Rating: ***
Director: King Hu
Martial Arts Choreography: Samo Hung
Cast: Roy Chiao, Pai Ying, Hsu Feng, Samo Hung, cameos by Mars,
Simon Yuen, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah
Inspired by true events, master strategist Yu Da-you (Roy Chiao) is ordered to wipe out a group of Japanese pirates that are plaguing the coastline. Assisting him are six expert martial artists who have no trouble taking down dozens of bad guys without breaking a sweat, but Da-you's main objective is to smoke out the leader of the group, played by Samo Hung in white kabuki makeup. A super suave Pai Ying plays a matchless swordsman named Wu Jiyuan, and the second half of the movie is dominated by a long and tense showdown at the villain's fortress to test his skill. While it's a highly enjoyable set piece, it's completely at odds with the rest of the film, as if it belonged to an entirely different production. The film ends with an exhausting and visually confusing battle that involves all of the various players, including a totally chaotic sword fight between Samo Hung and Pai Ying. Unfortunately, the film's bleak and downbeat ending seems to only highlight the futility and high cost of war.
Shot back-to-back with King's Hu's "The Fate Of Lee Khan" (1972), but not released until several years later, it harkens back to Hu's older swordplay dramas and has considerably more action than "Lee Khan." The film benefits from Samo Hung's action choreography, and the fight scenes are superb. Pai Ying is fantastic and Hung makes a delightfully menacing (and ridiculous) villain. The action is mostly bloodless, with the exception of one nicely executed blood spray towards the beginning of the movie. It's a beautifully shot film and the locations are gorgeous. Thankfully, the restored Blu-ray does an excellent job of presenting a pristine version of the film as it was originally shot, and it's glorious. While it's an excellent production overall, the plot tends to wander and I was disappointed by a criminally underused Hsu Feng, who does little more than look pretty and occasionally swing a sword. However, she is literally the ONLY woman in the entire production, so when she's onscreen, you definitely notice her.