AKA Iron Fingers of Death, Death Mask of the Ninja, Dragon of Death, Wu Tang Prince
Hong Kong premiere: February 25, 1983
Director: Tong Kai
Stars: Ti Lung, Derek Yee, Pai Piao, Lam Fai-Wong, Alan Chan, Ma Chao, Lee Hoi-Sang, Ku Feng, Kwan Feng, Yuen Wah, Chiang Tao, Yuen Bun, Wong Chi-Wai
Story Overview: Two infant princes are spirited away after the king and queen are killed by a usurper. One is raised by the prime minister, the other by three mad monks exiled by the Shaolin. Two decades later they meet and join forces to defeat the man who murdered their parents.
My Nutshell Review: Silly even at its best, and drags a bit in places, particularly when it goes off on a sub-plot about an exorcism, but has some very good fights and a rare lighthearted performance from Ti Lung to make it fun. And the final battle, with a contraption unlike anything else I’ve seen in a Shaw Brothers film (or any other kind of film, really) pushes it over the top. A definite recommend for fans of the studio or genre.
My Flickchart Score: 87% (What’s This?)
Watch it free on Amazon Prime here.
Hong Kong premiere: February 25, 1983
Director: Tong Kai
Stars: Ti Lung, Derek Yee, Pai Piao, Lam Fai-Wong, Alan Chan, Ma Chao, Lee Hoi-Sang, Ku Feng, Kwan Feng, Yuen Wah, Chiang Tao, Yuen Bun, Wong Chi-Wai
Story Overview: Two infant princes are spirited away after the king and queen are killed by a usurper. One is raised by the prime minister, the other by three mad monks exiled by the Shaolin. Two decades later they meet and join forces to defeat the man who murdered their parents.
My Nutshell Review: Silly even at its best, and drags a bit in places, particularly when it goes off on a sub-plot about an exorcism, but has some very good fights and a rare lighthearted performance from Ti Lung to make it fun. And the final battle, with a contraption unlike anything else I’ve seen in a Shaw Brothers film (or any other kind of film, really) pushes it over the top. A definite recommend for fans of the studio or genre.
My Flickchart Score: 87% (What’s This?)
Watch it free on Amazon Prime here.
* * * * * * *
In-Depth Synopsis
* * * * * * *
In-Depth Synopsis
* * * * * * *
We open in a throne room. The Ninth Prince, who calls himself Iron Fingers, is planning to kill the royal family and claim the throne, and his army is at the gates. The King (Ai Fei) knows that he and the queen can’t be saved, but he wants to save the lives of his two young sons. So there are a couple of dozen soldiers standing before him, and each carries a spear and an infant. The idea is that they will all make a run for it, and the usurper won’t know which children are the real princes, increasing their chances of escape. The real princes are entrusted to Li Chang (Yuen Wah) and Gu Long (Kwan Feng). Li Chang has the older brother and also the royal seal. Gu Long has the younger brother and the king’s magic sword.
Just as all the soldiers are ready to escape, the usurper’s army arrives, commanded by a traitorous general played by Wong Pau-Gei. A battle breaks out under the opening credits, and the general breaks through the defenses around the king and holds a sword to his throat. All the action stops for a few tense seconds, and it looks like the general will use the king as a hostage and order the soldiers to stand down, but the king takes away this opportunity by cutting his own throat with his enemy’s sword. Gu Long throws his spear so hard that the general is thrown back against the wall. Battle resumes, blood is shed on both sides, but then enemy archers appear, prepared to skewer every soldier (and infant) in the place. Gu Long somehow sets off smoke bombs by pulling strings in his belt (?) so that he and Li Chang can escape, after once more swearing before the dying king to do their duty and save the princes.
They and eight other men arrive at a bridge over a small river. Here they are ambushed by the two fiercest assassins the Ninth Prince employs, the Fire General (Chiang Tao) and the Water General (Yuen Bun). The Fire General is dressed in red and gold, and carries a staff with fire at both ends and a hooked sword that bursts into flame during combat. Also, he seems to be able to cause explosions just, like, whenever and wherever. The Water General is dressed in blue and uses twin swords with multiple barbs along their edges. He can move under the water’s surface faster than men can run and jump out of it like he’s been shot from a cannon. Also, he’s coded homosexual for some reason. A combat ensues and most of the soldiers are killed, but four escape. Gu Long runs off alone, while Li Chang is accompanied by the other two. The Fire and Water Generals aren’t worried. “They aren’t going anywhere,” sneers the latter.
Now we’re on location in a forest, where Li Chang and his two exhausted comrades rest. Li Chang says that he thinks they’re safe, but he has spoken too soon. A group of enemy soldiers approaches, along with the Ninth Prince (Pai Piao), borne on a palanquin. Two quick asides here: the characters in the film go back and forth between calling this character “the Ninth Prince” and “Iron Fingers.” I’m gonna go with the latter, just because this movie is full of princes and it’ll be simpler. However, when quoting or directly referencing dialog in which the characters call him the Ninth Prince, I’ll use that name, so just remember that he’s both guys. Also, about his palanquin, or sedan chair (I’ve recently learned it’s called a Jiao by the Chinese themselves, just in case we needed another word). I’m actually not sure that any of these are the right word, since unlike all the other palanquins that I’ve ever seen, it is open, rather than a seat in a closed box. To differentiate it from the more ordinary palanquin we’ll be introduced later in the film (bearing a sacrificial virgin!), I’m just gonna call this thing a throne, because that’s what it looks like, and riding in it Iron Fingers looks like a king surveying his domain. And lemme tell ya, it’s seriously tricked-out, as we’ll find out in the big final battle.
Anyway, Iron Fingers knows that Li Chang has one of the real princes, and can tell that the bundle tied at his belt is the royal seal. One of the other men tells Li Chang to run, and he’ll hold the enemy off. But of course he can’t; Iron Fingers knocks him down with a single blow and attacks Li Chang. The third soldier tries to help, but the Prince jabs him in the neck with his...iron fingers. So that’s why he’s called that!
Iron Fingers offers not only to spare Li Chang, but to promote him, if he’ll turn the two young princes over. Li Chang looks at the overwhelming odds, kneels, and thanks him. “One must be adaptable,” Iron Fingers says, coming forward to take the infant, but suddenly Li Chang stabs him with his spear. Unfortunately Iron Fingers is wearing armor. He breaks the spear and goes for Li Chang’s throat, as he did with the other two, but Li Chang dodges and instead is wounded in the back. He runs off, and when Iron Fingers goes to follow him Li Chang’s two companions tackle him to the ground. “Go after him!” he calls to his men as he kills his attackers.
Cut to Gu Long, wading through what looks like a sewer and towing the young prince on a little raft. He reaches a bell rope and pulls it, and a bell sounds in the house of the Prime Minister (Ku Feng), who opens a secret trap door under his throne, allowing Gu Long to climb up carrying the baby. The Prime Minister asks where the others are, and Gu Long tells him of the ambush, and his fear that everyone else was killed.
Now we see three monks sweeping the courtyard of a small, walled-in homestead. These are the three Holy Fools, Wu Ming (Lam Fai-Wong), Wu Zhi (Alan Chan), and Wu Li (Ma Chao). They hear someone calling for help outside their little enclosure and go to see what’s happening. They open the gate to see Li Chang, bleeding, barely able to remain upright. He tells them his name and that he studied at Shaolin and begs for their help. The monks reply that they are being punished. They aren’t allowed to leave their dwelling and aren’t supposed to talk to anyone. “But I’m carrying a child!” Li Chang says, as the Ninth Prince’s soldiers approach.
Li Chang tries to fight off the soldiers with his half-spear while the Holy Fools decide what to do. After all, four against one doesn’t seem fair, and there is a small child to consider. At this moment the four soldiers succeed in knocking Li Chang down and all leap on him, swords-first. He throws the infant high into the air, and the three monks form a human chain hanging from a tree near the door, catch the baby, and bring it safely into their enclosure. Then Wu Ming does a strange series of moves where he’s thrown at the soldiers by his brothers, kills them without touching the ground, and comes back to the gate by walking on their bodies. Just before they close the gate, Li Chang calls once more. He crawls to them and gives them the seal, saying that it belongs to the child. “Don’t worry,” Wu Zhi says. “We’ll give it to him when he grows up,” which is the last thing the loyal Li Chang ever hears. The Three Holy Fools decide to raise the child themselves, thinking it will fun, and they’ll teach him their kung-fu. And once he’s older, he’ll be able to go outside for them, which they can’t do themselves. They won’t ask the Chief Abbot to admit him to Shaolin. He’ll belong just to them.
Now we jump ahead twenty or so years, and see the elder prince as an adult now called Dao Xing (Ti Lung) practicing his kung fu in the courtyard. We learn that for his whole life the monks have been training him in large part by frequently launching surprise attacks on him, or setting traps for him, so that he’ll always be ready for anything. We see a little series of these attacks, some with Dao Xing losing, and some with him surprising and overcoming his uncles. At one point Wu Zhi gets set on fire. So, in real life all of this would be super-dangerous and Child Protective Services would long ago have taken Dao Xing away, but here it’s all fun and games. Dao Xing has grown up kind of goofy and carefree.
