Reviewed by: Oliver Sodemann Date: 02/07/2023 Summary: One great experience! Unfortunately, there is no version of this movie around with its full format in widescreen. With director Li Su you have one of the best men who did other great movies like THE MAGNIFICENT CHIVALRY and THE CRIMINAL, for instance. He has a very good pacing and is always interested in his character's emotions. If you like good dialogues, good characterisations, original and dramatic plots, this is one good old swordsplay movie for you! Not many fights, not the fights you would have with a Shaw Brothers movie - but you will learn that this is not the most important thing to make your cinema evening worthwhile. There wasn't but one thing or scene that I was bothered about! And if you thought acting in Taiwan or Hong Kong martial arts cinema would be a little bit inferior, you are told something else here, especially with actress Chang Mei-Yao. Finally, this movie is another fine example of using "borrowed" music from other movies for the better and maybe more intense than in their original: this time the music is mainly from Ennio Morricone, written for Henri Verneuille's GUNS OF SAN SEBASTIAN. Along with familiar tunes from HOUR OF THE GUN and some others. Reviewer Score: 10

Reviewed by: heinz Germany Date: 05/09/2013 Summary: Chinese