The One-Armed Swordsman

Though the chambara (Japanese swordplay film) influence on Chang Cheh was already seen in his previous film The Magnificent Trio (1966), a remake of Hideo Gosha's Three Outlaw Samurai (1964) (and quite possibly the earlier Tiger Boy (1966): however this film is not available anywhere on DVD so it is hard to comment on it), it would be The One-Armed Swordsman that would help define Cheh as an auteur with his own blend of Japanese action aesthetics, American rebellious characters and Chinese wuxia heroes. This film would not only be the first film to break the 1 million HK dollars barrier it would also be a watershed moment for the area's cinema. The popularity of this film as well as King Hu's hit the year before Come Drink With Me helped push in a new era of Mandarin language movies as well as push out the indigenous language Cantonese cinema for several years. But it would be the brutal style of Chang that would dominate the regional efforts and not the Peking Opera influenced King Hu (it also did not help Hu that he was a much slower at making films than Chang). This movie would also be the first in the subgenre of "one-armed" films that stereotyped the career of the star of this movie Jimmy Wang Yu.Wang Yu had already acted in a couple of Chang Cheh films, but it is his performance here as Fang Gang that would make him a star in Hong Kong. Fang is an orphan whose father had perished saving the life of Qi Ru-feng (Tien Feng: King Boxer (1972)). Qi shows his gratefulness by taking on Fang as a student. Fang also obtains the broken sword that was used by his father, but it could not possibly be of any use. He quickly becomes an adept student that because of his success and austereness has earned the ire of not only a couple of rich students, but also with Qi Pei-er (Pan Ying-zi: The Magnificent Trio), the daughter of the sifu, when he rebukes her advances. It is usually a bad idea to turn down your teacher's daughter and in this film it is no exception.Fang's skill level is so advanced that he toys with the other students and Pei-er when they intend on teaching him a lesson. He completely outclasses them with his masculine masterful display of martial arts. However, since he is only toying with them he lets his guard down not expecting that the petulant daughter will exact her revenge by cutting off his right arm. It is not difficult to see this as a castration allegory for not only embarrassing her in the fight, but also not returning her affections.Blooded and broken, Fang stumbles off leaving a crimson trail (while not bloody by later Shaw Brothers standards, this was quite gory for its time) until he gets found and saved by orphan Xiao Man (Lisa Chiao Chiao: The Assassin (1967)) who hates the world of martial arts because it lead to the death of her father. Yet when Fang wakes from his shock induced slumber, later gets beat up by a couple of ruffians, falls into a deep doleful state she takes pity on him and gives him her father's manual of martial arts. While part of the manual is missing it luckily has the "left-arm" portions. A few days later he is an accomplished one-armed fighter. Obviously it is unrealistic that in a short time he could lose an arm and then become an accomplished fighter (and one scene of him displaying his power of chi should probably have been trimmed as it really does not seem to fit in with the rest of the film) this treatment is probably copasetic with the Jin Yong novel The Return of the Condor Heroes (1959) that the movie is influenced by.Meanwhile Qi Ru-feng has decided that he is going to retire from the martial arts world at the age of 55. With all of his success as a swordsman he has created many enemies. Two brothers Smiling Tiger Cheng Tian Shou (Tang Ti) and Long-Armed Devil (called this because of his whip played effectively by the ubiquitous Yeung Chi-hing) have devised a way to destroy him and it involves a weapon that can render Qi's Dao sword that his entire school uses useless. The lesson behind this is to always teach your students to be proficient in more than one weapon and do not always cling to one approach to fighting. With Qi's best student missing (in more ways than one), and his other disciples being removed from this planet, his reign as head of the martial arts world seems to be at an end.Wang Yu gives a good performance as the stoic brooding loner who is a combination of a wuxia hero and James Dean. He is not the most adept martial artist though. His Narcissist nature angered many actors and gave way to mediocre performances in the 1970s and beyond. Because of this and his later exploits in Taiwanese triads his reputation has suffered quite a bit among Hong Kong cinema fans. For the most part I tend to agree with the critics and fanboys on this except for his most famous One-Armed roles he seemed born to play (even if he does have two arms).While the influences of such Japanese films as the Zatoichi series (these were shown in Hong Kong; later there would even be a Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman (1971)) are strong on this movie, it still has uniqueness to it that interests me. This would be a highly influential film to the Hong Kong audience not only on technical issues such as it is one of the earliest uses (and overuses) of hand-held camera in HK, but in thematic elements as well. It is enjoyable to see the whole martial art world questioned and Fang's subjugation to his principles are reminiscent of a Randolph Scott character in a Budd Boetticher western. This movie would spawn several sequels, remakes and retreads and certainly up the ante for use of blood packets, missing limbs and stomach slashes. While the action scenes might feel dated and might not be plentiful enough for some viewers, I still think it is one of the better Hong Kong films of the 1960s. It certainly is one of the most important.I really enjoyed the extras on this release. The commentary by David Chute and Andy Klein is good, with David being the more knowledgeable of the two, with discussion on everything from biographies, homoerotic subtext and the meaning of the dao versus jian swords. I was happy to see Dragon Dynasty employ David Chute for this. However, the back cover has one little gaffe where it states Quentin Tarantino is on the commentary, which he is not. This has rightfully angered many reviewers. I just noticed another mistake, they have Chang Cheh spelled Chang Cheuh on the credits on the back cover. The Master Chang Cheh (17:30) is a good documentary, but this is the same documentary that is on Ten Tigers of Kwangtung (R1 Tokyo Shock) except it has a different translation (it seems better on that one). The other highpoint is the Interview with star Jimmy Wang Yu (10:55). I did wish that was longer though. A nice little bonus is that fact that the original Shaw Brothers trailer is on here as well as several other original trailers. Too many Shaw Brothers releases have eschewed the original trailer for the new Celestial trailer (that is on here too) which just never feels right to me. In addition there are a Stills Gallery, an Interview with film critic/scholars David Chute & Andy Klein (8:08) and Commentator Biographies.

