The Brave Archer (1977) She diao ying xiong chuan (original title)

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Louis Cha (story)
Kuang Ni (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

The Masters of Death are About to Meet Their Master.

Plot Keywords:

Fighting | Martial Arts | Kung Fu

Cast

Sheng Fu	...	Kuo Ching
Niu Tien	...	Huang Yung
Danny Lee	...	Ouyang Ko (as Li Hsiu Hsien)
Yi-min Li	...	Yang Kang
Feng Ku	...	Hung Chi-kung - 9-Fingered Beggar
Philip Kwok	...	The obstinate Chou Po-tang (as Kuo Chui)
Kara Hui	...	Mu Nien-hsi
Yung Henry Yu	...	Wan-yan Hung Lieh (as Yu Yung)
Hung Tsai	...	Ko Chen-ke
Mei Sheng Fan	...	Liang Chi-weng
Lung Wei Wang	...	Southern Venom Ouyang Feng
Hui-Ling Liu	...	Pao Hsi-yuo
Ching Chu	...	Li Ping
Shen Chan	...	Spiritual Wisdom Priest Ling Tze
Kuan-chung Ku	...	East Venom Huang Yao
Hai-lun Yu	...	Mei Chiao-feng
Chiang Liang Wang	...	Chen Hsuan-feng
Stephan Yip	...	Lu Cheng-feng (as Yeh Tien-hsing)
Lung Ti	...	Northern King Tuan Chi-hsing
Hsiung Yang	...	Hsiu Chu-chi (as Yang Erh-chiu)
Shao-hua Li	...	Wang Chu-yi
Fai Wong Lam	...	Chu Chung
Meng Lo	...	Han Bao-kou (as Lo Kun-lin)
Jamie Luk	...	Nan Hsi-jen (as Lu Chien Ming)
Feng Lu	...	Chang Ah-sheng (as Chu Lu-feng)
Chung-Hsing Chao	...	Chuan Chin-fa
Chie Chou	...	Han Hsiao-ying
Yan Tsan Tang	...	Kuo Hsiao-tien
Shu Pei Sun	...	Sha Tang-tien
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hung Chen
Szu-Chia Chen
Sheng Chiang
Kin Ping Chow
Jin Guo
Yu Lung Hsiao
Huang-hsi Liu
Hsin Hsiang Sun
Robert Tai
Choh Lam Tsang
Han Chen Wang
Li Wang
Dick Wei	...	Yang Tieh-hsin (as Tu Chi-lung)
Pai Wei
Tai-Ping Yu

Directed by
Cheh Chang

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Louis Cha		story
Kuang Ni		screenplay

Produced by
Lieh Chen	....	associate producer
Runme Shaw	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Yung-Yu Chen

Cinematography by
Mu-To Kung

Film Editing by
Hsing-lung Chiang		(as Hsing Lung Chiang)

Set Decoration by
Johnson Tsao

Costume Design by
Chi-Yu Liu

Makeup Department
Yen-Lien Peng	....	hair stylist
Hsu-Ching Wu	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lam Chua	....	production manager
Mona Fong	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tzu-chi Yang	....	assistant director
Te Shen Yeh	....	assistant director

Art Department
Yu Lai	....	props

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

Stunts
Ka Ting Lee	....	stunt coordinator
Robert Tai	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Fen Chen	....	lighting technician
Ying-Chuan Kuan	....	lighting technician

Other crew
Fa-hsien Hsin	....	script supervisor
Chin-pan Huang	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Distributors

• World Northal (1983) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)

Also Known As:

"She diao ying xiong chuan" - Hong Kong (original title)
"Kung Fu Warlords" - USA
"Shaolin Archers" - Philippines (English title)

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Movie Connections:

Followed by She diao ying xiong chuan san ji (1981)

BRAVE ARCHER – Shaw Bros. adaptation of "Condor Heroes"

BRAVE ARCHER (1977, aka KUNG FU WARLORDS) is a sprawling two-hour costume drama with a sprinkling of kung fu action staged on lavish sets at the Shaw Bros. studio, directed by Chang Cheh, and boasting an all-star cast. Adapted from celebrated novelist Louis Cha's "Legend of the Condor Heroes," it's packed with characters and incidents, many zipping across the screen with barely enough time to register before the next wave comes in.

The central plot is hard to summarize, but has to do, initially, with two 18-year-old kung fu trainees, each of whom was raised apart from the other by different teachers, whose intent is to have the boys fight to determine which teachers were better. (The boys' fathers had been sworn brothers, but an attack by Chin troops, when the boys were infants, had left one father dead and the other in hiding.) This plot thread is dropped when one of the boys, Kuo Ching (Fu Sheng) meets a young girl, Yong (Tien Niu), whose father is a celebrated teacher whose disciple had been killed earlier in the film by Kuo in defense of his own teacher. Things get really complicated and involve families reuniting, priests, rival teachers, a two-part kung fu manual and a madman who knows the manual. It all comes down to a contest for the hand of Yong between Kuo and a rival suitor.

Fu Sheng is cast in an appealing role and his romance with Yong (Tien Niu) is cute and endearing. That it lasts through the whole film, with a happy ending in store, is unusual for a kung fu film, most of which avoid romance entirely. There are lots of other interesting women characters, including one of Fu Sheng's teachers and a blind woman in a cave who teaches the other boy 'evil kung fu,' foreshadowing the character of Jade Fox in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000).

The real joy for fans of these films is the star-spotting. In addition to Fu Sheng, there's Wang Lung Wei, who fights Fu on a tree limb near the end; Kuo Chui (one of the Five Venoms) as the madman in a gray fright wig who controls the key manuals and teaches what he knows to Fu Sheng; Ku Feng as Beggar Hong, another teacher; Lee Yi Min (THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING) as Fu Sheng's counterpart (who leaves the film too soon); Kara Hui Ying Hung as the kung fu-fighting adopted daughter of the surviving sworn brother; Tsai Hung as a blind teacher; and Danny Lee (THE KILLER) as Fu Sheng's rival for the girl. Also on hand are three of the other Venoms (Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Lo Meng). Tien Niu, as Yong, is quite a remarkable young actress and a worthy match for the great Fu Sheng.

It's all shot on magnificent studio sets and moves at a breathless pace. There are so many plot threads and so many characters that there's little time for any extended fights. Die-hard kung fu fans, for whom the film may be too plot- and character-driven, are better off with other films directed by Chang Cheh at the time, including THE CHINATOWN KID, made the same year and with many of the same stars, and the subsequent group of films starring the Five Venoms. For those who appreciate Shaw Bros. costume epics, however, this is a must-see, although good-quality copies are extremely rare at this time in the U.S.

ADDENDUM (1/25/08): Since I first did this review back in 2001, BRAVE ARCHER has come out in a beautifully restored, remastered R3 DVD edition from Celestial Pictures/IVL, Hong Kong, as have all three of the BRAVE ARCHER sequels, all of which I've reviewed on this site as well. The length of the film on the DVD is 117 min., virtually identical to the running time of the taped-off TV broadcast version I watched for the initial review. The IMDb lists 127 min. as the running time, so I don't know if there's some elusive longer version out there somewhere or not, or if the 117-minute cut is the definitive one. It should be noted that not all of the Celestial DVD releases of Shaw Bros. titles are complete prints. ADDITIONAL ADDENDUM (11/3/10): Since the last addendum, Media Blasters released an R1 DVD edition of THE BRAVE ARCHER, with audio commentary by...yours truly.