Jade Tiger (1977) User Reviews

Medieval Chinese Morality Play

[kenichiku · 8/10 · 16 September 2004]

An absolutely diabolical & manic wuxia satire of the clan feuds variety. Like the best of medieval Shakesperean tradition, a fanatical air of twisted alliances between members of both sides blur the line between good & evil. Sell out the ones you love to veil deception and to maintain their antic dispositions. You even sell out your headless self. For in the end, you justify your own morality with arsenic in your raised chalice and declare your crest the victor (if anybody's still alive that is).

Surreptitious loyalties exist in a maniacal framework switching sides as many an occasion as there's a hidden blade within a blade within a blade and with this, Chu Yuan's Jacobean flavored prism of blood, we are staring into two mirrors directly facing each other. Ti Lung walks the tightrope against type with his squeaky clean screen image. Like an evil inbred brother to the more insular 'Soul of the Sword', 'Jade Tiger' is Ti Lung and Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers at it's swashbuckling darkest. Yea anon, sharpen ye rapiers and let the bloodletting begin. Three and a half outta four kills.

Good Shaw production with a dark side

[ChungMo · 7/10 · 21 January 2006]

Some interesting concepts are contained in this absurd but dark sword film. As in other Yuen Chor films there are a number of characters to keep track of but Ti Lung holds it all together. There a good number of wild martial artists including one with exploding eyeballs! It's a very watchable film filled with fights and extraordinary weapons. Unfortunately for me the drama went a bit too unbelievable and the plot twists required Ti Lung's character to be naive at one point but brilliant and cunning at another. A little more character development might have helped.

A good film with more introspection then the typical kung-fu movie.

Chor Yuen pulls out all the stops

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 29 February 2020]

JADE TIGER might be the ultimate Chor Yuen movie I've watched. This Shaw Brothers stalwart always created movies with intricate plots, huge casts and twists galore, and this film follows that formula and runs away with it. It's a film where there are massive character twists and surprises at least every five minutes, some of them extraordinarily gruesome - check out Chan Shen's blind man with exploding fake eyeballs, or what happens to Ti Lung's dad in the first five minutes! The tapestry is massive, full of the usual rivalry and shifting allegiances, and the plot defies description.

In many ways Lung suffers a little from being the slightly stuffy straight man, because the supporting actors have a ball: this one's a who's who of Shaw, with the likes of Ai Fei, Ku Feng, Lily Li, Derek Yee and numerous others fleshing out the cast. Best of all is Lo Lieh in a particularly strong performance, and his masquerade as a chicken-loving scholar is a delight. JADE TIGER is also a film with a real heart of darkness, as evinced by the astonishingly grim climax and the deep coda that closes things. Action-packed, deep, complex and involving...Chor Yuen pulled out all the stops in this one, and it really worked!

The Duality of Loyalty

[razula · 14 October 2004]

"The Jade Tiger" is definitely one of the Shaw Brother's darker films. This selection has one the most bittersweet endings I've ever seen in this series of Late Old School films (1977-1983). The film has so many double-crosses and loyalties masquerading as betrayal that it's a task unto itself to keep track of the "good" or "bad" guys. And that's the whole point. Eventually the hero realizes the self-perpetuating absurdity of violence. Why are we killing this clan? To gain dominance over the Martial Arts World? To what end? This would be the sort of chopsocky movie Hayao Miyazaki would have directed if he had grown tired of doing kiddie anime.

"Jade Tiger" is beautifully shot, with the yet another flawless Ti Lung performance. It's a good companion piece to watch with "The Boxer from Shangtung," with which it shares many similarities. I had no idea Chinese dining could be so dangerous!

Solid action, with the trademark Shaw Brothers wacky scenes...look out for the guy with the exploding eyeballs!

