Mad, Mad, Mad Swords (1969)
Reviewed by: Stephe on 2011-01-27
Mad, Mad, Mad Swords, starring Tin Ching at his goofiest
(moreso than in Beauty Parade, even) and least malevolent (in
contrast to his roles in The First Sword and The Boxer from
Shantung), was not all that great, but not as miserable as some
would have it. Sammo Hung plays two parts. Veteran character
actor Fung Ngai (who played the fat bespectacled karateka in
Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury) appears with a three-sectional staff
which the choreographer doesn't know what to do with. Infamous
Shaw villain Chiang Nan (most memorable as the traitor in The
Iron Bodyguard) has the funniest scene: he is forced to fight Tin
Ching with a full bladder after having eaten eight bowls of
congee. Rascally Tin Ching purposely delayed their competition to
make sure the congee would do what it did. The best fight scene
has Shaw actor Paul Chang in a Zatoichi homage. The One-armed
Swordsman homage is not nearly as successful.

Being a Cathay film, the women hold sway over the men, and it is
in ways that you wouldn't see in a Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest
film. For example, Tin Ching's betrothed controls the purse strings
to his dead master's fortune, and a subplot with a courtesan is
played out mostly from the woman's perspective. In the end, it's
Tin Ching's pompous, almost-bowlegged strut that makes for the most
indelible image: It's John Wayne by way of Popeye.
Reviewer Score: 5