Golden Swallow (1968)
"Jin yan zi" (original title)

Golden Swallow (Pei-pei Cheng) is living peacefully with her "friend" ('Lo Lieh' ) by a waterfall. She has seemingly given up her death-dealing ways but soon she is accused of going on a ... See full summary »

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang, Yun Chih Tu

Stars:

Pei-pei Cheng, Yu Wang, Lieh Lo

Cast

Credited cast:
Pei-pei Cheng	...	Golden Swallow Hsieh Wo Yen
Yu Wang	...	Silver Roc Hsiao Peng
Lieh Lo	...	Iron Whip Han Tao
Hsin Yen Chao	...	Mei Niang
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chuan Chen
David Chiang
Miao Ching
Chun Erh
Dan Fan	...	Cowering servant
Hsieh-su Fung
Pin Ho
Hsia Hsu	...	Golden Dragon Five Hero
Sung-hao Hsu
Tung Hu
Ching-Yun Huang

Storyline

Golden Swallow (Pei-pei Cheng) is living peacefully with her "friend" ('Lo Lieh' ) by a waterfall. She has seemingly given up her death-dealing ways but soon she is accused of going on a bloody rampage against an evil clan. As it turns out, the actual culprit is an old beau named Silver Roc ('Jimmy Wang Yu' ) who is impersonating her to draw her out into the open. A complicated love triangle develops as her affections are torn between the two men while all three must also deal with the evil kungfu clan.

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Plot Keywords:

kung fu | swashbuckler | cult film | second part | sword fight | 

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Taglines:

Mistress of Kung Fu and the Martial Arts!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

3 April 1968 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Golden Swallow

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong (2003)

User Reviews

A colorful vehicle for Jimmy Wang Yu and Shaw Bros. diva Cheng Pei Pei

THE GIRL WITH THE THUNDERBOLT KICK (aka GOLDEN SWALLOW, 1968) is a Shaw Bros. costume swordplay drama notable for co-starring the studio's top male action star, Jimmy Wang Yu, with the studio's then-reigning swashbuckling diva Cheng Pei Pei (THE THUNDERING SWORD). Wang Yu plays the notorious killer Silver Roc and Cheng plays his childhood sweetheart Golden Swallow, whom he hasn't seen in years (a reprise of a character the same actress played in King Hu's COME DRINK WITH ME, 1966). Golden Swallow follows Roc's trail of blood and is accompanied by Golden Whip Hand (Lo Lieh), who is in love with her but helps her track down Silver Roc. Midway through the film they all meet, but Silver Roc quickly challenges Whip Hand to a duel after the latter condemns Roc for an earlier instance of cold-blooded killing. That's pretty much the whole plot and it takes a long time getting to the final duel.

This film has its fans but it doesn't hold up as well as such other Wang Yu vehicles of the 1960s as ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, and THE ASSASSIN. There are plenty of swordfights here, but they're fairly stylized, with lots of leaping around, twirling of swords, soft blows, and unconvincing fighting skills. Cheng Pei Pei has great screen presence, but she's more of a dancer than a fighter. There's an undertone of unrequited love that's rather poignant at times. Following this film Wang Yu turned to a harder-edged brand of martial arts film with THE CHINESE BOXER (1970), generally considered the first pure kung fu film.

The video transfer available in this country has Cantonese dialogue dubbed over the original Mandarin soundtrack, which remains slightly audible. The transfer is full-screen, cutting off the widescreen subtitles on the sides, making some of the dialogue difficult to decipher. The Cantonese sound mix includes music cues lifted from John Barry's soundtrack for the James Bond film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE and awkwardly plastered in over the very lovely original music track.