01-02-2018, 02:35 PM
This film made a huge impression on me when I first saw it in Chinatown, probably not that long after it came out. I used to make pilgrimages up there - we'd catch whatever was playing at the Great Star, have jook or dim sum, and make a fine day of it. Sometimes my dad and I would go. Sometimes it was with my Kung Fu brothers or some cousins. Such fond memories.
I haven't seen this film since. For some reason, I remember it being titled The Shattering Sword, but IMDB won't confirm that. I've been looking for it, and found it on Amazon Prime when I was just searching 'sword'. It stars several of my favorites from the Shaw stable, the ever noble Ti Lung, the mischievous died-too-young Alexander Fu Sheng, the always gorgeous Lily Li, the always nefarious Chan Wai Man, and the dearest to my heart, once again in the subsidiary prostitute role, Kara Hui. The premise is that Ti Lung plays this bad ass swordsman duellist who goes about the country challenging other masters in death duels. He thoughtfully brings their coffin to the match, alongside an open pit, and as a coup de grace, snaps a small piece of his mystic sword blade into the fallen's mortal wound. Fu Sheng is a gambler who bets away his freedom to the gambling house owned by Lily, which is right next door to the brothel. Chan is the only one to survive a duel with Ti and is recuperating under the care of an evil doctor who betrayed the top prostitute's brother. Kara's part is small. Like usual, the director didn't quite know what to do with her. This is a Kung Fu fight flick, specifically a sword fight flick, filled with lots of full body, long-cut complex action sequences, the sort the Kung Fu practitioners marvel at and others wonder why the fights are so damn long. It's still great in my mind, a perfect example of a Shaw Brothers film.
It's weird because I don't know why this particular film stuck out in my mind. Maybe it was the whole snapping-sword-in-opponent thing. That was just too cool for school. Kinda dumb but so very wuxia. I remember I went with my cousin, the one who actually got me inspired to get into martial arts when I was a wee tot, and then recommended Wing Lam when I got back into it. I remember distinctly because he was on about how eventually Ti Lung would reduce his sword to a dagger, and then just a hilt, and then what would he do?
I haven't seen this film since. For some reason, I remember it being titled The Shattering Sword, but IMDB won't confirm that. I've been looking for it, and found it on Amazon Prime when I was just searching 'sword'. It stars several of my favorites from the Shaw stable, the ever noble Ti Lung, the mischievous died-too-young Alexander Fu Sheng, the always gorgeous Lily Li, the always nefarious Chan Wai Man, and the dearest to my heart, once again in the subsidiary prostitute role, Kara Hui. The premise is that Ti Lung plays this bad ass swordsman duellist who goes about the country challenging other masters in death duels. He thoughtfully brings their coffin to the match, alongside an open pit, and as a coup de grace, snaps a small piece of his mystic sword blade into the fallen's mortal wound. Fu Sheng is a gambler who bets away his freedom to the gambling house owned by Lily, which is right next door to the brothel. Chan is the only one to survive a duel with Ti and is recuperating under the care of an evil doctor who betrayed the top prostitute's brother. Kara's part is small. Like usual, the director didn't quite know what to do with her. This is a Kung Fu fight flick, specifically a sword fight flick, filled with lots of full body, long-cut complex action sequences, the sort the Kung Fu practitioners marvel at and others wonder why the fights are so damn long. It's still great in my mind, a perfect example of a Shaw Brothers film.
It's weird because I don't know why this particular film stuck out in my mind. Maybe it was the whole snapping-sword-in-opponent thing. That was just too cool for school. Kinda dumb but so very wuxia. I remember I went with my cousin, the one who actually got me inspired to get into martial arts when I was a wee tot, and then recommended Wing Lam when I got back into it. I remember distinctly because he was on about how eventually Ti Lung would reduce his sword to a dagger, and then just a hilt, and then what would he do?
Shadow boxing the apocalypse