Death Duel (1977) User Reviews

Atmospheric Wuxia Film from Yuen Chor

[ChungMo · 7/10 · 23 March 2007]

Yuen Chor was having a good run of films during the second half of the 1970's. Sentimental Swordsman, Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade TIger were all made during this five year period. "Death Duel" is just one more during this time. As with his other films you can expect good photography, unique art direction and dozens of characters.

As with other successful Yuen Chor films, this one succeeds by focusing on one enigmatic main character for most of the film. However, the viewer will still have to deal with a lot of fascinating characters who show up and usually are killed off quickly. The body count in this film is very high. This film is very moody and the withdrawn character of Ah Chi make the story interesting. There are some uneven parts and the constant guest cameos from Shaw stars is a little annoying as you might wish that they would stick around longer in the film. That said, the script is above average, the pacing is good and by the time the ending comes around the film holds up.

Recommended.

Really entertaining 90mins.

[mj970128-1 · 7/10 · 28 January 2005]

Pleasing purposeful and taut Swordsplay - movie based on stories by Gu Long, about the supremacy of the Jiang Hu. Third master [ Derek Yee ] is the #1 at the moment , considered as the best sword fighter, but he's tired of his way of life, pretends his death and begins a simple life. Too early for Yen Shi kwan [ Ling Yun ], who aimed the whole life for fame and the answer if he could be the real #1.

Death Duel is a little different from other Gu Long movies directed also by Chu Yuan, no obscure jumble of plot and persons here, it's strictly concentrated oh Third Master and his tries to survive the power struggle, where he's attacked again and again. The then 20yrs old Derek Yee [ now director of movies like ONE NITE IN MONGKOK, VIVA EROTICA, FULL THROTTLE ] does a strong impression, mainly optically and particularly with his mimic, and performs the action sequences well. These are well choreographed, unbloody swordplay with martial arts and jumps varied, there's also good use of the environment Optically the film is rather lyric - magical, many red and blue contrasts, much fog, added a calm, but appropriate score. Really entertaining 90mins.

Movie has some relation to the other Gu Long picturizations like KILLER CLANS and MAGIC BLADE, Ti Lung has a cameo as his Swordsman Fu and Lo Lieh as the killer Han Tang.

What a kung fu film should be

[drystyx · 8/10 · 7 November 2012]

This is what the martial arts films were meant to be like, before the hacks made them into clowns jumping all over the place, kicking and striking a thousand times, with 90 back flips in each fight.

Here, we have a crisp story, and interesting characters. The film follows mostly "Third Master" and his attempt to become a normal man, trying to elude his fame.

It reminds a viewer of the "gunfighter" in the old West, trying to hang up his guns, but with young upstarts out to make a name for themselves, trying to goad him into a fight.

The interesting thing here is the array of other characters. Some are simple folk, some helpful, some afraid, some benevolent. Others are fighters. We find that many others also hung up their swords. At least two characters, we find, were successful in "retiring" before they reached a stage that Third Master did.

The first master also drops into obscurity for a while. The reasons are made clear later. A lot of chance meetings happen for the sake of a great fairy tale, but it's okay, because it's part of the magic.

The body count is higher than it should be. A lot of the deaths are "cliche" movie deaths, and brings this film down from the classic status it could have attained. Still, the imagery is good, and there is refreshing dialog, a lot of insight. Parituclarly good is the scene where the third master thinks he is dying, and asks others what they would do if they knew they would die tomorrow.

Later martial arts movies failed because they couldn't balance action with dialog. This film has a great balance, because too much action becomes as dull as too little. This comes from a guy who is very attention deficit, so when movies are too relentless in meaningless action for me, there is a real problem.

Here, we have a nice balance, although even this film could have toned down the action some. Put it this way. It makes the normal action Western, say "The Magnificent Seven" look slow paced in comparison.

Good film. Worth watching, but has some sadness to it.

DEATH DUEL - Shaw Bros. swordplay drama introducing Derek Yee

[BrianDanaCamp · 8 April 2003]

DEATH DUEL (1977) is another Shaw Bros. swordplay-and-intrigue extravaganza directed by Chu Yuan (aka Chor Yuen) from a novel by Ku Lung. Its release on DVD follows that of KILLER CLANS (1976), THE MAGIC BLADE (1976) and CLANS OF INTRIGUE (1977), all also reviewed on this site. The plot here is a lot simpler than those of the earlier films and involves fewer characters and, unfortunately, fewer fight scenes. It does, however, offer a fresh star in then-newcomer Derek Yee who plays a character who calls himself "Hopeless Ah Chi," a wandering, enigmatic kung fu expert who is challenged by numerous other swordsmen in the course of the film for reasons that are made clear in the second half. That's basically all there is to the film: various challengers pop up to try and kill Ah Chi until Yen Shih-San (Ling Yun), the only one who truly qualifies as Ah Chi's equal, shows up for the final bout. There are only slight hints of the interlocking clan rivalries, conflicting loyalties and vast spy networks that made KILLER CLANS, et al, so fascinating.

