Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969) Du bei dao wang (original title)

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writer:

Cheh Chang (writer)

Release Date:

28 February 1969 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot Keywords:

Greenhorn | Chivalry | Filial Love | Invitation | Sequel

Cast

Yu Wang	...	Fang Gang
Chiao Chiao	...	Hsiao Man
Essie Lin Chia	...	'Thousand Fingers' Hua Niang
Feng Tien	...	'Unknown Nemesis' Ling Hsu
Lei Cheng	...	Lu Tung
Feng Ku	...	'Titan King' Chiao Feng
Ma Wu	...	'White Knight' Kuan Hsien
Chia Tang	...	'Wheelmaster' Sung Wen
Chia-Liang Liu	...	'Ape Arms' Yuan Chen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sing Chen	...	Shan Hsiung
Ming Chiu	...	Lei Ming
Hua Chung	...	Lu Ta (as Lei Pin)
Tan Fan
Yeh Fang	...	'Black Knight' Kuan Huang
Yu Fang	...	Ting Sheng
Hsieh-su Fung
Pin Ho	...	Lu Lung
Tung Hu
Wei Lieh Lan	...	Wheelmaster leiutenant
Hao Li	...	Hsu Lung
Chia Yung Liu	...	'Hades Buddha' Shih Hu
Kang Liu	...	Yen Yun
Cliff Lok	...	Mu Ching (as Chin Tung)
Tien Hsi Tang	...	Master slain by Ling Hsu
Li Tung	...	'Poison Dragon' Tuan Shi (as Kang Hua)
Ching Ho Wang	...	Taichi clan Chief Mu
Kuang Yu Wang	...	Lu Chun
Lung Yu	...	Mu Chun
Hsiang-jen Yuan	...	'Whirling Dervish' Teng Fei
Hsi Chang	...	Innkeeper (uncredited)
David Chiang	...	Tavern Scout (uncredited)
Hsia Hsu	...	Bamboo grove scout (uncredited)
Yasuyoshi Shikamura	...	Bamboo grove scout (uncredited)
Lung Ti	...	Lu Hung (uncredited)
Chung Wang	...	Wheelmaster's Henchman (uncredited)
Tsing Wang	...	Wheelmaster squad (uncredited)

Directed by
Cheh Chang

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Cheh Chang		writer

Produced by
Runme Shaw	....	producer

Original Music by
Fu-ling Wang

Cinematography by
Mu-To Kung

Film Editing by
Hsing-lung Chiang

Art Direction by
Chi-Jui Chen

Costume Design by
Chi Li

Makeup Department
Yuen Fang	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ma Wu	....	assistant director
Ching-Chen Yang	....	assistant director (as Yang Chin Cheng)

Art Department
An Liu	....	props

Sound Department
Yung-Hua Wang	....	sound recordist

Stunts
Chia-Liang Liu	....	stunt coordinator
Chia Tang	....	stunt coordinator

Other crew
Pei Ling Chen	....	title designer
Chiang Lia Lui	....	action choreographer
Chia Tang	....	action choreographer

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Distributors

• Concorde Film (197?) (Netherlands) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

"Du bei dao wang" - Hong Kong (original title)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:15

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Movie Connections:

Follows The One-Armed Swordsman (1967)

A Nutshell Review: (DVD) Return of the One-Armed Swordsman

After watching the original One-Armed Swordsman, directed by Chang Cheh and starring Wang Yu in the title role, I knew I had to watch this direct sequel, as the others had David Chiang replacing Wang Yu as Fang Gang.

Continuing where the first movie left off, we see Fang Gang leading a life of a farmer, without a care of JiangHu politics. But as the saying goes, and in martial arts movie, so long as you're a reputable swordsman, trouble will always be looking for you. The emergence of the evil Eight Demon Swordsmen clan brought about chaos, with their issuing of forced challenges and a grand meeting amongst the swordsman clans. The senior members of various clans get annihilated or captured, and its down to the junior members to try and convince Fang Gang to come out of "retirement" to assist them in their quest of rescue, and getting rid of the Eight Demon Swordsmen.

It's also pretty cool to see the main villains being crafted with various deadly weapons and different personalities. Like the one with the deadly chain-attached sickle, or the mean looking knife-shield. How about a weapon which seemed to fire pellets of poison, and a sword with extensible blade? Perhaps the more interesting villain was the lady assassin, with her demure looks, and deadly hidden knives, giving a new meaning to back-stabbing! However, being villains, our hero and his gang of merry men, while on the way to the villains' fortress, get to dispatch them one by one in deadly, bloody fashion. Although by today's standards the blood is pretty fake looking, it's still quite a bloody affair with slashing, stabbings - knives through body, and squirting blood. But I must add that it did give a sense of cheesy nostalgia to how blood was created for the screen in those days.

Classic martial arts movie scenes like the bamboo forest also get featured in this movie, though the forest did look a bit sparse, since it was filmed in a sound stage. Added to the fight scenes was a demonstration of superb "qing-gong" (light-skill, fleet-footedness) by Fang Gang, though the wire work used was extremely elementary, and came across quite laughably. Back in those days, this sequence would have been da bomb though.

The story's nothing to shout about - it has almost every thematic element that you'd expect from a martial arts movie, and classic scene settings like forests and inns. But it sure is one heck of a fun ride - bigger, bolder, badder than the original, with a lot more disposable characters for the body count.

Code 3 DVD extras contains a pretty weak lineup of only the trailer (and trailers for other movies), colour stills, the poster, selected cast and crew biography and filmography, and a one screen production notes. The DVD for the original seemed better and more thorough.