Bai ma su che gou hun fan (1979)

Director:

Ma Wu

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Castration | Eunuch | Martial Arts | Sword Fight | Kung Fu

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Hua Chung		(as Hwa Tsung)
Fei Meng
Don Wong		(as Tao Wang)
Lieh Lo
Chung-erh Lung		(as Chun Erh Lung)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fei Lung
Jen-ping Su		(as Su Chen Ping)

Also Known As:

Eunuch of the Western Palace (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

UK:91 min (DVD version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15

Company:

Fine Amusement Co. Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Martial Arts Mayhem Vol. 3 (2007) (V)

Fun Characters Make This Entertaining.

An evil Eunuch named Wang in a bid to take over the ruling dynasty in his area strikes a bargain with foreign Japanese allies in an attempt to convince them to help him seize power. Meanwhile a group of resistance fighters secretly gather together in an attempt to bring the truth of Wang's plans to light as they are each entrusted with evidence that exposes the truth about Wang and his traitorous plans, evidence they must get to the Emperor before Wang can execute his plans but it won't be easy with Wang's men blocking the roads and him having spies hidden everywhere.

This film is filled with fun characters, each who seem to possess a unique look all their own as well as a unique fighting style and a unique choice of weapons (kind of like G.I. Joe characters. In fact our characters here too would make rather a nice toy set). It helps that these characters are played by faces (Meng Fei, Lo Lieh, Doris Lung, Lung Fei) that should prove most familiar to many Kung Fu fans. That said, this film reminds me of G.I. Joe also in terms of its narrative style. Dealing with so many characters leads to most inevitably remaining less than fully developed and there's a strong focus on having the different characters involved here eventually winding up in some type of showdown between good and evil forces. There's nothing really special or spectacular about the film, nothing which truly sets it apart from the pack so to speak and an even bigger negative is the disgusting and disturbing early narrative explaining the Eunuch history, something which is in fact completely unnecessary. But if one finds enjoyment in comic book style adventure, one could do a lot worse than this film.