Rating: ***
Review Date: 8/16/20
Directors: Chang Cheh, Yueh Feng, Cheng Kang
Cast: Shih Szu, Yueh Wah, Lily Ho, Lo Lieh, David Chiang, Ku Feng,
Ti Lung, Chen Sing
"These were not heroes, nor did they achieve greatness, but the robber was sentimental and the prostitute chivalrous at heart."
An anthology of corrupt government officials and the brave and chivalrous men and women who fought against them. Each segment is co-directed by Cheng Cheh, which provides a consistent style throughout. It features a ton of familiar Shaw Brothers faces, although I don't know all of their names. The production values are good and the fight scenes are shockingly bloody. The stories vary from 30-45 minutes in length, and are fast-paced with a lot of action. There's not a lot of time spent on character development, but the stories don't require a lot of depth.
"The Iron Bow"
The Magistrate's son is a cruel and useless bully who desperately wants to
marry a kung fu waitress named Ying Ying (Shih Szu), by treachery and force if
necessary. He continues to apply pressure to the defiant Ying Ying, when a
passing swordsman named Kuang (Yueh Wah) catches her fancy and threatens his
authority. The bully attempts to arrest Kuang on false charges, but he leads
his assailants away from the town in order to protect Ying Ying. Knowing that
she can never be free from the Magistrate's son, she leaves town with her mom
and little brother to meet up with Kuang in the Capital City. While this
segment has no closure and feels like the beginning of a larger story, it's
still fun to watch and has enough structure to provide a complete experience.
Shih Szu is extremely cute and coquettish, and her fight scenes are full of
precision and grace. Unfortunately, her execution tends to look slow and soft,
which lessens the impact a bit, but the moves are complex enough to make up
for a lot of that.
"The Tigress"
General Wang and a prostitute named Shih Chung Yu (Lily Ho) are madly in
love with each other. Unfortunately, this causes Wang to disobey an order
from the Magistrate, and he's sentenced to death. The sly and manipulative
Yu visits the court to plead for his life, accompanied by the rest of the
brothel. The flustered Magistrate is confounded and trapped by her logic,
and forced to relent. Even his mother scolds him in favor of Yu's case.
Determined to still punish Wang, he orders Wang to capture the notorious bandit
Pang Xun (Lo Lieh), who is ravaging the countryside and longing for a glimpse
of Yu's legendary beauty.
Again, Yu flusters and humiliates the Magistrate when she volunteers to lead
the mission and says that she'll deliver Pang Xun in three days with only a
handful of people, or he can have her head. If she succeeds, he must
address her as "amazing god-sister." What follows is a cunning and
elaborate scheme by Yu and her sisters to entrap Pang and his men, and
although she pulls it off without a hitch, a tragic twist results in a
downbeat ending. This segment feels more like a fairy tale than a swordplay
adventure, and Shih Chung Yu's beauty and intelligence are unrivalled.
She exists and performs on an entirely different level, and her influence and
immunity seem a bit supernatural and god-like as a result. It's a delightful
tale of female empowerment and emasculation, as Yu and her sisters befuddle
and outwit every man they come into contact with. A confident and compelling
Lily Ho does a wonderful job and Lo Lieh is always a treat. The women are all
beautiful, but Yu's first sister is by far the prettiest of the bunch.
"White Water Strand"
A group of bandits attack a police escort to free their wrongly imprisoned
brother (Ti Lung). A wandering swordsman named Mu (David Chiang) happens to
come across the scene, and allows the bandits to escape with their brother
while also gaining favor with the government officers who were detaining the
prisoner. A corrupt and sinister official (Ku Feng) invites Mu for a drink,
only to drug him, arrest him, and sentence him to death as a warning to all
would-be heroes. The bandits (who aren't bandits at all, but loyal patriots),
mount a daring rescue at the cost of their lives, allowing Mu to escape and
spread the news of government corruption. This segment feels most like a
classic Chang Cheh kung fu adventure, highlighted by excellent choreography
and graphic bloodshed. Ku Feng uses a bizarre weapon that's a net adorned
with bells.