Heroes Shed No Tears (1980) User Reviews

A wuxia drama that is bogged bown by its overly serious tone

[CobraMist · 5/10 · 2 May 2021]

Note: this review is for the English dubbed version

Hears Shed No Tears is a Shaw Bros wuxia flick that is much heavier on the talking then it is on the action. Alliances are formed, broken, and reformed as a set of top martial artists scheme against each other. The principle characters each have their own shtick that helps to make them feel unique and each get a decent amount of character development. Being a Shaw Bro.'s production the sets and costumes are gorgeous.

Sadly it is not very enthralling due to several issues. The stakes are not clearly defined as they are seeking to be the best martial artist but nothing is ever said of why this is important. The voice actors who did the dub offer little in the way of excitement or energy and they all deliver very forgettable performances.

Another point against the film is the writing. The dialog is often repetitive with characters restating their intent multiple times in a single scene. Many of the twists come off as lazy with writers choosing to no build up to the twist, opting instead to have the twist come out of nowhere. Much of the dialog revolves around angst of the characters and how they sad they feel, which does not feel terribly heartfelt given some of the above stated issues.

Some of the fight scenes are fun as the choreography is decent and there are a few instances of weird weaponry being used. The fights are not terribly violent as the movie only uses very mild blood effects (e.g. Someone is stabbed/slashed and their clothes will now be bloody). None of the fights are terribly psychotronic with this going for being more of a serious, historical drama then something zanier. The film does break from this tone in one scene when a dancer does cut off her own leg to get back at her partner (!) and then proceeds to indigently hop away (!!).

If you like the idea of Shaw Bro.'s putting on what is essentially a some kind of serious, stage play but with sword fights then you might like this. Otherwise my suggestion would be to skip it.

Only average

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 24 February 2018]

HEROES SHED NO TEARS is a typical martial world story from Shaw Brothers director Chor Yuen. He wrote the screenplay himself which may be why this one is a bit less confusing than most of his novel adaptations (although it's still quite confusing). The film has a slightly dated look to it and thinks aren't helped by doltish hero Alexander Fu Sheng playing one of his dumber protagonists. As usual, there are rival martial arts masters with their own styles and one of them is a villain, trying to eliminate the competition. This film has a great visual look to it with fine sets and the like, but the action is merely adequate. As is usual with the Shaw films of this era, the exemplary ensemble cast helps to make it quite palatable: watch out for Ku Feng, Jason Pai Piao, Derek Yee, and Yueh Hua playing various degrees of bad-ass.

HEROES SHED NO TEARS - strong cast in complex swordplay drama

[BrianDanaCamp · 11 January 2004]

Not to be confused with the 1986 film directed by John Woo, HEROES SHED NO TEARS (1980) is yet another in the long series of Shaw Bros. swordplay adventures directed by Chor Yuen from the novels of Ku Lung. This one's more serious and less playful than earlier entries in the series (e.g. THE MAGIC BLADE) and is far more complicated. It features five strong Shaw Bros. male stars (led by Alexander Fu Sheng) in the roles of five men of more or less equal status and martial arts expertise who come into conflict when one of them seeks to take over the martial arts world and undermine or kill the others. While the production values are, as always, beautiful to behold and the action plentiful, the real draw of this film is in watching the way the men interact, form alliances, turn against each other and gradually piece together the truth of the situation. The five stars--Fu Sheng, Ku Feng, Derek Yee, Yueh Hua, Jason Pai Piao--work well together and make up an exemplary ensemble cast.

Son of a famous martial arts master, the charismatic Zhuo Donglai (Derek Yee) is crafty and ruthless and always confident he'll prevail. Using deceit, betrayal, bribery and manipulation, he sets out to destroy the status and livelihoods of two rivals, Zhumeng (Ku Feng), of the Hall of Braveheart, and Sima Chaoqun (Jason Pai Piao), known as "the Unbeatable," and head of a prominent security organization. Two other champions intervene at various points: Xiao Leixue (Yueh Hua), known as "the man with the wooden box," because of the box of 13 special weapons he carries with him at all times, and Gao Jianfei (Fu Sheng), a young swordsman who carries the special "Sword of Tears," which is engraved with a dire prediction that seems to refer to one of the other characters.

Gao and Zhumeng become fast friends early on when they fight off Zhuo's men in a major confrontation at the border. But their friendship suffers later when they both realize they're in love with the same mysterious girl, "Graceful" (Chiu Ya-Chi), who once danced for three days and nights with Zhumeng. It all culminates in a series of fights at a mountain villa involving all the principal characters.

Given the emphasis on the male relationships, it's no surprise that Chor Yuen found little room for the large numbers of beautiful actresses with which he usually populates his films. "Graceful" is the only major female role and she's played by Chiu Ya-Chi, an actress making her Shaw Bros. debut with this film. She is seen dancing in a couple of scenes. She's beautiful, petite and makes a good impression in a supporting role, but she doesn't have the striking presence and aggressive stance of such other Chor Yuen leading ladies as Lily Li, Ching Li, Betty Pei Ti, Nora Miao, and Candy Wen Hsueh-erh, to name only a few.

The fight scenes, staged by Tang Chia, are frequent and involve mostly spear and sword, but are all fairly short, if nicely staged. There is much leaping around as characters vault up and over rooftops to either flee the scene or continue the fight in another set. The actors are all quite competent in cinematic combat, although one wishes Fu Sheng had been given opportunities to show off the hand-to-hand kung fu skills he displayed so masterfully in his films for director Chang Cheh. But he is just one of an ensemble cast here. The big finale is somewhat anti-climactic and should have been a little more extensive, given the presence of all five lead players.

Still, it's a beautiful, grand entertainment, but one that requires close concentration to keep track of all the shifting relationships. It's also got a great Chinese music score, including opening and closing songs, with translated lyrics. The closing song includes the lines, "Heroes do not shed tears that lightly" and "Heroic tears are not easily shed," sentiments that somewhat contradict the film's title.

"Heroic tears are not shed easily."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 9/10 · 6 February 2021]

Whilst searching for info on John Woo's Heroes Shed No Tears (1984-also reviewed) I discovered that a film with the same title had been made by the Shaw Bros in 1980. Taking part in a poll for the best films from '80,I got set to witness heroes cry.

View on the film:

Reflecting the single tear stain shimmering on the sword, co-writer/(with Long Gu) director Yuen Chor & cinematographer Chieh Huang draw a spectacular spellbinding atmosphere in long ultra-stylised panning shots across the beautifully painted sets bursting with vibrant primary colours that get tainted by slivers of blood.

Staging a sparkling Musical/dance number, Chor closely works with fight choreographer Tang Chia to present the thrilling action set-pieces in a dance composition manner, unrolling the martial arts master twirling in the sky, (star Sheng Fu shattered his right leg when his harness broke) Chor lands them on a canvas with a extremely theatrical foreground of trees, rocks and flowers which bring out a fantastical mythical mood to Chor's Wuxia twist.

Undergo several procedures after the bone in his right leg didn't set properly,and not recovering until a year later when he made his return with The Treasure Hunters (1981), Sheng Fu (who was only 28 when he died in 1983, after his brother took one of the winding curves on Clearwater Bay Road too fast when driving, and hit a cement barrier) gives a wonderful turn as Kao,who wears a traditional warrior respect for the sword, with a edge of the blade urgency from finding himself entwined in backstabbing battles,as the heroes shed tears.