2 million taels in gold has been stolen from a vault within the Forbidden City. The Empress wants the money returned within 10 days. Chief Constable Leng Tien Ying is hired to bring back the gold robbers, dead or alive; only he never brings anyone back alive. He assembles a team of officers to find the stolen gold. Over the course of the film a major conspiracy is uncovered.
This is a very famous Shaw Brothers movie from the late 70s. It wasn't a massive hit in HK, but was in other territories. During the time of this films release, audiences were interested in kung fu comedies and not deadly serious and downbeat martial dramas. However, numerous rip-offs and similarly plotted films followed; mostly independents. In the US, it was a major cult film among fans. It is often considered to be Chen Kuan Tai's best role. Chen became a major star literally over night after starring in Chang Cheh's seminal 1972 picture, THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG. A film that had John Woo as an AD.
Here, Chen plays the brutally cold hearted, but whole heartedly righteous royal constable Leng. His brother also is a constable. He detests his methods of always killing and never showing mercy to criminals. He tells him in a strong scene that he "...stinks of blood". In this scene Chen showcases in very minute facial movements that he does indeed have feelings but he believes if one shows kindness to these cruel and vicious criminals, it would be their undoing. He is told on several occasions that he has no heart, but in reality he has feelings but cannot afford to let them show. In several scenes in Chen's performance, it is apparent that he really doesn't want to kill men wantonly but he knows he must lest he be killed.
During the time period the film is set, shortly after the Ming reprisals to dethrone the invading Manchu hordes had failed, the common people caught amidst all the turmoil and war were left homeless and starving. Many of these folk resorted to crime to survive. This point is mentioned by one of Leng's men who cannot understand his methods and feels pity for those less fortunate. Only when the officers take shelter in a destroyed peasant village does he realize what kindness will get you.
Throughout the pursuit, Leng's men have all been killed and Leng himself has been injured during the increasingly deadly confrontations. One scene has Leng and his few remaining men facing off against a hired assassin (Pai Piao) who uses Butterfly Swords and also a hidden wrist weapon that fires Scorpion Darts laced with venom. One of his men is hit with one of the poison needles and Leng and the assassin fight atop a giant fog enshrouded sun dial. If Leng wins, he gets the antidote and the assassins' share of the gold.
There are many great sets that are nearly always found in Shaw Brothers movies. Even in their lower tier B movies, there is always an element of quality in the set design that makes them appear more expensive than they really are. In almost every sequence, the constant grim and gloomy atmosphere is hammered home in the form of lots and lots of rain, thunder and lightning and a great wind storm.
One ominously Gothic scene has Leng limp across a battlefield amidst many arrow riddled and sword slashed bodies surrounded in fog. He finds the body of his brother resting on his knees his sword propping him up in the mud. Upon reaching him, he touches his shoulder by which he then slumps over. He was dead for some time. Suddenly a great rain storm appears again flushing away the fog surrounding Leng who then maddeningly begins slashing his sword around him yelling "KILL!" after he has discovered the insidious plot.
The finale features a bravura battle sequence filled with much blood splattering and limb severing that would appear prominently in CONAN THE BARBARIAN a couple of years later. Such scenes had been a mainstay in Shaw productions since the 60s but here, these scenes have more of a visceral impact than before.
Usually, in past films precise editing techniques were used in scenes involving people slashed with swords or other implements but here there are no cut-aways. You seen the weapon or arrow enter the body. It's obvious on a couple of occasions that the performer is wearing a plate loaded with blood bags, but by seeing the act without the editing, it adds a level of gruesomeness and savagery that adds another level of realism.
One of the most downbeat and depressing movies of any genre, this type of film was a mainstay at Shaw's. Chang Cheh started the whole concept of showing the hero as vulnerable. You would never know if he would live or die and many times his heroes would die albeit very spectacularly in adrenaline fueled bloody finales. This concept became commonplace at Shaw's. After seeing dozens of movies I had only ever heard of, I began to wonder if it was a policy at Shaw's that happy endings were not allowed!
