The plot does not go off in any wild, crazy tangents. The assassins' attempt to get the Peacock Dart only serves to slow down the march towards a final battle between our heroes and the evil Master Yu. Throw in an unusual amount of blood for a Shaw Bros. film and a short but exploitive lesbian scene that seems out of place. But out of place is what makes these films stand out over other films of their day. There's a killer named the Devil Grandma and there's a battle on a life-sized chess board. The final showdown is quick by today's standards of "final showdowns" but it brings nice closure to the story.
Viewed as a return of the Western traditions to Eastern cinema, The Magic Blade is a complete package. The two foes become reluctant partners against a greater evil. The sword battles are equivalent to gun fights. The restaurants even double as the Western saloon. And what better tradition than the lone gunman (or two gunmen in this case) against the evil Boss and his never ending henchmen.
There are limited bonus features on this disc. The biggest is the Original Mandarin soundtrack with English subtitles. I've watched these movies for years with the same painful English dubbed soundtrack, so it's tempting to watch it that way again for nostalgia, but hearing the original language is a revelation. The sound effects and score are not buried like they are in the dub version. The disc also includes trailers for 16 other Shaw Bros. classics, so get your pen and paper ready to start your next shopping list.
Article comments