All Men Are Brothers (1973)
Reviewed by: cal42 on 2006-08-13
Summary: Now THAT'S more like it!
Following their exploits in THE WATER MARGIN, the 108 Liang Shan bandits pursue another corrupt Sung official in the Hangzhou province. When their raiding party is uncovered thanks to the enthusiastic but impetuous Black Whirlwind (Fan Mei-Sheng), several key members of Liang Shan are trapped in the province when the Emperor closes all gates in the fort-like city. The officials then assume they can hunt down the bandits at their leisure, but they hadn’t reckoned on Yan Qing (David Chiang) and his uncanny ability to climb walls. The Liang Shan bandits then have to launch a rescue party against the fortified city to save their fellow heroes, and to overthrow the corrupt leaders.

ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS follows directly on from THE WATER MARGIN, but is a different kettle of fish entirely. The characters introduced at the beginning of the first film generally have a part to play in this one (although Ti Lung is again noticeably absent for the most part). It is markedly different from THE WATER MARGIN in every respect – not least the fight choreography, which is much beefier this time around. Another key difference is the musical score. Gone is the contemporary soundtrack, and is replaced by a more traditional sounding score, which fits the setting much better.

Special note must be made of the sets on this film. The Shaw Brothers seem to have created an entire fortified city for this, and it looks magnificent and convincing. One side of it is even built against the ocean complete with retractable wood topped net fence to deter an invasion by sea. When the city is closed down, trapping the bandits, it does create quite a feeling of excitement.

David Chiang-fearing viewers need not be put off either. Although he is still the main star, Chen Kuan-Tai and Danny Lee have their chance to shine as well. The former has a particularly prolonged and bloody fight against many adversaries, which sees him getting a gushing dagger wound for his troubles. I really don’t know why the bad guys bother stabbing Chen Kuan-Tai – it only pisses him off! But it’s Fan Mei-Sheng who is arguably the star of this film, with his brainless but loyal Black Whirlwind – a real scene-stealer.

With better fighting and a better storyline, this eclipses WATER MARGIN by some length, and is highly recommended.
Reviewer Score: 8