Then we check in on the younger prince, now called Zi-Tai (Derek Yee). Under the care of the Prime Minister he has become a serious young man, a scholar and warrior. Our first scene sees him attacked by a masked swordsman at night in his room. He fights him unarmed for a moment before getting hold of a sword of his own. In a very nice move he flips through the air, dodging a lunge from his opponent, and while upside-down in midair slashes the mask away from his face, revealing Gu Long. So this is training, too, like when Kato used to attack Inspector Clouseau at odd moments. Zi-Tai thanks Gu for his training as the Prime Minister walks in laughing and saying “Well done!”
The Minister congratulates Gu on how well the training has gone. Zi-Tai has become a very good swordsman and is ready to avenge his family, but Gu says the time hasn’t come. Although Zi-Tai is good with a sword, he isn’t strong enough to defeat the Ninth Prince alone. Zi-Tai laments his brother’s death, since the two together would be able to take him. So now we know that nobody ever found out what happened to Dao Xing.
Speaking of Dao Xing, we see him at the Shaolin temple, getting food to take home to the Holy Fools. As he’s leaving he passes a number of young adepts being trained by Dao Kong (Lee Hoi-Sang), who I assume is no relation. Kong accosts Dao Xing, asking why the young man doesn’t come to the temple to learn from him. Dao Xing says that he is learning lots of kung fu, but Kong says, “Yeah, what those three are teaching you, but you don’t bother with my kung fu...if all three of the Holy Fools are teaching you, you must be pretty good.” He puts on a display of his own style, and Dao Xing watches politely. Then he dares Dao Xing to try to hit him, which Dao Xing does effortlessly. “That’s not Shaolin kung fu!” he complains. “What is that?”
“I was just faster than you. Simple as that,” Dao Xing answers, and walks away. Kong, not having learned his lesson, attacks again, and Dao Xing knocks him down without even spilling the tray of food he’s carrying. Once he’s gone the students all laugh at Kong, and we see by his face that Dao Xing has made an enemy.
Now back to the homestead. Once again the Holy Fools have set traps for Dao Xing (you’d think they’d at least wait ‘til they’d gotten their food!) but Dao Xing completely outsmarts them in a very slapstick sequence. In fact, in the English dub, Dao Xing even refers to his style as “slapstick kung fu”! Finally the three attack him all at once, but he simply leaves the enclosure and taunts them from outside. “Why don’t you eat all those buns?” he asks. “I’ll be back in a while,” and walks away leaving them laughing and swearing at him.
Now back to ultra-serious Zi-Tai, practicing his swordsmanship again. Gu is wearing a glove to mimic Iron Fingers’ hand, and says that if the prince can defeat him, he’s ready to take his revenge. We have a neatly-choreographed little fight where Gu repeatedly traps Zi-Tai’s blade between his fingers, manipulating him easily and controlling the combat, until finally breaking the blade and holding his fingers to the prince’s throat. In anger and disappointment Zi-Tai throws the broken sword so that it transfixes an image of Iron Fingers on the wall.
At Iron Fingers’ headquarters, he strides laughing among his generals. He’s been the power behind the throne for twenty years. There is no one at court strong or brave enough to oppose him. There are spies everywhere, and nowhere is there a report of a single word spoken against him. But just then two men arrive to tell him that the Prime Minister has adopted a son (they’re just learning this now?). He’s about 23, leading Iron Fingers to wonder whether he could be the missing prince. We also learn that one of these men, Tu Wei (Wong Chi-Wai), has spies within the Shaolin temple, but so far they have nothing to report. Iron Fingers says that the only style that can beat him is the Yijing, a rare Shaolin practice. It would be very dangerous if one of the young princes had ended up at Shaolin. Tu Wei and the Water General are sent to check up on this possibility, while Iron Fingers himself will look into the Prime Minister.
Zi-Tai walks into the Prime Minister’s chambers to find him hosting Iron Fingers. “Where are your manners?” the PM asks. “Greet the Ninth Prince!” Zi-Tai bows, and Iron Fingers decides to test his kung fu. He and the Fire General take turns beating him up, and Zi-Tai has to take it, pretending that he knows no kung fu at all. The PM protests that his son is merely a scholar and prefers books to more active pursuits. After Zi-Tai fails to defend himself against an attack that nearly puts his eyes out, Iron Fingers believes him. Later that night, after Iron Fingers and his retinue are gone, the PM, Gu, and Zi-Tai talk. It’s clear that Iron Fingers has begun to suspect them, and must sooner or later find out their secret. But Gu repeats that Zi-Tai isn’t strong enough to fight him. The only way he can win is to go to Shaolin and get the Yijing book and learn that style. Zi-Tai says he will leave for Shaolin immediately.
Meanwhile, Dao Xing is wondering when he’ll get to study the Yijing. We see a montage of all the crazy things the Holy Fools have taught him to do, from meditating to sleeping with his body perfectly straight, supported only by his head and feet. He rips great heavy posts out of the ground, performs phenomenal feats of balance and strength...the Holy Fools have already taught him what’s in the book! He doesn’t need to learn it.
Dao Kong meets with the Water General and Tu Wei in the forest. He tells them about the Holy Fools and how they adopted a son who is the right age to be one of the missing princes. Kong doesn’t believe he’s a prince, he’s too goofy and dumb, but when the Water General says to kill him anyway, just to be sure, he doesn’t argue, since he holds his own grudge. Tu Wei says that they also want the book of Yijing, but Kong says it’s too well-guarded to be stolen. The Water General says to kill the young man first, then they’ll figure out how to get the book.
Kong is training his adepts again, this time with wicked-looking double-bladed swords that Star Trek must have used as the inspiration for the Klingon Bat’leth, as Dao Xing arrives. As always, he walks past the trainees, watching them practice with a smile on his face, when Kong suddenly throws his weapon. It just misses Dao Xing. “Brother,” he pants, “you tried to kill me!”
“You know how to duck my blow,” Kong says. “Those crazy fools taught you quite a bit. Why don’t you teach us?” He tosses one of the weapons to Dao Xing, who says he’s never been trained with weapons. But when Kong attacks Dao Xing dodges him easily. He still doesn’t believe Kong means to kill him, even after one attack rips his robe and another cuts the tray he brought to carry his uncles’ food in half. Still, once the tray has been destroyed he stops merely defending and fights back, and soon has Kong lying on the ground with a potentially-fatal blow halted at his shoulder blades. He lets Kong get up, and when Kong sneakily attacks him as he rises, Dao Xing leaps high in the air, knocks the weapon from his opponent’s hands, then slices his trousers up real good for him, leaving him nearly naked as all the students laugh. At this point the Abbot (Chan Shen) enters and asks what’s going on. Kong says he’s just teaching Dao Xing how to swordfight, which brings chuckles from everyone.
The Abbot tells Kong that ghosts have been reported at a local mansion. He is to go there with a few other men to investigate. Kong demands that Dao Xing come as well; Kong is putting him in charge of the exorcism! At the mansion we meet the master of the house (Shum Lo), who says that his son-in-law has just died. His daughter Suqin (Liu Yu-Po) and the dead man were very much in love, and his spirit hasn’t been able to let go. He begs Dao Xing to send the ghost to his rest, and of course Dao Xing is not up to that. Suddenly the ghost possesses the body of Suqin. Long nails spring from her fingers and she attacks the monks, killing all but Dao Xing and Kong. All the candles in the room blow out and we see a strange combat by unearthly blue light. Dao Xing tries to fight her off as Kong runs for it. The ghost begins tossing large objects around and reanimating the corpses of the slain monks to attack him.
Just when all seems lost, Zi-Tai comes in. Convenient! The ghost attacks him, but some animation leaps from his drawn sword and banishes the ghost to the afterlife. Dao Xing thanks Zi-Tai, who explains that his magic sword can dispel evil spirits. So that’s also convenient, and yes, we’ll have something to say about this in the next section. The point is, Dao Xing and Zi-Tai have met and become friends, though of course they don’t yet know that they’re brothers.
The next day Dao Xing and Zi-Tai walk down a road talking. Zi-Tai says he’s going to Shaolin, and of course so is Dao Xing, who offers to show him the way. Then suddenly we’re there at the temple (yes, that oft-used location at the top of the really long stair). Kong watches from the top of the stairs, angry to see that Dao Xing is still alive. Dao Xing isn’t coming in, explaining that he lives in one of the outbuildings, so Zi-Tai climbs the steps to the temple alone. Kong and a few of the monks come down to meet him halfway, saying that weapons aren’t allowed inside. He’ll have to leave his magic sword outside. Zi-Tai refuses (and also enrages Kong by saying that he’s come to read the Yijing book), so a fight ensues. Zi-Tai handles Kong pretty easily, though not so easily as Dao Xing, so Kong calls on the other four monks to fight while he runs into the temple. Zi-Tai, incidentally, wins the fight with the four by tying them together with their own own sashes, which is a nice touch.
