Johnson Tsao Chuang-Sheng was the ART DIRECTOR/Scenery Manager for about 200 films from 1959 (Shaws- Darling Daughter) until the early 1980's .
He worked on King Hu's second film as a director- Sons of the Good Earth (1965) and his next breakthrough film COME DRINK WITH ME that fans of the genre will be familiar with.
His first film with Chang Cheh was (I think?) the Singing Thief in 1969. The Invincible Fist was the next film with Chang made the same year along with DEAD END & Have Sword, Will Travel.
It looks fabulous.
However, the story is very poorly written , with Lo Lieh (an excellent performance considering the script) portraying a bit of an idiot bounty hunter.
There's several daft decisions he makes that cost many lives , one of the most ludicrous is when he confronts a main adversary in a suspiciously deserted inn.... He doesn't disarm him after 'capturing' him, stands with his back to an open door, ignores the treacherous waiter behind him, and then gets the adversary to turn around obscuring his devious hands and hidden weapons while lecturing away in a righteous manner. Groan-worthy moments like this really destroy the mood and atmosphere of what could have been a great action story.
There is also a romance with the blind daughter of the main adversary that is so ludicrous I won't even start on it. It does have the best bit of writing in the film though- a metaphor for Wolves loving their off-spring and long travels that may never see a return.
The most important thing is of course the ACTION and chorography skills on display, which could elevate a tired or silly story into a minor classic still. Here we have the dependable duo of Liu Chia Liang and Tang Chia on about their 10th collaboration with Chang. However the fighting is mostly unmemorable- just HACK & SLASH, clanging and grunting,and while well filmed and artfully composed seems uninspired after the great films they'd made with Chang previously ( 1 Armed Swordsman, return of, Assassin & Golden Swallow) and those that they were about to make .
He worked on King Hu's second film as a director- Sons of the Good Earth (1965) and his next breakthrough film COME DRINK WITH ME that fans of the genre will be familiar with.
His first film with Chang Cheh was (I think?) the Singing Thief in 1969. The Invincible Fist was the next film with Chang made the same year along with DEAD END & Have Sword, Will Travel.
It looks fabulous.
However, the story is very poorly written , with Lo Lieh (an excellent performance considering the script) portraying a bit of an idiot bounty hunter.
There's several daft decisions he makes that cost many lives , one of the most ludicrous is when he confronts a main adversary in a suspiciously deserted inn.... He doesn't disarm him after 'capturing' him, stands with his back to an open door, ignores the treacherous waiter behind him, and then gets the adversary to turn around obscuring his devious hands and hidden weapons while lecturing away in a righteous manner. Groan-worthy moments like this really destroy the mood and atmosphere of what could have been a great action story.
There is also a romance with the blind daughter of the main adversary that is so ludicrous I won't even start on it. It does have the best bit of writing in the film though- a metaphor for Wolves loving their off-spring and long travels that may never see a return.
The most important thing is of course the ACTION and chorography skills on display, which could elevate a tired or silly story into a minor classic still. Here we have the dependable duo of Liu Chia Liang and Tang Chia on about their 10th collaboration with Chang. However the fighting is mostly unmemorable- just HACK & SLASH, clanging and grunting,and while well filmed and artfully composed seems uninspired after the great films they'd made with Chang previously ( 1 Armed Swordsman, return of, Assassin & Golden Swallow) and those that they were about to make .