less something you could have deduced and more of a “gotcha!” moment.
Clans of Intrigue is presented in both censored and uncensored versions, however the removed scenes are remarkably mild, adding very little to the narrative.
Jade Tiger (1977, dir. Yuen Chor)
Yuen Chor brings back Ti Leung again in the third Gu Long adaptation in this boxed set. Here he’s playing Chao Wu-Chi, a young warrior seeking vengeance for his father, murdered in rather grisly fashion on the day of his wedding. To do this, he has to go undercover in the rival clan who are trying to unseat his own – a move that will have dire consequences for his loved ones.
Jade Tiger is an intriguing film, more of a thriller than an action movie with some large scale fights on some beautifully expensive looking sets. There’s a semi-fantasy edge running through the film with aspects of the narrative that feel slightly unreal yet never dip too far over into some of the craziness we’ll soon be seeing, and the story is remarkably bleak in its eventual resolution.
A slow burn tale that leads into an immensely satisfying finale, Jade Tiger is an easy film to recommend.
The Sentimental Swordsman (1977, dir. Yuen Chor)
Oh hey! It’s Ti Leung again! The final Gu Long adaptation from Yuen Chor in this set sees the prolific actor take up the mantle of an alcoholic warrior, cast into self exile to roam the land with his trusty aide, only to be thrust into battle again when he’s framed for murders he didn’t commit. With a new friend by his side, he travels back to his home town to clear his name and uncover the identity of the legendary “Plum Blossom Bandit”
It’s interesting that these Gu Long adaptations have been a bit of a rollercoaster, going fairly consistently from great to “meh” – sadly The Sentimental Swordsman falls into another trough with a story that amounts to a lot of faffing about as Ti Leung accuses pretty much all of the cast of being the villain, crosses are doubled and the ultimate reveal is just as little baffling.
It’s beautifully shot and not short of action but when the fight scenes amount to random scraps that punctuate a rather convoluted plot, The Sentimental Swordsman is a film which is great to look at but ultimately a bit tedious to follow and is among the weaker films in the box set.
The Avenging Eagle (1978, dir. Chung Sun)
Ti Leung is back once again and this time he’s being a despicable scoundrel! This spaghetti western style story of naer-do-wells meeting on the road and forming a frenemy style relationship to take on a bandit clan is quite the fun little romp, helped immensely by the presence of Sheng Fu. Fu adds a great dose of light hearted charisma to the story in his role as Yi Fan, a man with a secret whose meeting with Leung’s bandit outcast Chik Min Sing may not have been quite as accidental as it first seems.
The Avenging Eagle is a great looking film as well, with some fabulously gaudy costumes, outlandish weapons and excellently choreographed fight scenes. Feng Ku as a snarlingly nasty baddie is the cherry on the top of this tight little revenge fuelled kung fu romp.
Killer Constable (1980, dir. Chih-Hung Kuei)
Slamming on the brakes and taking a complete left turn, we have Killer Constable, a dark little detective thriller with some horror aspects. Kuan Tai Chen plays Leng Tian-Ying, a ruthless constable who’s a mix of Vincent Price’s Matthew Hopkins from Witchfinder General and 2000AD’s lawman, Judge Dredd, meting out his own brand of justice on a gang of criminals as he works to uncover stolen gold.
There’s a real grindhouse feel to Killer Constable, a film that feels less grandiose than its predecessors with more handheld camerawork and some beautifully shot dark scenes. This combined with a surprisingly nasty, almost nihilistic plot and a remarkably bleak finale shows the horror chops of director Chiuh-Hung Kuei who readers may remember delivered the bizarre and similarly dark Boxers Omen from Volume 2.
While Killer Constable is definitely a recommended film, particularly for fans with horror adjacent tastes, it can arguably get a touch too dark and is also disappointingly guilty of having one of the worst picture transfers of the set, with some weird compression and artifacting affecting some of the darker scenes of the film.
Buddha’s Palm (1982, dir. Taylor Wong)
Okay folks, it’s brain melting time! Welcome to the final disc of the set and one that should definitely come with a health warning!
Buddha’s Palm is one hell of a ride. A fantasy kung fu epic which starts its story with hot insanity right out of the box as a Buddhist monk declares himself a mad god, spouts fire from his hands and goes on a rampage through the martial arts world. What follows is a strangely comic book style film following the mad god’s apprentice as he tries to master the Buddah’s Palm technique and take down a cadre of baddies. It almost feels like it would be aimed at a younger audiences if it weren’t for the healthy amounts of brutal violence, but it’s also got a vibe all of its own that’s instantly captivating.
I guarantee you’ve seen nothing like this absolutely bonkers kung fu fantasy with its weird sense of humour. We get monks firing lasers, a dragon dog thing called Dopey, lightsabers, swastika fireballs and Lo Leih as a monk who yells his name every time he enters a scene. Complete madness but clearly the kind of film that influenced John Carpenters cult classic Big Trouble In Little China – David Lo-Pan feels like he could be related to some of the characters here!
If ever there was a film you might want to stick on for a late night viewing with your friends, accompanied with beer and pizza, it’s 100% going to be Buddha’s Palm!
Bastard Swordsman (1983, dir. Chun-Ku Lu)
Norman Chu takes the lead as the titular fatherless warrior in a film about redemption, betrayal and super-cool kung fu techniques. Lulling you into thinking it’s going to be a fairly straightforward wuxia, Bastard Swordsman quickly amps up the madness, albeit in a somewhat less fantastical way to Buddha’s Palm, and is another standout of this box set.
There’s some great choreography from the outset with plenty of gravity defying wire work, combined with some fantastic cinematography to create a fantastically kinetic film with some exciting fights – it genuinely feels like the kind of unreal martial arts film that likely inspired the hyper reality of The Matrix.
It’s fascinating to see how these last two films have managed to merge Buddhist and Taoist symbolism with some of the emerging fantasy tropes of the 80s and Bastard Swordsman sends Shawscope Volume 3 out on a high. I can easily see this final disc of the set being one of my most watched in the future – both of these films are so unique rightfully earning the often overused label of “cult classic”.
Overall
Arrow once again proves how good they are at compiling excellent sets of cult movies. This third Shawscope volume is just chock full of some very watchable films with something that will appeal to every kung fu fan watching. As with previous sets, there’s clearly been some care put into curating the films here so that they all thematically run together, but I’d argue that this third outing is easily the best collection yet – the journey from One Armed Swordsman to Bastard Swordsman is an experience you’re unlikely to find elsewhere. It’s great seeing the same actors returning in different roles, lending a familiarity to each film and it’s a document which charts the rise of wuxia and kung fu movies through nearly two decades of filmmaking.
Obviously this isn’t a cheap set, clocking in at a hefty £169.99 RRP, but if you’re in the market for buying this, you’re not the kind of collector that’s going to be put off by that price. The films are available to watch on Arrow’s streaming service, but you will miss out on some truly intriguing and comprehensive bonus features, detailed on Arrow’s website here, which combine along with a CD of music from the films to make this another essential box set for fans! I for one can’t wait to see what Arrow have in store for Volume 4…
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