Cut to Kong arriving at the homestead of the Holy Fools, along with a dozen or so monks armed with ji (halberds with crescent-shaped blades at one end and weighted clubs at the other) and some more of those crazy bat'leth things. Kong says he’s come to arrest Dao Xing. He accuses him of saving himself at the expense of the other monks during the exorcism, and of bringing a deadly stranger to the temple. The Holy Fools say that Dao Xing doesn’t owe Kong any explanation and instruct him to fight rather than go peaceably. Dao Xing does pretty well, considering how badly he’s outnumbered, and with a little advice from the Holy Fools he’s able finally to chase the bad guys off. He tells them about Zi-Tai, the ghost, and the magic sword, and they send him up to the temple to find out what’s going on.
Inside the temple we see Zi-Tai in a duel with a monk armed with twin swords (Tong Gaai) as the Abbot and a bunch of monks look on. The fight ends when Yi-Tai makes a move that could have cut off one of the monk’s hands but stops the blade just short. The monk concedes and congratulates him on his skill. Yi-Tai asks the abbot whether, now that he’s beaten his best swordfighter, he can see the Yijing. The abbot says he doesn’t need it; his skills are already superlative. Another monk, Wu Ren (Elvis Tsui), who seems to have formed an instant dislike of Zi-Tai, accuses him of arrogance and rudeness, since Zi-Tai won’t give them his name or say why he wants the book. The Abbot says that they can’t lend the book out to anyone who hasn’t overcome their 18 Buddha Attack. Their ancestors ruled that if anyone could survive that attack he would be worthy of their respect and entitled to read any of their books. Zi-Tai agrees to the challenge, the Tong Gaai character beats on a drum and suddenly 18 red-robed monks leap down from a balcony and attack. The 18 do acrobatics more than really fight; they keep forming human pyramids and chains and such, attacking from every height and every angle. It doesn’t make any sense, but it sure looks cool.
These guys make quick work of Zi-Tai. Once he’s unconscious Ren tries to deliver a finishing blow, but the Tong Gaai character stops him. “He could have crippled me but didn’t,” he says, “how can we kill him?” The Abbot agrees. This kid obviously has a story to tell, so they lock him up, planning to question him later.
As they leave Kong enters and reports that Dao Xing has attacked and injured several monks and then run away. The Abbot asks how Dao Xing, who knows so little kung fu (I guess this is still a secret), could be a match for all Kong’s men, and Kong lies and says that the Holy Fools helped. The Abbot says that none of the Shaolin can match the Holy Fools, but they’ll search for Dao Xing (who, unbeknownst to the monks, is hiding in the room and hearing everything).
In the dungeon (since when does Shaolin have a dungeon?) Zi-Tai is tied up and hanging several feet off the ground. Kong, Wu Ren, and Tu Wei enter. Tu Wei says that they know he’s the second prince, because he has the magic sword and is after the Yijing. They plan to take him to Iron Fingers, but his kung fu is too good for it to be safe to move him, so they plan to cripple him first. But just at this moment Dao Xing walks in, and notes that Wu Ren is on the side of the traitors. All three men attack him, and he fights them off with a staff. Wu Ren is impaled on a statue, at which point Kong and Tu Wei lose heart and run off. Dao Xing, after cutting Zi-Tai down, gives his sword back to him, and the two attempt to leave the temple, only to find their path blocked by the 18 Buddha Attack.
The fight goes better this time, with Dao Xing a far more capable fighter than Zi-Tai. Man, Ti Lung looks good swinging a staff around! But the 18, now using weapons (big steel hoops) and backed up by the monks that followed Kong before, are too much for them, until the Holy Fools show up. Have they disregarded their oath never to set foot outside their enclosure? No, they’re on...well, bits of wood that look like nothing so much as pogo sticks. They start by hitting Kong with a pebble flicked so hard that it dents his forehead, and then set about dismantling the 18 Buddha Attack. The Shaolin are unable to put up much of a fight. Oh, and by the way, the three of them being constrained by their pogo sticks, fighting while having to maintain their precarious balance and remain nearly stationary, is a ton of fun and over far too quickly. The choreography and performance here is really something special. Anyway, they make it possible for the young men to escape, and give Dao Xing his birthright, the royal seal, as he leaves.
Dao Xing now has no idea what to do with himself. He’s never been more than a few miles from the homestead (to the Tai An Inn) and knows nothing about the outside world. Zi-Tai has a plan, though: a particular people (the Xia? Maybe?) are about to send a virgin as tribute to Iron Fingers, who plans to make her the Emperor’s concubine. Zi-Tai plans to use this knowledge to get him close to Iron Fingers, so he can get his revenge, and he asks Dao Xing to help him. Dao Xing should wait at the inn while Zi-Tai goes to the see the Prime Minister, and then they’ll set out.
Iron Fingers is pissed that the two got away, and is worried when he hears that Dao Xing, raised by the Holy Fools and instructed in Yijing, might be the other prince. Kong says that if the two princes are going to the capital they must stay at the Tai An Inn, and the bad guys can trap them there, so Iron Fingers sets out on his throne along with Kong, the Water and Fire Generals, and a troop of men. They arrive at the inn, and Kong questions the innkeeper (Yeung Chi-Hing) who tells him that, yes, there’s a young man in monk’s robes staying there. Fortunately, the bad guys have made enough racket to wake Dao Xing, so when they break into his room they find it empty. Kong goes out onto the balcony and everyone else runs back outside to tell Iron Fingers the news. While the bad guys sit in the street wondering where he could have gone, a palanquin approaches, carrying the virgin mentioned before.
While everyone outside is busy with this new development, Kong goes back inside and is ambushed by Dao Xing, who kills him and throws him down the stairs. This draws the attention of Iron Fingers, who rushes into the inn to see what’s happening. All his men follow, which gives Dao Xing a chance to leap down unobserved from the balcony and slip into the virgin’s palanquin. We don’t see it, but apparently he does some pressure-point thing to paralyze her, because she doesn’t cry out, and when we next see her she seems to be in some sort of trance. Iron Fingers tells his men to stay and look for the two princes while he escorts the virgin to the palace.
At the palace we see the puppet Emperor (Ku Kuan-Chung) preparing to receive the man who pulls the strings. Iron Fingers informs the Emperor that the army needs more men and food, and therefore taxes on the people will have to be increased, and the Emperor says that’s impossible, since it’s been a bad harvest and the people are already over-taxed. Iron Fingers that he hasn’t come to discuss the plans; he only needs the Emperor’s signature. The Emperor says that it won’t be legal without the royal seal, which, holy shit! It’s been twenty-three years! Nobody has made a new royal seal yet? Iron Fingers says that he, not the Emperor, is in charge, and the Emperor signs the order.
Now Iron Fingers orders the Emperor’s present, his new concubine, be brought in, and the servants carry in the still-closed palanquin. Iron Fingers makes a lewd comment or two and leaves with his men, and the Emperor approaches the palanquin. He says that he won’t hurt the young woman within, and that in fact the two of them are in the same boat, both controlled by other people. He asks her to join him in praying for the safe return of the princes to the palace, so that he won’t have to be the puppet Emperor anymore. Dao Xing is impressed by this speech, and jumps out of the palanquin. He introduces himself and expresses his surprise that the Emperor isn’t really a traitor, and the two men fall to talking.
Zi-Tai and Gu are walking through the darkened streets, and Zi-Tai is telling Gu all about Dao Xing and how he knows the Yijing kung fu. But they notice that there are many guards around the Emperor’s residence and become concerned. Gu tells Zi-Tai to go inside and see what’s going on while he goes to talk to the Prime Minister. Zi-Tai agrees, and says that if he has the chance he’ll kill the Emperor while he’s at it. But when Gu leaves, the Fire and Water Generals see him go and decide to follow him.
Dao Xing and the Emperor are still talking, alone in the monarch’s chambers, when suddenly a masked man who is clearly Zi-Tai breaks in and attempts to kill the Emperor. Dao Xing protects him, which pisses Zi-Tai off. Dao Xing insists that the Emperor is a good man, but Zi-Tai doesn’t believe him. They struggle for a while until Zi-Tai cuts Dao Xing’s face, at which point Dao Xing (who, this movie never lets us forget, is by far the superior fighter) just knocks him clean out of the building, breaking through several walls along the way. Zi-Tai declares that this is the end of their friendship and leaves the palace.
Zi-Tai mopes on a small bridge over a forest stream when suddenly he is attacked by the Water General, who he chases back into the water only to be nearly blown up by the Fire General. He gets set on fire and has to jump into the stream to put himself out, which of course puts him at the Water General’s mercy. But just in time, Dao Xing shows up and helps him kill the two attackers. So, their friendship wasn’t over for long, was it?
Together they go to the Prime Minister’s house, only to find that Iron Finger’s goons have trashed the place. Everyone is dead except the PM and Gu, but both are mortally wounded. Dao Xing attempts to bind Gu’s wounds, and when he does the seal falls out onto the ground. So now finally everyone knows who everyone is! The newfound brothers embrace as the rain starts to fall. The Prime Minister dies happy, but of course there’s work to be done. And Iron Fingers, unable to find the princes at the PM’s house, has gone on to look for them at Shaolin.
