Ju ma pao (1976)

Golden City, capital of wondrous Phoenix island, is attacked by an evil despot and his sorcerer ally and conquered, with the Emperor and his three generals killed by the invaders. The young... See full summary »

Directors:

Chi-Lien Yu (as Chick Lim Yu), Kang Yu (uncredited)

Writers:

Ge-Sun Lee (screenplay), Yu-Yen Lin (story)

Stars:

Lingfeng Shangguan, Chung Chien Li, Sing Chen

Cast

Credited cast:
Lingfeng Shangguan	...	(as Sun Kuan Rin Feng)
Chung Chien Li	...	Pao Ta-Hsiung
Sing Chen
Lik Cheung
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tao Chen
Wen Ho Chen
Ma Li Chu
Yuan Chuan	...	General Ma Tsen-Kung (Guest star) (as Chuan Yun)
Yang Fang	...	Magican's apprentice
Wang Hsiao	...	Hou Ping
Chien-Yung Hung
Chi Lin	...	(as Lin Gi)
Chiu Lung Liu
Eh Mao
Yuan Shen	...	Hsiang Chao-Chien

Storyline

Golden City, capital of wondrous Phoenix island, is attacked by an evil despot and his sorcerer ally and conquered, with the Emperor and his three generals killed by the invaders. The young princess and the three children of the generals are hidden away from the invaders with the hope that they one day will return to avenge the deaths of their fathers and reclaim the island paradise. Almost twenty years pass and the grown children do finally return to confront the despot and the sorcerer but, will they be successful?

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | xiangqi | magical mirror | infiltration | hoof tapping | 

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Genres:

Action

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Also Known As:

Chariot, Knight, Cannon

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Eater (2017)

User Reviews

Old School Flash Gordon

I watched this film for the legendary Polly Shang Kuan, but was surprised to find the film to be much more entertaining and effective than I expected.

The opening, colorful costuming, story and pace is mounted in the fashion of a Flash Gordon Saturday cliffhanger serial, and this, a year before Star Wars.

The complicated story involves the military conquest of a peaceful island-nation by an evil despot and his sorcerer ally. His victory leaves the island's three heroic protectors dead, but, their young children are hidden away to grow to adulthood with different identities, unaware of their heritage, in hope that, in time, they might challenge and defeat the evil ruler. The charming Polly Kuan stars as one of these children who has been adopted by the conquerer himself, initially as an insult to the defeated hero, later as his protégé.

Truthfully, the acting and martial arts are not outstanding, but, the story, as presented, has the qualities of a much better film. Even with the poorly done and over the top English dubbing, every once in a while, character driven elements, including humor and pathos are on display. The finale, in many ways, reflects George Lucas's Return of the Jedi, but is more effective on certain levels then the Star Wars effort. From me, that's saying a lot.

I'm not saying this is a very good film, it's not, but there are a few great ideas on screen that would soon be fully realized in the bigger budgeted films of the '80s.

Well worth your time!