The Heroic Ones (1970)

What Sergio Corbuccis "The Great Silence" ("Il Grande Silenzio") was to the genre of Spaghetti-Western two years earlier, "The Heroic Ones" is to the Eastern / Kung Fu film: it's breath-taking, ground-breaking and one of the best of it's kind. Like "The Great Silence", "The Heroic Ones" takes place in frozen tundra that, despite being beautiful to behold, makes you shiver just seeing it on the screen. The other similarity is the stylized violence that, despite being gory even by the standards of a genre that lives through violence, seems never quiet realistic, having something of a filmed fairy-tale. (Indeed, had ancient China been only half as violent as director Chang Cheh liked to depict it, the Chinese would today probably be extinct).Yet a third similarity is that both directors seem to have a certain antipathy towards their protagonists: Like in "The Great Silence", the heroes – David Chiang and Ti Lung – actually don't live to see the end of the film. Lung dies one of the most heroic death in Hong Kong film-history and the other, Chiang – as almost always, playing his amiable self, a drunken never-do-gooder with sheer unbeatable martial arts skills – being gorily quartered after being deceived by his villainous brothers.The rest of the cast features almost all of Chehs regulars, all playing as excellent as can be expected from them; if you're a seasoned martial arts fan, this almost is like a joyful family reunion (or, speaking on a more contemporary level, think "The Expendables"). Also watch out for a bald-headed Bolo Yeung (playing a grimacing bandit-chief) who has an (albeit) small, but impressive role.Together with "The New One-Armed Swordsman", "The Heroic Ones" remains one of Chehs most impressive works and one of the finest Martial Arts films ever produced in Hong Kong.Again, mentioning "The Great Silence" one final time: if "The Heroic Ones" struck your fancy, I can highly recommend Corbuccis film, whether you're a Western fan or not.

Made in 1970, the Shaw Brothers really went all out on this one. Ku Feng stars as a Mongolian King who is famous for his great army, and his 13 sons. David Chiang and Ti Lung are his favorite sons. Chen Sing plays a warlord who doesn't like Ku Feng and his sons, at all. I don't really want to give anything away, so I will just say that the story is very well done, and the fight scenes are awesome for 1970. David Chiang looks sloppy, but with all the stuntmen on hand and Tong Gai and the Lau Brothers doing the action, you can expect greatness in a lot of the action scenes. The battle sequences are truly epic. There had to be like 200-300 deaths in this movie. Like I said, David Chiang doesn't look all that good, but luckily Ti lung is on hand and gives an amazing performance. This was one of Ti Lung's first big roles , and he really makes the most out of it. The rest of the cast includes Cliff Lok, Lily Li, Lo Wai, Lau Kong, musclemen Cheng Lui and Bolo Yeung, Bruce Tong, James Nam, Wang Chung, Chin Han... the list goes on and on. David Chiang's last scene of the movie is one you will never forget. The final fight I thought was disappointing with how it was handled, but if they could have made the final fight better then this movie would get a 10 star rating from me.

It's hard to add much to the other comments except to say that this is a very good film indeed. Yes the special effects look as cheap as the back lot sets but the actions ring true and as is the Asian film way heroic deaths seem preferable to a happy ending. David Chiang starts out as a carefree character ('Drunken Brother') but on the way to a bloody death has a touching understated romance, defeats Bolo Yeung in single combat and becomes someone you really care about. Just also to say a big thank you to Celestion for re-releasing this great film in such a good DVD print. Well worth watching. Ti Lung's rescue of his father is a classic fight against overwhelming odds and nearly succeeds. Shaws seem to have half of China as extras in this one scene alone. Production values in terms of interior sets and costumes were high, and a special word for the lovely dancing girls.

