Silver Fox, The (1968)

Director: Hsu Tseng-Hung

Notable Cast: Lily Ho Li-Li, Chang Yu, Huang Chung-Hsin, Yue Wai, Helen Ma Hoi-Lun, Tien Feng, Chiu Sam-Yin, Chiu Hung, Ma Ying, Lee Ho, Fan Mei-Sheng, Hung Lau

My expectations for The Silver Fox were mixed. The mid 60s for Shaw Brothers is a time where the studio was still finding their voice and approach to what they wanted to do as a film company, but by 1968, when The Silver Fox was released, the studio was starting to crank out some solid films in the wake of The One-Armed Swordsman and Golden Swallow so I wasn’t quite sure what kind of film that this one was going to be. In what seems to be a fitting manner, The Silver Fox is ultimately a little of both. There are moments where this film reaches some of the fun heights that this era of Shaw Brothers can hit, but it’s also dragging in some of its romantic melodrama and a bit inefficient in weaving its tale of revenge. Still, as a wuxia, The Silver Fox is a fun film with a lot of great treats for fans and worth the time.

Supreme Swordsman, The (1984)

Director: Keith Li

Notable Cast: Derek Yee, Jason Pai Piao, Ku Feng, Yuen Wah, Wong Yung, Margaret Lee, Lee Hoi-Sang, Ling Yun, Kwan Fung, Jamie Luk Kim-Ming, Austin Wai Tin-Chi, Huang Pei-Chih, Lung Tien-Hsiang, Cheng Miu, Wong Lik, Eva Lai Yin-Shan, Shum Lo, Wong Chi-Ming, Kong Chuen, Yuen Bun

I’m always down for some Shaw Brothers wuxia films. Even as the 80s rolled on and their wuxia films became crazier and stranger, most of them retained entertainment value with their fantasy aspects and polarizing tonal shifts. With the Derek Yee starring flick The Supreme Swordsman though, there is both classic wuxia set ups and the crazy off kilter wuxia that the studio became increasingly infatuated with as the years rolled on. While the film tends to receive a decent amount of praise from fans, it’s ultimately a mixed effort that sets up and ends on some phenomenal ideas and characters, but uses some questionable tactics to get there.

Black Tavern, The (1972)

Director: Teddy Yip Wing-Cho

Notable Cast: Ku Feng, Tung Li, Shih Szu, Kong Ling, Kwok Chuk-Hing, Barry Chan, Yeung Chi-Hing, Dean Shek, Wang Hsieh, Yue Fung

After being blown away by The Lady Hermit, I was quick to throw its semi-sequel The Black Tavern to the top of my list to watch. The film came with some solid recommendations from fellow Shaw Brothers fanatics, but it still seems to be an overlooked classic that doesn’t get nearly the amount of praise that it should. The Black Tavern is an effective and ambitiously trimmed martial arts thriller that makes phenomenal use of its rather limited settings and its list of villainous thieves which culminates in a plethora of iconic wuxia style battles worthy of being included in the fabled Shaw Brothers catalog. It might seem like a simple set up, but The Black Tavern features a number of top notch performances and more than a handful of twists that will have the audience hooked and their mouths agape.

Sword Master (2016)

Director: Derek Yee

Notable Cast: Kenny Lin, Peter Ho, Yiyan Jiang, Mengjie Jiang

There are a lot of emotions that I had before I even started to watch Sword Master that I had to take into consideration to give this film context. Sword Master is a remake of the overlooked and underappreciated Shaw Brothers wuxia classic Death Duel, a film that easily makes my list for best films from the iconic studio, and it also marks the first collaboration between two powerhouses of Chinese cinema: director Derek Yee and producer Tsui Hark. Even before this film was released, the combination of these facts made this film an emotional roller coaster for me. Derek Yee knows the original material, he was the lead actor in Death Duel, but Tsui Hark has been notorious for over producing films into a sort of CGI nightmare that has undermined plenty of fun films (including the Detective Dee films and the horrendous misfire Flying Swords of Dragon Gate). So even sifting through the context of expectations for Sword Master was a complicated matter, but I kept my hopes up thinking it could end up being the next great wuxia film.

