金旋風 (1972)

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金旋風 (1972)

The Hurricane

Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 02/02/2025

The Hurricane - also known as Gold Cyclone Whirlwind - is another early Golden Harvest wuxia film featuring Nora Miao and Patrick Tse, with Chin Chuan as a prominent third lead. Shek Kin and Stanley Fung play the most prominent villains, with director Lo Wei content to remain in his palace being served by beauties.

The script is pretty good, sticking to common themes but not entirely derivative or predictable. Nora Miao plays a hot-headed fighter akin to THE BLADE SPARES NONE, though her character here is not especially capable and she is definitely third fiddle to the male leads.

Action is less dramatic than in THE COMET STRIKES despite being choreographed by Chan Siu-Pang again. The fights are more grounded but the choreography is quite sophisticated - fighters are not just flailing their weapons around, but move with intention.

The film appears to be shot in Taiwan, based on a telltale appearance from Taroko Gorge. Cinematography from veteran Lam Kwok-Cheung is strong, making the film more artful than you might expect with Lo Wei in the director's chair.

Whilst the film doesn't have enough flair or a unique hook to rate amongst the classics of the genre, it is a film I can comfortably recommend to genre enthusiasts.

Reviewer Score: 7