A Feudal lord and his 13 sons wage war against rebel invaders and enemy opposition. The two most decorated sons cause jealousy and greed amongst some of the other brothers culminating in a bloody and violent clash pitting brother against brother in one of the most famous Chinese action films ever.Chang Cheh directs this first film in his 'cast of thousands' series of films. Comparable to Shakespearean tragedy, the film features many elements inherent in the Bards works. Cheh was known for his masculine style of movie-making which he became famous for as well as stirring up controversy about the homo-erotic undercurrents in all his films, some more subtle than others. Here, Award winning actor Ku Feng (HAVE SWORD WILL TRAVEL, VENGEANCE!) loves all his sons but pays special attentions to Chun Hsiao (Chiang) and Chun Hsu (Ti Lung). Both are the strongest and most skilled of the 13 brothers but two of the other brothers are not happy about the accolades awarded them.One scene in particular has seven of the thirteen infiltrate an enemy encampment and attempt an assassination on a rebel leader in an effort to force their soldiers out of the area. Chun Hsiao has the plan laid out but the two jealous siblings decide to employ their own plan resulting in a massive attack with the seven brothers fighting against hundreds upon hundreds of men.Without doubt the best scene in the whole movie is when the king (Ku Feng) is invited to a dinner with one of the Ambassadors (Chen Sing, who is secretly in cahoots with the enemy), they get him, Chun Hsu and all their men drunk and attempt to kill them all while they sleep. The plan nearly works and Chu Wan (Chen Sing) has his fortress set aflame(!) to make sure none of them escape. Not to mention employing special assassins under the "Bridge of Peace" to kill them should they make it that far. One of the most suspenseful, bloody and exciting martial arts sequences ever filmed.The scene that led to the above described bit is also good. At the opening, an enemy general (Bolo Yeung) is slaughtering the kings men so the Ambassador demands something be done. All of his sons are assembled as the king proclaims any of his 13 can bring in the general alone. Chun Hsiao is selected by the Ambassador even though he is drunk and asleep. Chu Wan, the Ambassador, bets his royal belt from the Emperor that Chun cannot bring in the marauding General by noon. Chun bets his head in return. Anyway, Chun easily defeats the general and drags him by his neck on a rope with one arm(!) into the Palace ballroom for all to see. Everyone laughs as Chu Wan must now hand over his royal belt. He refuses so Chun cuts the belt in half telling the Ambassador, "I've left you half...be satisfied!" This is an unforgivable embarrassment for Chu and sets in motion his vendetta against the kings youngest and strongest son.David Chiang is superb as the tough and highly skilled Chun Hsiao, the youngest of the kings 13 sons. His performance would mirror others Chiang would undertake in later Cheh martial chivalry movies. With his slight and slender build, Chiang is always shown as an extremely strong and powerful adversary taking on fighters much bigger than he. Here, he uses a very large and thick double spear. It takes two men to carry it but Chiang wields it like it was a feather. Although Chiang studied martial arts, he seldom looked believable in kung fu roles but was perfectly suited to swordplay movies. Some kung fu pictures where he does look good are SHAOLIN MANTIS, LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES and the non-Shaw, THE LOOT.Ti Lung also impresses as the equally strong Chun Hsu. The aforementioned scene where he tries to get his father out of the burning castle alive amidst thousands of soldiers is one of the most thrilling action scenes period regardless of genre. This extended scene goes on for nearly 15 minutes. Ti Lung studied Wing Chun kung fu, a style Bruce Lee practiced. Ti was the more masculine of the mega popular Chiang-Lung double act. The movies these two did with Chang Cheh caused the trio to be known as 'The Iron Triangle'.The action scenes are stupendous and for the time, were considered extremely accomplished. Seeing them now, they're slower than the films from the late 70s on, but they possess a realism lacking in the more choreographed films that (supposed) hard-core fans seem to prefer. The only mis-step in the film occurs at the finale. In an effort to not reveal too much, it involves some of the other brothers who we get to know very little about over the course of the films 120 minute running time. A highly recommended actioner with much emotion and great performances by all.