"The Water Margin" is too big and sprawling for any one man, so Shaw Brothers enlisted Chang Cheh, Wu Ma and Baau Hok Lai to direct. Having three directors also meant having four action directors to boot. "The Water Margin" is a case of too many cooks making the soup. The tale of the 108 heroes rebelling during the Sung Dynasty is too much to handle. In this film, it's so hard to keep track of who's who that characters are introduced with an on-screen credit as they are visually introduced. The main characters are played by David Chiang and, Japanese star, Tetsuro Tamba, as the disciple and master, respectively, are asked to join the 108 heroes to fight against the corrupt Sung officials.

The events move along briskly with people coming and going on and off screen. Many actors are featured in walk on cameos, but are only seen at the movie's onset and climax. Surprisingly, there really isn't that much action. Sure, a couple of fights along the way to the finale, but nothing that stands out, except for Chiang's play-school grappling and tumbling martial arts. The movie is not that arousing, but the viewing is somehow compelling from the beginning to the end.