So we see Iron Fingers’ soldiers facing a squad of Shaolin outside the temple. The Shaolin are led by the Holy Fools, whose punishment is now over. Tu Wei demands in the name of the Ninth Prince that the two young princes be turned over to him, and the Fools deny that there are any princes at Shaolin (which at the moment is true, of course). Iron Fingers tells them that Zi-Tai and Dao Xing are the princes he means, and the Fools are happy to learn that their student is a prince. Iron Fingers threatens to burn the temple if they don’t obey, but then the brothers show up so it doesn’t matter. They tell the Fools that they have a score to settle with Iron Fingers and ask them not to get involved, but the Fools say to call them if it gets too tough. The monks return to the temple.
First they have to fight off the eight halberd-wielding bodyguards, led by Tu Wei, and these fights are the best in the film so far. Once those guys have all been either beaten or slashed to death, the two princes say that anyone who stands by Iron Fingers will be killed, but they’ll spare anyone who leaves now. At this point, the spear-wielding nobodies who make up Iron Fingers’ troops run off. This leaves only Iron Fingers and the four massive guards who carry his throne-like palanquin, bringing us to one of the best (and most unique!) fights in the studio’s history. It’s gonna be tough to describe, but I’ll try.
First Iron Fingers draws a short sword hidden in the arm of his throne and attacks. He fights them more or less to a standstill, as they narrowly dodge fatal blows from both his sword and his iron fingers. Finally, he and Zi-Tai leap and attack each other in mid-air. Zi-Tai is unharmed and cuts his enemy’s cape off, but the guards step up and catch Iron Fingers so that he lands seated again on his throne. The guards run around like crazy, dodging attacks, until Dao Xing attacks them directly while Zi-Tai leaps onto the throne to fight Iron Fingers one-on-one. Zi-Tai makes a leaping lunge at Iron Fingers, who pulls a switch and the throne slides backwards along its rails so that he falls short. Then the switch is flipped again; the throne shoots forward and the guards push the ends of the carrying poles together so that Zi-Tai is in danger of being crushed. Dao Xing rushes to the rescue, forcing the poles apart, and the guards retreat, then shift the now-hinged poles so that, instead of running parallel to the arms of the throne, they run perpendicular.
The brothers attack again, but this time the guards swing the throne so that the poles hit Zi-Tai hard and knock him flying. He lands unconscious. The guards keep pressing, swinging the throne around so that Dao Xing must duck to dodge it, but he whacks a couple of them on the shins with his staff and, while they’re weakened, slips his staff under the throne and uses it as a lever to flip the throne over. Iron Fingers leaps free, then leaps over the throne that Dao Xing has now sent flying at him, and we have another, more standard one-on-one duel. This time Dao Xing succeeds in knocking Iron Fingers around a little bit before he jumps back onto his throne. Now the poles are bent back so that all four guards are behind it, and the throne spins on its platform as it advances, allowing Iron Fingers to knock Dao Xing down. He rises and plants his staff between two flagstones so that he can meet the next charge, and knocks the throne onto its back (though it is still supported atop the poles). Apparently this is a design feature of the throne, though, because it fires two blades from underneath at him. One strikes him in the right elbow, disabling that arm. “You like that?” Iron Fingers asks. “Want some more?” His guards now swing the poles around so that all four are in front of the throne, and pull the ends off to reveal long blades sticking out. They charge.
Dao Xing thrusts with his staff which, fortunately, is very slightly longer than the poles on the throne, and he uses all his strength to hold the throne back inches from his chest against the continued pushing of the four guards. He fights off the pain in his arm and gives the throne a mighty push, which send the guards reeling back. They drop the throne, and at last it is broken. Iron Fingers lands hard on his back, and as he struggles to his feet Dao Xing pulls the blade from his arm and rushes to wake Zi-Tai, who rises just in time to see Iron Fingers’ iron fingers about to strike a fatal blow to the back of his brother’s head. Shoving him aside, Zi-Tai parries the blow and lands a flying kick that sends Iron Fingers sprawling again. Zi-Tai swings at his head, and slices his top-knot off. Now Iron Fingers, hair flying wildly about his face, manages to grab the blade of the magic sword between his fingers, as we’ve seen before. But when he goes to break the blade, his fingers snap off instead! Zi-Tai slashes him across the chest as he reels from the shock, but it only tears his tunic, revealing the armor below. Iron Fingers (if we may still call him that) lands a punch with what remains of his metal hand, grabs up his sword off the ground and attacks. Dao Xing now returns to the battle and deflects a blow aimed at his brother’s head. Iron Fingers does a double jump-kick that sends both brothers flying, then aims a follow-up attack at Dao Xing. But the young man jumps ridiculously high into the air, flipping over four times and coming down aiming a mighty blow with his staff. Zi-Tai attacks to draw off Iron Fingers’ guard, and the blow from Dao Xing knocks Iron Finger’s head down into his abdomen (!).
Now we’re treated to that rarest of all things: a Shaw Brothers denouement. Zi-Tai, now dressed in the white and gold robes of the Emperor, rides his horse through the hills, and we hear the bells of the Shaolin Temple, where we see that the Holy Fools are now the Abbot(s), the former Abbot is now serving tea, and Dao Xing has become a full-fledged Shaolin priest. “We know you missed our company,” the Fools say to him as we freeze-frame. ANOTHER SHAW PRODUCTION.
Just as all the soldiers are ready to escape, the usurper’s army arrives, commanded by a traitorous general played by Wong Pau-Gei. A battle breaks out under the opening credits, and the general breaks through the defenses around the king and holds a sword to his throat. All the action stops for a few tense seconds, and it looks like the general will use the king as a hostage and order the soldiers to stand down, but the king takes away this opportunity by cutting his own throat with his enemy’s sword. Gu Long throws his spear so hard that the general is thrown back against the wall. Battle resumes, blood is shed on both sides, but then enemy archers appear, prepared to skewer every soldier (and infant) in the place. Gu Long somehow sets off smoke bombs by pulling strings in his belt (?) so that he and Li Chang can escape, after once more swearing before the dying king to do their duty and save the princes.
They and eight other men arrive at a bridge over a small river. Here they are ambushed by the two fiercest assassins the Ninth Prince employs, the Fire General (Chiang Tao) and the Water General (Yuen Bun). The Fire General is dressed in red and gold, and carries a staff with fire at both ends and a hooked sword that bursts into flame during combat. Also, he seems to be able to cause explosions just, like, whenever and wherever. The Water General is dressed in blue and uses twin swords with multiple barbs along their edges. He can move under the water’s surface faster than men can run and jump out of it like he’s been shot from a cannon. Also, he’s coded homosexual for some reason. A combat ensues and most of the soldiers are killed, but four escape. Gu Long runs off alone, while Li Chang is accompanied by the other two. The Fire and Water Generals aren’t worried. “They aren’t going anywhere,” sneers the latter.
Now we’re on location in a forest, where Li Chang and his two exhausted comrades rest. Li Chang says that he thinks they’re safe, but he has spoken too soon. A group of enemy soldiers approaches, along with the Ninth Prince (Pai Piao), borne on a palanquin. Two quick asides here: the characters in the film go back and forth between calling this character “the Ninth Prince” and “Iron Fingers.” I’m gonna go with the latter, just because this movie is full of princes and it’ll be simpler. However, when quoting or directly referencing dialog in which the characters call him the Ninth Prince, I’ll use that name, so just remember that he’s both guys. Also, about his palanquin, or sedan chair (I’ve recently learned it’s called a Jiao by the Chinese themselves, just in case we needed another word). I’m actually not sure that any of these are the right word, since unlike all the other palanquins that I’ve ever seen, it is open, rather than a seat in a closed box. To differentiate it from the more ordinary palanquin we’ll be introduced later in the film (bearing a sacrificial virgin!), I’m just gonna call this thing a throne, because that’s what it looks like, and riding in it Iron Fingers looks like a king surveying his domain. And lemme tell ya, it’s seriously tricked-out, as we’ll find out in the big final battle.
Anyway, Iron Fingers knows that Li Chang has one of the real princes, and can tell that the bundle tied at his belt is the royal seal. One of the other men tells Li Chang to run, and he’ll hold the enemy off. But of course he can’t; Iron Fingers knocks him down with a single blow and attacks Li Chang. The third soldier tries to help, but the Prince jabs him in the neck with his...iron fingers. So that’s why he’s called that!
Iron Fingers offers not only to spare Li Chang, but to promote him, if he’ll turn the two young princes over. Li Chang looks at the overwhelming odds, kneels, and thanks him. “One must be adaptable,” Iron Fingers says, coming forward to take the infant, but suddenly Li Chang stabs him with his spear. Unfortunately Iron Fingers is wearing armor. He breaks the spear and goes for Li Chang’s throat, as he did with the other two, but Li Chang dodges and instead is wounded in the back. He runs off, and when Iron Fingers goes to follow him Li Chang’s two companions tackle him to the ground. “Go after him!” he calls to his men as he kills his attackers.
