The Hidden Power of Dragon Sabre
(Moh din tiu lung, 1984)

Chu Yuan

Hong Kong

87 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

Review © 2005 Branislav L. Slantchev

Regardless of what the DVD cover says or the title suggests, this film should not be regarded as a sequel to Chu Yuan's successful Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. Even though this one ostensibly concerns itself with the two legendary weapons and even though some of the main characters reappear (not necessary played by the same actors or with names spelled in the same way in the English subtitles),

Ti Lung is a bad-ass Mongol	Leanne Lau in typical nun pose

It seems that in the early 1980s Chu Yuan decided to hop on the special effects bandwagon. There is nothing inherently wrong with doing that except when the wagon in question is more like a scooter. The SFX here are of vintage quality. There's nothing inherently wrong with that either. I, for one, am I huge fan of the original Star Trek and care not a hoot for the painted cardboard that passes for alien worlds or starships. But I like the series despite the lame effects because the stories are so great and because the actors are... well, iconic. Neither the story nor the actors are viable assets in this film.

Just... use... secret... to... heal... ME	Cherie Chung as a damsel much distressed

While the problems with the story are not surprising, one would think that Ti Lung and Derek Yee between themselves should be able to pull it off. Throwing Cherie Chung in the mix should not hurt either. (Ku Feng is a draw: he can just as easily add as subtract from any production, depending on his hair style.) But Ti Lung is almost completely wasted as the Mongolian general Tieh Zhen even though he does get a few nice scenes where he casts a menacing glance at his opponents and where he gets to display some nice martial arts skills, albeit at slightly sped-up frame rates. His dangling on ropes was utterly unconvincing, not to mention his delivery of dialogue in the hidden chamber.

Good looks to the rescue	SFX where no SFX have gone before

Derek Yee should be ashamed of himself. Really. It's that bad although I have to admit that he does not reach the lows of Descendant of the Sun. He does get pretty close though. Gone are the glory days where he could portray a heroic swordsman without making a parody of either the hero or the genre. He is not to be blamed though, the culprit is none other than director Chu Yuan himself. He is one of these studio products who could turn out a magnificent film if he has the right material to work with, but who is equally capable of making an utter dog like this one. If one approaches this film with the right attitude (as in it being a sequel solely produced to cash in on the success of the two earlier films), then there is something to enjoy here. But not much.

We can't believe it either	The Man in the Plastic Mask

The film is inspired by real events. That's right. For example, there were Mongols. There were also Chinese. They all had swords. So there you go, it does not get any more historical than this, just ask Steven Spielberg. Recall that at the end of the final film, the legendary weapons were denied to the Yuan rulers (the Mongols) on account of the Princess falling in love with Wu Ji (Derek Yee) and failing in her patriotic duty. The Mongol dynasty was then overthrown because of this and the Ming dynasty was founded by a Han peasant (Ku Feng who plays the new emperor). So much for letting women have anything to do with politics.

Gratuitous shot of Cherie Chung	Standard issue villain with girl hostage

The tables have now been turned on the Mongols who are being hunted into extinction, ostensibly by the Ming Clan (we are told at one point that they have slaughtered thousands). The Mongolian Princess (Cherie Chung) and her faithful general (Ti Lung) have taken refuge in some mountain but the Chinese bastards keep coming. So much for the invincible Mongols. That's what happens when you grown effeminate with culture and the decadence of civilized life. But is it possible that the honorable Wu Ji can be behind all this bloodshed? Of course not. Who, then? How about a former peasant? These guys are really uncouth, they are bound to behave in some low-life manner even if they are dressed in fancy robes and adorned with gold crowns. But the Emperor (who does attempt to weasel the weapons out of Wu Ji) cannot really be behind such an elaborately vicious scheme. There's got to be a master-mind.

Before we kill you, I will talk for an hour	Mike Oldfield laser show gone astray

Naturally there is one. At first I thought it would be Elvis Tsui who pops up as a Buddhist monk and stealthily learns the secret Jiuyang Sutra which Wu Ji has carved on a cave wall. But it is soon revealed that this is just the mask of an even more sinister guy, Sung Ching Shu (Alex Man this time), who one should recall got the short end of the stick in the first film. Not only did his beloved Chi Yeuk, confusingly renamed Zhi-ruo here, become a nun, Sinnead O'Connor coiffure and all, but he did not get to rule the martial arts world, which is well known to be the only goal of evil master-minds in these films.

I now attack you with my 2,000 amp palm bolt	Amitabha THIS!

He is determined to fix his first failure, so he learns the Jiuyang Sutra, but it is only half of the knowledge he needs to defeat Wu Ji. The other half is, naturally, the Jiuyin Sutra which is under lock and key with the Er Mei clan, that is, with the nuns. He tricks Zhi-ruo (Leanne Lau), kills her rather brutally, and is ready to confront the good guys openly. In the meantime, he's engineered some more pogroms against the Mongols and has cast the blame on the Ming Cult. As one should expect, Wu Ji runs into Tieh Zhen and the Princess, and a strong bond among the three develops, one leg having a romantic tint (the one between the princess and Wu Ji; this is not an American gay sitcom).

Lo Lieh has brain examined for starring in this film	Not what they meant when they said women were equal to men

The deception is revealed quickly but for some reason Wu Ji lets his nemesis know that he has missed the crucial ending of the Jiuyang Sutra, and so his powers are incomplete. This has got to be the stupidest thing anyone has ever done, barring all those elaborate setups villains prepare for James Bond. Sung, being not a complete idiot unlike the good Wu Ji (I am always reminded of the quote from Space Balls: "You see, evil will always triumph because good is dumb"), so he sneaks back into the cave, bitch-slaps Lo Lieh who is supposed to guard it, and masters the proper incantation. This turns him into a real yin-yang, otherwise known as yo-yo, and he becomes a hermaphrodite, but not as cool as the one in The Bride with White Hair. A lot fighting with animation-fu follows. Princess falls in love with Wu Ju but nothing comes out of it, both as usual.

Derek Yee and Ti Lung practice glow-fu	Extreme re-tiling

The animation is not the big offender here, it's the sci-fi element that is completely incongruous. At one point Wu Ji, the Princess, and Tieh Zhen fall into an underground cavern, where they stumble in a corridor that looks like a spaceship, then enter through a force field in a chamber where a laser show is put on in their honor. This is supposed to be the abode of some Mongolian prophet who had foreseen the Yo-Yo union and has prepared a way to counteract it. Whatever. It looks like a candidate for a von Denicken "history" of ancient China. Unfortunately, they dropped the sci-fi angle almost as soon as it was introduced but not before lining the walls with Renaissance-style paintings and some amusing cardboard skull cutouts.

Alex Man running low on bolt-fu batteries	You be a good emperor now

The Celestial DVD is pretty good, as is the case with all more recent films. The picture is presented in widescreen anamorphic at 2.35:1 aspect ratio. In addition to the customary Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, there's also a Cantonese track, but I did not listen to it. The English subtitles are fine except for consistent messing up of verb tenses and the occasional neglect in translating parts of the dialogue. I did not like that the characters had their names' English transliteration changed. They should have kept it consistent with the other two films. The extras (for those who care) are limited to a still gallery, some trailers, and talent files. Nothing to write home about, either with regard to the film or the DVD.

December 31, 2005