Return of the One-Armed Swordsman

Dir: Chang Cheh

1969

*****

Chang Cheh’s original One-Armed Swordsman paved the way for a new-wave of wuxia films and was a big hit for the Shaw Brothers, so a sequel was ordered fairly quickly. Director Cheh returned as did Jimmy Wang in the title role and Lisa Chiao Chiao as his wife. The story takes place some time after the events of the first film and the One-Armed Swordsman is now a farmer who lives peacefully with his wife working his land. While working his field one day he is approached by two men, a white and a black sword master. They invite him to a challenge on behalf of their masters, the Eight Sword Kings who are challenging the masters of all rival schools in an effort to take over the martial arts community. Any that refuse are murdered by the Eight Kings' twin enforcers, the Black and White Knights. Our one-armed hero tells them he’s never heard of them and tells them to leave. A local martial art school then visit Fang Kang and warn him that the Eight Sword Kings will not take no for an answer, they too don’t want to fight but decide it better to join forces and fight, rather than suffer the consequences. Fang still refuses. However, after capturing all the rival masters, the Eight Kings deliver an ultimatum; all the rival schools' students must cut off their sword arms and surrender the severed limbs to the Eight Kings, or the students' beloved teachers will all die.The students return to the legendary One-Armed Swordsman and ask his help, but he remains reluctant. When one student kidnaps his wife to force him to help he becomes enraged and goes after them but encounters the Eight King’s men. He finds his wife’s kidnapper dead and another pupil gives his life to save her but is is only convinced into helping them when a student actually does sacrificially chop his own arm off in despair right in front of him. With his wife’s blessing, the One-Armed Swordsman then prepares himself to contend with the unique styles and weapons of the Eight Kings. The first king is the Winged Blade (or Flying Dragon in another translation dub) who uses his speed and leaping prowess to attack from the air. One-Arm bests him and his students with a variety of ground-based traps. The second is Hooking Blade who wields a chained sickle. One-Arm defeats him by hanging him by his own weapon from a tree, allowing him to eviscerate him. Then he encounters Buried Blade who hides in pits before leaping out to ambush his opponents. One-Arm bests him by chopping down bamboo to pin down his students and then standing atop the trunks, keeping him out of reach of Buried Blade's attacks to stab him with a bamboo spear. Next is the Whirling Blade who wields a pair of bladed bucklers which can also be thrown as projectiles. He waits at the entrance of the King’s school. One-Arm catches the blades on his sword and flings them back at their owner, slicing through him like butter. Mighty Blade uses his immense strength and giant two handed sword to overpower his opponents. After luring him outside the Kings' fort, the students drop a net over him to restrain him as they mutilate him. Thunder Blade wields smokebombs and a sword whose blade conceals a smoke sprayer and a shotgun. After using water to douse the smoke, One-Arm uses a cloth shield to block the pellets before cutting him down. Thousand Blade (or One Thousand Fingers) the only female King uses her sexuality to lull her targets into lowering their guard before killing them with the many knives concealed in the sleeves of her robe. After failing to seduce One-Arm, she is fatally stabbed by one of the students she seduced and wounded. The Unseen Blade (the Unseen) the leader of the Eight Kings uses deception and distraction to confuse his opponents along with a collapsible sword whose blade can extend during battle and also has a hidden hook. One-Arm uses his skill in close range combat and left handed sword fighting to get inside Unseen's range and slice off his sword arm. In the end the One-Armed Swordsman defeats the Eight Kings and their armies, but by that time all of the sword fighting students who were helping him are dead. He leaves the last King, Unseen, to be killed by their vengeful masters as he and his wife return home. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman is an example of a sequel preceding the original. The title character had already been developed at this point, so really Cheh could just get on with telling a new story, which is what he does without wasting any time. The various different characters are brilliant – most wuxia films have one or two great villains, this film has ten, each one as colourful as the last. The fighting sequences are amazing with loads of wire work and trampoline stunts, keeping the action flowing constantly. It is as epic as a small-set studio film could ever be, with action taking place in various different locations. Its not just the best One-Armed Swordsman film but it’s one of the best wuxia films of all time. Fang is a complex hero – almost an antihero and the villains are serious enemies and not cartoonish. There is no feeble attempts at humour and all the supporting characters have depth to them. The direction is perfect, in fact, everything is perfect, even the script – which is something that is often pretty weak in martial arts movies. The original One-Armed Swordsman was hugely influential but its follow up really paved the way in terms of fighting scenes, character development and just plain awesomeness. If you don’t like Return of the One-Armed Swordsman then the genre just isn’t for you.