Yi tian tu long ji (1978)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Yuen Chor

Writers:

Louis Cha (novel)
Yuen Chor

Release Date:

19 October 1978 (Hong Kong)

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Fei Ai
Ga Yee Chan
Shen Chan	...	Kwun Lun School's male leader
Lai Fong Cheng
Han Chiang
Nan Chiang
Li Ching
Miao Ching
Angie Chiu	...	Zhou Zhi-ruo
Norman Chu	...	The Green Bat
Ping Ha
Kuan-chung Ku
Fai Wong Lam
Hui-Ling Liu
Lieh Lo
Jamie Luk
Helen Poon		(as Bin Seung Poon)
Lao Shen
Gary Siu
Ching Tien
Lai Wang
Dick Wei
Hung Wei
Hsueh-erh Wen
Yung Wong
Hang-Sheng Wu
Chih-Ching Yang
Tung-Shing Yee
Stephan Yip
Wah Yuen
On-on Yu

Also Known As:

Chivalrous Killer (International: English title)
Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre (Hong Kong: English title)
Kei tin tiu lung gei (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Movie Connections:

Followed by Yi tian tu long ji da jie ju (1978)

The original Kung Fu Cult Master

Over the years, kung fu films have picked up the reputation of being thin on plot. Anyone going into HEAVEN SWORD AND DRAGON SABRE thinking this will be in for an enormous shock.

Very simply, the story follows the exploits of Cheung Mo-Kei (played by now director/writer Derek Yee), a child of a doomed romance between a swordsman from one of the major (i.e., 'righteous') martial arts clans and a woman from the Ming Cult. Cheung finds himself orphaned and poisoned at a young age. He's also the only person who knows the whereabouts of his godfather, the Golden Lion King, a master martial artist of the Ming Cult and possessor of the all-powerful Dragon Sabre. Through a series of adventures, Cheung is cured of his poison, learns tremendously powerful fighting techniques, and finds his loyalties tested by the righteous clans and the Ming Cult. All the while, he and many others of the martial arts world seek to unite the Dragon Sabre with its sister blade, the Heaven Sword, for legend says that the two will reveal a secret of great power when brought together.

Again, the above is a simplification of the plot. Like other Chor Yuen movies, the story is as rich as the landscape. The sets, the costumes, and the sheer number of characters is quite impressive for a martial arts epic of this era and will be a treat for anyone who enjoys lavish productions.

Derek Yee spearheads a rather sizeable cast and plays the lead hero straightfaced throughout. His fighting abilities do not threaten to supplant other stars of that period (such as Gordon Liu) but they are adequate for the effects-laden fights in the story.

For anyone who is wondering, this movie tells the same story as THE KUNG FU CULT MASTER (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0108624) starring Jet Li. The two films even end on the roughly the same cliffhanger. For those of you who always wondered how KFCM would end, see this film and its conclusion, HEAVEN SWORD AND DRAGON SABRE 2.