Cut to Gu Long, wading through what looks like a sewer and towing the young prince on a little raft. He reaches a bell rope and pulls it, and a bell sounds in the house of the Prime Minister (Ku Feng), who opens a secret trap door under his throne, allowing Gu Long to climb up carrying the baby. The Prime Minister asks where the others are, and Gu Long tells him of the ambush, and his fear that everyone else was killed.
Now we see three monks sweeping the courtyard of a small, walled-in homestead. These are the three Holy Fools, Wu Ming (Lam Fai-Wong), Wu Zhi (Alan Chan), and Wu Li (Ma Chao). They hear someone calling for help outside their little enclosure and go to see what’s happening. They open the gate to see Li Chang, bleeding, barely able to remain upright. He tells them his name and that he studied at Shaolin and begs for their help. The monks reply that they are being punished. They aren’t allowed to leave their dwelling and aren’t supposed to talk to anyone. “But I’m carrying a child!” Li Chang says, as the Ninth Prince’s soldiers approach.
Li Chang tries to fight off the soldiers with his half-spear while the Holy Fools decide what to do. After all, four against one doesn’t seem fair, and there is a small child to consider. At this moment the four soldiers succeed in knocking Li Chang down and all leap on him, swords-first. He throws the infant high into the air, and the three monks form a human chain hanging from a tree near the door, catch the baby, and bring it safely into their enclosure. Then Wu Ming does a strange series of moves where he’s thrown at the soldiers by his brothers, kills them without touching the ground, and comes back to the gate by walking on their bodies. Just before they close the gate, Li Chang calls once more. He crawls to them and gives them the seal, saying that it belongs to the child. “Don’t worry,” Wu Zhi says. “We’ll give it to him when he grows up,” which is the last thing the loyal Li Chang ever hears. The Three Holy Fools decide to raise the child themselves, thinking it will fun, and they’ll teach him their kung-fu. And once he’s older, he’ll be able to go outside for them, which they can’t do themselves. They won’t ask the Chief Abbot to admit him to Shaolin. He’ll belong just to them.
Now we jump ahead twenty or so years, and see the elder prince as an adult now called Dao Xing (Ti Lung) practicing his kung fu in the courtyard. We learn that for his whole life the monks have been training him in large part by frequently launching surprise attacks on him, or setting traps for him, so that he’ll always be ready for anything. We see a little series of these attacks, some with Dao Xing losing, and some with him surprising and overcoming his uncles. At one point Wu Zhi gets set on fire. So, in real life all of this would be super-dangerous and Child Protective Services would long ago have taken Dao Xing away, but here it’s all fun and games. Dao Xing has grown up kind of goofy and carefree.
Then we check in on the younger prince, now called Zi-Tai (Derek Yee). Under the care of the Prime Minister he has become a serious young man, a scholar and warrior. Our first scene sees him attacked by a masked swordsman at night in his room. He fights him unarmed for a moment before getting hold of a sword of his own. In a very nice move he flips through the air, dodging a lunge from his opponent, and while upside-down in midair slashes the mask away from his face, revealing Gu Long. So this is training, too, like when Kato used to attack Inspector Clouseau at odd moments. Zi-Tai thanks Gu for his training as the Prime Minister walks in laughing and saying “Well done!”
The Minister congratulates Gu on how well the training has gone. Zi-Tai has become a very good swordsman and is ready to avenge his family, but Gu says the time hasn’t come. Although Zi-Tai is good with a sword, he isn’t strong enough to defeat the Ninth Prince alone. Zi-Tai laments his brother’s death, since the two together would be able to take him. So now we know that nobody ever found out what happened to Dao Xing.
Speaking of Dao Xing, we see him at the Shaolin temple, getting food to take home to the Holy Fools. As he’s leaving he passes a number of young adepts being trained by Dao Kong (Lee Hoi-Sang), who I assume is no relation. Kong accosts Dao Xing, asking why the young man doesn’t come to the temple to learn from him. Dao Xing says that he is learning lots of kung fu, but Kong says, “Yeah, what those three are teaching you, but you don’t bother with my kung fu...if all three of the Holy Fools are teaching you, you must be pretty good.” He puts on a display of his own style, and Dao Xing watches politely. Then he dares Dao Xing to try to hit him, which Dao Xing does effortlessly. “That’s not Shaolin kung fu!” he complains. “What is that?”
“I was just faster than you. Simple as that,” Dao Xing answers, and walks away. Kong, not having learned his lesson, attacks again, and Dao Xing knocks him down without even spilling the tray of food he’s carrying. Once he’s gone the students all laugh at Kong, and we see by his face that Dao Xing has made an enemy.
Now back to the homestead. Once again the Holy Fools have set traps for Dao Xing (you’d think they’d at least wait ‘til they’d gotten their food!) but Dao Xing completely outsmarts them in a very slapstick sequence. In fact, in the English dub, Dao Xing even refers to his style as “slapstick kung fu”! Finally the three attack him all at once, but he simply leaves the enclosure and taunts them from outside. “Why don’t you eat all those buns?” he asks. “I’ll be back in a while,” and walks away leaving them laughing and swearing at him.
Now back to ultra-serious Zi-Tai, practicing his swordsmanship again. Gu is wearing a glove to mimic Iron Fingers’ hand, and says that if the prince can defeat him, he’s ready to take his revenge. We have a neatly-choreographed little fight where Gu repeatedly traps Zi-Tai’s blade between his fingers, manipulating him easily and controlling the combat, until finally breaking the blade and holding his fingers to the prince’s throat. In anger and disappointment Zi-Tai throws the broken sword so that it transfixes an image of Iron Fingers on the wall.
At Iron Fingers’ headquarters, he strides laughing among his generals. He’s been the power behind the throne for twenty years. There is no one at court strong or brave enough to oppose him. There are spies everywhere, and nowhere is there a report of a single word spoken against him. But just then two men arrive to tell him that the Prime Minister has adopted a son (they’re just learning this now?). He’s about 23, leading Iron Fingers to wonder whether he could be the missing prince. We also learn that one of these men, Tu Wei (Wong Chi-Wai), has spies within the Shaolin temple, but so far they have nothing to report. Iron Fingers says that the only style that can beat him is the Yijing, a rare Shaolin practice. It would be very dangerous if one of the young princes had ended up at Shaolin. Tu Wei and the Water General are sent to check up on this possibility, while Iron Fingers himself will look into the Prime Minister.
Zi-Tai walks into the Prime Minister’s chambers to find him hosting Iron Fingers. “Where are your manners?” the PM asks. “Greet the Ninth Prince!” Zi-Tai bows, and Iron Fingers decides to test his kung fu. He and the Fire General take turns beating him up, and Zi-Tai has to take it, pretending that he knows no kung fu at all. The PM protests that his son is merely a scholar and prefers books to more active pursuits. After Zi-Tai fails to defend himself against an attack that nearly puts his eyes out, Iron Fingers believes him. Later that night, after Iron Fingers and his retinue are gone, the PM, Gu, and Zi-Tai talk. It’s clear that Iron Fingers has begun to suspect them, and must sooner or later find out their secret. But Gu repeats that Zi-Tai isn’t strong enough to fight him. The only way he can win is to go to Shaolin and get the Yijing book and learn that style. Zi-Tai says he will leave for Shaolin immediately.
Meanwhile, Dao Xing is wondering when he’ll get to study the Yijing. We see a montage of all the crazy things the Holy Fools have taught him to do, from meditating to sleeping with his body perfectly straight, supported only by his head and feet. He rips great heavy posts out of the ground, performs phenomenal feats of balance and strength...the Holy Fools have already taught him what’s in the book! He doesn’t need to learn it.
Dao Kong meets with the Water General and Tu Wei in the forest. He tells them about the Holy Fools and how they adopted a son who is the right age to be one of the missing princes. Kong doesn’t believe he’s a prince, he’s too goofy and dumb, but when the Water General says to kill him anyway, just to be sure, he doesn’t argue, since he holds his own grudge. Tu Wei says that they also want the book of Yijing, but Kong says it’s too well-guarded to be stolen. The Water General says to kill the young man first, then they’ll figure out how to get the book.
Kong is training his adepts again, this time with wicked-looking double-bladed swords that Star Trek must have used as the inspiration for the Klingon Bat’leth, as Dao Xing arrives. As always, he walks past the trainees, watching them practice with a smile on his face, when Kong suddenly throws his weapon. It just misses Dao Xing. “Brother,” he pants, “you tried to kill me!”
“You know how to duck my blow,” Kong says. “Those crazy fools taught you quite a bit. Why don’t you teach us?” He tosses one of the weapons to Dao Xing, who says he’s never been trained with weapons. But when Kong attacks Dao Xing dodges him easily. He still doesn’t believe Kong means to kill him, even after one attack rips his robe and another cuts the tray he brought to carry his uncles’ food in half. Still, once the tray has been destroyed he stops merely defending and fights back, and soon has Kong lying on the ground with a potentially-fatal blow halted at his shoulder blades. He lets Kong get up, and when Kong sneakily attacks him as he rises, Dao Xing leaps high in the air, knocks the weapon from his opponent’s hands, then slices his trousers up real good for him, leaving him nearly naked as all the students laugh. At this point the Abbot (Chan Shen) enters and asks what’s going on. Kong says he’s just teaching Dao Xing how to swordfight, which brings chuckles from everyone.