Fun, entertaining, and thought provoking.

Anyone who is into Asian martial art movies has probably seen this Shaw Brothers classic collection. The One-Armed Swordsman, a Chang Cheh film, is about a Kung-Fu student who is taken under the wing by a Kung-Fu master. The student's father was killed protecting the honor of the Kung-Fu master. However, because of jealous conflicts with the Master's daughter and other students, the best student (Wang Yu Caiao) gets his right arm cut off while attempting to run away to avoid further troubles involving the Master's daughter.In the process of running away after getting his arm cut off, the one-arm swordsman ends up being saved by a beautiful country girl and she nurses him back to health. He begins training using his left arm (He was right-handed)and becomes even better after years of hard training. He winds up saving his former Master's life by defeating those who plotted against the master. Finally, the one-arm swordsman gives up being a swordsman and leaves with the girl who saved his life.In conclusion, there is not as much martial art action as many of the other Asian martial art films I have seen; nevertheless, this one has a great story and good character development that makes this movie enjoyable. It also has some great weapon fighting scenes which makes this a must see martial arts film for those who enjoy these kind of movies.Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Advanced PR-24 Police Baton Techniques)

This movie exceeded expectations. The storyline was surprising.

This film carries itself well as both a brilliantly coreographed action film with realistic sword combat, and as a story in itself, with a somber and touching theme. A young boy sees his father fatally wounded in combat while defending the master of a school of sword training. The master declares he will take in the young fatherless boy and treat him as his own. The boy keeps the only momento he has of his father, the broken remains of the sword his father used in his final combat. Having grown older and highly skilled in sword combat, the young man now decides to leave to hunt down the man who killed his father. In a tragic accident while confronting some other students of the school as he is leaving, he loses his right arm. It was clearly an accident but a devastating one as he wanders off bleeding profusely in the snow trying to keep himself from bleeding to death. He falls, near death, and a young woman rescues him and nurses him back to health. From that point onward the story becomes one of a man torn between his love for the woman who saved his life, his struggle to re-learn swordsmanship with only his left arm, and his loyalty to the master of the school who is now under attack by an old enemy. There is surprisingly more emotion and drama in this than I expected, an excellent story behind this amazing film is what gives this film weight and substance and value in owning. It is a film I will definitely watch over and over. I highly recommend it. The video was excellent, the sound was excellent, and dubbing was also well done if you prefer audio english soundtrack.- Mike S.

By current standards, this film will seem a little dated. However, fans of original classic martial arts films I am sure will enjoy this. The story moves at a reasonable pace and does have a (mostly) happy ending. A bit bloody in places so probably not for minors.

I normally really like the classic SB movies but this one I thought was terrible

Yuh

Bought as present

The Weinstein Company has to be commended for releasing "The One-Armed Swordsman" on DVD. The video and audio restoration that went into this release is truly amazing. The film is presented in it's 2.35:1 Widescreen format and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. This is without a doubt the best version of "The One-Armed Swordsman" I've ever seen. The video transfer is just spectacular and the colors are sharp and vibrant. The sound is clean and crisp albeit in mono. The sound options include original Mandarin or English dubbed version and choice of Subtitles. The special features I found most interesting were the Interview with Jimmy Wang Yu and the Stills Gallery and Trailer Gallery. Sadly the commentary of Quentin Tarantino listed on the rear cover under the special features section of the DVD is missing. Martial Arts fans will be amazed by the outstanding level of quality of this DVD release. Incredible sword fighting scenes, non-stop blood filled action, the "One-Armed Swordsman" has it all.DVD Bonus Features:* Feature commentary by film scholars David Chute and Andy Klein* Interview with Star Jimmy Wang Yu* Interview with film scholars David Chute and Andy Klein* The Master: Chang Cheh* Stills gallery* Trailer gallery* Commentator biographies