Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

Ode to Gallantry

Original title: Xia ke hang
  • 19821982
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
132
YOUR RATING
Ode to Gallantry (1982)
ActionComedy
A lone wanderer is repeatedly mistaken for someone else and drawn into a number of violent battles.A lone wanderer is repeatedly mistaken for someone else and drawn into a number of violent battles.A lone wanderer is repeatedly mistaken for someone else and drawn into a number of violent battles.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
132
YOUR RATING
    • Cheh Chang
    • Louis Cha(story)
    • Cheh Chang
    • Kuang Ni
  • Stars
    • Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok
    • Ching Tang
    • Hui-Ling Liu
    • Cheh Chang
    • Louis Cha(story)
    • Cheh Chang
    • Kuang Ni
  • Stars
    • Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok
    • Ching Tang
    • Hui-Ling Liu
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 5User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Ode to Gallantry (1982)
    Ode to Gallantry (1982)
    Ode to Gallantry (1982)
    Ode to Gallantry (1982)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok
    Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok
      Ching Tang
      Ching Tang
      Hui-Ling Liu
      Hui-Ling Liu
      Li Wang
      Li Wang
      Chien Sun
      Chien Sun
      Hsueh-Erh Wen
      Hsueh-Erh Wen
      Tsui-Ling Yu
      Tsui-Ling Yu
        Sheng Chiang
        Sheng Chiang
        Ke Chu
        Tien-Chi Cheng
        Tien-Chi Cheng
        Ming-Wai Chan
        Ming-Wai Chan
          Shen Chan
          Shen Chan
          • Brother Bai of Xueshan School
          Hsi Chang
          Hsi Chang
          Han Chiang
          Han Chiang
          Kwok-Keung Choi
            Kin-Ping Chow
            Kin-Ping Chow
            Ping Ha
            Ping Ha
            Lun Hua
            Lun Hua
              • Cheh Chang
              • Louis Cha(story)
              • Cheh Chang
              • Kuang Ni
            • All cast & crew
            • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

            More like this

            Death Duel
            6.6
            Death Duel
            The Avenging Eagle
            7.4
            The Avenging Eagle
            The Sword Stained with Royal Blood
            6.6
            The Sword Stained with Royal Blood
            The Sentimental Swordsman
            6.6
            The Sentimental Swordsman
            Lian cheng jue
            6.5
            Lian cheng jue
            Black Lizard
            5.9
            Black Lizard
            Clans of Intrigue
            6.9
            Clans of Intrigue
            Tian can bian
            7.0
            Tian can bian
            The Deadly Breaking Sword
            6.5
            The Deadly Breaking Sword
            Dynasty of Blood
            6.8
            Dynasty of Blood
            The Magic Blade
            7.0
            The Magic Blade
            The Deadly Duo
            6.5
            The Deadly Duo

            Storyline

            Edit

            User reviews5

            Review
            Review
            Featured review
            7/10
            A Nutshell Review: (DVD) Ode to Gallantry (1982)
            My love affair with classic Shaw Bros martial arts movies continues, and it's a good thing that the Esplanade Library has a decent selection. In continuation of my recent hunt for stories based on Louis Cha's novels, I chanced upon Ode to Gallantry (Xia Ke Xing) on the shelves, and despite it being cast with a relative bunch of lesser known names (of today), there's one name on the credits that compelled me to watch this: Director Chang Cheh.

            My memory of the story dates back to the early 80s, based on the TVB series starring Tony Leung as the lead twin characters Shi Po Tian and Shi Zhong Yu, in a classic tale of mistaken identities. The story begins with Shi Po Tian aka the Bastard, a beggar of sorts, stealing a bun which contains the Black Iron Token, created by skilled pugilist Xie Yanke, who grants the holder one wish, and includes not killing the wielder of the token. As they say, the Heavens smile on the Idiots, and having been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Shi Po Tian slowly learns formidable skills while under the tutelage of Xie Yanke.

            Given that my memory is likely to be faulty, I can't really compare this movie to the original novel, but like all movies based on Louis Cha classics, it's usually a condensation of themes and characters, but unlike The Proud Youth, this movie doesn't overhaul the characters and allow them to undergo name changes. Strong in its theme of Gallantry, embodied by the dim-witted Shi Po Tian, the movie does move along quite fast with little time devoted for depth.

            Acting chops are nothing spectacular, and as the usual martial arts movies of the time goes, romance takes a backseat, even though you have a female character Dingding Dangdang (Candy Wen Xue-Er) having the hots for our lead twin characters, played by Philip Kwok Chun-Fung.

            But of course the main deal here is the martial arts. There are not many wire work here, and the fights are a combination of weapons and palms, as well as a great deal on evasive techniques, as Shi Po Tian is a reluctant fighter, who sees no rational behind fights and the taking of lives. Expect the usual blood fests from Chang Cheh, reputed for his generous dose of fake blood usage.

            Like all movies of its genre, the ending is usually weak, as if after the big fight, there's nothing left to do, and no purpose in life, and it ends just there. As mentioned before, the novel is a rich source, but having to translate it for the big screen, can be daunting at times. The crux of it gets a treatment, but the rest got forgotten. Remember though, this was made in the early 80s, so story telling techniques have evolved loads since then.

            This Code 3 DVD produced by IVL contains the usual extras you expect from their packaging of Shaw Bros classic movies. You have a few production and movie stills, one original poster which is quite small in size, a one page one paragraph worth of production notes, the theatrical trailer and other trailers of the same genre, which have undergone an update (I doubt they are the original trailers), and a very short cast and crew biography.

            Perhaps the best bit of extras here is a documentary on director Chang Cheh himself, running at 17 mins and 20 secs. It contains interviews with stars of today and yesteryears, as they recount their memories and experiences with working together with the great man who have revived the martial arts genre, and other genres in the Hong Kong movie industry. Definitely not to be missed, though it could have been done with a little bit more detail. For those who have not watched most of Chang Cheh's works, be warned of the loads of spoilers (character deaths especially) featured in it.

            Thankfully too the documentary also comes with English subtitles for those who cannot understand Mandarin/Cantonese, and Mandarin/English subtitles are also available on the feature film, restored decently in the DVD (you can see how picture quality had degraded in the documentary above).
            helpful•4
            0
            • DICK STEEL
            • Dec 24, 2006

            Details

            Edit
            • Release date
              • December 16, 1982 (Hong Kong)
              • Hong Kong
              • Mandarin
            • Also known as
              • Shaw Brothers
            • See more company credits at IMDbPro

            Technical specs

            Edit
            • 1 hour 23 minutes
              • Color
              • Mono

            Related news

            Contribute to this page

            Suggest an edit or add missing content
            Ode to Gallantry (1982)
            Top Gap
            By what name was Ode to Gallantry (1982) officially released in Canada in English?
            Answer
            • See more gaps
            • Learn more about contributing
            Edit page

            More to explore

            Recently viewed

            Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
            Get the IMDb App
            • Get the IMDb App
            • Help
            • Site Index
            • IMDbPro
            • Box Office Mojo
            • IMDb Developer
            • Press Room
            • Advertising
            • Jobs
            • Conditions of Use
            • Privacy Policy
            • Your Ads Privacy Choices
            IMDb, an Amazon company

            © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.