The Abbot tells Kong that ghosts have been reported at a local mansion. He is to go there with a few other men to investigate. Kong demands that Dao Xing come as well; Kong is putting him in charge of the exorcism! At the mansion we meet the master of the house (Shum Lo), who says that his son-in-law has just died. His daughter Suqin (Liu Yu-Po) and the dead man were very much in love, and his spirit hasn’t been able to let go. He begs Dao Xing to send the ghost to his rest, and of course Dao Xing is not up to that. Suddenly the ghost possesses the body of Suqin. Long nails spring from her fingers and she attacks the monks, killing all but Dao Xing and Kong. All the candles in the room blow out and we see a strange combat by unearthly blue light. Dao Xing tries to fight her off as Kong runs for it. The ghost begins tossing large objects around and reanimating the corpses of the slain monks to attack him.
Just when all seems lost, Zi-Tai comes in. Convenient! The ghost attacks him, but some animation leaps from his drawn sword and banishes the ghost to the afterlife. Dao Xing thanks Zi-Tai, who explains that his magic sword can dispel evil spirits. So that’s also convenient, and yes, we’ll have something to say about this in the next section. The point is, Dao Xing and Zi-Tai have met and become friends, though of course they don’t yet know that they’re brothers.
The next day Dao Xing and Zi-Tai walk down a road talking. Zi-Tai says he’s going to Shaolin, and of course so is Dao Xing, who offers to show him the way. Then suddenly we’re there at the temple (yes, that oft-used location at the top of the really long stair). Kong watches from the top of the stairs, angry to see that Dao Xing is still alive. Dao Xing isn’t coming in, explaining that he lives in one of the outbuildings, so Zi-Tai climbs the steps to the temple alone. Kong and a few of the monks come down to meet him halfway, saying that weapons aren’t allowed inside. He’ll have to leave his magic sword outside. Zi-Tai refuses (and also enrages Kong by saying that he’s come to read the Yijing book), so a fight ensues. Zi-Tai handles Kong pretty easily, though not so easily as Dao Xing, so Kong calls on the other four monks to fight while he runs into the temple. Zi-Tai, incidentally, wins the fight with the four by tying them together with their own own sashes, which is a nice touch.
Cut to Kong arriving at the homestead of the Holy Fools, along with a dozen or so monks armed with ji (halberds with crescent-shaped blades at one end and weighted clubs at the other) and some more of those crazy bat'leth things. Kong says he’s come to arrest Dao Xing. He accuses him of saving himself at the expense of the other monks during the exorcism, and of bringing a deadly stranger to the temple. The Holy Fools say that Dao Xing doesn’t owe Kong any explanation and instruct him to fight rather than go peaceably. Dao Xing does pretty well, considering how badly he’s outnumbered, and with a little advice from the Holy Fools he’s able finally to chase the bad guys off. He tells them about Zi-Tai, the ghost, and the magic sword, and they send him up to the temple to find out what’s going on.
Inside the temple we see Zi-Tai in a duel with a monk armed with twin swords (Tong Gaai) as the Abbot and a bunch of monks look on. The fight ends when Yi-Tai makes a move that could have cut off one of the monk’s hands but stops the blade just short. The monk concedes and congratulates him on his skill. Yi-Tai asks the abbot whether, now that he’s beaten his best swordfighter, he can see the Yijing. The abbot says he doesn’t need it; his skills are already superlative. Another monk, Wu Ren (Elvis Tsui), who seems to have formed an instant dislike of Zi-Tai, accuses him of arrogance and rudeness, since Zi-Tai won’t give them his name or say why he wants the book. The Abbot says that they can’t lend the book out to anyone who hasn’t overcome their 18 Buddha Attack. Their ancestors ruled that if anyone could survive that attack he would be worthy of their respect and entitled to read any of their books. Zi-Tai agrees to the challenge, the Tong Gaai character beats on a drum and suddenly 18 red-robed monks leap down from a balcony and attack. The 18 do acrobatics more than really fight; they keep forming human pyramids and chains and such, attacking from every height and every angle. It doesn’t make any sense, but it sure looks cool.
These guys make quick work of Zi-Tai. Once he’s unconscious Ren tries to deliver a finishing blow, but the Tong Gaai character stops him. “He could have crippled me but didn’t,” he says, “how can we kill him?” The Abbot agrees. This kid obviously has a story to tell, so they lock him up, planning to question him later.
As they leave Kong enters and reports that Dao Xing has attacked and injured several monks and then run away. The Abbot asks how Dao Xing, who knows so little kung fu (I guess this is still a secret), could be a match for all Kong’s men, and Kong lies and says that the Holy Fools helped. The Abbot says that none of the Shaolin can match the Holy Fools, but they’ll search for Dao Xing (who, unbeknownst to the monks, is hiding in the room and hearing everything).
In the dungeon (since when does Shaolin have a dungeon?) Zi-Tai is tied up and hanging several feet off the ground. Kong, Wu Ren, and Tu Wei enter. Tu Wei says that they know he’s the second prince, because he has the magic sword and is after the Yijing. They plan to take him to Iron Fingers, but his kung fu is too good for it to be safe to move him, so they plan to cripple him first. But just at this moment Dao Xing walks in, and notes that Wu Ren is on the side of the traitors. All three men attack him, and he fights them off with a staff. Wu Ren is impaled on a statue, at which point Kong and Tu Wei lose heart and run off. Dao Xing, after cutting Zi-Tai down, gives his sword back to him, and the two attempt to leave the temple, only to find their path blocked by the 18 Buddha Attack.
The fight goes better this time, with Dao Xing a far more capable fighter than Zi-Tai. Man, Ti Lung looks good swinging a staff around! But the 18, now using weapons (big steel hoops) and backed up by the monks that followed Kong before, are too much for them, until the Holy Fools show up. Have they disregarded their oath never to set foot outside their enclosure? No, they’re on...well, bits of wood that look like nothing so much as pogo sticks. They start by hitting Kong with a pebble flicked so hard that it dents his forehead, and then set about dismantling the 18 Buddha Attack. The Shaolin are unable to put up much of a fight. Oh, and by the way, the three of them being constrained by their pogo sticks, fighting while having to maintain their precarious balance and remain nearly stationary, is a ton of fun and over far too quickly. The choreography and performance here is really something special. Anyway, they make it possible for the young men to escape, and give Dao Xing his birthright, the royal seal, as he leaves.
Dao Xing now has no idea what to do with himself. He’s never been more than a few miles from the homestead (to the Tai An Inn) and knows nothing about the outside world. Zi-Tai has a plan, though: a particular people (the Xia? Maybe?) are about to send a virgin as tribute to Iron Fingers, who plans to make her the Emperor’s concubine. Zi-Tai plans to use this knowledge to get him close to Iron Fingers, so he can get his revenge, and he asks Dao Xing to help him. Dao Xing should wait at the inn while Zi-Tai goes to the see the Prime Minister, and then they’ll set out.
Iron Fingers is pissed that the two got away, and is worried when he hears that Dao Xing, raised by the Holy Fools and instructed in Yijing, might be the other prince. Kong says that if the two princes are going to the capital they must stay at the Tai An Inn, and the bad guys can trap them there, so Iron Fingers sets out on his throne along with Kong, the Water and Fire Generals, and a troop of men. They arrive at the inn, and Kong questions the innkeeper (Yeung Chi-Hing) who tells him that, yes, there’s a young man in monk’s robes staying there. Fortunately, the bad guys have made enough racket to wake Dao Xing, so when they break into his room they find it empty. Kong goes out onto the balcony and everyone else runs back outside to tell Iron Fingers the news. While the bad guys sit in the street wondering where he could have gone, a palanquin approaches, carrying the virgin mentioned before.
While everyone outside is busy with this new development, Kong goes back inside and is ambushed by Dao Xing, who kills him and throws him down the stairs. This draws the attention of Iron Fingers, who rushes into the inn to see what’s happening. All his men follow, which gives Dao Xing a chance to leap down unobserved from the balcony and slip into the virgin’s palanquin. We don’t see it, but apparently he does some pressure-point thing to paralyze her, because she doesn’t cry out, and when we next see her she seems to be in some sort of trance. Iron Fingers tells his men to stay and look for the two princes while he escorts the virgin to the palace.
At the palace we see the puppet Emperor (Ku Kuan-Chung) preparing to receive the man who pulls the strings. Iron Fingers informs the Emperor that the army needs more men and food, and therefore taxes on the people will have to be increased, and the Emperor says that’s impossible, since it’s been a bad harvest and the people are already over-taxed. Iron Fingers that he hasn’t come to discuss the plans; he only needs the Emperor’s signature. The Emperor says that it won’t be legal without the royal seal, which, holy shit! It’s been twenty-three years! Nobody has made a new royal seal yet? Iron Fingers says that he, not the Emperor, is in charge, and the Emperor signs the order.
