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The Film
Where to start with this movie? It set the benchmark for every other action/fantasy ever made in Hong Kong. Every action/fantasy movie is compared to this one in every way possible. The effects in more recent movies may have improved, but the style, imagination and characterization have yet to be equaled. The movie has a hapless soldier running into a mysterious swordsman just when the ultimate battle between good and evil begins. If you’ve seen the sequel it’s pretty much the same plot and has the same elements. Like the sequel, also, it moves along like a freight train: starting and hardly stopping for anything until it’s over.
This movie was made pretty much at the start of Tsui Hark’s directing career (he went on to make ‘Once Upon a Time in China’ and ‘Black Mask 2’). It shows his tremendous talent and imagination, although not his first action/fantasy (‘The Butterfly Murders’, his first movie, could be considered that, depending on what you consider fantasy). All this movie is bursting with it. The plot is quite original, even though it might not seem like it today. Like ‘Destry Rides Again’ it was the template by which a thousand other movies based themselves on. What’s nice is it stars, and you’re introduced to this world at the same time as the soldier is. So everything is new, and you never know where the movie’s going. It’s always going in unexpected directions, with very interesting results.
The technical aspects of the film are just incredible. The effects weren’t up to, say, ‘Return of the Jedi’ (which came out the same year), but they came mighty close (although this movie is by far more imaginative). The wirework is flawless. People fly around and zoom through the air without missing a beat. Many sly editing techniques were used to create the great fights and fun effects. They’re all well done, but you can tell the reverse-motion and quick cuts. It’s very effective, though, and makes for a very exciting movie. Corey Yuen (‘Kiss of the Dragon’) choreographed the fights, and they’re very imaginative and fun to watch.
The acting is uniformly great. Adam Cheng is great as the swordsman. Yuen Biao (‘Eastern Condors’, ‘Iceman Cometh’, ‘Dreadnaught’) is great as the hapless soldier. Brigitte Lin is great as the Countess (which reminds me, if you haven’t seen the two ‘Bride with White Hair’ movies, turn off your computer and go get see them right now!). Sammo Hung is great as... well, you get the picture. Everybody delivers a solid performance. Mr. Biao is actually quite funny in here (don’t worry, he’s supposed to be). That’s one thing that should’ve been in the sequel. There was a lot of nice funny moments in here, while the sequel has a light tone but not much comedy. Mr. Hark chose a more serious route for that one. It’s not a bad choice, the comedy just made this movie more varied.
Video
1.85:1 letterbox. I’m really not surprised this isn’t anamorphic. Despite that, the picture survived well enough since 1983. The colors are still quite vivid, even though they have faded, and the separation is good enough. The black level isn’t as strong as it should be either. It’s similar to a high-end VHS tape. In fact, it probably is. This isn’t the remasted edition, so there are still many specks and lines and other kind of defects. The grain is there, where else would it be? The picture is fine, though falls far short of what the movie should look like.
Audio
Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 available, the audio is quite impressive. It’s in 5.1, which I wouldn’t have expected (not that it makes much of a difference on my system, though). The dialogue is always clear. The sound effects and the score always come out very nicely. I could hear some directional effects. If it’s done right, the sound on a good system should be great.
Optional subtitles are in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese.
Extras
Stars’ Files, Producer Leonard Ho, director Tsui Hark and actors Adam Cheng, Brigitte Lin and Yuen Biao all get nice biographies and filmographies. I’m surprised Sammo Hung didn’t get anything. He has two roles in this movie.
Theatrical trailer, an odd sort of trailer. I’ve seen this before and I find it... odd. They show clips of the movie, then they show behind-the-scenes shots of the director working, then they show the movie again. It’s nice, but I don’t see how seeing Tsui Hark’s skinny face will make anybody want to go see the movie more. It’s nice to watch, but it has nothing with the picture itself.
More Attractions, ‘Heart of the Dragon’ this is officially the longest trailer I’ve ever seen. It’s 5 minutes and 1 second long. It’s a marathon! The movie seems to be like ‘Rain Man’ with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. It’s an okay trailer, doesn’t give anything away or anything, but it’s too long. The problem is the theme song is sung over the trailer, and it’s sung it its entirety. I’m glad I didn’t have to sit through this in the theatres over and over again before the movie came out.
Overall
This movie must have been something to see in theatres back in 1983. It paved the way for movies like the ‘Chinese Ghost Story’ series and the ‘Bride with White Hair’ pair. It’s a visual feast and still holds up incredibly well today. If you can find it, see it. It was the first and was the best (with the exception of the two ‘Bride with White Hair’ movies). Anybody with an appreciation for originality and imagination will love this movie.
| The Film: A+ |
Video: B- |
Audio: A |
Extras: D |
Overall: C+ |
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