If you want to point to one of the most influential martial arts films ever made, The One-Armed Swordsman has to be near the top of the list. Released in 1967, it was the first film to crack the $1 million barrier at the Hong Kong box office, and helped to usher in a new era of martial arts films that would run through the 1970's.
The movie itself is fantastic, it features a strong, brooding, charismatic lead in Jimmy Wang Yu, some interesting swordplay, and the emergence of Chang Cheh as one of the leading directors of this new movement.
The film tells the story of a servant's son who is taken in by a master swordsman after his father is killed while defending the master's home. In a debt of gratitude the swordsman, Master Qi, takes the boy as his own and promises to raise him. The film jumps ahead in time, as the boy, Fang Gang (Jimmy Wang Yu) is now fully grown, and feeling a bit rebellious due to his decidedly lower class origin (in comparison to his fellow students, not to mention the master's daughter).
The daughter, Qi Pei Er, conspires with a pair of fellow students to teach this upstart a lesson by luring him into the woods at night to beat him up. Before this can happen, Gang makes the decision to leave this life behind, never able to truly fit in. Even though he decides to leave, he still winds up confronting the trio. His arrogance, coupled with the disgust of Pei, leads her to react with a sword slash which severs Gangs right arm. Thus the One Armed Swordsman is born.
Gang is able to stumble off following the attack, only to be rescued by a peasant woman named Xiaomann who nurses him back to health. Gang then goes about rebuilding his life, learning to fight left handed. This is not the only story, as there are evil things afoot surrounding Master Qi.
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