Hidden Power of the Dragon Sabre, The (1984)

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Derek Yee, Ti Lung, Alex Man Chi-Leung, Cherie Chung Cho-Hung, Ku Feng, Lo Lieh

During my recent Shawtember binge that saw a serious round of Derek Yee Shaw film consumption (ultimately leading up to my article over on the Celestial Pictures site HERE), I ended up reviewing the first two Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre films. While neither film necessarily blew me away, falling to be some flawed films in the usually fun and dynamic filmography of director Chor Yuen, they were still decent films that got better as they went. The third film in this franchise, called The Hidden Power of the Dragon Sabre because I guess that Heaven Sword was not worthy of making it into the title this time around, comes six years after the first two. Six years doesn’t seem like a long time for many franchises, but in the realm of Shaw Brothers this meant a huge difference in tone and style. Hidden Power doesn’t necessarily work all the time, it fixes a few issues from its predecessors and falls into a few new traps, but it is perhaps the most entertaining of the three films just in sheer outrageousness.

Call of Heroes (2016)

Director: Benny Chan

Notable Cast: Sean Lau, Eddie Peng, Louis Koo, Wu Jing, Yuan Quan, Jiang Shuying, Liu Kai-chi, Berg Ng, Sammy Hung, Philip Keung, Xing Yu

From the time that it was announced, under the title The Deadly Reclaim before it was changed to Call of Heroes, there was a lot of hype behind this film. Between the stacked cast of current A-list actors, the legendary Sammo Hung as action director, and Benny Chan behind the director’s chair, this film was going to have to live up to a lot of expectations. With a concept that can be described as a wuxia western, Call of Heroes lives up to a lot of those expectations in many surprising ways. The film is one that had to sit with me for a while before writing this review because many of its themes and approaches were ones that didn’t necessarily strike home initially, but blossomed over a bit of time and reflection. Call of Heroes is not a film for everyone, particularly those who are unable to jive with modern Chinese cinema’s use of spectacle and CGI, but for those looking for a solid entertaining time with some shockingly creative results than this film fits that just fine.

Reign of Assassins (2010)

Directors: Su Chao-pin, John Woo

Notable Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Jung Woo-sung, Wang Xueqi, Barbie Hsu, Shawn Yue, Kelly Lin, Guo Xiaodong, Jiang Yiyan, Paw Hee-ching, Pace Wu, Leon Dai

It took them over half of a decade, but finally Reign of Assassins hits the US in home video release. Fortunately, for those martial arts movie fans like myself who held out on importing it, the film was worth the wait. Co-directed by the iconic John Woo and starring the talented Michelle Yeoh, Reign of Assassins is a modern wuxia that blends the classic elements of the style with the modern splash that impresses beyond the normal sense of outrageous epic tones that come with the genre. It’s effective in its heart, stylish in its action, and ultimately a fun and thrilling ride that fans will be wanting to experience. Yes, Reign of Assassins was worth the time spent waiting for it.

Heroes Shed No Tears (1980)

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Alexander Fu Sheng, Jason Pai Piao, Derek Yee, Ku Feng, Yueh Hua, Angie Chiu Nga-Chi, Lau Wai-Ling, Wang Sha, Cheng Miu

Truthfully, I kept setting aside Heroes Shed No Tears because I was under the impression that Alexander Fu Sheng was the lead in the film. Technically, he is and I am not a huge fan of films where he has to carry the burden of the emotional weight of the narrative. I know, I know. It’s blasphemy, right? However, this Shawtember I have been digging through most of Derek Yee’s filmography for the Shaw Brothers studio and I found myself staring at the Heroes Shed No Tears copy on my shelf… since he is the main villain of the film. To my surprise, not only is this film a wonderfully fun wuxia with plenty of gimmicks and classic characters, but it’s also a remarkably thoughtful film on the insight of fame, power, and manipulation. It also helps that it’s less of Fu Sheng’s film and more of an ensemble effort with some powerful performances. It gets to where it needs to be through its smart writing and entertaining set pieces which is how all great wuxia films should be and it makes Heroes Shed No Tears something of an underrated Shaw Brothers film.

Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (1978) / Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre 2 (1978)

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Derek Yee, Ching Li, Candice Yu, Cheng Lai-fong, Wen Hsueh-erh, Lo Lieh, Wong Yung, Ngai Fei, Lau Wai-ling, Karen Chan

Going into Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, I’m not sure I knew what I was getting myself into. I’m a big fan of Chor Yuen as a director, I’m a fan of wuxia, and a fan of the Shaw Brothers, so I had a general expectation of what was going to happen in the film. However, I did not realize that going into this one that it would be one of Chor Yuen’s most epic wuxia films I’ve seen to date. So epic, in fact, that the first film ends on a ‘to be continued’ note and even goes as far as having teaser scenes and a narrator prod the audience about seeing the second installment. This is why I chose to actually review the first two Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre films together as it’s obvious that the two films were meant to be one long three hour wuxia epic. In a way, the films are easily better when watched back to back and they certainly make a bit more sense as the films flow in a manner meant to be watched as such, but even then neither one is on the upper echelons of Shaw Brothers wuxia nor even some of the better films from Chor Yuen. They are fun and packed with entertaining characters, but they are far too dense and rushed (even at three hours) for their own good.

Lady Hermit, The (1971)

Director: Ho Meng-Hua

Notable Cast: Cheng Pei Pei, Shih Szu, Lo Lieh, Fang Mian, Wang Hsieh

After reacquainting myself with King Hu’s seminal classic A Touch of Zen, I found myself eager to dig through some other 60’s and early 70’s female lead wuxia films that I have not seen in a long time. A great place to start is always with the combination of Shaw Brothers and the iconic Cheng Pei Pei. Most people may like to think that perhaps her greatest film for the legendary studio was Come Drink with Me, also directed by King Hu, but for my money I would be tempted to say that the often overlooked The Lady Hermit is at least as good, if not actually being an overall better film. In many ways, The Lady Hermit is a more distinctly Shaw Brothers film in its stream lined narrative and gimmicky  villain, but this kind of stripped down and more entertaining approach allows the film to really throw in some massively effective action sequences while not taking time away from its active character building. The combination of the two is a film that’s easy to consume, but filling for its viewers with its punchy storytelling and fascinating character interactions.

Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman (1982)

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Teng Wei-hao, Ku Kuan-chung, Linda Chu, Tai Liang-chun, Ku Feng, Yuen Wah

For the first twenty minutes or so, I was fairly confused by Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman. I had enjoyed the previous two entries of the series, but right away the tone of this film felt different – less dramatic, more off the cuff – and Ti Lung’s character was completely different in his actions and demeanor. After a quick pause and five minutes of research I found out that Perils is actually not a sequel to the Sentimental Swordsman franchise, but it’s a sequel to another wuxia series from Chor Yuen that stars Ti Lung. It’s the same series that features films like Clans of Intrigue and Legend of the Bat. With proper expectations, Perils became a fun film filled with some outrageous fantastical set pieces and plenty of memorable battles that I was able to enjoy once my expectations had been adjusted for the proper franchise, but keep this in mind when going into the film. It is probably not the film you will be expecting to see from its title.

Return of the Sentimental Swordsman (1981)

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Derek Yee, Ku Feng, Ching Li, Choh Seung-wan, Lo Lieh, Ku Kuan-chung, Kara Hui, Tony Liu, Yueh Hua, Cheng Miu, Yuen Wah, Yuen Bun

“There’s no truth in the martial arts world. There’s only dead people, gold, and fame.”

After finally scoring the The Sentimental Swordsman trilogy to own, I was stoked to dive into this Chor Yuen directed wuxia series. They were huge box office smashes when they came out, they all feature robust casts, and I’m always a sucker for a franchise I haven’t seen yet. However, the original Sentimental Swordsman was a bit weaker than I was hoping (you can read my review HERE) and its eclectic approach and “too much material weakens the entire thing” writing left the film as a mixed bag. Its follow up, The Return of the Sentimental Swordsman, fixes a lot of the issues that arose in the original and delivers a truly thoughtful, engaging, and emotional Shaw Brothers style wuxia worthy of the franchise tag. Return is exactly what I expected from this series to begin with and it hits home with some great moments.