Now Iron Fingers orders the Emperor’s present, his new concubine, be brought in, and the servants carry in the still-closed palanquin. Iron Fingers makes a lewd comment or two and leaves with his men, and the Emperor approaches the palanquin. He says that he won’t hurt the young woman within, and that in fact the two of them are in the same boat, both controlled by other people. He asks her to join him in praying for the safe return of the princes to the palace, so that he won’t have to be the puppet Emperor anymore. Dao Xing is impressed by this speech, and jumps out of the palanquin. He introduces himself and expresses his surprise that the Emperor isn’t really a traitor, and the two men fall to talking.
Zi-Tai and Gu are walking through the darkened streets, and Zi-Tai is telling Gu all about Dao Xing and how he knows the Yijing kung fu. But they notice that there are many guards around the Emperor’s residence and become concerned. Gu tells Zi-Tai to go inside and see what’s going on while he goes to talk to the Prime Minister. Zi-Tai agrees, and says that if he has the chance he’ll kill the Emperor while he’s at it. But when Gu leaves, the Fire and Water Generals see him go and decide to follow him.
Dao Xing and the Emperor are still talking, alone in the monarch’s chambers, when suddenly a masked man who is clearly Zi-Tai breaks in and attempts to kill the Emperor. Dao Xing protects him, which pisses Zi-Tai off. Dao Xing insists that the Emperor is a good man, but Zi-Tai doesn’t believe him. They struggle for a while until Zi-Tai cuts Dao Xing’s face, at which point Dao Xing (who, this movie never lets us forget, is by far the superior fighter) just knocks him clean out of the building, breaking through several walls along the way. Zi-Tai declares that this is the end of their friendship and leaves the palace.
Zi-Tai mopes on a small bridge over a forest stream when suddenly he is attacked by the Water General, who he chases back into the water only to be nearly blown up by the Fire General. He gets set on fire and has to jump into the stream to put himself out, which of course puts him at the Water General’s mercy. But just in time, Dao Xing shows up and helps him kill the two attackers. So, their friendship wasn’t over for long, was it?
Together they go to the Prime Minister’s house, only to find that Iron Finger’s goons have trashed the place. Everyone is dead except the PM and Gu, but both are mortally wounded. Dao Xing attempts to bind Gu’s wounds, and when he does the seal falls out onto the ground. So now finally everyone knows who everyone is! The newfound brothers embrace as the rain starts to fall. The Prime Minister dies happy, but of course there’s work to be done. And Iron Fingers, unable to find the princes at the PM’s house, has gone on to look for them at Shaolin.
So we see Iron Fingers’ soldiers facing a squad of Shaolin outside the temple. The Shaolin are led by the Holy Fools, whose punishment is now over. Tu Wei demands in the name of the Ninth Prince that the two young princes be turned over to him, and the Fools deny that there are any princes at Shaolin (which at the moment is true, of course). Iron Fingers tells them that Zi-Tai and Dao Xing are the princes he means, and the Fools are happy to learn that their student is a prince. Iron Fingers threatens to burn the temple if they don’t obey, but then the brothers show up so it doesn’t matter. They tell the Fools that they have a score to settle with Iron Fingers and ask them not to get involved, but the Fools say to call them if it gets too tough. The monks return to the temple.
First they have to fight off the eight halberd-wielding bodyguards, led by Tu Wei, and these fights are the best in the film so far. Once those guys have all been either beaten or slashed to death, the two princes say that anyone who stands by Iron Fingers will be killed, but they’ll spare anyone who leaves now. At this point, the spear-wielding nobodies who make up Iron Fingers’ troops run off. This leaves only Iron Fingers and the four massive guards who carry his throne-like palanquin, bringing us to one of the best (and most unique!) fights in the studio’s history. It’s gonna be tough to describe, but I’ll try.
First Iron Fingers draws a short sword hidden in the arm of his throne and attacks. He fights them more or less to a standstill, as they narrowly dodge fatal blows from both his sword and his iron fingers. Finally, he and Zi-Tai leap and attack each other in mid-air. Zi-Tai is unharmed and cuts his enemy’s cape off, but the guards step up and catch Iron Fingers so that he lands seated again on his throne. The guards run around like crazy, dodging attacks, until Dao Xing attacks them directly while Zi-Tai leaps onto the throne to fight Iron Fingers one-on-one. Zi-Tai makes a leaping lunge at Iron Fingers, who pulls a switch and the throne slides backwards along its rails so that he falls short. Then the switch is flipped again; the throne shoots forward and the guards push the ends of the carrying poles together so that Zi-Tai is in danger of being crushed. Dao Xing rushes to the rescue, forcing the poles apart, and the guards retreat, then shift the now-hinged poles so that, instead of running parallel to the arms of the throne, they run perpendicular.
The brothers attack again, but this time the guards swing the throne so that the poles hit Zi-Tai hard and knock him flying. He lands unconscious. The guards keep pressing, swinging the throne around so that Dao Xing must duck to dodge it, but he whacks a couple of them on the shins with his staff and, while they’re weakened, slips his staff under the throne and uses it as a lever to flip the throne over. Iron Fingers leaps free, then leaps over the throne that Dao Xing has now sent flying at him, and we have another, more standard one-on-one duel. This time Dao Xing succeeds in knocking Iron Fingers around a little bit before he jumps back onto his throne. Now the poles are bent back so that all four guards are behind it, and the throne spins on its platform as it advances, allowing Iron Fingers to knock Dao Xing down. He rises and plants his staff between two flagstones so that he can meet the next charge, and knocks the throne onto its back (though it is still supported atop the poles). Apparently this is a design feature of the throne, though, because it fires two blades from underneath at him. One strikes him in the right elbow, disabling that arm. “You like that?” Iron Fingers asks. “Want some more?” His guards now swing the poles around so that all four are in front of the throne, and pull the ends off to reveal long blades sticking out. They charge.
Dao Xing thrusts with his staff which, fortunately, is very slightly longer than the poles on the throne, and he uses all his strength to hold the throne back inches from his chest against the continued pushing of the four guards. He fights off the pain in his arm and gives the throne a mighty push, which send the guards reeling back. They drop the throne, and at last it is broken. Iron Fingers lands hard on his back, and as he struggles to his feet Dao Xing pulls the blade from his arm and rushes to wake Zi-Tai, who rises just in time to see Iron Fingers’ iron fingers about to strike a fatal blow to the back of his brother’s head. Shoving him aside, Zi-Tai parries the blow and lands a flying kick that sends Iron Fingers sprawling again. Zi-Tai swings at his head, and slices his top-knot off. Now Iron Fingers, hair flying wildly about his face, manages to grab the blade of the magic sword between his fingers, as we’ve seen before. But when he goes to break the blade, his fingers snap off instead! Zi-Tai slashes him across the chest as he reels from the shock, but it only tears his tunic, revealing the armor below. Iron Fingers (if we may still call him that) lands a punch with what remains of his metal hand, grabs up his sword off the ground and attacks. Dao Xing now returns to the battle and deflects a blow aimed at his brother’s head. Iron Fingers does a double jump-kick that sends both brothers flying, then aims a follow-up attack at Dao Xing. But the young man jumps ridiculously high into the air, flipping over four times and coming down aiming a mighty blow with his staff. Zi-Tai attacks to draw off Iron Fingers’ guard, and the blow from Dao Xing knocks Iron Finger’s head down into his abdomen (!).
Now we’re treated to that rarest of all things: a Shaw Brothers denouement. Zi-Tai, now dressed in the white and gold robes of the Emperor, rides his horse through the hills, and we hear the bells of the Shaolin Temple, where we see that the Holy Fools are now the Abbot(s), the former Abbot is now serving tea, and Dao Xing has become a full-fledged Shaolin priest. “We know you missed our company,” the Fools say to him as we freeze-frame. ANOTHER SHAW PRODUCTION.
* * * * * * *
BEST THING ABOUT THE FILM: That crazy throne that Iron Fingers rides around on. Man, what can’t that thing do?
WORST THING ABOUT THE FILM: The whole exorcism subplot. It has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and it brings supernatural elements to a film that doesn’t need them (the pyrotechnics of the Fire General, and the Throne’s apparent ability to defy the laws of physics, aside). Sure, it allows Zi-Tai and Dao Xing to meet, but was there no other way to do that? Yes, it’s the only evidence we ever have that Zi-Tai’s sword is magical, but why is it important for it to be a magic sword rather than just an heirloom of the royal house anyway? Besides which the effects (or “effects”) when Zi-Tai uses the sword to banish the ghost are laughable. And Zi-Tai just happening to show up carrying a magic sword in a situation where only a magic sword can help really hurts the suspension of disbelief. That’s one goofiness too far, in my opinion. This scene belongs in one of Sammo Hung’s weird horror comedies (which, incidentally, I also don’t like much, with apologies to Sammo). Leave it out. Have the brothers meet during a brawl or something. That’s traditional, right?
SHAWISMS: The Flying Carpet shows up in this one. When Gu Long and Zi-Tai duel, the first time we see Zi-Tai as an adult, it’s on the floor of the room they fight in. Later, Iron Fingers and the Fire General beat Zi-Tai up on it as well.
