Gold Constables
Director: Wong
Chung
Year: 1978
Rating: 6.0
Dubbed
Aka - Ninja Pirates (no ninjas or pirates
in the film)
A Taiwanese kung fu bank heist film! Of
gold. From the pen of Gu Long, considered one of the "three literary Legs
of the Tripod of Wuxia". This is plot heavy with a bevy of characters saving
most of its action till the final 30-minutes and then it becomes all action,
well-choreographed by Huang Kuo-chu (a couple Angela Mao and Polly Shang-Kuan
films to his credit). The film keeps you busy for that first hour introducing
a number of characters and having you guess what their real purpose is because
many of them are not quite what they seem. A good cast of Carter Huang, Nancy
Yen, Lo Lieh, James Tin-chuen, Miao Tian, Lung Fei and a large cast of kung
fu fighting extras.
Three men individually receive an invitation
to go to a house at midnight with a half torn note worth 1000 tael with a
promise of the other half. There waiting for them is Lo Lieh with an offer
and a threat. Right next to this room is a government gold storage unit -
let's break in and steal it - and oh, if you say no - he uncovers the dead
bodies of the couple that lived there. They agree. Once they have the gold
out and loaded he tells one of the three to kill another - and then another
to kill that one and then another conspirator to kill the final of the three.
Just tidying up. The second conspirator is Lung fei and a third is Tin-cheun.
Stolen gold is like a clarion call and soon
the town is filled with folks who are interested in finding it. Carter Huang
arrives, beats up a thief, steals his silver and heads for the casino that
is owned by Lung-fei and beats up some more people. Just introducing himself.
Next is Nancy Yen snooping around. The dead couple were her uncle and aunt
and she wants revenge. For an uncle and aunt? For parents, sure. Siblings,
ok but you have to get revenge for aunts and uncles too? Seems a bit much.
At what point in the family line is it ok to just say sorry and not feel
you have to kill someone in revenge? Second cousins?
That isn't the end of it - the Three Tigers
arrive (Miao Tian) and begin pushing their way around fighting anyone who
gets in their way. Finally, Chi Lan (in her only film credit) with her elderly
father comes to town - her with sticky fingers. She wants in on the gold
too. There are a few small run-ins action scenes that are fine, but it is
the long long finale that gets the prize when everyone is fighting loads
of bad guys that come at them in swarms with various weapons. Very well-done
large fight scene with everyone spotlighted as they fight. There is a lot
of talent even in the minions who put up a good fight before they are cut
down. Lo Lieh and Tin-cheun stay out of the way till the final fight and
then are in the middle of it. Lobby Cards borrowed from HKMDB. Thanx.
