elementally perfect. enough to make you want to work at a movie theater where it's all they ever show.

I ended up watching this on YouTube, because there's not even a legitimate release on DVD. This is wrong. This should be on Criterion. Still trying to decide which is cooler: When Xiao catches an arrow in a porcelain wine carafe and with a flick of the wrist tosses it right back at the man who shot it at him OR every single camera movement, shot composition, and edit.

So exciting to finally see this on the big screen, finally can get a sense of the sublimity of King Hu's use of space, the 'scope frame arranged so precisely in the various stand-offs, the judicious close-ups lunging out at the audience. Even smaller stuff, like the "take the shortcut" joke, which would be just as at home in a Mel Brooks movie, works so much better on the big screen, similarly the whip pans of Pai Ying's leaps out of danger, the gradual reddening of Shih Chun's eyes, and the gorgeous natural vistas that would go on to become an integral part of Hu's films. Having perfected the action movie in 1967, he was free throughout the 1970s to take it places no one has yet managed to follow.

You know shit is about to get real when a man removes his blanket to go into battle

Peak martial arts cinema.

There is a real theatre and dance vibe in almost all movements and shots. The way the scenes are shot is simply great and wonderful to watch. The story is unfortunately quite generic but since it's not the most important part in Wuxia for me I can dig it. The MoC Eureka release is a piece of art for itself. Such a beautiful and perfect restoration which has to be admired.

I always take issue with Hu's pacing--it feels like 3/4 of the film is stuck in exposition, even if they are evocatively shot and scored. As usual, great use of space, color, and editing to make action scenes dynamic and extraordinary. B

The wuxia film Sergio Leone never made. The story is mostly throwaway but the various sword fights and beautifully composed shots are the real draw. To be honest it's a bit overlong, but when you get to the final confrontation and the hero keeps taunting the bad guy about his (literal) lack of testicles, you know it was all worth it.

Creo que ya sé una de las películas que inspiró a Tarantino para The Hateful 8. Debo ver esta película de nuevo con mejor calidad y subtítulos. La pelea final da mucho que pensar, me pilló muy desprevenido y no sabía a quién debía apoyar.

Rester accrocher au film par la constante tension créé par le suspense de l'attente, y placer des moments d'humour, ponctuer de scènes de combats efficaces.. et garder pour la finale les idées les plus éclatées.. presque psychédélique (Une formule que Hu semble avoir répété dans quelques films). C'est presqu'un western spag par moment. Dans les grands films du cinéaste à côté de Touch of Zen et Raining in the mountain. Aussi, à voir et revoir des King Hu je développe tranquillement un culte à l'acteur Shih Chun qui est toujours surprenant. Et vive la magnifique restauration de ce film que j'avais seulement vu il y a un certain temps dans une version terrible manquant en plus 30 minutes.

Holy balls!

What an exhilarating piece of action cinema this is!

Think of Sergio Leone tackling a wuxia flick and you'd have a bit of an idea of what King Hu is bringing to the table on this occasion. Maybe not quite as transcendent or mindlblowing as my experience with A Touch of Zen (I really need to see the restored version of that film as the new print of this one looks gorgeous!), yet this is one of the best films of its kind I've ever seen, proving what a master filmmaker King Hu was!