Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 10/29/2006 “The Maids of Heavenly Mountains” stars three hyper-glamorous actresses and as a bonus one of them plays twin sisters. It touches on reincarnation, revenge and the persistence of both love and hate across generations. A central image is the Eight Fairies, a group of immortals that is an important part of Buddhist beliefs. One assumes that there was a plot at some point during the conception of this movie but if there was none of it survived in the final product. The characters’ actions probably make sense from some perspective but not the one from which I was viewing this movie. The quality of the stunts ranges from decent to dull. The ending is as confusing and contrived but no more so that the rest of the film which has odd gimmicks like the Melting Stance that turns one’s opponent to ash, a confused monk who is given a special jade ornament that will identify him as worth of receiving a lost sutra, a chess playing monk with extraordinary Kung Fu and Senior, who is seems to be the villain of the piece but who is convinced by Li Chong Hoi to chop off his own leg. It is, however, well worth seeing. The presence Brigitte Lin, Sharla Cheung and Gong Li is a completely compelling reason to spend ninety minutes in front of the screen. Actually any two of the three would be enough. I find Brigitte Lin one of the sexiest screen actresses over the past couple of decades; Gong Li is and should be a superstar and Sharla Cheung is just beautiful. One or more of them is onscreen most of the time and when they are not there is enough going on to forestall boredom until the next appearance. Since two of them lead warring kung fu sects and the third either represents or tries to thwart (or both) the current master of martial arts, they are never gone for long. “The Maids of Heavenly Mountain” rates a seven but a bit of an odd one. Six points for the three leads, one for everything else. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: ksbutterbox Date: 10/24/2001 Summary: Ease up guys...Good Visual Film! I have numerous films by the 3 lovely ladies. Sure it isn't a great "fight " film etc..but look at your screen! Cheung Man is hilarious w/ a white beard! Gong Li & Brigitte Lin never looked better on film! Yeah the plot is pretty confusing but the kinetic camera/wire-fu is done quite well. I've been hearing complaints about this movie for years now..don't believe them ..a must for any serious HK collector.

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 03/06/2001 Summary: Confusing and i know why!! I believe when i was very young, i saw this movie as a mini series!! BEcause this is a movie, it couldn't put in all the complexities and storylines in the movie and by squeezing this story into a movie just makes it impossible for audiences to properly understand!! The special effects are good but brief but i did feel bored watching this, and confused!! MAybe if they made the movie longer this could of been more understandable 4/10

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/21/1999 Legend has it that in a faraway place beyond the edge of the earth,there exists a broken-hearted man with infinite power. Abandoned by his loved ones, the inheritance of hte old man's powers becomes a battleground for evil outsiders. [Reviewed by Tai Seng Catalog]

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 Mediocre box-office disaster, unrecognisably based on books 2 and 3 of Jin Yong's novel series. (Reportedly, this film did a great deal of damage to Gong Li's career.) Incoherently scripted, it also suffers from highly uninspired direction, cardboard characters and boring action sequences. Advertised as "having special effects like Dragonball (the animated Japanese manga)", which are less than convincing. A big disappointment. [Reviewed by Iain Sinclair]

Reviewed by: spinali Date: 12/08/1999 Summary: NULL Brigitte Lin (as identical twins), Gong Li, and Cheung Man alternate being as friends and rivals in this martial arts fantasy. Never in my life have I seen an HK film with such colorful sets and costuming, not to mention magical special effects. Too bad it's nearly incomprehensible -- the usual muddle about martial arts scrolls and warring factions. Fast-paced wonder-fu and a sense of humor make it engaging; just don't ask for a plot summary. (3/4) [Reviewed by Steve Spinali] Reviewer Score: 7