The film is beautifully shot and scored and filmed entirely on Shaw Bros. studio sets. The costumes are pretty snappy also. The fight scenes involve lots of breakaway walls and furniture and are often staged in extreme long shot, perhaps to cover up the frequent use of a stunt double for the lead.

As usual, the cast offers a number of Shaw Bros. notables, including dependable character actors Ku Feng and Fan Mei-Sheng as Ah Chi's allies and--in welcome action cameos--Shaw Bros. stars Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, and David Chiang. Also appearing are Wang Lung-Wei, Norman Chu, Yueh Hua, Yuen Wah, Chan Shen and Cheng Miu, along with many other familiar faces from kung fu films. As usual with Chu Yuan films, there are some lively and beautiful women on hand to spice up the action, although not as many as in the earlier films. Candy Yu plays Yee's girlfriend while Chan Ping plays a rival clan leader stirring things up behind the scenes.

The two leading men, Derek Yee and Ling Yun, are adequate but lack the flair of the aforementioned cameo players. Still, Yee makes an interesting hero--young, deadpan, and far more handsome than most kung fu stars of the era. He acted for approximately 20 years, but also turned to writing, directing, and producing and wound up making some key Hong Kong New Wave dramas of the 1990s, including C'EST LA VIE MON CHERI, FULL THROTTLE, and VIVA EROTICA.

UPDATE: I watched this film again in 2020 for the first time in 17 years and I was stunned at how great it is. I fear that my earlier comments above came at a time when I was watching Shaw Bros. movie after Shaw Bros movie as Celestial Pictures was releasing them on R3 DVD by the truckload and I simply got overwhelmed. Watching it again, I'm struck by how powerful a tale it is, loaded with mood, atmosphere, emotion and drama. Plus, it's got one of the most incredible star-studded casts I've ever seen in a Shaw Bros. movie. Back then, I wasn't familiar with a lot of the actors, since I was only just beginning to discover these movies. But I've seen hundreds of them since. Now I need to go back and re-watch all the other Shaw Bros. DVDs I reviewed back then and see what else I was missing.

Good without getting to great

[damianphelps · 6/10 · 12 December 2020]

I really enjoyed this movie, but must admit I spent the whole time feeling disappointed at the same time.

The story is really good, delivering an interesting tale supported by mostly good acting. The fighting is a bit hit and miss, some of the fights are good others, not so much.

It then dawned on me that this movie screams 'remake', however I think we have missed the chance to see it at its best.

For those of you into this genre, picture this movie in your minds eye with Jet Li in it during his prime? OMG.

It would have been one of the all time classics!

All-star martial world story

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 5 March 2021]

DEATH DUEL is a notable film in the 'wuxia' cycle of director Chor Yuen, helping to cement a template that would see him through for seemingly dozens more similar movies. These all featured set-bound locales featuring tight but creative design work with pools, rivers, bridges, pagodas, forests, gardens and villas all lovingly crafted by Shaw's art directors. It also has a massive cast of notable stars and bit-players, from classic actor cameos (Lo Lieh, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Yueh Hua) to youthful newcomers such as main actor Derek Yee. The plot is on the light side and veers into parody at times with the amount of people getting continually bumped off, but it also has something to say about fame which keeps it interesting throughout. The action isn't as spectacular as some, but Yuen is a talented professional who knows what he's doing here.

Finding no peace

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 14 December 2020]

If you are considered one of the best sword man ... well you know you will have others who will test that. And that is putting it mildly. It doesn't matter how you feel about things or how you treat others, it is about the title. Well that is what most would say of course.

