Starring: Lo Lieh, Yueh Hua, Hsu Feng. Directed by: Chen Chi-hua
Until it was released in 2006 or so by Rarescope, this wuxia movie was a movie that was extremely hard to find and seemed to be forgotten. Now that it's available on the market again, we can enjoy this awesome wuxia movie/costume epic, which was directed by Chen Chi-hua (who directed several of Jackie Chan's early movies).
In this movie, a famous martial artist and swordsman named Chi Tien-Wei has been elected "Chief of the Martial World" after the other challengers were eliminated by some of his fighters.
However, a group of martial artists and wizards are not happy with the outcome of the elections. So much so that they try to kill Chi Tien-Wei by sending various fighters and wizards after him and setting some very interesting booby traps both in his household and at various ambush sites.
The most lethal of the whole group is known as the "Mystical Fighter" who wears a mask and is skilled in both kung fu and the art of poison and he uses both skills to his advantage. Also, there is a deadly traitor in the Chi household who is helping Szu Tu-Ming and the Mystical Fighter. The identity of this traitor is something Tien-Wei must find out before it's too late.
According to the Rarescope DVD cover and some Internet forums, the face behind the mask is widely speculated to be none other than Jackie Chan in an early cameo role! While the role has never officially been listed as a Jackie cameo, the moves of the Mystical Fighter are pure Jackie. Also, at the time this movie came out, Jackie was doing a lot of stunt work and making minor movie appearances and he and Chen Chi-hua were friends in the mid-1970s when his career was just starting. So it's quite possible that this is indeed an early Jackie Chan cameo!
The English subtitles are horrible and can make the storyline confusing, but all in all this is a very good wuxia movie with fast-paced swordplay and kung fu as well as lavish, high-quality production. In fact, some of the sets they used in this movie were beautiful and gave a unique backdrop to some of the fight scenes! If you're looking for a good wuxia flick, be sure to check this one out!
Also known as: Long she xia ying (original Mandarin title-Taiwan)
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