Customer Reviews

Return of the Deadly Blade [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Return of the Deadly Blade....1981

First lets start off with the extras on this DVD. This is part of the WuTang Hidden Treasures collection out out by Ground Zero. It has the same ill opening graphics As Fury in the Shaolin Temple, and Shaolin King Boxer. This DVD lacks the Nice interviews with the stars but it still has the small bio for the stars and pretty Good video fight clips from all of the stars. It has the Wu Tang video for "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" and a wu interview with PaPa Wu who I ain't never heard of before.

It also has two more questions about Martial Arts that are answered by an Abbot And a Tai Chi master. The questions were what are the difference between internal And external styles and what is the conflict between martial arts and fighting...as I recall.

For the movie....It seems to be an uncut version of the original. It plays as a fullscreen Version that is in pretty decent shape. (I'd give the quality at about a 3.95 out of 5). This seems to have been a copy from a video with good sound and very few major Blemishes. (There are some minor artifacts.)

The open has "dumb" fight sequence with Wang Jang Lee fighting Norman Tsui Siu Keung Which is mad nice. This is a hand to hand fight, but then the story breaks into what you would Expect from the title, which was David Chiang weilding the deadly blade. As the movie Played one could get the feeling that this was some kind of prelude to "Duel To the Death" Which also stars Tsui Siu Keung, but this movie had comedy of sorts provided by Yausaki Kurata of all people. Wang Jang Lee's performance was alright and clearly Not the best. Probably because this is a David Chiang vehicle.

Overall this movie was better than Shaolin King Boxer and Fury from the Wu Tang releases, However, I wouldn't say that this was one of those over the top movies. It was good As it had a storyline but with all of the great stars it fails to be a movie that makes you Say Damn! Maybe because I fail to see what is so great about swordplay movies. Swing a sword, watch them die. Swing a fist and see several different ways to watch them Fall...ten times better!

Definitely on for the collectors box especially if you are a fan of swordplay movies.

Overall this movie is a 3.95 out of 5 stars. The DVD for quality and extras is a 5.

Featuring a Who's Who in kung fu films, with stars like; David Chaing, Hwang jang lee, Lo lieh, just to name a few. This story deals with a young man trying to get revenge for his father. He takes the name of the man he searches hoping it will bring him out in the open. the young man even uses his targets weapons as well (the deadly blades). challenging every fighter he can hoping that he can finally get a chance to heal his inner hate and kill teh man responsible for stealing his father. Spectacular sword play, and a showcase of weapons that you will not soon forget (Steel rings, Saw Blades, Spear unbrella, Fans, etc.). I recommend this film not only for the amazing cast but also for the great choreography and story.

Also the DVD has some very interesting extra features including selected fights from each of the movies stars, and a photo gallery, along with some other ver nice added goodies.

Part of the Wu Tang Clan's "Hidden Chambers Collection," "Return of the Deadly Blade" is a movie that has enormous potential but doesn't quite reach the heights it should have. The first thing you'll notice is the well known cast, with David Chiang (Bloody Tattoo, Shaolin Mantis, Magnificent Wanderers), Yasuaki Kurata (Challenge of the Ninja, Prodigal Boxer, Ninja in a Deadly Trap), and cameos for Lo Leih (Five Fingers of Death aka King Boxer, Fist of the White Lotus, Executioners of Death), Tsui Siu Kueng (Duel to the Death), and David Chiang. This movie is also notable for its action director, Ching Siu Tung, who would go on to revolutionize kung fu fantasy action like the Chinese Ghost Story trilogy (great movies, by the way).

Released in 1980, "Return of the Deadly Blade" is kind of a prototype for the many kung fu fantasy movies that would come in the 80s (notably, "The Zu Warriors of Magic Mountain"). You have characters/supernatural characters here who can shoot fire from their hands, bend swords at will, shoot poison darts while walking up walls, fly through the air, etc. Not that this is a problem for me -- but if reality is important to you, then you might find this a bit hard to stomach.

What might be more hard to stomach is the pacing. Basically, this movie moves at a very fast, convoluted pace. You'll often find yourself wondering what just happened, who is talking, what are they talking about, etc. Fights are dispersed throughout and don't last for very long, and while you are definitely entertained (fights tend to be above average but typical), you also wish you knew what was going on.

What is the plot? Well, you have a swordsman named Lee Wai who kills David Chiang's father at the beginning. Master Lee goes into seclusion, and David Chiang (aka. Disciple of the Sword) trained and now seeks to draw the reclusive Master Wai out by impersonating him. All the while, the Moon Goddess (yes, you read that right) mourns the loss of her lover who Master Lee also killed. And there is the arrogant swordsman The Lonely Winner (Yasuaki Kurata), who is accused of raping a woman and is apparently bored with defeating everyone he fights, so he goes off to find enjoyment elsewhere. As you might guess, the Disciple of the Sword and the Lonely Winner eventually cross paths as they make their way to the Tomb of the Heroes to find and defeat Master Lee. Assorted love interests and fights happen along the way.

The story is okay though you might the ending a bit confusing and abrupt. Can't say too much except that when "the End" appeared, I said "What? That's it?"

