Nearing the end of his long and illustrious career, director Chang Cheh had his formula for making his movies down. In this film, he gathers all his actors from the 60’s and 70’s, casting them in a thriller that takes place in the time of the Nanking authority and the treachery surrounding it. For extra box office appeal, Chang concedes to a sequence featuring then newcomer Andy Lau who, as we all know now, became a huge international star just like his co-stars did in the previous decades. Some bad-ass fighting scenes feature unique death blows, as well as Chang’s requisite slow motion action. At the end, it seemed to this viewer that it was difficult to transfer Sung Dynasty heroism and chivalry to a story of anti-Japanese espionage.

happyfortune.org