Colourful, beautifully photographed, airborne sword battles for no particular reason .... ah, how could you not love wu’xia ?

This not-too-earnest remake of Death Duel (1977) is a fine way to spend a couple of hours. The wacky and weaving plot is a standard Ku Long Confuser which eventually makes sense ... well, sort of.

The fight-and-flight scenes range from great to fantastic, especially the all-important climactic battle. These highs do a lot to make up for the sometimes-too-long scenes where nothing much happens and the story drags. I’d have been happy to see about twenty minutes cut out from these parts, and the film would have suffered not one bit for it.

Derek Yee this time directs the story which originally launched his career. It is great to see some of the old favourites put in appearances, including several from the original. Norman Chu is always good value, as is Goo Goon-Chung. Even Jamie Luk pops up.

Any film with Tsui Hark’s name prominently in the credits is worth watching. Though far from his best work, well worth watching.