Then again how much of a reason do we need to see Sword fights in a Shaw Brothers movie? Exactly! But it is refreshing to see that a plan is put in place, that while wicked and morally very low ... it is something many may have wondered ... like why don't you try a dirty trick on someone that is unbeatable? Here we get something that is satisfying and despicable at the same time. The story may seem like it is knitted together by a string but it still works. And consdering this probably was all shot in a studio ... well it really looks good for that. Not to mention the really good stunts (forget about the fake blood and enjoy it for what it is)

Philosophical fightin'...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 24 February 2013]

DEATH DUEL is yet another of those gems fans of the genre hope for: it has everything, from plenty of action to solid performances (and even some philosophy, which many Shaw Brothers movies have in common)- and none of it gets in the way of the story. When "Hopeless" Ah Chi (Yee) gets hired on at a local brothel, he and Miss Li, one of the lovelier Ladies of the Evening, fall for each other; and when things go bad at the brothel, Chi moves in with Li and her brother (played by Ku Feng). When Chi gets poisoned (by Hua Yueh), he begins to wander the land looking for a cure.(And here we have a great line from Miss Li: She vows that, should Chi die before he can find the cure, she will wait for him "in the hereafter." It's a beautiful line- not to mention sentiment- and deserves mention.) At one point, he encounters several people at a tavern and asks them, point blank, what they would do if they were to learn that they had only three days to live. When a scholar begins to spout scripture, Chi snatches him up by the shirtfront and makes him confess that he would gamble away his life's savings and go to a brothel. A young waitress confesses that she'd like to have sex before she died. Her father chases her out of the building, cursing her for a harlot. It's a funny scene and leads into a pair of cameos by Lo Lieh (who smears his face with blood when he kills an attacker, as in KILLER CLANS) and Ti Lung (wearing what looks like the tattered poncho he wore in THE MAGIC BLADE). Chi finds the cure, which is given to him by Yen, who now has a yen to find out who's really the Number One Swordsman in the Martial Arts World. Yen fancies himself Numero Uno, so he and Chi square off. But- duelus interruptus- David Chiang enters the picture as the mad Mu (driven mad, apparently, when he took practicing his swordsmanship to the nth degree). Chi and Yen pretty much kill everybody and his brother (well, sister, because it's Mu's sister who brings him to the fight- in a cage, no less) before taking up where they left off. When Yen appears to have won, Chi acknowledges that Yen is Number One and walks away- whereupon Yen allows one hand to drop, revealing the tip of Chi's sword jutting from his chest. He topples like a felled tree, referring to Chi as "Number One." This one pretty much has it all and shouldn't disappoint fans one bit.

It's so bad that it's good

[rchung2 · 5/10 · 24 February 2022]

Illogical dialogues and motives all over the place. No, the fighting scenes didn't make up for those, but they needn't to, because the ridiculous elements (e.g. The protagonist questioning his assassin who else ordered them to assassinate himself even after the assassin already revealed a name - "Who ordered you to kill me?" "XYZ!" "Who else?"; the female lead telling the protagonist she would wait for him in the sea even after the protagonist told her that he needed to find a healer who lives near a lake... and many more) in the movie made it very entertaining. This is director Chor Yuan's weaker output among his Shaw Brothers Wuxia efforts. Nevertheless, I hesitated to give it a below average (<5) score because it's just so bad that it is memorable! An unforgettably lousy movie!

A film where Hearts and Souls are on the line

[joelnova93 · 10/10 · 17 August 2019]

It's always a treasure to find a martial arts film adapted from a novel, because for once the story and dialogue are extremely solid and taken care of in advance, freeing up the producers to focus on what we really showed up to see: High flying, fast cutting, Martial Arts action.

And the action in DEATH DUEL is almost non-stop, as Derek Yee (Tung-Shing Yee), playing the former Champion of the Swordplay World now renounced and resigned as the "Hopeless Ah Chi" struggles to carve out a quiet life as a wanderer as old rivals turn up to claim the fame of defeating him.

And by God, Derek Yee, probably has his best ever performance here. You truly feel Ah Chi's distress, and this film required a strong lead for such an emotional narrative direction.

Likewise, the film seems very much intent on keeping things dark. A lot of the scenes take place at night, and there's even a fight where two characters are deliberately knocked into ceiling lanterns just to darken the room. Maybe there is a symbolism here, or a contrast that is supposed to highlight when the characters are finally out in the sun, or in the sunset. Interesting to observe.

The world in DEATH DUEL, the way of the wandering swordsman, and the pursuit of fame within the martial arts world, it's all brutal, and it's one where you don't really want to imagine being a part of. But no matter, you enjoy and still watch because it really feels like true hearts and souls are on the line. That is what a good martial arts movie, a dramatic story itself, should set out to be.

Score: 10/10