Also, the Shaw’s habit of giving certain characters weird physical signifiers is in evidence with the Holy Fools. One has freckles, one has ridiculously long eyebrows, and one is cross-eyed. Was that just so potential western audiences could tell the three apart? And since the three of them are so undifferentiated, is there any point in being able to tell them apart anyway?
NITPICKING: A lot is made, both in Chinese literature in general and the Shaw Brothers in particular, of the value of unquestioning loyalty. I’m not sure it’s ever been quite so much in evidence as it is in this opening sequence, though. A dozen or more families were willing to send their infant sons out to die in order to help cover the escape of the young princes? That’s pretty serious business. And given that the rest of this movie is mostly silly fun, it seems oddly out-of-place to have something so brutal right out of the gate.
WORST THING ABOUT THE FILM: The whole exorcism subplot. It has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and it brings supernatural elements to a film that doesn’t need them (the pyrotechnics of the Fire General, and the Throne’s apparent ability to defy the laws of physics, aside). Sure, it allows Zi-Tai and Dao Xing to meet, but was there no other way to do that? Yes, it’s the only evidence we ever have that Zi-Tai’s sword is magical, but why is it important for it to be a magic sword rather than just an heirloom of the royal house anyway? Besides which the effects (or “effects”) when Zi-Tai uses the sword to banish the ghost are laughable. And Zi-Tai just happening to show up carrying a magic sword in a situation where only a magic sword can help really hurts the suspension of disbelief. That’s one goofiness too far, in my opinion. This scene belongs in one of Sammo Hung’s weird horror comedies (which, incidentally, I also don’t like much, with apologies to Sammo). Leave it out. Have the brothers meet during a brawl or something. That’s traditional, right?
SHAWISMS: The Flying Carpet shows up in this one. When Gu Long and Zi-Tai duel, the first time we see Zi-Tai as an adult, it’s on the floor of the room they fight in. Later, Iron Fingers and the Fire General beat Zi-Tai up on it as well.
Also, the Shaw’s habit of giving certain characters weird physical signifiers is in evidence with the Holy Fools. One has freckles, one has ridiculously long eyebrows, and one is cross-eyed. Was that just so potential western audiences could tell the three apart? And since the three of them are so undifferentiated, is there any point in being able to tell them apart anyway?
NITPICKING: A lot is made, both in Chinese literature in general and the Shaw Brothers in particular, of the value of unquestioning loyalty. I’m not sure it’s ever been quite so much in evidence as it is in this opening sequence, though. A dozen or more families were willing to send their infant sons out to die in order to help cover the escape of the young princes? That’s pretty serious business. And given that the rest of this movie is mostly silly fun, it seems oddly out-of-place to have something so brutal right out of the gate.
!?! !?! !?!
Ever seen the Star Trek episode “The Savage Curtain”? You know the bit where the bad guys try to draw out the good guys by calling “Help me, Kirk!” or “Help me, Spock!”? Well, Li Chang seems to be channeling that voice when calling for the help of the Holy Fools. It’s an odd feeling to have the memory of that episode stirred in the middle of this film.
!?! !?! !?!
When Dao Xing and Kong are fighting with the Bat’leths and Kong cuts Dao Xing’s tray in half, it’s really super-obvious that the tray was already in two pieces glued loosely together, so that Lee Hoi-Sang could just knock them apart. I get that you can’t have someone swing a real weapon sharp enough to cut through a plank of wood at your star, that would be super-dangerous, but you have to make the fake look better than that!
!?! !?! !?!
I know that Ti Lung was a much bigger star than Derek Yee at this point (well, and always). Still, I think the film might have been better served by having the two brothers be more equal in skill. I know, Dao Xing has learned the Yijing method and Zi-Tai hasn’t, so the difference in their skills is justified, but the effect is to make the younger brother merely the sidekick of the older brother, where they should be partners. Let there be a difference, but let it be less marked.
!?! !?! !?!
We could have used an inserted shot showing where Dao Xing hid while the bad guys were searching the inn. Just having him suddenly appear to kill Kong is a bit too easy.
!?! !?! !?!
Speaking of Kong: man, Lee Hoi-Sang is ill-served in this. Just a few years earlier he was the bad-ass that Gordon Liu had to beat to be considered a master in 36th Chamber of Shaolin. In this one, he never lands a solid blow in any of his fights, and he’s in, like, a half-dozen. I know he’s a punk-ass, but he’s still Shaolin. He ought to be at least a minor threat, rather than someone both heroes can toss aside without breaking a sweat.
!?! !?! !?!
Why is the Water General coded gay? What purpose does it serve in the narrative? If it was meant as an insult to homosexuals, it doesn’t work, since he’s every bit as fearsome as the Fire General and far more dangerous than any of Iron Fingers’ other henchmen. Was it meant just to say, “Hey, we’re enlightened enough to include a gay character without comment”? That’s an interesting thought, but it’s a little undercut by him being such a silly stereotype. Also, although traditionally homosexuality has been much more accepted in Chinese culture than in the West (not coming into disrepute until Christian and Muslim influence spread during the Qing Dynasty), and at the time this film was set this character wouldn’t have seemed odd, in China when this film was made homosexuality was still illegal both in Hong Kong and on the mainland. So, were they trying to make this character extra-evil? But why him? He’s far less important than Iron Fingers. I just don’t understand it. If anyone has any insight, leave a comment. I’d appreciate it.
THOUGHTS: This one’s odd. The worst bits of it are not that easy to sit through, but it has greatness in it. For example, the fire effects when the Fire General is battling are highly impressive. The flaming sword looks really good, and the stuntmen who get set on fire are doing excellent work. Even the way the fire is shot stands out, its light refracting on the camera lens beautifully, making it look like living gold. A similar effect is used on the weird weapons the Water General uses, but the effect is especially lovely with the fire. Maybe there’s some primal fire-worshiping part of my brain that responds to that.
Ti Lung, as mentioned before, rarely got to play a part where his character had fun. Playing this carefree, goofy youth gave him a chance to let his hair down, and he’s clearly having a great time. This is one of my favorite performances from him, and given his status within the studio, that’s really saying something. Also, and this a personal preference, but I really think staves and spears are the most cinematic kung fu weapons. They just look better and are more versatile than swords or batons or whips or whatever. There’s something elegant about the length and balance, as well as the non-lethal aspects of fighting with them, that really works for me. Plus the user can spin it around like a majorette, which I love. And Ti Lung uses a staff better than anyone else at the studio. It feels like he was born with one in his hands.
The Holy Fools’ shtick gets tired after a while, but they are still fun for the most part. And some of the fights are very high-quality. In particular, Derek Yee and Kwan Feng seem to have great chemistry. Both of their duels, though short, are beautifully done. I need to find out whether they ever made a film where one is the main hero and the other the main villain. In fact, between this and Kwan’s short but magnificent fight with Philip Kwok in The Flag Of Iron, I’m beginning to wonder if he isn’t the most underrated fighter on the Shaw’s roster; he seems to make everyone he fights better.
Anyway, an imperfect film, but the things it does right it does SO right that it’s still firmly entrenched in my Shaw Brothers top twenty films. I’m not sure it would be a good entry point for someone who is interested in the Shaws but doesn’t know much about kung fu films, but for people who are already fans, I think I’d have to call this a must-see. So click the link and check it out!
THOUGHTS: This one’s odd. The worst bits of it are not that easy to sit through, but it has greatness in it. For example, the fire effects when the Fire General is battling are highly impressive. The flaming sword looks really good, and the stuntmen who get set on fire are doing excellent work. Even the way the fire is shot stands out, its light refracting on the camera lens beautifully, making it look like living gold. A similar effect is used on the weird weapons the Water General uses, but the effect is especially lovely with the fire. Maybe there’s some primal fire-worshiping part of my brain that responds to that.
Ti Lung, as mentioned before, rarely got to play a part where his character had fun. Playing this carefree, goofy youth gave him a chance to let his hair down, and he’s clearly having a great time. This is one of my favorite performances from him, and given his status within the studio, that’s really saying something. Also, and this a personal preference, but I really think staves and spears are the most cinematic kung fu weapons. They just look better and are more versatile than swords or batons or whips or whatever. There’s something elegant about the length and balance, as well as the non-lethal aspects of fighting with them, that really works for me. Plus the user can spin it around like a majorette, which I love. And Ti Lung uses a staff better than anyone else at the studio. It feels like he was born with one in his hands.
The Holy Fools’ shtick gets tired after a while, but they are still fun for the most part. And some of the fights are very high-quality. In particular, Derek Yee and Kwan Feng seem to have great chemistry. Both of their duels, though short, are beautifully done. I need to find out whether they ever made a film where one is the main hero and the other the main villain. In fact, between this and Kwan’s short but magnificent fight with Philip Kwok in The Flag Of Iron, I’m beginning to wonder if he isn’t the most underrated fighter on the Shaw’s roster; he seems to make everyone he fights better.
Anyway, an imperfect film, but the things it does right it does SO right that it’s still firmly entrenched in my Shaw Brothers top twenty films. I’m not sure it would be a good entry point for someone who is interested in the Shaws but doesn’t know much about kung fu films, but for people who are already fans, I think I’d have to call this a must-see. So click the link and check it out!
No comments:
Post a Comment