steben This movie has it all: flashing blades, crispy punchlines, whirling monstrosities, fast paced-combat, incredible heroes and incredibly foxy heroines; it also has chaotic plot diversions, incoherent dialogues, some of the crappiest special effects to date (a great Chaos beast is actually a very recognisable red rug with metal plates attached), random explosions, more than one character that just vanish inexplicably, more than one character that learn to fly and save the world. It is a wonderful, frantic vision from a children's dream, where ordinary things come alive and threaten to eat us, where any component of the game can be immediately dismissed (preferably with a boom) in favour of whatever has just caught our attention.If you like stories of swordsman army drop-outs who walk up the mountain with mentors who fight evildoers who bring up the great chaos beast which grows a double of the mentor that kills the mentor who gives his powers to his student who meets more swordsmen who join him to learn to fly up above the mountain to join the magic swords to banish the evil, this is your movie. Oh, I forgot about the temple where they tried to heal the master who got ill but the queen failed who got encased in ice when everything exploded... sort of. If you are appaled by an idea that a movie with this plot (not one part of it did I make up) could actually be made a have a cult following, then, well, you'd better not watch it. The chances of you enjoying it are truly minute.

deaconyourmouth I've got to say, this movie delivered exactly what I thought it would when I bought it. And I bought it simply on the strength of the box and how it said something really good about Tsui Hark. Ever since I have unfailingly watched any Tsui Hark movie that has come across my path. I love this movie. It's goofy in the extreme and at many points simply doesn't make sense. Maybe it's because I've been brainwashed by too many episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but I love cheesy movies. The fight scenes are excellent, the scenery is superb and the story is spellbinding, (there I think I've but exhausted my list of critic cliché adjectives). It's especially good to watch if you're an enhancement smoker.

mantisfist6 If you are a fan of Hong Kong action films and you haven't seen this i would suggest you track a copy down right now.As an opening paragraph it sums up the importance of this landmark title. Conceived by its' makers as a production to rival Western films for technical (behind the camera) as well as beating them technically in front as well.Although it fails to rival the level of sophistication with its' effects (due to bane of all Hong Kong films, its' limited budget)to match those of Hollywood films of its' time is irrelevant, it looks and feels so Far Eastern as well as using cutting edge (for 1982)it is simply unique.The story is set in mythical times in China, where constant wars threaten to consume everyone, soldier or otherwise. One such soldier (ably played by Yuen Biao) manages to alienate himself from his commanders and ends up getting lost in the mystical region of Zu, fabled for its' magic mountain.He becomes embroiled in a quest to find a pair of magical swords to kill a blood demon which threatens the whole of humanity. The blood demon draws its' power from pain and suffering and there is enough in the world to allow it to destroy all mankind.The film contains so much energy, unparallelled visual flair and a cast which has the skill and experience to make it all work. The directors' vision and imagination are easy to see and appreciate, if you take the time to look. It is too easy to watch the action and miss the subtleties. It is a film which is difficult to describe, but unforgettable once watched.

drngor Because this movie was made in the 1980s, I did not expect the special FX to be the equivalent of anything made in the states, or even up to the level of The Stormriders. However, I found this film a lot more enjoyable than the latter. This film is almost a non-stop ride full of swordfights, optical FX battles, flying people, and it still leaves room for some interesting themes also.The plot deals with a soldier being disillusioned by the endless civil wars that have been fought. He goes to a mountain where he joins a swordsman, a monk and his apprentice, Sammo Hung, and some lovely ladies in a quest to defeat the Blood Demon, a being of pure evil. On the way, the soldier (Yuen Biao) and the monk's apprentice (Mang Hoi) must find some swords to use in the battle.The action is nearly non-stop. It first starts out with some basic swordplay. Once Yuen reaches the mountain, than everything shifts into overdrive. Optical FX fly across the screen at dizzying speeds. Humans and demons fly across the screen at dizzying speeds. People get frozen alive. Women fly around with swirling cloth in their wake. Men fly around chained to boulders. Eyebrows are used to contain evil. All I can say is...wow. Only Ching Siu Tung could come up w/ some as imaginative as this.As I mentioned earlier, there are some interesting themes involved. Tsui Hark seemed to make a statement against world leaders who start senseless wars and kill innocent people. Also, he talks about how battles become futile when people won't set aside their differences for a common cause. If we want to save the world or even ourselves, we all have to work together.Of interesting note is the International dubbed version. That version makes the film into a dream sequence and turns the war parable into a love story spanning many generations. A lot of scenes are cut and shortened, giving the Zu mountain segment a very rushed feel. Overall, the subtitled version is a lot more preferable.