An interesting note about this film is that the main characters are all Manchu's; the hated enemies of the Chinese after they invaded China in 1644. The thieves and robbers are actually the "good guys" for the most part. Even though Constable Leng is a righteous man, he is still a Manchu or Qing as they are also referred.
This is a very famous Shaw Brothers movie from the late 70s. It wasn't a massive hit in HK, but was in other territories. During the time of this films release, audiences were interested in kung fu comedies and not deadly serious and downbeat martial dramas. However, numerous rip-offs and similarly plotted films followed; mostly independents. In the US, it was a major cult film among fans. It is often considered to be Chen Kuan Tai's best role. Chen became a major star literally over night after starring in Chang Cheh's seminal 1972 picture, THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG. A film that had John Woo as an AD.
Here, Chen plays the brutally cold hearted, but whole heartedly righteous royal constable Leng. His brother also is a constable. He detests his methods of always killing and never showing mercy to criminals. He tells him in a strong scene that he "...stinks of blood". In this scene Chen showcases in very minute facial movements that he does indeed have feelings but he believes if one shows kindness to these cruel and vicious criminals, it would be their undoing. He is told on several occasions that he has no heart, but in reality he has feelings but cannot afford to let them show. In several scenes in Chen's performance, it is apparent that he really doesn't want to kill men wantonly but he knows he must lest he be killed.
During the time period the film is set, shortly after the Ming reprisals to dethrone the invading Manchu hordes had failed, the common people caught amidst all the turmoil and war were left homeless and starving. Many of these folk resorted to crime to survive. This point is mentioned by one of Leng's men who cannot understand his methods and feels pity for those less fortunate. Only when the officers take shelter in a destroyed peasant village does he realize what kindness will get you.
Throughout the pursuit, Leng's men have all been killed and Leng himself has been injured during the increasingly deadly confrontations. One scene has Leng and his few remaining men facing off against a hired assassin (Pai Piao) who uses Butterfly Swords and also a hidden wrist weapon that fires Scorpion Darts laced with venom. One of his men is hit with one of the poison needles and Leng and the assassin fight atop a giant fog enshrouded sun dial. If Leng wins, he gets the antidote and the assassins' share of the gold.
There are many great sets that are nearly always found in Shaw Brothers movies. Even in their lower tier B movies, there is always an element of quality in the set design that makes them appear more expensive than they really are. In almost every sequence, the constant grim and gloomy atmosphere is hammered home in the form of lots and lots of rain, thunder and lightning and a great wind storm.
One ominously Gothic scene has Leng limp across a battlefield amidst many arrow riddled and sword slashed bodies surrounded in fog. He finds the body of his brother resting on his knees his sword propping him up in the mud. Upon reaching him, he touches his shoulder by which he then slumps over. He was dead for some time. Suddenly a great rain storm appears again flushing away the fog surrounding Leng who then maddeningly begins slashing his sword around him yelling "KILL!" after he has discovered the insidious plot.
The finale features a bravura battle sequence filled with much blood splattering and limb severing that would appear prominently in CONAN THE BARBARIAN a couple of years later. Such scenes had been a mainstay in Shaw productions since the 60s but here, these scenes have more of a visceral impact than before.
Usually, in past films precise editing techniques were used in scenes involving people slashed with swords or other implements but here there are no cut-aways. You seen the weapon or arrow enter the body. It's obvious on a couple of occasions that the performer is wearing a plate loaded with blood bags, but by seeing the act without the editing, it adds a level of gruesomeness and savagery that adds another level of realism.
One of the most downbeat and depressing movies of any genre, this type of film was a mainstay at Shaw's. Chang Cheh started the whole concept of showing the hero as vulnerable. You would never know if he would live or die and many times his heroes would die albeit very spectacularly in adrenaline fueled bloody finales. This concept became commonplace at Shaw's. After seeing dozens of movies I had only ever heard of, I began to wonder if it was a policy at Shaw's that happy endings were not allowed!
An interesting note about this film is that the main characters are all Manchu's; the hated enemies of the Chinese after they invaded China in 1644. The thieves and robbers are actually the "good guys" for the most part. Even though Constable Leng is a righteous man, he is still a Manchu or Qing as they are also referred.