A fine tale of an abused woman's journey from near-death to kung fu expert, helped along the way by a merciful Abbess and a crippled orphan. Some of the costumes are in the same league as Lee Tsu Nam's other masterpiece, Shaolin vs. Lama (Shaolin dou La Ma), classic glittering ensembles. Plenty of great fight action as Hsia develops her style coupled with an intelligible story line full of old-favourite characters (eg weasel with squeeky voice and sticky plaster on forehead, supposed to be the "brains" of the gang). Totally unforgettable bad guy having a permanent bad hair day. Warning: anyone buying an ex-rental copy of this film in the UK, be careful. My first copy was on an 80min tape, which meant the last, and best, nine mins were missing. I agree with the previous reviewer, Carol- it's brilliant.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Shi mei chu ma
(1980)
A corking kung fu tale of two women's love, betrayal and revenge.
5 February 2002
Warriors Two
(1978)
Top-class Wing Chun training and action. Brilliant.
12 February 2001
Once this film gets going it features some of the best kung fu ever filmed. The action is tightly choreographed and the strikes look like they really hurt. It's all I can do to stop myself from spilling the beans on the finale, which sees Wing Chun style up against one of my other favourite styles, which I can't reveal because it would spoil the surprise. The film also has a great "what do we have to do to kill this guy?" type scene in it, which is predictably bloody and excruciatingly painful. For lovers of eccentric training routines there's no need to worry, the wooden men are out in force, and the weasel with the glasses and the crap voice makes his presence well and truly felt. If you're a kung fu fan and haven't run into this one yet: this is "the business", up there with Prodigal Son.
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