The film is supposedly just a small snippet of the full "Water Margin" tale and details how the bandits seek to approach Jade Unicorn (played by Tetsuro Tamba), the fellow student of one of their enemies, in the hope of getting his help defeating him. In doing so they inadvertantly drop him in trouble with the local Imperial court who arrest him for harbouring bandits following a tip off from his adulturous wife and her scheming lover.
I watch this film and scratch my head as to why David Chiang became such a big action star because I don't think I've seen a single film where he has looked good during a fight. He just goes through the motions most of the time, with hardly any power. In this film he plays "The Prodigy", Yen Ching, whose signature fight move is as uninspiring as all his other movies but largely involves rolling around on the ground.
Anyway, the film begins with some ships coming in to shore at the stronghold of Shi Wengong (Toshio Kurosawa), the main protagonist of the film and arch enemy of the Liangshan bandits. The location is, of course, the section of Port Shelter just off the coast from where Shaws Movietown was located. The coastal area you see on film is now the location of the HKUST Fok Ying Tung Sports Centre.
If you look in the near background of the bottom image, you can see a low rocky outcrop behind the soldiers.This is about the only thing that still looks the same, as long as you go at low tide.
2 comments:
That scene with the boats made we laugh. Obviously being powered by motors. Chang cheh picked his actor by how he thought they looked certainly not by their fighting ability. David Chiang is probably at his kung fu best for me in 'Shaolin Mantis' directed by Lau Kar-leung. Nice to see a little bit of HK which is still the same. There is a photo sphere tagged at the Shaw Villa. Have you seen it?
the thing that makes me laugh about this film is the opening scene where all the characters are introduced at an inn. everyone is drinking and no one can do it without spilling 90% the contents down their fronts. Would love to see pictures of the inside.
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