Aka - Bruce is Loose (which
makes no sense in any way regarding this film)
A common theme in many martial arts period films is that inns are dangerous
places to stay or have a cup of tea. If you need a meal, get it to go. From
Come Drink with Me to Dragon Inn and no doubt in many previous films there
have been many wonderful scenes that take place in that setting. It allows
the slow walk towards violence as the unease grows within the room and then
explodes. You can always bet that someone in there is a killer. Or soon will
be. And someone will be the victim. Sip your tea quickly and leave. Much
of this film occurs within the confines of an inn and many people won't be
leaving it. This Taiwanese martial arts film with equal doses of wuxia and
kung-fu was a terrific surprise. In a good way.
I had never heard of it but found it on YouTube - dubbed but with a decent
quality video. You never know what you are going to get with these Taiwanese
martial arts 70's films that were in competition with the Shaws. But in general
the ones I have seen are better than their overall reputation of being low
budget hack jobs. Yes, they are low budget in regards to sets and costumes
but what they had in Taiwan was a lot of home grown talent, great locations
and enough of a budget to bring over ex-Shaw stars. This one is quite good
with a solid if simple plot, well-done action and three fine martial arts
actors. From literally the first minute to the final freeze frame ending
it is near non stop action with only enough pauses to create a plot of sorts.
Hung Bing-chun (Tian Ming) takes it hard when a father declines his offer
to marry his daughter. So hard in fact that he enters their residence and
kills everyone - even the servants and the girl. His father (Cliff Ching
Ching) who is the local Warlord is used to his son acting out his anger but
this is a bit much, That boy is going to get me in trouble someday, he mutters.
Word has in fact leaked back to the Capitol and they send Marshall Wu better
known as the Bold Dragon in his sharp looking cobalt blue garment to capture
Hung and bring him to justice. The Bold Dragon is played by a righteous Yueh
Hua who is really quite good in his action scenes in this film. He has usually
struck me as a bit slow compared to other Shaw stars but he must have been
practicing, On the road he meets Lo Lieh better known as The Silent Tracker
and because it is a martial arts movie they duel one another. Lieh takes
his stance and Yueh says "Ah, the Tiger Fist" and Lieh replies "Ah, the Phoenix
Claw" and they commence to fight.
After both call it a draw the Marshall goes straight to the local brothel
because where else would a villain go after killing a family to celebrate.
In a nifty fight he captures him, gets a contingent of 30 government troops
and begins the journey home. You know most of the minions have a bad fate
awaiting them but the film actually gives a few of them some nice moments
- before they die. In one small fight on the way a woman shows up chops off
a head and kills all the bad guys. Our Polly Shang-kuan makes a nice entry.
To get back to the Capitol they have to go through Green Dragon Town controlled
by the Warlord and for some reason they decide to stop off and stay at the
inn. Clearly, they have not seen the same movies I have. For the next 45
minutes they fight off droves of bad guys, booby trap the inn with some lovely
killing machines, Polly shows up dressed like a KKK member wanting to kill
the prisoner, Lo Lieh kind of hangs out before deciding what side he is on
and it is just good fun as the dead on both sides mount up. It is directed
by Wu Min-hsiung who has Chase Step by Step, The Supergirl of Kung-fu , Heroes
in the Late Ming Dynasty and Adventure at Shaolin in his resume.
