The bandit leaders Long-Armed Devil (Chi-Ching Yang) and Smiling Tiger (Ti Tang) are determined to punish the sword fighting teacher Qi Rufeng (Feng Tien) for the part that he played in thwarting one of their robberies. When the villains lead their men in an attack on Qi’s Golden Sword School, the temporarily incapacitated teacher’s life is saved by Fang Cheng (Feng Ku), who is mortally wounded in the process. Before he dies, Fang requests that Qi takes care of his small son, Fang Kang, and trains him to be a master swordsman.
The boy grows into an upstanding young man (Yu Wang) who studies hard but he decides to leave the school after being harassed by his fellow students and pestered by Qi’s amorous daughter Pei (Yin-Tze Pan). Unfortunately, a confrontation with the petulant Pei on the eve of his departure results in her lopping off his right arm. Qi presumes that Fang is dead but the wounded swordsman has been found and spirited away by a passing farm girl, Xiaoman (Chiao Chiao), who duly nurses him back to health. Fang recovers well but he feels useless and emasculated as he can no longer fight and he is forced to settle into a quiet domesticated life on Xiaoman’s small farm.
It soon transpires that Smiling Tiger and his men are in the locality testing a new combat device – the Sword Lock – which neutralises the weapons of those fighters who use the right-handed sword fighting techniques that Qi teaches and leaves them wholly vulnerable to sneaky strikes from close-quarters. Qi’s Golden Sword School pupils – who are easily recognised due to their distinctive looking weapons – are soon being picked off one-by-one. With trouble brewing, Xiaoman reluctantly gives Fang a manual of left handed sword fighting techniques that had once belonged to her late father and he begins training again. But will he be ready in time to foil Long-Armed Devil’s plans to destroy Qi and what remains of his current and former students when they attend the teacher’s upcoming birthday celebrations?
One-Armed Swordsman is a rollicking action flick that is built around a series of melodramatic tragedies, fortuitous coincidences and violent confrontations. The film is noted for being the production that kickstarted a new cycle of wuxia films in Hong Kong by placing a heavy emphasis on extremely bloody depictions of swordplay. Wuxia films in general haven’t been particularly easy to access in the UK up until now but 88 Films have issued a fair number on Blu-ray recently via their 88 Asia imprint. And it’s easy enough to appreciate the appeal of shows like One-Armed Swordsman. Stories about righteous but violent lone heroes who fight against the odds to bring justice to evil wrongdoers always go down well, be they presented as Westerns, urban action films or samurai movies.
Our main character here fits the lone hero part well and actor Yu Wang’s skilfully projected stoicism, his brooding demeanour and his perpetual scowl result in a screen presence that is powerful enough for us to wish that he had appeared in an East meets West Spaghetti Western as an oriental protagonist of some description. Interestingly, the physical impairment that Fang suffers and has to overcome prompts loose comparisons to a number of iconic characters from Sergio Corbucci’s Italo-Westerns. More specifically, shots of the wounded Fang on his knees and struggling to get to his feet while snow falls around him look like they might have informed the final moments of Corbucci’s The Great Silence (1968). Additional comparisons to Spaghetti Westerns more generally can be found in the way that the film’s villains are coded as merciless bullies who take obvious pleasure in the heinous acts that they commit and the huge body counts that their despicable actions generate.
In common with a number of samurai films and other shows that focus on the exploits of historical warriors, One-Armed Swordsman possesses an emotionally charged narrative thanks to the presence of a large supporting cast of good, loyal and honourable men who ultimately suffer noble deaths. Indeed, it’s heartbreaking when the pupils of the Golden Sword School start getting cut down in great numbers by Smiling Tiger’s men. The deadly Sword Lock weapon that the villains employ is an ingenious plot device that puts the men of the Golden Sword School at the kind of unfair disadvantage that will have the more excitable viewer screaming at the television screen in frustration as yet another good guy bravely enters into a fight that he cannot win and tragically bites the dust.
The frenetic action scenes that depict the film’s confrontations and fights are really well choreographed and the swordplay on display is convincing. Some of One-Armed Swordsman’s characters are able to effortlessly jump to greater than normal heights but the cinematography and editing that is employed to achieve this effect makes their actions appear perfectly natural. The quite fantastical strength that Fang builds up in his left arm makes for some interesting fight scene content too. Many of the show’s fight scenes are sparked by suitably confrontational dialogue that again puts us in mind of Spaghetti Westerns.
One-Armed Swordsman’s bloody and at times quite gory action scenes are underscored by some really loud, powerful and emotive music that serves to greatly intensify the dramatic effect of the visuals. More gentle but still emotionally charged cues underscore the scenes that chart Fang and Xiaoman’s slowly developing relationship. Some of the show’s louder cues feature a funky late 1960s pop beat that works really well. The film’s period sets and costumes are colourful and lavish and they remain suitably impressive. It’s quite obvious at times that some of One-Armed Swordsman’s ‘exterior’ scenes were shot on grand and well-dressed studio soundstages but this aesthetic look is one that is common to many Shaw Brothers productions.
One-Armed Swordsman is a popular cinema film and a genre film but it’s also a very good quality and highly entertaining production. The acting here suits the material just fine and the show’s narrative remains involving. Noticeably good cinematography, fluid camera moves and thoughtful compositions that make good use of the widescreen frame all work in the film’s favour too and add to its wannabe epic qualities. The variable quality of the old English language dubs that were done for wuxia films such as this invariably resulted in elitist reviewers and smart-ass film snobs dismissing the shows as laughable trash when they first appeared in Western cinemas and on home video store shelves. Thanks to the inclusion of the film’s superior Chinese language dub track (supported by optional English language subtitles) there’s little chance of One-Armed Swordsman being dismissed in such a manner this time around.
88 Films’ Region B Blu-ray of One-Armed Swordsman features picture quality that is very good for the most part. There’s little in the way of print damage here and the show’s vibrant colours are well rendered. The sound quality of the English language and Chinese language dub tracks that are offered here is excellent but the Chinese language option made the best impression for review purposes. The disc’s informative extra features consist of a commentary track by Bey Logan, an interview with David West and a four page booklet written by Calum Waddell.
