One Armed Swordsman (Dubei dao) (1967) |
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One Armed Swordsman (Dubei dao) (1967) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Martial Arts |
Audio Commentary-Film Scholars David Chute and Andy Klein Interviews-Cast-Jimmy Wang Yu More…-Interview with film scholars David Chute & Andy Klein Featurette-The Master: Chang Cheh Gallery-Photo Trailer-Trailer Gallery More…-Commentator Biographies |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1967 | ||
| Running Time | 111:22 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Chang Cheh |
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Studio
Distributor |
Shaw Bros Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Jimmy Wang Yu Chiao Chiao Huang Chung-hsin Pan Yin-tze Tien Feng Yang Chih-ching Tang Ti |
| Case | Amaray-Opaque | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music | Wang Foo-ling |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Unknown |
Chinese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English Spanish English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
In the late 1960s and 1970s the Shaw Brothers studio and director Chang Cheh re-defined the wuxia genre in a suite of films of outstanding inventiveness and quality. The One-Armed Swordsman is one of the earliest and one of the best. The film includes the Chang Cheh staple themes of loyalty, duty, honour and sacrifice with martial arts sequences that still impress after 40 years. Set pieces, such as a fight in a tea house, may later have become as much a cliché as the western bar-room brawl, but here it is fresh and alive. The One-Armed Swordsman was so successful it spawned two direct sequels as well as other films. The One-Armed Swordsman is a classic piece of martial arts cinema from the master Chang Cheh; an influential must see film for anyone interested in martial arts cinema.
When his servant father is killed protecting Qi Rufeng, the master of a martial arts school, Fang Gang (Jimmy Wang Yu) is raised as one of the master's disciples. However, his lowly status is exploited by other jealous disciples and especially Qi's spoiled daughter Pei-er (Pan Yin-tze). Deciding he must leave the school, Gang is intercepted by Pei-er who, in anger, cuts off his right arm. Stricken and alone, Gang wanders off into the snow and is saved by the humble farm girl Xiaoman (Chaio Chaio) who nurses him back to physical and mental health. She offers him undemanding love, and a simple life away from the destructiveness of the martial arts world. Gang trains to use his left arm, but promises to use his skills only to protect themselves. But the martial arts world will not let Gang go, and when the master's life is threatened by a rival martial arts teacher with a special weapon, Gang must decide between a simple farming life with a woman who loves him or a return to the violence and bloodshed of the martial arts world.
Chang Cheh directed almost 100 films, and wrote over 70 in a career spanning 40 years. In many of his later films Chang painted on an epic canvass with a cast of thousands and myriad heroes. In films such as The Water Margin (1972), All Men are Brothers (1975) or The Heroic Ones (1970), Chang investigated themes of honour, loyalty, sacrifice and duty on a massive scale. The One-Armed Swordsman is an earlier film which covers the same themes on a more intimate scale and is more accessible, and moving, for this. Here is a flawed hero we can understand, and to whom we can relate. His choice is a real one, and no less moving because there is never really any doubt about the choice he will make.
At the heart of The One-Armed Swordsman is the performance of Jimmy Wang Yu and he is simply superb as the tortured hero. He is believable in everything he does and although he was originally a swimmer, not a martial artist, he manages to handle his fight sequences pretty well. While the fights in The One-Armed Swordsman may not be up to the standard of later Hong Kong kung fu films, they are inventive and interesting. Sequences that would later become a cliché, such as a fight in a tea house (used still to good effect in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) are well staged and remain fresh. The final confrontation between good and evil, secret weapon and old fashioned blade, brings a resolution to the film that is both satisfying and appropriate. The One-Armed Swordsman was the highest grossing Hong Kong film to that date and was so successful it spawned two direct sequels: The Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969) and The New One-Armed Swordsman (1971) as well as related "maimed hero" films such as The One-Armed Boxer (1971), Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971) and remakes such as Tsui Hark's The Blade (1995). But The One-Armed Swordsman is the best; a classic, influential piece of martial arts cinema from the master Chang Cheh.
The film is presented in its original ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen TVs.
This is a good, clean restored print with no obvious blemishes or artefacts. It was filmed almost entirely indoors and is gorgeous to look at. Indeed the primary colours seem so vibrant and so boosted that they give the film a heightened, artificial reality. This means that some sequences, especially those set in the countryside, have a fantasy feel about them. I cannot say whether this is faithful to the original or not. Some colours, especially red, seem to bleed (for example Per-er's dress at 8.10-14.00), but it is not overly distracting and the skin tones are natural.
While there is some softness in detail, especially where the hand-held camera pans, the clarity in most scenes is excellent. Shadow detail is fine and blacks solid. As was usual with Hong Kong films of the period, no dialogue was recorded on the set and the lip synchronisation is very approximate indeed, and quite noticeable.
The English subtitles are clear and easy to read. They do contain an occasional missing word, such as "Its and a half feet with a thin blade" (42.26 min) or "there are moves in total" (43.11 min) but they are generally fine and do not go past too quickly. American English is used thus, for example, "honor" not "honour".
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Audio Audio tracks available are Mandarin 2.0 and English mono. I listened to the Mandarin track, where all audio was directed to the centre speaker.
Obviously there is no sub woofer use. The dialogue and effects are clear, so the audio does an effective job. The film was released in mono, so we have the original audio on this DVD. The English dub is as bad as usual.
The score is a combination of the usual stock music. While strident in places, overall it does enhance the film experience.
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Other Films from these Filmmakers. The Chinese Professionals: full screen, mono, faded colour and numerous artefacts, 0.59 minutes; rare film. The New One-Armed Swordsman: only in reasonable condition but with scratches and artefacts, 2.35:1, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3.14 minutes.
Shaw Bros. Films Currently available. Includes The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (fair condition only, 2.35:1, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3.43 minutes), My Young Auntie (again only fair condition, 2.35:1, Dolby Digital 2.0, 4.11 minutes), plus a montage lasting 1.29 minutes of other Shaw Bros. films in good condition; The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, King Boxer, My Young Auntie & The One-Armed Swordsman.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This Dragon Dynasty release is identical in both regions aside from the NTSC / PAL formatting.
In the late 1960s and 1970s the Shaw Brothers studio and director Chang Cheh re-defined the wuxia genre in a suite of films of outstanding inventiveness and quality. The The One-Armed Swordsman is one of the first, and one of the best. The film includes such Chang Cheh staples such as loyalty, duty, honour and sacrifice with martial arts sequences that still impress after 40 years. The One-Armed Swordsman is presented on a DVD with decent video and audio and a useful collection of extras. It is a must see film for anyone interested in martial arts cinema.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 42inch Hi-Def LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |