This is one silly old kung fu movie. It's loaded with more clichés than you could shake a red-tufted spear at. Absurdly overacted voices (as in, the main bad guy sounds like Beavis)? Check. Blindingly colorful costumes? Check. Woman dressed as a man, and none of the other characters seem to notice, and this is so glaringly obvious that it seems almost like it must be part of the plot somehow? Check. (Actually one of the characters eventually figured it out, so that's okay.) Lack of pan-and-scan resulting in a medium shot of two noses in profile conversing? Check. Glaring plot holes? Characters appearing out of nowhere with no explanation or back story? Old man character played by a young man wearing a long white fake beard? Equally silly 70's wigs? Semi-Rambo-esquire headbands? Gratuitous restaurant interior demolition? Check, check, check, and double check. Evil moustache-twirling villains? Well, they don't actually twirl them; I guess that wasn't in fashion in the Olden Days.
Categorically silly fighting moves? The woman/man shoves food in people's mouths during the fight in the restaurant. People posing without attacking in the background of a fight scene, looking awkward? Galore. Ultrahokey knife-throwing effects? "Whimsical" music? Armies of extras mowed down by the slightest tap on the shoulder? Location shooting in nature ... because that's the cheapest set money can buy? Abominably-acted "drunken" fighting scene? Painfully untranslatable jokes? Hopelessly non-sequitur swearing? Cheesy night-filter effect that almost makes you wonder why people are acting like it's night when it's clearly day? Lightning made of negative scratches? A dungeon with flying snakes? Titillating non-nude bathing-in-a-creek scenes?
Thismovie has got it all. There are some chop-sake flicks that are better, and a lot that are worse. But if you want everything that goes into making a classic kung-fu movie from 1982, you could do a lot worse than to go to WalMart and drop one dollar on this classic of the genre.
Categorically silly fighting moves? The woman/man shoves food in people's mouths during the fight in the restaurant. People posing without attacking in the background of a fight scene, looking awkward? Galore. Ultrahokey knife-throwing effects? "Whimsical" music? Armies of extras mowed down by the slightest tap on the shoulder? Location shooting in nature ... because that's the cheapest set money can buy? Abominably-acted "drunken" fighting scene? Painfully untranslatable jokes? Hopelessly non-sequitur swearing? Cheesy night-filter effect that almost makes you wonder why people are acting like it's night when it's clearly day? Lightning made of negative scratches? A dungeon with flying snakes? Titillating non-nude bathing-in-a-creek scenes?
Thismovie has got it all. There are some chop-sake flicks that are better, and a lot that are worse. But if you want everything that goes into making a classic kung-fu movie from 1982, you could do a lot worse than to go to WalMart and drop one dollar on this classic of the genre.
