Bat Without Wings (1980)

Acclaimed director Chu Yuan was credited for bringing mystery thriller ingredients into his atmospheric martial arts epics, and this is one of the most impressive examples. The title refers... See full summary »

Director:

Yuen Chor (as Chu Yuan)

Writer:

Yuen Chor (screenplay) (as Chin Yu)

Stars:

Fei Ai, Pui-San Auyeung, Shen Chan

Cast

Credited cast:
Fei Ai
Pui-San Auyeung	...	(as Pei-Shan Ouyang)
Shen Chan	...	Ghost King (Hell Gang leader)
Li Ching
Miao Ching
Feng Ku	...	Iron Palm Szma Zhongyuan
Kuan-Chung Ku
Li-Ling Liao
Hui-Ling Liu
Jason Piao Pai
Lao Shen
Ching Tang
Yuan-Shun Wu
Chih-Ching Yang
Tung-Shing Yee

Storyline

Acclaimed director Chu Yuan was credited for bringing mystery thriller ingredients into his atmospheric martial arts epics, and this is one of the most impressive examples. The title refers to the feared nickname of a notorious rapist-murderer who swoops down to destroy one swordsman's fiancé and frame another. Or does he? The two tragic men team with a beautiful swordswoman to find the truth

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Genres:

Action | Mystery

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User Reviews

A Bit Uneven, But Still Entertains!!

Fan's of Hong Kong cinema would most likely know Chor Yuen more-so for his role as the main bad guy in Jackie Chan's legendary, Police Story, rather than his work as a popular director. But personally, I'm a big fan of Chor Yuen's Shaw Brother films. They always offered something a little different, often mixing thriller, mystery, and horror into kung-fu epics, with the Bat Without Wings being a prime example...

Starring the wonderful Ku Feng, a man who's filmography has spanned over 50 years, as the titular character, the Bat glides around the place, raping women and killing anyone who gets in his way, all while looking like an angry reject from popular rock band, Kiss. He even dons face paint almost identical to that of Gene Simmons himself. As it turns out, Feng is only masquerading as the Bat, and has the real one locked up in a cave having lost his memory a few years before, after getting hit on the head during a fight.

And while the Bat Without Wings has a lot of great things going for it, a lot of scenes with the aforementioned Feng, come off as silly as he seems to defy gravity in a much more abstract way than everyone else. But its hardly anything to put you off . In fact, the little bits of silliness really just add to the charm of the whole thing to be honest, giving the film a slight tongue-in-cheek feel at times. That said, director Yuen delivers an atmospheric, comic book style film packed with murder, and a host of incredible sets often enhanced with slow-moving smoke and fantastic lighting. This is backed by a wonderful score, and non-stop fights, which really, is what we're here for!

Shaw's regular, Tong Gaai handles the choreography offering plenty of wonderful fights from one-to-one battles, to our heroes taking on small armies of swordsmen with some lengthy one-shots and great moves from all involved. There's definitely no shortage of action with something kicking off every 5 or 10 minutes, leading to a fantastic finale against the two bats...

Joining Ku Feng is the handsome Derek Yee, brother to star David Chaing and an incredible director in his own right. Yee was quite the leading man in his Shaw Brother's days and while he doesn't have much depth to his character here, still proves a joy to watch and is great as the hero of the piece. Other popular stars that pop up are Jason Pai Piao, a young Yuen Wah, Yuen Bun, and even Yuen Biao pops up through-out as a background fighter.

Bat Without Wings may seem a little uneven, but if you don't think too hard about it, the film actually proves to be a fun watch. It does get bogged down with the introduction of far too many characters (that usually don't go anywhere) but again, its not enough to make it unwatchable!

Views: A bizarre Shaw Brothers entry, Bat Without Wings is far from the best in the catalogue, but entertains nonetheless with its non-stop fights!

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

11 December 1980 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Bat Without Wings

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1