Sentimental Swordsman, The (1977)

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Ti Lung, Derek Yee, Ching Li, Yueh Hua, Candice Yu, Ku Feng, Fan Mei-sheng, Norman Chu, Ngai Fei, Yuen Wah

While Chor Yuen has never really been my favorite director when it comes to Shaw Brothers films, I seem to find myself coming back again and again to a lot of his material. His ability to craft some dynamic (and ultimately insane) wuxia films makes his films a lot of fun to watch, even when they are of a lesser quality. The Sentimental Swordsman falls exactly into this category. The film is powered on some very silly concepts and made entertaining by its own outrageous moments, but it’s hard to overlook a lot of the deeper flaws of the narrative and the immense world building present. With a stacked cast of iconic Shaw Brothers regulars, The Sentimental Swordsman is going to have its following just on a fan level, but it’s a hard film to swallow for those unprepared for the ridiculous aspects that are presented.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)

Director: Yuen Woo-Ping

Notable Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Harry Shum Jr., Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jason Scott Lee, Woon Young Park, Chris Pang, Veronica Ngo, JuJu Chan, Eugenia Yuan, Roger Yuan

I feel confused. Not because of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. No, not because of the film itself. I feel confused by the odd series of negative comments, reactions, and reviews to this film. It’s as if fans and non-fans alike had this expectation that this film would be like the first Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. When has a Yuen Woo-Ping film EVER been an arthouse philosophical film maker? It’s almost like there was hate for it before it came out (more on that in a minute) just because “they had the balls to make a sequel.” Well, I guess I’m in the minority. I had a blast watching Sword of Destiny. No, it’s not a spiritual sequel to the original and outside of a handful of references to the original, if you changed the names and just called it Sword of Destiny it could have been just another fun wuxia. This film is far more akin to the Shaw Brothers wuxia films of the late 70s than its predecessor. It’s more Chor Yuen than Ang Lee and not only was I okay with this, I loved it even with some of its obvious faults.

Top 20 Shaw Brothers Films

For Lunar New Year, we wanted to do another Shaw Brothers focused article like the one we did last year  and the biggest request was a sort of definitive ‘best Shaw Brothers’ list. While doing a top twenty list about the iconic Hong Kong company seemed obvious, if not necessary, I didn’t want to just throw down a list of my personal favorites. So in a moment of inspiration, we decided to pool our knowledge of the Shaw Brothers catalog with those super fans around us and other dedicated writers to create a Kung Fu Komittee. Members of this select group all submitted their own personal top ten lists for films from the studio and then the list was weighted (their top pick received ten points, their second pick received nine points, their third pick received eight points, and so on), and then the results tallied to present a Blood Brothers' Brethren Top 20 Shaw Brothers list!

Dragon Inn (1967)

Director: King Hu
Notable Cast: Lingfeng Shangguan, Chun Shih, Ying Bai, Chien Tsao

Since my interest in more art house films started to increase greatly over the last couple of years, I sort of let my 1st love of cinema sit on the back burner, which is the martial arts genre. I love any type of martial arts movie: old, and new; more grounded realism, or wu xia style, wire-work heavy films. That being said, I have also become a stickler for quality when watching said movies, so the ones I enjoy become fewer and fewer. At some point, last year, Eureka Entertainment said they would be releasing two of King Hu's Taiwanese wu xia films: Dragon Inn, and A Touch of Zen (which just came out as I write this). Having a recent interest in Taiwanese cinema, and the fact that Taiwan has been working on a ton of restoration of their classic films, I jumped at the chance to see them, and with Dragon Inn, I am very, very glad I did.

Lost Bladesman, The (2011)

Director: Felix Chong, Alan Mak

Notable Cast: Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Betty Sun, Andy On

NOTE: Since the posting of this review, The Lost Bladesman has not gotten a US release from Anchor Bay. I must say that it's about time. I haven't edited my review of the film - including my complaints about how this film had yet to be released - for the sake of an update outside of the cover artwork. Just keep in mind that the film is now available on DVD in the US and I highly suggest the purchase.

Sometimes the international politics of film distribution baffle me, particularly when it comes to getting Asian films in the United States. Some films get edited to hell for American audiences (see Dragon), some films get ridiculously late releases (see Butterfly Swords), and in the case of The Lost Bladesman some great films never get a release…at least at this time. This last case is most certainly a shame as this dramatic action flick, or as I like to refer to them ‘dramaction,’ is pretty impressive overall. It’s not quite as artistic as say a Yimou Zhang film, but it’s a very strong blend of philosophical tones, dramatic pops, and vicious action set pieces.