Shakespearean Shaw Brothers...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 7 March 2013]

THE JADE TIGER begins with a duel: Zhao Wu-ji (Ti Lung), who's about to get married, faces off against an opponent he's really not in the mood to kill (it being his wedding day and all). He bows out of the duel and races to Dafeng Hall, where his bride-to-be awaits- but other matters suddenly take precedence: the notorious Tang Clan, a clan renowned for its use of poisons, arrives with an offer: 10, 000 taels for the head of the Zhao clan. The very next day, Shang Guan (Ku Feng), a trusted Zhao friend, arrives at the Tang Clan base with the head of Wu-ji's father. Wu-ji must avenge this affront AND recover a jade tiger with a message secreted inside of it. He sets out, undercover, for the Tang Clan base. En route, he meets a bumbling but suspicious man, Chueh (Lo Lieh)- who turns out to be Tang Chueh, leader of the Tang Clan. As he puts it at one point (when Wu-ji's identity is called into question): "When in doubt, take him out." The undercover Wu-ji then finds himself engaged to the beautiful sister of Chueh, Tang Yu (Shih Szu); her brother, Tang Ao (Yueh Hua), is suspicious of Wu-ji- especially when a woman claiming to be Wu-ji's fiancé and her entourage arrive and end up dead. Tang Ao follows Wu-ji one night and sees him sending memorial lanterns down the river. Ao confronts him, angered that Wu-ji has betrayed Tang Yu, but waxes philosophical about it all as he walks away from the emotionally distraught Wu-ji: "If yesterday's wrongs are avenged today, today's wrongs will be avenged tomorrow." There are some interesting weapons-within-weapons on display in THE JADE TIGER and some genuinely moving moments (it's easy to see why Ti Lung is considered an actor's actor). The basilisk-like poisons used by the Tang Clan are also interesting (one touch, and you're dead- unless, like Ku Feng, you use gloves...).

Quietly stunning splendor of incredible visuals, exciting action, and dark storytelling

[I_Ailurophile · 10/10 · 14 November 2023]

Hong Kong cinema is nothing if not famous for its action flicks, particularly in the 70s and 80s, and no name is more closely associated with that glory than The Shaw Brothers. All the hallmarks are here in this 1977 piece of the studio's impeccable film-making: elaborate and gorgeous sets, rich and detailed costume design, smart and vivid cinematography, and above all exceptional stunts, practical effects, fight choreography, and otherwise martial arts action. Fine as the tale of vengeance, attrition, and intrigue is in and of itself, with some especially smart moments, at times it almost more serves as a vehicle for the visuals, as emphasized with the superb shot composition of filmmaker Yuen Chor.

However, lest one think 'Jade tiger' has nothing to offer beyond the spectacle for our eyes, the narrative on hand proves itself to be marvelously compelling: unexpectedly dark and violent, filled with dire turns, cold deceptions, stark tragedy, and a much higher body count than the average slasher flick. There are some points where the storytelling feels a smidgen weaker, or perhaps the pacing lags, and this is most evident in earlier scenes. In the back end, though, the action, craftsmanship, and plot all converge to a point of grim potency; it was only a marginal, relative shortcoming that held back the picture at first, and the increasingly vibrant conglomeration of elements more than makes up for that slight disparity.

It is true, perhaps, that there's nothing so special about this feature as to make it completely stand apart from its brethren. Yet the strengths that it bears from the very beginning only grow in their gripping, invigorating vitality, with a last punch of a story beat in the denouement that's just as wonderfully finessed as the most rapid, artistic swordplay. At length this is just about as solid a Shaw Brothers production as one could ask for, happy to quietly stun rather than to specifically grab our attention with outward bedazzlement. To whatever extent it doesn't fully make a big impression at the outset, when all is said and done I would enthusiastically suggest the title to anyone who appreciates movies out of Hong Kong. 'Jade tiger' may present as just another face in an admittedly greatly esteemed crowd, yet ultimately its fantastic quality more than speaks for itself, and I'm pleased to give it my very high and hearty recommendation!