There is nothing particularly spectacular about this second tier Wuxia but it hits most of the notes reasonably well. By 1971 the Shaw Brothers could do Wuxia in their sleep and they give this one a minimum plot without a large budget but there is plenty of sword fighting choreographed by two of the Yuen Clan - Wo Ping and Cheung Yan.  So you know it is well-done. It is hard keeping the Chinese dynasties straight but this one takes place during the Sung Dynasty (960 - 1279) and my guess is that this is towards the end as they are fighting the Mongols who they were to eventually lose to in a naval battle. The Emperor and his father have been captured but they are able to give the two Royal Seals to two loyal men who are ordered to get them to Prince Kang in the south so that he can establish his rule to fight the Mongols. But without the seals he won't have the authority.



Easier said then done. The two men - Jing (Fang Mian) and Meng (Tong Tin-hei) are badly wounded and so by the time they get home they are in no condition to go on. So they hand the responsibility to the next generation - two of Jing's disciples - Fan Tian-hu (Lo Lieh) and Tian Long (Chang Pei-shan). Both of these actors had careers mainly playing villains but here they are two of the Heroes of Sung. There is one more. The daughter of Meng  - Hong-erh - played by one of my favorite female wuxia stars, Shih Szu.  She is like the energizer bunny - very cute, all energy and all in to kill her enemies.



Chasing after these three and the royal seals are the traitors and nogoodniks from Fengyun Hall - or as Meng calls them the scum of Fengyun Hall. But there are loads of them with various talents. One of them seduction and their leader sends her (Li Chia-chien) to seduce Tian-hu which proves very easy to do once her gown comes off. The old Honey Trap and he falls right in. This section of the film slows down to a crawl and could have used some trimming and it is hard not to think that Tien-hu is a complete idiot. But that fallen gown is catnip for a virgin. There are a couple big action scenes - our two boys have a technique they call joint hand style of swordplay in which they connect their swords together and for reasons I never quite understood it became a lethal weapon. Hong-erh keeps it simple - two swords and deadly with either. The main villain (Richard Chen Chun) has his own trick up his sleeve - a version of the flying guillotine but smaller and faster. More of a snatch and grab.



Directed by Shen Chiang who next made The Rescue again starring Lo Lieh and Shih Szu and also taking place in the Sung Dynasty and fighting the Mongols (and I expect using some of the same sets and costumes). The Mongols are always easy to spot - they are the ones with tails hanging down from their headgear. Solid wuxia if you are ever in the mood.  Best moment - when a guy is cut in half - from the top down. At a minimum this will scratch your wuxia itch.