As for the picture transfer, this version is obviously a VHS transfer. It is full screen and the picture often suffers for it. You see some VHS pan and scan defects. Some closeups feature people being cut off the screen (including the person talking), which is annoying. Unfortunately, I can't find any other copies of this movie, so until a better version comes along, this will have to do.

Is the movie worth it? Well, it is an interesting curiosity piece with some good fantasy kung fu action. A great cast, too -- too bad they weren't asked to do more and weren't given a better script to work with. As it is, it is an obscure but decent title. Compared to better movies of the genre like "Zu Warriors," it is certainly not higher than a 3, but I've seen worse.

I very much enjoyed this movie but found it a little too weird to call it a great kung fu movie. also there is really no hand to hand so don't freaking buy this and then say it has no kung fu, cause I just told you that.

The opening fight scene is the closest to kung fu you are going to get. Norman Chu defeats hwang Jang Lee and the movie starts. David chiang is gonna go around killing everyone to cause trouble and make it known that a true swordmaster is around these parts. he is doing this beacuse he has heard about the return of the deadly blade. Some guy in a wheel chair proves the toughest opponent in a quick match that leaves david wondering who this guy is. Then you have the lonely winner (yusuaki kurata) who is on the run with a huge price on his head for raping a lady. So him and chiang meet up and kurata kind of follows him and when they like sit down for lunch, people will show up and throw a rope around kurata's head and get into a huge brawl. Unfortunatley, there is no real kung fu. Kurata pulls out a few kicks, but no real good stuff. But some very good sword fights, and fun action all around. And the fire master was really cool. Also the ninja fights were great. But without a widescreening, the fights seriouosly suffered.

So all in all, a ton of fights, and a bunch of the TOP shaw brothers stars in this. GReat flick and look out for the final fight, not better than any of the others, but another unique one. Now that is the understatement of the century.

So the dvd qhality is pretty poor but watchable. And the extras are a major attraction to buy this. Between 4-6 clips of 5 or 6 guys. I will name all teh guys and we will count.

Hwang-5 OR 6 CLIPS I HAVE NEEVR SEEN BEFORE!!!!!!!! Now I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Hwang fan and this was a nice pleasent surprise. I would never buy any of these, so thank you wutang clan.
There is one where Hwnag is trying to run away and a fighter comes up to him and says "Give me the formula". Great.

Kurata-3 really good clips and one of his greatest kicking dispays of his career.

Bruce Leung-2 freaking awesome bruce clone movie clips, and 2 more good ones also.

Norman Chu-5 decent fights, one had him rippign through a whole army like "Hero", of course not quite as high budget. Btu actually decent for it's time.

David chiang-weird one where Chiang is fighting a guy wearing a devil's costume he must have stole out of my trash can halloween 15 years ago. His clips were the worst but were still very enjoyable.

Lo Lieh-only four clips but a good one where he is fighting Lee yi-min, and the rest are pretty funny. One is a Bruce Lee clone movie where "bruce" looked white, black, and chinese all mixed together.

And I have to say that I had never seen ANY of these. WOW!!!!!!

Some of the fighting scenes were pretty decent, but if you are not into "exotic" Kung Fu stunts, fire flying through the air, people flying through trees and doing other outragous acts, than this is not the flick for you. Some of the stunts were totally unbelievable. I'm sorry, but I've seen better kung fu flicks than this. A rating of a "3" is too much. At times, I wasn't sure if I was watching a kung fu flick or something I would see at a circus. The overdubs were kind of crappy and if you don't pay attention very closely, you will get lost with the references to the past then flipping to the present.

Most of the fighting scenes took place at night - it was just that kind of movie and everything about this flick just appeared to be dark all around. I'm sorry, I'm just not into "kung fu experts who fly through the air with the greatest of ease." I've just started to learn to live with them jumping off of roofs!

Personally, I'm not into all of that SCFI nonsense. If you're a fan of than stuff, then you'll love this one. But, if you are into straight up real Kung Fu try watching, "The Evil Masters", "The Leg Fighters", "Ninja Checkmate", or the "The Five Venoms." These are true classics that display fighters with skill you can actually see!

This flick had alot of my favorite stars in it-David Chang(7 Blows of the Dragon),Wong Jang Lee(the bad guy kicker from Drunken Master and Snake in Eagle shadow),and alot of others.The Wu family has made the Hidden Chamber series the BEST DVD series out there. More features than anybody else.The features are longer than the movie! It's got bonus fights with all the stars(about 5 clips per star),and the Wu chamber is a jewel mine of info, knowledge and wizdom.Plus the Masters chamber where real Shaolin monks drop jewels for real!This whole series is tight.Better than they first releases by a million years. Get this and all the Hidden Chambers DVDs!.... Peace!

At first glance you think this is a classic Shaw Bros. film.It isn't,but it's just as good,if not better than most.The array of weapons and styles is too numerous to mention.The extra features are also too numerous to mention.I also recommend the Wu Tang Clan's latest releases such as Shaolin Drunkard,Kung Fu of 8 Drunkards and Revenge of the Patriots.